ABSTRACT
It will be clear that when we speak of the functions of property we must decide whether we are concerned with property in general, or with common property, or some form of corporate property, or private property, and it will be seen that the function is likely to be affected by the extent and nature of the right, or, conversely, by the restrictions which limit it, and also by the nature of the object over which it is exercised by its source, and even by its amount. It is quite possible, e.g., that one right of private property might serve a useful function, while another might be harmful; and to destroy one is not necessarily to impair another. It is possible that private control of one kind of object may in general be a good thing, and public control of another kind of object a better thing, and the absence of all control over a third object an equally good thing. And we ought not to regard criticisms of any given kind of property as criticisms of all kinds of property.
