Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 March 1889 — New Ditch Law. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

New Ditch Law.

Fred Grant has been app inted to a promintnt and paying position. He is not sited for the plate. His oniy recommendation is that he “is the son of his father.” Ditto —Walker Blaine, son of Mulligan’s worshipei, who has alsj been well provided for. The law prohibiting ths selling of tobacco, cigars or cigarettes to boys under sixteen years of age, passed by the recent legislature, goes into effect when tne acts of the legislature are published and distributed. The penalty for a violation of the law is severe.

It is announced from Pittsburgh that the operators of coal mines in Western Pennsylvania will “insist upon a reduction ot six c'nts per ton upon the present basis” of miners’ wages, and that this will involve “a correspondingreduction throughout the bituminous coal regions of the United States. The starvation wages paid in the Pennsylvania mines has reduced the miners to mers serfs, and any further reduction is an outrage. It is also just a 'little significant that these almost daily reports of reductions of wagfes of workmen throughout the country have all originated sin»e the late election What a blessing the 47 per cent, tariff is!

Sout 1 Bend Times: The repub* licans of this city wdl no doubt profit by the experience of their political brethren at Roekport.Tho promiuent members of that party at that place held a meeting to decide as to who should be appointed postmaster. The meeting was attended by about thirty-five of the true and faithful, whovoted by ballot to see wliow j e the most popular. When the votes were counted it was found that every man had voted for himself. —■ -«♦»--—,— . The Boston Globe puts it thus: Be is now ex-president Cleveland. He was an honest president. He was a brave president. He was a president who did his duty as he saw it, regardless of consequences to his party or himself. He was a president who was four years ahead of the times. He was the first president since the war who was president of the whole country, and realized that there were thirty-eight equally loyal states in this union. He was a man, take him for all in all, we shall not look upon his like again.” At least not for four years.

-h e n ©w license law passed at the recent session of the legislature reads as follows: An Act to amend Sec. 6 of an Act entitled an Act to regulate and license the sal-* of spirituous, vinous and malt and intoxicating liquors, etc. Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, of the State of Indiana, that section 6,317. of the Bevised Statutes of 1881, be amended as followfe: No city or incorporated town shall charge any person who may obtain a license under the provisions of this Act, more than the following sums for license to sell within their corporate limits: Cities may charge $250, and incorporated towns $l5O in addition to the sum provided for herein before.

The new law relates to the cleaning and repairing of ditches and ; provides: . That all ditches nd drains uow in existence and hereafter constructed shall be in charge of the township trustee, who shall keep them in proper condition to answer their purpose. 2. The county surveyor shall, as soon as practicable, examine each ditch in the county and determine what p rtion assessed for its construction sLall tJinm.lly clean out and keep in repair, giving the location of each share and the manner in which the work sh a ll be done; provided, that where ditches were originally allotted for cons'ruction by reviewers appointed by the Board of county commissioner i, the allotment shall remain the same unless another allotment Is requested by a majority of the parties assessed; and provided that when it is shown that no necessity exists,for cleaning, the trustee shall not enforce the penalty for nonperformance, but in no case shall the wora be delayed more than two years.

3. The surveyor shall give notice of the allotments by posting of the time and place when and where objections thereto shall be heard, non-residents to be notified by mail if known, or through their resident agents. 4. After hearing of objections at the time appointed, the surveyor may change or confirm 'the allotments as justice may require, which shall he conclusive unless appealed from in ten days. 5. Appeals may be taken to the circuit court or superior court. If the com. t reduce the allotment onefifth in amount, the oosts of the appeal shall be taxed against the surveyor a*»d paid out of the county treasury; otherwise costs shall be paid by appellant. The surveyor shall receive $3 per day for his services.

6. The cleaning shall be ; fione during the months of September and October, under penalty oe $1 per day for every day the work remains unfinished after the Ist of November, the penalty to be recovered by the trustee before a justice of the peace and paid into the general township fund. 7. On failure of the proper parties to clean out and repair their allotments, the trustee after ascertaining the delinquents from a transcript of the surveyor’s record shall cause the work to be done, and the cost of same shall be taxed upon the duplicate against the delinquent. 8. ii any a lotmeut become obstructed by the negligmce of any other owner or occupant of the land or by bis stock, it shall be his duty to remove all obstructions at his own expense before the 31st clay of August of each year, and failing to do so, the owner of the obstructed portion may recover the cost of cuch cleaning, with attorney’s fees, from such owner or occupant in any court of compet - ent jurisdiction. in townships where stock is permitted to run at large, it shall be the duty of supervisors to remove all obstructions made by such stock from such portions of ditches as run along or across highways in their respective districts. 9. For all work done by the trustee und r this act he shall receive $2 per day for actual services, and if necessary he may employ an agent. 10. Trustees and supervises shall be liable o i their bonds for neglect of their duties after ten days notice in writing from any person interested to the amount of all damages sustained, and shall alsc be liable lo a fine of not more than SSO. 11. This act shall not applv to any ditch passing through or into two or more counties. All such shall be kept in repair under the laws now in force. 12. Any re-allotment of any ditch may be made after two years upon a petition of the parties interested, showing the original allotment to be unfair. 13. All laws and parts ot laws in conflict with this act are repealed.