The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1883-02-16

AT he Twelfth session Of the Montana
Legislature an aet was passed providing for.
the payment Of stock killed or Injured by
railroads, and fer other purposes. II fxed-a
,rbsduIe Of rates for calves, cows, steers and
si,+rp, sad provided that thoroughbred cattle
ei,d sheep. hones, mules, etc, should DO
paid for n their cash marketable value. The
xct sIaO prescribed tbc duty Of railroad CON-
Yaniss In taking precautions sesinst hres
sesng started by sparks from locomotives,
but threngh IN omission In the oct this sec
ton was practically imperative. At the
present session Hen. Joseph A. Baker has
iptroaucsd . bill, known - III. b. 43,
sAsndtns t. I've ssctions above referred to.
rhs principal change In section 2, y increAs-
In taa price fer osdlasry stock killed. We
sise bsieS tie sehsaals - 1t Pressst exist
iss, esd sIss ~ schedule a. sreyussd BY
the asssadmsnk:
Ysarhngx.. $40 81
Txsycsrs ed............ -
Cow years and over. 80
Steers years and crsr
tuhbroksA1. ........... -
Work osstlc, .escA....... - ID
hhSer, each..............
The snsadment apSssrs to bsttsr cfsssify
stock taAn the prssas lay, and che increased
rsts h no< cat Of psepeytion to tia advance
In The prios ef eskt,s during the pest tSo
yesrs.
The amsndaass, 70 section We give
entire:
sacrsoa 7. It shall be the duty of all
rsiirSsA eosysrstisas, Or ell raiircsf corr
ssaIss osssssins any railrssA within this
Territory, 70 kssp tas ssscs on either side OF
tAsir tsscA for o distsscs Of two hundred
feet from NE centsr Of their road bs5s free
from the dsnssr Of any Are that may be IT,
nitsd by csnss Of sparts from the ssginss Of
Sid companies, or othrvise, from spread
Ing ca The adjoining lend. BY either plowiag
or burning space Of mot less than two hun
ared '(2o0) feet from TIE center ofsaid road
bed, and shall sss o. all engines good spark
srrstsr presided: That whore 1t may be-
utterly inprsctieabls to either piow or burn
said space, ssid companies or corporations
shall use such precautions - may be rec
essAry to prevent any FIRE frem spreading
that may be ignitsd by any Of their engines
or otherwise; and any railroad company Or
corporation 20 failing to protect tbs space on
each side Of their track as above specified,
shall be liable for any damages which may
occur from FIRE emanatIng from any opsr-
ating railroad, and a'neglsct to comply with
the provisions Of this act shall be prina Jacie
evidence Of negligence on the part Of any
railroad corporation 30 operating within the
Territory Of Montana.
This section Ia net 30 web considered. In
the first place, only the Northern Pacific hiss
400 feet Of right Of way at all, and where
they have purchased the right, have, In some
cases at least, only acquired 200 feet. The
Utah e. Northern has only 200 feet. . So 1t
would not be convenient for them, to put IL
mildly; to 60 tearing up with plows or laying
waste with torches ten foot strip In fields
and forests belonging to the gentle rancher
or the United States. While no penalty Is
attached to negiecting this, except liability
for fires which may be ignited from their
engines, and this liability is provided for
otherwise, 1t would be better that this absurd
requirement should not 60 on the statute
book. We presume the railroad companies
would much prefer paying any losses that
may be occasioned by fires originating from
their engines, and certainly the settlers
would prefer that access to their crossings
should not be over plowed ground, even
where the road has 400 feet way. The
liability of railroad companies should be
well defined, but the "duty" imposed above
does not appear to be well considered.