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the  absolute  and  exclusive  quiritarian  ownership  adopted  by
modern  law.
Property  in  articles  of  consumption  is  quite  a  different  thing
from  property  in  instruments  of  production.  To  the  latter  ought
to  be  applied  in  all  its  force  the  reservation  imposed,  even  by  the
Roman  law,  on  the  right  of  using  and  abusing  (^us  utendi  et
abutendi  re  suâ,  quatenus  juris  ratio  patitur),  in  so  far,  that  is  to
say,  as  is  permitted  by  the  very  considerations  which  originated
the  right,  namely,  considerations  of  general  utility.  While  as
far  as  articles  of  consumption  are  concerned,  the  old  regulations, ­
  such  as  the  imposition  of  sumptuary  laws  and  restrictions
as  to  dress  and  the  fixing  of  prices  by  authority  have  disappeared, ­
  limitations  set  to  the  free  use  of  immovable  property
tend  to  multiply  and  become  more  strict.  Thus,  more  and
more  stringent  laws  are  everywhere  made  concerning  the  clearing ­
  of  woods,  the  employment  of  machines,  the  using  of  rivers,
the  organization  of  labour  in  factories.  In  towns,  proprietors
are  not  allowed  to  build  until  their  plans  have  been  approved
by  authority  ;  they  may  be  compelled  to  pull  down  buildings
pronounced  dangerous  to  life  or  health,  and  they  are  not  allowed
to  carry  on  any  trade  which  is  a  nuisance  to  their  neighbours.
Property  in  mines  is  subjected  to  still  more  numerous  restrictions. ­
  Finally,  owners  are  expropriated,  not  only  for  works  of
public  utility,  but  even,  as  in  the  expropriation  by  means  of  the
taxation  of  districts,  in  order  to  permit  the  Commune  or  the
State  to  cover  the  cost  of  an  improvement.  These  are  some
applications  of  the  Roman  formula,  Quatenus  juris  ratio
patitur.
The  Economists  of  the  new  school  are  far  from  holding  the
same  opinions  on  all  subjects.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  much
more  divided  among  themselves  than  the  classical  Economists,
for  the  very  reason  that  they  reject  the  uniform  creed  as  to
natural  laws  and  universal  laissez  faire.  Thus,  Adolf  Wagner
calls  for  limitations  on  private  ownership,  and  an  extension  of
collective  ownership  that  few  of  his  colleagues  accept.  In  the
session  at  Bremen,  when  the  resumption  of  the  railways  by  the
State  was  discussed,  A.  Wagner  and  A.  Held  declared  in  favour
of  it.  Nasse  and  Brentano  against  it.