The Sunday globe., 1901-08-11
DEAD ANIMALS.
Attempted COnfiScatiOn of Citize MS
Proprietary Interest in Them.
COMMISSIONERS ASSUMPTION
In SaJng Who Shall Remove Dead Animals.
0VesteppIng Their Authority Ia COnfIsOathg
The Proprietary Interest VI The Citizen In
The Same-The Case Of Mr.. Mann and The
Washington Fertilizer Company


Among the many absurdities Of the
District government, the one of dis
posing of a citizens private property,
without consulting him in the matter,
is one Of the most glaring and irritat-
ing. The three Commissioners exer-
else this king1y privilege to the fullest
extent
To illustrate, for instance a citizen
owns a valuable horse, COW, dog or
other animal To the modesty of tho
Commissioners, be it said, they recog-
nize the ownership In the said animal
while it is alive and do not attempt to
confiscate it. But, no sooner has the
breath left the body of the quadruped
than the citizens proprietary right in
the animal is peremptOrily confis-
Gated by the Commissioners, and a con-
cern known as the Washington Fer.
tilizing Company becomes sole owner
without purchase or compensation
Suppose a member of this concern is
talking with you while you are sitting
in your buggy or carriage would you
not feel surprised should this fertilizer
man claim the horse or horses you
were driving as his property without
purchase or price paid OF course you
would, and a jury Of inquest would
send the fertilizing man to st. Eliza
beth's. But, presto, let the horses drop
dead and not you but the fertilizing
man goes to st. Elizabeth's If you per-
sist in claiming them as yOUr prop
erty They are no longer yours, but
the property Of the Washington Fer
tilizing Company! This is strange, but
il is true in fact. You can sell your
clothes, your furniture your house or
household goods, but you can not sell
your dead horse, although In life the
animal was your property
This is practically the situation, al
though the law nowhere endows the
Trinity at the District building with
power to thus summarily rob a citizen.
Under the law, the Commissioners, 1t
is conceded, have the right, in the in
terests Of the public health, to pre-
scribe the manner of the removal Of
carrion, ashes, garbage, etc, But there
their legal authority ends. They have
no legal right in designating a citi-
zen's dead horse, dog, pig or other ami
NAL carrion to say who owns the dead
property or who shall take it, The
owner has the undOubted right to dis
pose of it to whomsoeyer he pleases
and obtain in cash for the carcass
whatever he can get Provided, al
ways, of course, that the dead animal
is removed according to the prescribed
manner and that it does not become
a nuisance Nobody claims that the
proprietor Of a dead animal has a
right to hawk IL for the highest cash
price or keep il on his premises as
nuisance and dangerous TO the pubic
health. But it Is Overstepping TIE
bounds of their authority when the
Commissioners decide that only a Ger.
tain person or persons can secure and
remove the carcass.
There are in every city ordinances
providing for the removal of garbage,
ashes, and dead animals, but in no city
of our acquaintance is any citizen
given monopoly Of removing the car
casses Of animals az all such have a
more or less marketable value. Any
proprietor Of fertilizing works is per.
mittes to remove dead animals, the
ordinance simply providing for the
manner or vehicles for their removal.
First on the ground gets the animal
at the stipulated market price for dead
animals, and in this manner the car
cass is not left, as has frequently hap
pened in this city until it becomes
nuisance and a menace to the public
| health
The Commissioners have the un.
, doubted legal and public right to pre-
scribe the manner and method Of re-
mOval, but, as stated, they are assum-
ing an irritating and an unjustihable
privilege when they assume the right
to contiscate a citizens property inter-
est in his dead horse A hog, Weighing
over 200 pounds, is valuable dead.
Lard and fat can ge secured to the
amount of several dollars. Is the citi-
zen to be barred from selling this dead
hog to a citizen owning a fertilizing
works because the Commissioners
! choose to designate the Washington
| Fertilizing Company as the party to
remove it? The Fertili2ing Company
will not pay the citizen a penny for his
hog but gobbles it up as il it were their
personal property
It is just this kind OF an injustice
| to which Mr.. Mann, who owns a fer
! tilizug works, has been subjected by
| the Commissioners Mr.. Mann pays
! the cash value OF the dead animal and
! instantly removes it from the prem
| ises. The Commissioners refuse him
| a permit to do so. He has the pre-
! scribed vehicle for removing the ami
NAL, and in every other way complies
with the provisions, but because the
| Commissioners assume the privilege Of
| designating one COuseru-in this case
! the Washington Eertilizing Company
to have the monopoly, Mr., Mann is de-
MED a permit. Thus the citizen who
owns the dead animal is cheated out OF
the money Mr.. Mann is willing TO pay
| for the carcass and the animal is left
! lay until the fertilizlng company
| chooses to remove it,
The Commissioners are thus encour-
| aging instead of abating a nuisance,
! for If only one person or hrm can re-
! move dead animals it follows and
/ stands to reason they will take their
! time about it, being in no apprehension
! that anybody else will be given a per.
nit
Mr. Mann proposes to go into court
| and make a test case Of his purchase
! OF ueau animal the past week, where
i'm the Commissioners refused him a
permit for its removal Mr.. Mann will
undoubtedly win the case, and, mean.
tine, II may just as we'll be stated that
he Is still paying the market price for
dead animals and will continue to dc
| SO.
Carolina Brights are not made by Trust.
|