My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org
My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org
—;84 MY LIFEthe banks of every river or brook, such paths to bediverted around any dwelling-house that may havegardens extending to the water's edge, all such pathsto be made and kept in repair by the District Councils.Under the present system old paths are often closed,but we never hear of new ones being made, yet suchare now more than ever necessary when most of ourroads are rendered dangerous by motor-cars andcycles, and exceedingly disagreeable and unhealthyto pedestrians by the clouds of gritty dust continuallyraised by these vehicles.This all-embracing system of land-robbery, forwhich nothing is too great and nothing too small;which has absorbed meadow and forest, moor andmountain, which has appropriated most of our riversand lakes and the fish that live in them ; which oftenclaims the very seashore and rocky coasts of ourisland home, fencing them off from the wayfarer whoseeks the solace of their health-giving air and wildbeauty, while making the peasant pay for his seaweedmanure and the fisherman for his bait of shell-fishwhich has desolated whole counties to replace menby sheep or cattle, and has destroyed fields and cottagesto make a wilderness for deer and grouse ;which has stolen the commons and filched the roadsidewastes ; which has driven the labouring poor intothe cities, and has thus been the primary and chiefcause of the lifelong misery, disease, and early deathof thousands who might have lived lives of honesttoil and comparative well-being had they been permittedfree access to land in their native villages ;it is the advocates and beneficiaries of this inhumansystem who, when a partial restitution of their unholygains is proposed, are the loudest in their cries of" robbery " I
RADNORSHIRE 85But all the robbery, all the spoliation, all the legaland illegal filching, has been on their side, and theystill hold the stolen property. They made laws tolegalize their actions, and, some day, we, the people,will make laws which will not only legalize but justifyour process of restitution. It will justify it, because,unlike their laws, which always took from the poor togive to the rich—to the very class which made thelaws—ours will only take from the superfluity of therich, not to give to the poor or to any individuals, butto be so administered as to enable every man to liveby honest work, to restore to the whole people theirbirthright in their native soil, and to relieve all alikefrom a heavy burden of unnecessary and unjusttaxation. This will be the true statesmanship of thefuture, and it will be justified alike by equity, byethics, and by religion.In the preceding pages I have expressed theopinions which have been gradually formed as theresult of the experience and study of my whole life.My first work on the subject was entitled " LandNationalization : its Necessity and its Aims," andwas published in the year 1882 ; and this, togetherwith the various essays in the second volume of my"Studies Scientific and Social," published in 1900,may be taken as expressing the views I now hold,and as pointing out some of the fundamental conditionswhich I believe to be essential for the wellbeingof society.But at the time of which Iam now writing suchideas never entered my head. I certainly thought ita pity to inclose a wild, picturesque, boggy, andbarren moor, but I took it for granted that there wassome right and reason in it, instead of being, as it
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RADNORSHIRE 85But all the robbery, all the spoliation, all the legal<strong>and</strong> illegal filching, has been on their side, <strong>and</strong> theystill hold the stolen property. They made laws tolegalize their actions, <strong>and</strong>, some day, we, the people,will make laws which will not only legalize but justifyour process <strong>of</strong> restitution. It will justify it, because,unlike their laws, which always took from the poor togive to the rich—to the very class which made thelaws—ours will only take from the superfluity <strong>of</strong> therich, not to give to the poor or to any individuals, butto be so administered as to enable every man to liveby honest work, to restore to the whole people theirbirthright in their native soil, <strong>and</strong> to relieve all alikefrom a heavy burden <strong>of</strong> unnecessary <strong>and</strong> unjusttaxation. This will be the true statesmanship <strong>of</strong> thefuture, <strong>and</strong> it will be justified alike by equity, byethics, <strong>and</strong> by religion.In the preceding pages I have expressed the<strong>opinions</strong> which have been gradually formed as theresult <strong>of</strong> the experience <strong>and</strong> study <strong>of</strong> my whole <strong>life</strong>.<strong>My</strong> first work on the subject was entitled " L<strong>and</strong>Nationalization : its Necessity <strong>and</strong> its Aims," <strong>and</strong>was published in the year 1882 ; <strong>and</strong> this, togetherwith the various essays in the second volume <strong>of</strong> my"Studies Scientific <strong>and</strong> Social," published in 1900,may be taken as expressing the views I now hold,<strong>and</strong> as pointing out some <strong>of</strong> the fundamental conditionswhich I believe to be essential for the wellbeing<strong>of</strong> society.But at the time <strong>of</strong> which Iam now writing suchideas never entered my head. I certainly thought ita pity to inclose a wild, picturesque, boggy, <strong>and</strong>barren moor, but I took it for granted that there wassome right <strong>and</strong> reason in it, instead <strong>of</strong> being, as it
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