VOL. XXV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., JAN. 11, 1890
%ixxvt gcpat-iwcut.
BY VINSON CARTER, E_Q., THIS CITV.
Correspondents who desire an immediate reply to
their queries should enclose a stamp for tbe purpose.
Who will employ the teachers in township si-liools for next winter? Will it be
tin* present township trustee or his successor to be elected next spring.
Kx Pedagoguk.
The trustee to bo elected next spring
must supply the teacher..
I would ask if there is any law to make
branch highways out of a road that has
been in use for 20 years or more and always
kept in repair, by the landlords, that have
alioutfJi road tax to work? Said road is
about one mile long and in bad fix.
Lawrenceburg. H. J.
There is no such thing as a branch highway. If a road has been used by the public for 20 years it is a public highway, and
must be kept in repair by the road supervisor.
I subscribed for a paper in 1888, paid for
full term of subscription. The paper has
come every since regularly, I have been
notified lately of back dues. What are my
liabilities or what is tho law? I have been
taking it out of the office. 1. A. W.
Marion Co.
You are liable for the subscription price
from the time of tho expiration of the original subscription. Where a party takes
the paper from the post office he is liable
for the subscription. If want that paper
stopped you should notify the publishers
to cease sending it.
I have two neighbors whose farms join, a
large stream being the line. This stream
makes abend in the shape of horso-. hoe.
This bend contains about livo acres, now
if the stream should change it. bed would
tills bend still belongto the present ownor,
or would it go to the man on tbe other side?
Monroe Co. J. H.
If the bank of tlie stream gradually wears
away on one side, and accretions are deposited on the other, the middle of stream
still continues to be the dividing line, but
if the stream suddenly forms a new bed, so
as to cut oft'a tract of land and leave it on
the other side then the old bed would continue to be the line—and the land cut off
would still belong to the former owner.
A owns 200 acres of land. Is the title to
the land derived from the Government
not .perfect without the original patent?
They have searched the records antl found
that the original patent to the land has
never been procured, or made of record.
To pay the cost now on tiie said patent
will it be secure hereafter? W.
(Jibson Co.
If the tract book of entries shows that
the land was entered hy the man who afterwards conveyed it, the title is all right,
without having the patent recorded.
The records in the I_and Department in
tho office of the Auditor of State will show
tho entry and a certified copy from the
Auditor of State will be sufficient evidence
of title.
I wish to ask a few questions for immediate information, but will stute the case
lirst. Parties petition the county for the
laying out and establishing of a certain
highway. The commissioners on hearing
said petition, appoint viewers to view the
line of proposed, highway and report in due
time on utility of the road. The viewers
proceed to view the lino of road and report
favorably,. or that the road as proposed
would be of public utility. The owners of
tho land through which the proposed road
would pass, together with a large number
of others, remonstrate and ask the commissioners for a review, which is granted
and the reviewers report the road not of
public utility, or the reverse of the first reviewers report. At this point it is discov-
covered that one ; of the reviewers is a
brother-in-law to one of the remonstrators,
through whose land the road would pass if
established. On this technicality the petitioners appeal to the Circuit Court and ask to
have the review set aside,' and sue the remonstrators for said road. The Court took
jurisdiction and the case was tried on the
grounds of utility alone. The remonstrators filed a claim for damage, when the
case went into   Court  but the Court ruled
damages out. claiming that nothing could ! as the result of his six years work. \*4}fis
now be heard that was not in question be- I., *)iUi showing, Dr. 15., of these elark _*-
fore the commissioners.   Thus the case was |   , ...■.*„,. sm,.,k.    Yet this vonnu- mm
tried anel resulted in a verelict in favor of | °r "1,1CU ■*ou sl)C**k? *et ll*ls J oanK "lan
the remonstrators, or the elefense in Court; j has <*<»*o nothing that with strict atten-
at any rate the petitioners lost the case both   tion to business any other  young should
not do.
One otlier instance that  has conic under
my observation.    A young man having a
', wife and two small children, bought an SO
NO. 2
This
with tlie reviewers anil in Court also
is a corree*t statement of the e*ase.
Now for the questions:
1.   Woultl one of the  reviewers being  a
brother-in-law to ono of the remonstrators,
WmE^toSHL HS^S?*'   ren"er ! '■-«- '•-"■• -n '•'>- -■■■■-««'••* rn.ighborh.KKl
2. Did the   Court  have  jurisdiction in !
such a case?
3. Who pays the costs?
4. If the attorneys for the elefense tlid
not ask to have the* ease set aside would
that make any elitl'erence as to who pays
costs?
5. When the petitioners apjiealed to tlie
Circuit Court could the remonstrators then
come in and ask for elamages? having not
remonstrated for damages beforo the Commissioners Court.
I . Was not the whole matter settled before the < 'ommissioners   when the review*
The price paiel was $5,000. He paid 82,500
down and gave a mortgage on the farm for
the*reinaining *2,5(X), at 6 per cent interest
per annum.
In addition to this tlie farm had been
neglected and was in a bad state of repair,
requiring a great deal of work to be done
upon Jt before it would lie in sucl* a state
eif cultivation as to give good crop returns.
That was four years ago. I have watched
with interest   this   young   man's struggle
h$****fy, 1800. Kach connty is entitled
e delegate for every 100 member, and
fraction over 50, and one at large; also
where counties have no County Assemblies, subordinate lodges can senel representatives. At said meeting I will make
known to you the propositions of the Kx-
change. Direct all letters to W. J. Cox,
Wadesville.
—Where is your State meeting of the 1st
Tuesday in Feb., to be held.
ers reported the road not of.public utility? J with debt, for it seemed to me the load was
Are   not the petitioners or  plaintitl.   too heavy   for   him   te>  carry.   Hut I find
in the case liable for  all the costs made bv
both parties in the case?
upon   investigation   that   he
lias maele a
_.   "Can not tho commissioners be made I *-*r°ofl* <'<>mfe.i*table living   for  his  family,
to pay the costs? has kept  the   interest   regularly paiel up,
Does not the  law   describe who the   i*ils reduced   the   principal bv al. mt ?•_K),
_. +!,_ .*•_.....   _l...ll    ....ll__e   ____  .__._.  1 * * *-
and has improved his farm by fencing anil
collect fees from?
K. T. W.
Clerk of the Court shall
Henry Co
1. No.
2. Yes.
3. Tho parties   who lost the   case must
pay costs.
4. No.    .
"*•   Xo*
(>.   The petitioner.,   liael the' right to appeal to the Circuit Court.   .
7. Yes—for  all costs  mado   on tho appeal.
8. Yes.
9. Yes.
Life on an 80 Acre Farm—An Answer to
Dr.  E.
Keillor. Indiana Farmer:
In the issue of the Indiana Farmer for
Jan. 4th, Dr. 15. in a well written but rather
unfair article, shows tlie unfair, elark side
of a farmer's life; the illustration of which
he makes use, is thatofayoung farmer who
goes into debt on an 80 acre farm, and by a
series of reverses loses everything lie possesses and finally degenerates inte. a common day laborer. I claim that the Dr. is
unfair for several reasons. Ho represents
his hero as not only having to pay 8 per
cent per annum for the use of the money,
an exhorbitant rate of interest, but also as
having to pay a loan agent a fee for procuring the loan of the money for him.
Dr. R. must live in a queer country.    In
this enlightened   part  of  Indiana,   John ,
Jones would find plenty of men who would   s,lmvs of "f ,i0 winters can remember dark
ditching until it is worth §10 more on the
acre than it was when lie purchased it four
years ago. If that man lives and no evil
fortune befalls him, in ten years he will
be out of debt, and have a well improved
farm that will supply himself and family
with a comfortable income all the re>st of
their lives.
These arc fai'ts, Dr. It., and go to prove
that dull as times are, and being a farmer
myself, I acknowledge that they are terribly dull, there is no necessity for a man to
starve or his family to come to want upon
80 acres of good funning land. It is true
that times are dull upon the farm, but in
what avocation or business in life would
you go for an improvement? .So into the
store eif any merchant; go into the shop of
any mechanic, and you will hear the same
story of dull times. We cannot all till
county offices, Dr. 15., with salaries of from
four to ten thousand a year. If we could,
there wouldn't be any farmers. There are
only a limited number of such places to lie
had, and there are always plenty of men
after them. Why, then, should we strive
after the unattainable? Brother fanners,
my advice to each antl every one of you is,
stick to your farm.
It is trite that times are hard and prospects are dark, but the darkest time is just
before the dawn. Many of you whose
iieads   have  not   been   whitened   bv the
be glad to loan the amount he required
upon as good security as lie offered, at a i
less rate than 8 per cent. He would be
under no necessity to resort to a loan agent
and pay that individual from $50 to $100
for procuring him   the loan of the money.
Whilo there are doubtless many cases
such as Dr. R. describes, lie will lind, if he
chooses to investigate, that many men are
living comfortably and supporting families not only upon 80 but 40 acre farms.
I will give an instance, which has come
under my immediate notice, of a young
man who, at the deatli of his father, six
years ago, was left with a horse and buggy
and 80 acres of unimproved land. He was
not married, but he promptly rented 200
acres of improved land, paying cash rent,
er times and lowerprices than the present;
and you will not have to live many years
longer to see better times and prices again.
There is bound to be a reaction and when
it comes and the prices of farm products ge>
back to their old standard, and the golden
smile of plenty over spreads the face of this
fair land of ours once more, we will all be
glad that we are still doing business at the
old stand, and have not turned our backs
on the farm. A.  /..
(ircensburg. '
State Business Association—Announcement.
Ktlitoi . TiKliatm Farmer:
Ileing a delegate to   tlie great meeting of
the   Farmers' and  Laborers'   Union at St.
Louis, Mo., I wish to make an announce-
md borrowed money to stock it; before he j ment in your paper—to the members of
received a cent of revenue he had incurred ! the Alliance of Indiana.   I was appointed
a debt of §.,500. He was not strong physically, and was obliged to hire all the labor
used on the farm. In addition to this,
being unmarried, he was obliged to add
the price of boarding to his other expenses.
Now for tlie result: With six poor farming years beforo him, during at least one
of which I am certain he ran the farm at
a loss, ho has paid oft. §2,500 of the indebtedness incurred, and now has a personal
property enough on: hand to pay off tlie remaining i?l,000 and leave him ?2,500 iu cash,
State Business Agent for the Stato of Indiana by the Stato Business Agents' Association of the Farmers' and Laborers' I"nioti
and am prepared to furnish anything
needed by the members of that Alliance,
direct from first hands; and am making
preparations to sell your produce direct to
the consumers. All letters of enquiry as
to prices and oi-tiers must bear the seal of
the order.
Also to the F. M. I!. A., of Indiana.   AVe
have a State meeting the  1st Tuesday   in
Condition of Affairs in Carroll County.
Editors In (liana Farmer:
We are pleased to see the interest the
Farmkr takes in the cause of protection
for the tillers of the soil against the horde
of land pirates that live oil from them.
Never was there a time when close watch
over them was so necessary.
Your article on school matters was to the
point, and is doing its work in awakening
our people to their interests. In our county we havo been systematically robbed of
our share of the school revenue in the way
it has been apportioned, till we are ready
for a halt.
In our township we have lOsehools—that
are open for •! months in a year—while in
Delphi there are 10 teachers employed for !•
months. Our enrollment- shows 88 percent
of the enumeration, while Delphi shows
less than 00 per cent of her enumeration.
In tlie township the wages average S>2 25 in
the town 82 75 per day. Delphi pays tho
highest wages to hor principals paid in the
State, averaging 85 50 per day. I am satisfied our next Representative to the legislature will be one instructed to watch these
matters closely.
—Our county is one among the best in tlie
State—soil is productive and yields fine
crops, yet I ail) sorry to say our farmers are
burdened to deatli, excessive taxation causing the borrowing of money at usurious
interest has brought us to the verge of rebellion. Besides all this thoro has lieen a
systematic scheme of hiding property from
taxation by the citizens of towns thus heaping tlie burden on the farmer.
In one year past Delphi fell off 8200,000
in. her assessment of personal property.
One linn doing a heavy business reported
a falling off of 8.0,000, which every person
knew to be a falsehood. So barefaced havo
been these acts that our officials have been
forced to investigate them aud we look for
a lively time among the tax liidcrs.
Our laws for ditching and gravel roads
have worked great hardships to us, especially the ditch law—nut that ditching docs
not pay, but the wholesale robberies perpetrated by the men whom tlie law legalizes
to act.
It is the attorney and tlie surveyor who
gets the benefit of the ditch law with ns-
and when these are unscrupulous men you
can guess the outcome.
One section of gravel road in this county
only 2!-. miles long cost the people SI.,000;
over 85,400 por mile. One ditch several
miles long cost more to reopen it than the
original cost of construction. These are
samples of our grievances.
Again, our farmersare silent factors in tho
market as to what they shall give or receive
for produce bought or sold, 25 cents for
corn, and iK. lbs. to the bushel is barefaced
robbery, yet every day witnesses such transactions here. Hogs at :! cts., beef cattle
l._ cts., and interest at 8 percent and 10
percent, witli taxes up to the maximum
rate, do not forebode prosperity to the
farmer.
What the final outcome will lie cannot
be foretold, it will be one of two things,
either silent submission on tlie part of our
countrymen and desertion of their farms
to Hock to tlie towns, or an open rebellion
against their oppressions. For one your
correspondent is ready for the latter; alternative.
We would like a full expression through
the columns of tho Farmkr of the condition of tho State in general,      <}i*:i*rier.s.
Delphi.