[herrington] township of SIDNEY 85 



"Pigs to be confined till three months old. Rams to be confined 

 from the first day of September to the tenth day of November, any 

 person finding either ram or said hog running at large on the Highway 

 or Commons they are authorized to castrate them, the owner to run 

 the risk. 



"The Lawful standard for fence is such as the fence viewer or 

 viewers shall deem sufficient." 



It speaks volumes for the law-abiding character of the citizens 

 of the township that a population of over 1500 were content with 

 such a brief and simple set of regulations for so long a period. 



The by-law^s of 1808 which remained in force for so long a period 

 contained a provision respecting rams. This was done in direct 

 opposition to a statute passed in 1804 taking out of the hands of the 

 inhabitants the power to determine at what periods sheep shall be 

 allowed to run at large. 



At the annual meeting in 1823 there appears to have been a 

 complete revolution. Not a single officer of the previous year was 

 reappointed except two out of twenty-four pathmasters and one out 

 of four poundkeepers. The old regulations met the same fate as 

 the old officers. They dealt with them in a summary manner and 

 wasted no words in their law-making which read as follows: — 



"1st. The Towm Law concerning Rams is repealed. 



"2d. Seed hogs not to run at large at any time. 



"3d. The remainder of the by-laws as in the year 1808." 



This brief code served the purposes of the township for another 

 five years. Year after year the sum total of the work done at the 

 town meetings outside of the appointment of the officers would be 

 covered by the simple entry "By-laws stand as they were." The 

 only change in 1828 was a return to the practice of confining seed 

 hogs for a limited period, and this slight change sufficed for another 

 six years. In 1834 they threw aside their conservatism and ventured 

 into an entirely new field by placing restraints upon geese and turkeys 

 although there was no statutory authority for so doing. The entry 

 is as follow^s: — "by-laws as they were last year with the additional 

 clause gees and tirkeys to run at large till they do damage then the 

 owner shall pay the damage and taken care of them. The Town 

 Clerk shall make out the Road List of each Road Master after he shall 

 receive the Assessors bill." In the following year there was but one 

 brief entry whereby the height of a law^ful fence was no longer left 

 to the discretion of the fence viewers: — "Lawfull fence to be five feet 

 in height." 



