Preservation of Monuments

The Classement System.—A special form of inventory, carry ing with it legal consequences, is that known as the classement system; of this form the French is the typical example. In this only the outstanding monuments find a place, and such either become national property altogether, or the protection and preser vation is undertaken by the State, or may be left in the hands of the private owner ; but in any case the monument cannot be destroyed, restored or repaired without the consent of the central authority. The classement system has been criticized as tending to depreciate the consideration paid to such monuments as do not appear in the list—monuments non-classes. Great Britain adopted a narrow kind of classement in the schedule attached to the 1882 Act. Most States have powers of expropriation or com pulsory purchase of private property on grounds of public utility, and English law is no exception—as in the case of the compulsory purchase of land for railways—and now the majority of States have made the protection of monuments a matter of public utility. Further, the exportation of artistic or historic treasures, z.e., movable monuments, has been controlled by the State, notably in the case of Italy and Greece, Turkey and Egypt.

Connected with this side of the question is the control by the State of excavations undertaken by private persons, even on their own property. In Germany considerable protection is effected by the powers given to municipalities to make by-laws, respecting not only the preservation of the monuments, but also the erection of new buildings that may interfere with the monuments or with the general characteristic appearance (Stadtbild) of the town. This is also the case in Italy, where there are frequent regulations as to town-planning (piano regolamento).

The following is a brief account of the measures adopted in the principal countries of the world for the preservation and protec tion of their artistic and historic treasures.

Great Britain.

In Great Britain the existing law is contained in the Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act, 1913. This Act consolidated the provisions of the previous Acts passed in 1882, 190o and 191o. The act of 1882, due primarily to Lord Avebury, then Sir John Lubbock, provided that a list of monuments in Great Britain and Ireland should be made to which the Act was to apply; the number of these monuments, the names of which will be found in an appendix to Sir R Hunter's Lecture on the Preservation of Places of Interest and Beauty (1907), was 68, all being of the kind known as prehistoric (barrows, stone circles, dolmens, etc.) An owner of one of these scheduled monu ments might by deed place it in the guardianship of the Commis sioners of Works, who were then responsible for its preservation and could protect it even against the owner. The Commissioners might purchase any of the scheduled monuments, but only by agreement, the compulsory clauses of the Lands Clauses Consol idation Acts being expressly excluded„ though any purchase was to be made under those acts. An owner of any monument other than those scheduled might place it in the care of the commis sioners. The funds for the working of the act were to be provided by parliament, and an inspector of ancient monuments was ap pointed. General Pitt-Rivers, the first inspector, found that without compulsory powers the act was useless, and for many years did not draw his official salary, while after his death in 190o the office was left unfilled until 191o. In an Act applying only to Ireland, which was passed in 1892, the commissioners of public works in Ireland were given powers—only to be exercised with the consent of the owner—of applying the act of 1882 to any monument possessing such public interest as might render it worthy of preservation. It is to be noticed that after the dises

tablishment of the Irish Church certain unused churches of artis tic or historic interest were placed in the charge of the Commis sioners as national monuments, with a sum of iso,000 to defray expenses. The Irish Commissioners have therefore monuments in their care other than those scheduled in the Acts, and may apply towards the expenses of the preservation of the scheduled monuments any surplus over from the fund above mentioned. The act of 190o applied the Irish act to Great Britain, and also gave the powers of the Act of 1892 to county councils, allowed the authorities, local or central, to make arrangements for the preservation of monuments with owners or others, including societies, and to receive subscriptions for the same object, and also provided for public access to such monuments as are in the guardianship of the Commissioners under the Act. The Acts of 1892 and 1900, though allowing buildings of historic or other interest to be placed under the care of the commissioners, excluded buildings occupied as a dwelling-place by any person other than a caretaker and his family. The act of 1910 gave to the Commis sioners of Works power to acquire by bequest buildings of historic or architectural interest. The act of 190o had given power to acquire such by gift or purchase, and the act of 1882 had given power by bequest also, but only referred to prehistoric remains. The London County Council possesses powers of purchasing by agreement any building of historic or other interest under a General Powers Act of 1898, and exercised these in 1899 by pur chasing, in conjunction with the City Corporation, the 17th century house in Fleet Street in which is the room known as "Prince Henry's Council-chamber." Under the Consolidating Act of 1913 Ancient Monuments Boards were set up for England, Scotland and Wales whose duty is to advise the Commissioners of Works with reference to the treatment of monuments and to report to the Commissioners when they have reason to believe that any monument of national impor tance is in danger of destruction or removal, or danger from neglect or injudicious treatment. A "monument" or "ancient monument" is defined as including any structure or erection (except an ecclesiastical building for the time being used for eccle siastical purposes) the preservation of which the Commissioners of Works consider to be a matter of public interest because of its historic, architectural, traditional, artistic, or archaeological importance. The Commissioners, however, may not accept the guardianship of, or issue a preservation order relating to any monument occupied as a dwelling-house by any person other than the caretaker thereof. They are bound to prepare and publish a list of all monuments the preservation of which is reported by any of the Ancient Monuments Boards to be of national importance, and to inform the owners of their intention to include them and of the penalties incurred for injury or defacement. This is called "scheduling" a monument The owner of such a monument is thereafter bound to give the Commissioners one month's notice before he proceeds to demolish, remove (either whole or in part), alter structurally, or make any addition to the monument. Failure to give such notice renders him liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £ioo, or to imprisonment for three months, or to both.