The daily gazette., 1877-01-24
Letter. from Samuel To,cnssnd.
For the Delaware Gazette.


MIR. .EDIToR.A have received COPY
OF proposed new law in regard to dogs
in this county. Except Wilmington its
ntle Is an act to protect sheep, calves,
(either two or four legged 1t does not say)
pigs and poultry. This bill was introduce
ed by Mr.. Ray and suppose some wool
len manufacturer is at the bottom of it
Now with all the abuse of dogs, and all
the FOSTERING up OF sheep, last Summer,
of those Woollen Manufacturers paid the
large and liberal sum of twenty cents q
pound for wool, and there is many sheen
that do not produce more than three
pounds, and a fair average is 4 or 5pounds
then you have from sixty cents, eighty
cents and one dollar, is the product Of
one seeep enc year, and deduct ten cents
for shearing and taking the wool to mar
ket, and you have from SO to 90 cents for
Keeping the sheepan entire year, clear of
the lambs and they are very uncertain
y ow 1T is proposed to tax dogs heavily,
or shoot and dsetroy them, for the intro
duction of the most cowardly of all
known stock, and also Improbable and
Of this the farmers well know, and there
fore that is the reason farmers do notin-
crease the number. Now dogs are the
countrymen's police, watch his owners
life and property while he is asleep;
bite any Of his stock when ordered to-
Now this law prevents a dog obeying his
master, and many small dogs from obey
Ing their mistress who may have little
dogs to run chickens out ofthe garden or
catch chicken when one is wanted
to broil. This Ray dog law, is worse
than the old Blue Laws of Connecticut,
which did not allow man to kiss his
wife on Sunday, or q man to take chew
of tobacco unless he was 10 miles from
nowheres. And further it says if man
refuses to pay 81 25 cents tax on. dog
the constable shall go on the owners g
liberty would their be lett the people, ifa
Delaware Legislature could empower q
constable in New Castle county to go on
a mans property and shoot his dog Tor If
they can give power to shoot a dog they
can give power to shoot a horse an OK or
any other property. Now 1 will say this
to my friend Ray, if you get this bill
levy court of our own county, to appoint
one or two hundred extra constab1es in
this dog district, for am satisfied when
any said constable goes on mans prop
erty after being forbid to enter, ,and often
against this notice enters said premises
and shoots an owners dog, said owner in
a very large number of cases, will shoot
said constables. Therefore q large num-
Der will be needed, and make the Coro-
ners office worth looking after, mind
DeldDaTe LegiSldtltre is not supreme, for
one half the laws passed in legal point
of view, are not worth the paper it takes
to write them on. Instead of dogs being
prescribed and taxed they should be left
free and untrameled, for there is no other
beast so near in sympathy with man as
the dog; he lays on the door step and
guards his masters life while he sleeps;
he bites what his master tells him, and if
some cowardly sheep happens to be in
his way when he is hungry and he hap
pens to eat one of them, it is but small
sin, compared with his many coed acts
If these sheep raisers would have good
)en and put their cowardly sheep up
every night, their would be none killed,
1ut it is lazincss and neglect to put the
'heep up. L was told by our assessor the
,ther day that there was 400 dogs in Ap-
)oquinimink hundred, 100 belonging to
white people, and 250 to black people,
hat there had been sixty dollars in all
collected, one third or twenty dollars
If that went to the.school fund.- the col
ector got six dollars for collecting, and
he assessor 10 cents head or forty dol
ars for assessing, thus the levy court had
o pay out six dollars as loss to the county
All dog laws that have ever known in
Delaware are unpopular, and lest year it
vas said the Democratic party in Sussex
ounty was in danger of defeat on ac-
ount of dog law. Now Mr.. Ray do
lot jeopardize the party in this county if
'ou do yourself with dog law. You had
'etter let the sheepists blate.
SAMUEL TOWNSEND.
Townsend, Jan. 22d, 1877.