The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1871-09-28
For the Advertiser.
THE HERD LAW.

In the absence of an "abler pen,"
mine is at his service, and answers:
First, it will bring every man within
his own limits, equally preventing the
rich from crushing out-rather eating
out-the man of small means, and the
indolent and worthless from cking out
the living of their stock by infringe
ments continually upon their more
wealthy neighbors.
As the law now is, any man owning
fifty or q hundred head, or less, of cattle,
can turn his whole herd into the road,
if he is so disposed, and no one can pre-
vent him, even though he may not own
foot Of land that is furnished for road
purposes. Nor can cent of damage be
recovered from him for any injury done
by his herd upon the farms along the
roads his cattle may travel in search of
their food, unless every rod of all the
fence along each farm SO trespassed upon
is made of good material, well put up,
and is tifty-four inches high.
An further. AS the law now is, even
|
owners by common consent and for their
own convenience do restrain their stock.
and will continue TO do so, and hence
could find all their road fields amply
protected with fence lighter and much
less expensive than that now required,
yet, because there lives in their neigh
borhood, or some adjacent corner, some
worthless fellow who has ONE or more
cows which he wishes to pasture in the
road, they are compelled to incur the
additional expense Of building the heavy
| fence required, and of keeping that fence
! in continual repair, which We find, on
our own farm, to be equal to about one
| twelfth per annum of the first cost of the
fence Itself. This being true, the cost to
such neighborhood for keeping poor
mans cow-he seldom has more than
one-can readily be seen. Thecow will
use at least four miles of road that will
require eight miles of fence, each mile
Of which will cost in material and build
ing, $l25 more than lighter one, which
answer the needs of the land owners
equally as well, if that COW or others
were not expected to be there. Hence,
at the outset, 81 900 must be expended
by the farmers of that eighborhood in
the building of their fences for that poor
mans especial benefit, which, with the
interest on the same, amounts to $500
per year, which sum that neighborhood
actually pays for the privilege of pastur-
ing poor mans cow, which he too often
receives rs 10 mark of favor from the
donors, but, iord-Iike, claims it as his
right, and complains of hard heartedness
and i'll treatment if his COW is not al
lowed to enter every open gate that may
be found along the whole roadway she
travels.
Let the law pass and it will do away
with all this ability to crush Oh the one
hand and to tax for the special benefit
of a few on the other. 1t will do more.
1t will preserve kind feelings among
neighbors by removing one of the most
prolific sources of i'll feeling among them.
1t will prevent the needless expendit-
} u:s of much money by greatly reducing
if not wholly preventing the many law
trespassing cattle.
twill save much property besides that
saved in building of road fences. 1t will
greatly lessen the wear and tear of those
fences hence they will last much lon
ger
1t will call the crops now destroyed
by stock trespassiDg from the roads.
Furthermore, it will save all the time
now lost in driving trespassing cattle
from the fields, and the ill feeling and
f-etfulness consequent upon such tres.
passing.
1t will also save stock from vast
ceive, and induce many farmers to take
much better care of their cattle than
they now do, because they will have
them Immediately around them, and
= hence can see and know their wants fal
G better than they now do.
And finally, we contend that it viii
: contribute to a higher state Of civilza
b ton and refinement among the citizen!
= of our county than can be made to exist
# in any other way. This it will csrtainl
J. accomplish. 1t will cause every MAJ
!, whose cattle yard is now in front of hi
d door, aud on grounds kept for public use
It to remove his stock to such parts of hi
premises as will prevent their being
it either public evil or aprivate nuisance
So much, Mr. Editor, in reply to you
IS correspondent IN )" and now few
q words further for your readers in gen
u eral.
n Having, some time since. become
3 aware that the question of the Here
Law was again to be submitted to tn
- action Of the people, took the libert.
e some weeks ago of addressing our Stat
h Attorney, the Hon. Henry OConnor
a on the subject, and respectfully requeste'
- o: him full expression of his opinion
d of this law on other laws touching fences
" should it become the adopted law of on
. county. His reply was this: "Hs actio
70 ,UiU interfere Nth no existing ia,os."
c. Such, from the commencement, liza
4 been my opinion, and knowing the ben
70 efits derived from a similar law in othe
=. States, have been exceedingly anxiou
of to have it become the established law
De our county.
AGRICOLA.