Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 April 1894 — IROQUOIS DITCH. [ARTICLE]

IROQUOIS DITCH.

Editor Republican ’ The com-mentsof-the Republican us fast weeir ! seems to call for a few further remarks on land and water, rights. The question of whether the lower land is bound to receive water from the upper has vexed neighbors, lawyers, legislatures and courts ever since the dawn of civilization. The , 1 Supreme Court of this state have! tried to define and adjust these rights. j If the higher land hath an outlet; by a well defined natural watercourse I with a sufficient. channel and banks I to prot ct the lower from overflow, ; or the upper hath procured the right to keep a channel open by purchase, by ditch piece-.dii:gß, or by-long usage bn a claim of right, then the lower must take the water. See Reed vs. Cheney, 111 Ind. 387. The mere flowage of water however long gives no right. See Conner vs. Woodfall 126 Ind. 85. The upper owner can not gather the water from his land into ditches and discharge it upon lower lands without a contract or a ditch diteh proceeding. See Weddell et al vs. Hapner, 124 jnd. 315. A ditch improvement settles the vexed question. Is it not better to ditch than to law? Any man may in the absence of a right secured by purchase or gift erect on his own land such barriers as he pleases to ward off the surface water and floods. The object and purpose of making a public ditch is to settle cheaply the rights’of land owners touching direct drainage and an outlet. Above the rapids it is questionable whether the Iroquois hath had a legal channel. Above Alter’s mill it is an artificial ditch. Above the Groom •bridge there was no channel before the mill dam was removed. The law of 1891 requires the court to find a sufficient outlet. The - judgment of the court will protect land owners. The payment of any sum however small fixes one’s rights to use the ditches constructeel from the nearest available point to the outlet. The costs of location have been incurred. The ditches are described. The whole cost has been estimated. The lai d owners have been notified. They have a right to be heard and be bound by the court’s decision. It seems to me that now is the accepted time to order the work done. Each accounting prorata for the probable 1 effect on the value of our land. The county commissioners have decreed that the improvement ought to be made. I believe each member of that court desires that justice be meted to each of us. The levels show that my land in township 30, range 7 west is on a much higher plain than the Loughridge marsh in township 29, range 6. My land is adjusted to artificial ditches. I am willing to pay my share towards the construction of a common outlet. We are at the cross-roads. If the improvemeat is made the rich, deep soil along the lower Iroquois and Pinkamink will be greatly increased in value. The cheap thin, sandy lands can not bear the assessment as well. Put yourself in the other fellow's fellows place and do as you would have him do. The stoppage of this improvement will sound a retreat in our march toward a better condition. lam not in favor of taking the backward step. It is as easy to lessen or cheapen the excavation now as at any time in the future. Under the statute we can have twenty-two years to pay our share of the cost. I wish we could all proceed in mutual peace and

harmony.

SIMON P. THOMPSON.