The herald., 1897-05-10

field inspectors ana SubOrdinateS might
prove during a political campaign.
Everyone whose vote was doubtful
might be removed at will by the COM
missioners who, secure in their own posi-
tions, could arrange things to suit them
selves.
On the other hand there Is, at least, one
good feature in the new bill-good simply
by comparison with the old law bearing
upon the subject. At the present time
there are bills outstanding against
orchardists in this county aggregating
over $e00O and the reason for this large
accumulated indebtedness lies with the
detective horticultural law.
Somewhere about 1891 a quantity of
trees were brought from Florida and
planted out, and sometime later they
were found to be infected with what IS
known as the purple scale. At that time,
however, 1t was not recognized and the
means to combat its ravages were purely
experimental. Under the direction of the
then horticultural commissioners spray
ing the trees and the other methods then
known, were tried with Indifferent sue
cess. Better success attended the ex-
pertinent of fumigation, and so the board
OF supervisors bought fumigating
plant at cost of about $780, But for
three years the growers had hard time
and to enforce payment of the bills for
fumigation of orchards meant, in reality,
the selling out the properties. Under
these circumstances the supervisors de-
termined to act fairly and give the in
debted orchardists time to pay for the
work done, for while particularly bene-
fcial to the individual orchardist the
fumigation was also made, necessary as
protection to the county. If this liberal
course had not been pursued there is
every reason to suppose that in the Rive
ra Downey and part of Whittier districts
the purple scale would have proved as
great curse as the white scale.
But there are always those who prey
upon the good nature of their fellows
and who pay their bills not because they
as honorable men feel morally bound to
do SO, but because they have to; when
this pressure is removed they refuse
Some of the orchardists invoked the
statute of limitations, while others lay
back and didn't pay, and that's all there
was to it. The board of supervisors in
structed the district attorney to notify
the delinquents that they must pay up
or stand the consequences, and this was
done, but without any very striking re-
suits. The old law provided that any
money expended for the benefit of an
orchardist should become lien on the
property, but no means We're provided
for enforcing the lien. Ordinarily when
lien is' filed some registration is made
CT the fact and an innocent purchaser is
protected. For instance, when person
gives his note its payment is secured by
a mortgage and that is recorded, and the
property can never be purchased by any
one unwittingly and not knowing of the
Indebtedness upon the property. But in
the fumigation business the only way in
which lien could be placed upon the
property was by instituting an action
to recover the Indebtedness and have the
court declare the amount lien. When
that was done it might be found that the
property had changed hands and the last
purchaser be called upon to pay $500 or
5000 for which he had received nothing,
having purchased the orchard as it stood
AS an easy way out Of the difficulty
the board of supervisors passed a reso-
luton on December 81, 1896, to the effect
that if the orchardists owing money to
the commission would pay SO per cent
of their accounts they would be abeolved
from the other half. Some took ad-
vantage of the offer, but the majority
did not, and there is yet, as already
stated, over $4,000 due A large propor-
ton of this is profit to the county, for
on all work done by the commissioners
Is per cent was added for plant account.
and that is now clear. The district
attorney is now engaged in the
work of drawing up notices for SER
vices upon the delinquents, nearly
all of whom are in the Rivera, Downey
and Whittier districts, and in the event
of failure to pay suits to recover will be
begun. This list of delinquents is made
IN fo11oUc.