The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-01-15
FENCE CUTTING.
fhe Source OF the Trouble 10 be
Found
In iae Land Laws and Not In Hostility
Between Cluztns.
A Correspondent Suggests a Remedy

WEATEERT)sD. Jau. lO.-[Ediior Herald J
VIII you give ma space IN your columns
20 make q suggestion IN regard 10 the KIND
OF legislation That the troubles which have
been caused by the cutting OF wire
senoes require, In order 10 put an end 10
y am much interested In this matter, aud
Il sevais ~ ms that the root oithe diihoully
lies Ia the land laws, not Ia
any NATURAL hntagotism betr cen
sloosmen and farmers, - n sometimes
stated, Large tracts OF land adjoining
other large tracts without any roads be-
tween lheg have become private property
thus iormsnga solid mass OF estates, re-
semhNng hous- without hall or conf
dors, esch room Of which would be accessl-
BILE only by going through the others, The
railroad corporations alone have been OBJ
hged To locate for various public innds al
ternate sections Of their grants. No survey
OF public lands has ever hgen mads by tho
state. and no land has ever been reserved
Tor use by the public a. roads, except un'
authority OF tho several counties who
nIe easily induced by local pressure TO alter
the course OF roads 10 the intolerable IN
convenience Of the great body OF travel.
As soon as the different proprielors had o.
cason 10 fence their lands no one could 20 by
the shortest li1o from Que point 10 another
owing TO this extraordinary arrangement,
and what 1 particularly wish GO 10y u, that
AS tho travelling nublic, whether 4 cInrists
only 81 human beings or ui human bsinRs
driving beef TO market, thinks II hiss az IN
herent right TO get TO It's ohjecii'c point BY
reasonably direct road; no remedy short
OF providing highways will .stop the fence
Disturbance.
will endoayor 10 skov by an example
which has come under my personal OBJ
servallon the kind OF Inconvenience that
the tcnciug Of individual properties causes
owing TO this lack Of provision for perma'
nent fosdways. Four or q ge years ago an
open praire surrounded the town OF Fort
Worth. rhe Clear Fork Of trinity, Mary .
,reek aud several other streams run through
these prairies, and long before the era
OF railroads their valleys were
settled by thrifty farmers. whose
market both for salo and prrohRse
was at the county town. This they reached
~ roads $50 called public rosds) Leading
across the prairie from their several neigh
borhoodR. Gradually the owners OF The
prairie lands fenced their boundaries, and
IN these roads rsn acro1a their land they
either closed them, or turned them from
their course so ms to 20 around their 10 nee
corners. When this latter method was puT-
sued the track was thrown on To another
persons land. and rs soon as he, in hia
turn wished TO iencs. he threw II on to the
next mans land. until the roads became 60
crooked and obscure that whore onca "a
farmer could get TO market by driving i've
miles, he had IN some instances 20 go ten.
Similar cases occnr In the grazing cOun-
ties Iudiyiduas or corporations
buy tracts OF land many miles In
extent ana fence them, aud often include
in their pastures land over which they have
no legal rights. A man driving cattle north
wards comes suddenly 10 ienoe extending
east and west farther than bis eye can reach
NaU laN NN
the right to turn IL Ia either direction, FOR
many miles.
Now, IL is evident that this is all wroDG,
and that IL 10 that kind Of wrong and hard
chip which strikes men rs being ageiost
their Unborn rights. IL is that sort OF hing
which arouses the indignation which leads
to violence. Every locality has its grey
ance in this way, and 10 mauy IL seems ash I
che state will soon be 20 Distracted by tenc's
that no thoroughiares will exist. They look
forward, not without reason, 10 being cut
down to few tortuous aud illy-denned
wagon tracks, existing by the toleraucs OF
landowners, There cab be no doubt that
the citizens OF n state have right TO pro.
lection By the state In the maintenapce OF
thoroughfares, and such condition OF
things as now exists cannot 20 on, always
growing worse and worse, without causing
resistance by the community which Is ~
terribly inconven enced in its daily business
The rights of property are sacred, but II
is possible, under the present arrangement
that a public sentiment may be reused
which will be:too strong for the law to be
able to protect them. 1t issnot
question OF classes. In farming
counties fences belonging to farmers have
been cut by farmers, and In grazing coun
ties fences belonging TO stockmen nave peen
cut by stockmep. There is abroad in the state
su epidemic OF fence.cutting which respects
nothing, and no such epidemic has ever
prevailed without having behind 1t fonn-
dstion in public opinion. Hasty legisla
ton Is what we have now to dread. NO
such outbreak can he cured excspt by going
10 the root OF the matter. To my MIND the
Xuty Of the Legislature is plain. we ALI
lady have all necessary statutes for the
puniehment of trGspass and OF wanton de-
struct.on OF property. II will do no good
10 add more Nothing but n thorough sys-
tenn OF public roads will cure this
trouble. The condition OF our state in this
respect ~ such that no Temporary
remedies will be OF the least uss There
must be thor0ughfar es within reasonable
distances Of each other aud running in
reasonably direct lines between inhabited
points. and bet tween the ranges and their
markets. Such thoroughiares every mal
feels that he has a right 10 demand, an |
until the state provides them, many men
will think that IL IL no crime to make theta
NY plan would be to have the state make
and maintain roads between the county
seats, and for the counties to make aud
maintain roads running into these main
rosis according to the needs OF their citl-
yepe. When such roads intersect tie
state the Ire Of fence-cutting will die
Tor want OF fuel. These roads should lie
inyiolable, and should be well made. Some
land owners may think that they will sui.
Z fer by the state and counties taking their
land for this purpose, but venture to pre-
dict that the farms and pastures on these
roads will become the most valuable In the
state a. soon az oil uncertainty in regard TO
the permap sncy Of the roads Is removed.
All this OF course would DecessitHte q re-
neal of our present inefficient road laws.
No better use can be made of the surplus
OF the peoples money now In our state
treasury than In constructing such roads.
In the course Of this article / have men
toned % fact that in some cases corpora'
tione and individuals have included In
their pastures public as well rs private
lands over which they had no legal rights.
For such an evil as this would suggest the
passage OF an act making 1t penal offense
to do such thing.
Every lady uses Pozzoni's medicated
nou-l.r houaQbold