The ordinances of Louis XIV. in 1659 and 1669 went so far as to take the strong measure of retroactive revocation. In thepreamble of the declaration of June 22, 1659, we read: "The majority of communities and villages have been induced to selland alienate to powerful persons, such as the lords of the districts, their land and their rights of user for very inadequatesums; and in many cases such price has never been paid although there is writing to the contrary, by reason of the violenceof the purchasers, who have compelled the inhabitants, under false pretences, to sign or grant away that which was lawfullydue to them." The communes were, therefore, reestablished in full possession of all the property, alienated within the pasttwenty years by any title whatsoever.
The ordinance of 1667 likewise annulled all alienations which had taken place since 1620; and authorised the communes toresume possession of their lands, on restoring the price, in many cases merely nominal, which they had received. Theordinance likewise abolished the right of "triage," in virtue of which the lords claimed one-third of the communal property.
The preamble accused the judges and nobles of having profited by the weakness of the communes, to despoil them of theirproperty. "To conceal these usurpations, they have made use of false debts and have abused the most regular forms ofjustice for the purpose."
The French Revolution, following the example of the kings, endeavoured, in the first instance, to restore to the communesthe lands which the feudal nobility had usurped. It did not however understand that the collective ownership and autonomyof the commune is the only firm basis of democracy, and it wanted to cut up the communal domain into small privateproperties, as it did with the lands of the church and the nobility. The successive laws of April 13, 1791, April 28, 1792, andJune 10, 1793, abolished the right of triage, (1) annulled all partitions made in virtue of this right since the ordinance of 1669,reestablished the communes in all their lands, and the rights of user of which they had been despoiled by reason of the feudalrules, and declared them in full ownership proprietors of all waste lands, unless there was an authentic deed "proving thatsuch and such portions of their lands were acquired à titre onéreux ." (See Dalloz, Jurisp. génér ., "Commune," ?cit., ch.
VI.)
The first article of the law of June 10, 1793, runs :" All communal lands generally known, throughout the Republic, underthe various names of common or waste lands, gastes, garrigues, landes, pacages, pâtis, ajoncs, brayères, bais communs,hermes, vacants, palus, marais, marécages, montagnes , and under any denomination whatsoever, belong in their nature tothe general body of inhabitants or members of the communes, in the territory of which such communal lands are situated."The Convention especially aimed at strengthening the unity of the state. It was instinctively opposed to the independence ofthe provinces and of the communes, which had its roots in the ancient system. Accordingly it never sought to preserve thecommunal patrimony; but thought it more advantageous to increase the number of small proprietors. This was the ideawhich economists of the eighteenth century had rendered popular. At the present day, everywhere, except in Switzerland,men are bent upon the destruction of the collective property of the village. By the law of June 10, 1793, the Conventiondecreed the division of communal lands among all the inhabitants equally. Where the partition was effected, the lands weresold at a low price, and the patrimony of all was thus considerably reduced,a deplorable and essentially anti-democraticstep. Towards the end of the empire, the law of March 20, 1813, handed over communal lands to a sinking fund. Thispurchased communal lands, chiefly the most productive portions, for 58,000,000 francs. The Restoration gave back to thecommunes what remained of their property; and since then alienations have not been very extensive. (2)Communal lands still comprise about 4,000,000 hectares ; of which 1,500,000 hectares are forest, and 2,500,000 hectaresare waste land. The departments richest in common lands are the Landes, the Hautes and Basses-Alpes, the Hautes andBasses-Pyrénées, Gironde, Isère, Creuse, Bas-Rhin, and Moselle. As to the mode of enjoyment, the "Conseils généraux"have always decided, with reason, against sale and partition; they advised leases for terms sufficiently long to encourageagricultural improvements. It is in fact the best system, after that of the Swiss Allmend .
