DITCH LAWS.
Mr. Brownlee's bill to repeal the present ditch law was reported unfavorably by the committee. Speaking of the bill, Mr. Brownlee said that ditching under the Circuit Court law costs 40 per cent. more than it page: 141[View Page 141] does in the Commissioners' Court, and that any man can have a "cat pond" drained, and compel men to ditch their land for a distance of ten miles. He charged that lawyers were in the habit of going to irresponsible parties and getting them to file petitions for drains; that all the parties whose lands were affected by the drain were compelled to pay the costs. Other gentlemen spoke in favor of the law, declaring that it was the most economical ever made. Mr. Williams thought it should be called "a law to confiscate property," and he moved to lay the report of the committee upon the table. The motion prevailed, and the bill to repeal was read a second time and ordered engrossed, Mr. Gooding, Mr. Hoban and others speaking for the repeal.
