PERPETUATING ESTATES.
One of the chief sources of dissatis
faction with Great Britain among our
revolutionary forbears was the law of
entail, which prevented the distribu
tion of estates, created a wealthy and
privileged class and deprived every
other class of hope and ambition.
Even Lord Bacon said that money was
like a compost heap, which grew more
and more offensive until It was dls
’ trlbuted, but then produced every
where fertility and beauty. Entails
are DOt prohibited In the constitution
— of the United States, states the Chi
cago Chronicle, but they are abolished
In Illinois and in almost every other
state either by constitutional provi
sions or by statute. It is the sense of
the American people that they are
contrary to public policy and inimical
to freedom. It is Important that there
should be laws against entails, for
otherwise we should certainly have
them in this country. The instinct
which originated them in England cen- |
turies ago is firmly fixed In human
nature and is as powerful among men
of large estates to-day as it ever was.
Whenever one of them dies and his
will is published, we discover that the
strongest desire he had in death was
to preserve his fortune Intact and pass
It on unimpaired to his descendants.
