Inabsolutetermstheinstitutionofownershipisancient，nodoubt；butitisyoungcomparedwithblood-relationship，thestate，ortheimmortalgods。Especiallyisittruethatitsfullerdevelopmentisrelativelylate。NotuntilacomparativelylatedateinWestEuropeanhistoryhasownershipcometobeemancipatedfromallrestrictionsofanon-pecuniarycharacterandtostandinawhollyimpersonalposition，withoutadmixtureofpersonalresponsibilityorclassprerogative。2*Freedomandinviolabilityofcontracthasnotuntilrecentlybeentheunbrokenrule。Indeed，ithasnotevenyetbeenacceptedwithoutqualificationandextendedtoallitemsowned。Therestillareimpedimentsinthewayofcertaintransfersandcertaincontracts，andthereareexemptionsinfavorofpropertyheldbycertainprivilegedpersons，andespeciallybycertainsacredcorporations。Thisappliesparticularlytothemorebackwardpeoples；butnowhereisthe“cashnexus“freefromalladmixtureofalienelements。Ownershipisnotall-pervadingandall-dominant，butitpervadesanddominatestheaffairsofcivilizedpeoplesmorefreelyandwidelythananyothersinglegroundofaction，andmorethanithaseverdonebefore。Therangeandnumberofrelationsanddutiesthatarehabituallydisposedofonapecuniaryfootingaregreaterthaninthepast，andapecuniarysettlementisfinaltoadegreeunknowninthepast。Thepecuniarynormhasinvadedthedomainoftheolderinstitutions，suchasblood-relationship，citizenship，orthechurch，sothatobligationsbelongingundertheoneortheotherofthesemaynowbeassessedandfulfilledintermsofamoneypayment，althoughthenotionofapecuniaryliquidationseemstohavebeenwhollyremotefromtherangeofideas-habitsofthought-onwhichtheserelationsanddutieswereoriginallybased。
Thisisnottheplaceforresearchintotheoriginandtheprimitivephasesofownership，norevenforinquiryintotheviewsofpropertycurrentintheearlydaysoftheWesternculture。Buttheviewscurrentonthisheadatpresent-theprincipleswhichguidemen’sthinkingandroughlydefinetherightlimitsofdiscretioninpecuniarymatters-thiscommon-senseapprehensionofwhataretheproperlimits，rights，andresponsibilitiesofownership，isanoutgrowthofthetraditions，experiences，andspeculationsofpastgenerations。
Thereforesomenoticeofthecharacterofthesetraditionalviewsandthecircumstancesoutofwhichtheyhavearisenintherecentpastisnecessarytoanunderstandingofthepartwhichtheyplayinmodernlife。3*Thetheoryofpropertyprofessedatagiventimeandinagivenculturalregionshowswhatisthehabitualattitudeofmen，forthetimebeing，onquestionsofownership；
foranytheorythatgainswidespreadanduncriticalacceptancemustcarryacompetentformulationofthedeliverancesofcommonsenseonthematterwithwhichitdeals。Otherwiseitwillnotbegenerallyaccepted。Andsuchacommonplaceviewisinitsturnanoutcomeofprotractedexperienceonthepartofthecommunity。
ThemoderntheoriesofpropertyrunbacktoLocke，4*ortosomesourcewhichforthepresentpurposeisequivalenttoLocke；