The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-04-28
Farm Law.

Farm Law.
1t is pleasant to note the decline of
litigation in the county courts of Yer
mont. Some, we see, attribute this to
the influence of the grange, the princi.
pies of which favor arbitration in all
cases. To some extent this may be
true, yet unless reports mislead us, one
of the most fercely contested lawsuits
now before one of our courts is between
two ex-masters of oranges. But we
are disposed to believe that an increase
of general knowledge among farmers
tends to convince them of the folly of
many kinds of having, while the ex-
perience of ruin wrought by suits over
comparatively small sums has opened
the eyes of others.
Still, farmers as a class are believed
to be rather litigiously disposed, and
their admiration for smart lawyers prac-
tically enables that class to control and
divide among themselves about all the
prominent offices. We think there is
no doubt of the truth of the charge
made that farmers will, as a rule, vote
against rather than for a brother
farmer for any important Office when a
lawyer is the contestant. In the old
times, when the lawyers depended
mainly upon the people for employ
ment, there was no particular harm
done by this, for the lawyers in office
were naturally loyal to the constituency
which gave them business. But since
the rise of so many great and powerful
corporations, able to pay large fees,
and making it a practice to retain per-
manently all the able lawyers in locali-
ties where they are liable to suits, the
allegiance of the legal profession to the
common people has failed. They are
no longer the tribunes of the people in
our legislative bodies, but rather the
ready and willing agents of great cor
porate properties. We have heard it
said that this fact is the real cause of
the decline of litigation in minor cases,
the small litigants feeling sure that they
can rarely if ever hope to win a case
against corporations, or against men
connected in any way with them.
1t seems to us that the interest of
the farming class in legal questions has
really in no wise abated, and it is quite
natural that in the many cases connected
with real estate, with family relations
and with hired help, as we'll as in mat
tiers relating to purchase and sale of
live stock and crops, they should be
anxious for information. One of our
brightest exchanges, the NeC England
Homestead, supports legal depart
ment, with skilled lawyer at its head
and every week prints its column or
more of questions and answers on legal
matters. These are useful, no doubt,
but still of quite limited use, while the
delay, the brevity, and the rule of not
answering the same question twice,
must make it very unsatisfactory to
many. Like other farmers, we too are
interested in farm law, and a recent
notice of book on the subject induced
us to send for it. AS we find it to be
just what we wanted, and fully adapted
to the requirements of farmers who
may need to know thoroughly and
promptly what their legal rights and
obligations may be in any given case
we have thought we should do oul
readers a service by calling their atten.
ton thereto. The title of the work is
"The Law concerning Farms, Farmers
and Farm Laborers, together with the
Game Laws of all the States, by Henry
Austin, Esq, of the Boston Bar. Bos
ton: Charles G. Soule, Law Publisher
1886" 1t is written in plain and un
technical language, and is designed tC
cover all topics of general interest tC
the farmer. An examination shows
the work to have been well done. The
heads of chapters are as follows: The
Farmer and his Laborer; Landlord anC
Tenant; Law pertaining to Domestic
Animals; Warranting of Soundness o
Animals; The Law in regard to Ma
nure; The Sale of Crops and Timber
Liability for Damage caused by Fire
General Principles of Law as to Rea
Property; Private and Public Ways
The Law of Boundaries and Fences
Overhanging Trees; Water Rights
The Right to Collect Sea-weed; Game
Laws; Requirements as to Acknowl
edgment, etc., of Deeds throughout The