Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1909-04-15

RAILROAD OBJECTS
i. c. Attacks Constitutional.
ty of Drainage Law 81
Objects to Paying 10000 AS
sessment For Lateral
Matter To Be Heard Drainage
Board Wednesday
Numerous Other Grounds Al
legged Against Assessment
Allowance to Macrae
Numerous Other Grounds Al.

Allowance toMacrae
Nonpareil, April 1l.-Seth
Dean, engineer for the Har1i-
SON Pottawattamie drainage
district, was here yesterday
preparing his report to be pre-.
sented to the board. He states
that, while he cannot set a def
mite date for the completion of
the ditch work, the end is be-
ginning to become visible. A. B.
Hosbrook Of Mo Valley, MEM
Der of the board of supervisors
of Harrison county, was also in
the city in connection with
ditch matters.
The constitutionality Of the
section of the Iowa code provi-
ding for subdrainage districts
is attacked in an objection filed
yesterday in the Office of the
county auditor by the Illinois
Central Railroad company to
the assessment Of $4,000 made
against the company for the
lateral ditch in Harrison-P otta-
wattamie district No. l. The
hearing on the assessments
made by the commissioners is
to take place next Wednesday
at Logan, with the boards { f
supervisors OF Harrison al d
Pottawattalnie counties sitting
as g joint drainage board.
The ditch in question is COM
monly known as Boyer lateral
No. /, and runs from the up
per end of cutoff No. 2 for a
distance of six miles up tie
Boyer river. The entire later
al is in Harrison county in tie
vicinity Of Mo Valley.
THE LAW COMPLAINED OF
Tia. section Of the code the
coastitutionality Of which is
denied is No. 1885. a23, It pro-
viies that person whose lar d
assessed for benefits, is separs-
ted by other land from the
ditch for which it has been as-
sessed, may, il he cannot agree
with the owners of the othsr
land for construction of a lat
eral to drain his own property
file petition for the establish
ment Of a subdistrict. Pro-
ceedings are then carried on in
the same manner as provided
for original districts. The Sec
ton of the code states that the
sub district drain constructed
"shall be considered to be con-
ducive to the public health,
welfare, convenience and util-
ity" for the promotion of which
the original district was estab-
lished.
It is charged, in objection to
the law, that it permits the es-
Enlistment Of the subdistrict
whether or not there is a pub
lie necessity and whether the
benifit to be derived is private
or public. The protest alleges
that the constitution does not
permit the taking Of private
property for private purposes.
OTHER OBJECTIONS RAISED
In the objection filed by the
railway company, numerous
other grounds than the matter
Of constitutionality are alleged,
lit being claimed that the law
as it stands, was not complied
with.
Among the grounds stated in
the document are, that there
was no showing that the petit
toner for the ditch and those
over whose land it was to go
were unable to agree upon its
construction and that there
were no classification of prop
erty and no permanent survey
showing the levels and eleva-
tion of each forty-acre tract.
The Illinois Central also
claims that the commissioners