People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 December 1896 — PUBLIC FORUM [ARTICLE]

PUBLIC FORUM

Drainage Laws. March 4, 1893, the Indiana legislature passed a law providing for the formation of drainage districts. The first drainage law in Indiana was passed June 11* 1852, and almost every legislature since has either modified some existing law, or enacted some mew one providing for the drainage of wet and over-flowed lands. The drainage district law differs in all respects from all tne other drainage laws. It is said that this law was prepared by one B. F. Gifford of Kankakee, 111., and through.his influence became a law. The law provides for two methods of forming districts, one by petition, and one by agreement. B. J. Gifford owns large bodies of land in Barkley, Gillam, Walker, and Wheatfield townships in this county and has cut large ditches through his lands by dredges and some of those ditches are said to be failures without additional work. Gifford succeeded in forming a drainage district under the agreement part of the law in which he had the small land owners at his mercy. The people appealed to the courts and the supreme court declared the agreement part of the law unconstitutional on the ground that the law “authorises the assessments of special benefits to one man’s property for the benefit of another even though the pro posed drain will not be of public utility and will not promote the public health. The other part of the law will doubtless be declared void when brought before the courts. The opinion was delivered by Judge Monks. The failure of the drainage district was a sore disappointment to Gifford, but he probably has other schemes to present to the coming legislature and he doubtless hopes to have a law enacted, by which he can compell the small land owners to contribute largely for the drainage of his lands, or sell their lands to.him at his own figures. There are only a few counties in this state that have an interest in the drainage laws and none greater than those that lav in the Kankakee valley. The senators and representatives of other counties have never specially investigated the ditch laws and are willing to listen to the statements of the land owners of the Kankakee region. The land owners of Barkley, Gillam, Walker, and Wheatfield townships, should send some man, who understands their interests to Indianapolis when the legislature convenes to appear before the drainage committee and represent their interests and to keep the committee informed as to the wants and needs of our people. They should not lay on their backs until Gifford has them bound hand and foot. Large land-owners are a curse to any country for he “who owns the soil owns the people on the soil because he controls the conditions by which they live.” This is not a party question, but a question of the existence of the people of those townships. Do they desire one man, a non-resi-dent of the state to control their destinies and eventually the destinies of the county? Some claim that Gifford has been a benefactor to this county. Who has he benefitted? Has it been the land-owners near Burk’s bridge, whose land he has overflowed and depreciated in value? Has it been Jasper county, which he has required to spend thousands of dollars to build bridges? Has it been the small land owners, whose land he has taken under contracts to drain them? Let the people arouse themselves before they become tenants of this man Gifford.

PRIVATE CITIZEN.