2 BULLETIN 1207, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
all concerned with but little discussion, but the apportionment of the 
costs is too often the cause of long and expensive litigation. It is no 
unusual thing for organization proceedings of drainage districts to 
be delayed from two to five years by appeals from the assessments, 
and in some districts such actions have added 25 per cent to the 
cost of the improvement. 
Textbooks on drainage engineering do not deal with the subject 
of assessments in detail and, while a few excellent papers have been 
published by various organizations, nothing in print adequately treats 
the subject of drainage assessments. 
The purpose of this bulletin is to present the established principles 
of drainage assessments so as to clarify the confusion which exists 
as to this matter, to show how the problem is viewed in various dis- 
tricts and by numerous engineers, and to recommend a system of 
making assessments. 
This bulletin should not be taken as authority sufficient to enable 
a hoard of drainage commissioners or viewers to take any steps 
without the advice of the attorneys in the proceedings. In view of 
the fact that the various States have widely differing laws and pro- 
cedure and that court decisions lire sometimes changed, the state- 
ments made herein must of necessity be general. The underlying 
principles, however, of assessment according to benefits have now 
become well established. 
This bulletin does not attempt to deal with city assessments for 
flood protection, but is limited to assessments made for bettering the 
drainage facilities of agricultural lands. 
SUMMARY. 
A special assessment is defined as a burden laid upon real estate 
to secure a special benefit to such property, and a general benefit to 
the public at large, levied and collected by either regular or special 
governmental agencies, limited in amount so that it may not exceed 
the special benefits derived, and proportional to the amount of such 
benefits. The power to authorize such assessments lies in the people 
and is exercised by them through their representatives in the legisla- 
ture. The powers of the legislature are limited by constitutional 
provision in such a way that both public and private interests must 
be involved before special assessments can be levied. In other words, 
both general and special benefits must be shown before a drainage 
district can be organized. 
General benefits are defined as those which are enjoyed by the 
public at huge and which are common to all the people of the com- 
munity. Special benefits are the ones upon which the assessments 
rest, and have been defined as whatever will increase the value of the 
land, either by relieving it of some burden or by making it more 
adaptable for the purpose for which it is used. Such special benefits 
must be certain, either direct or indirect, and must develop within a 
reasonable time. The land affected must be given full credit for all 
of its advantages which pertain to it. either natural, artificial, or as 
a matter of law. From (bis it follows that some things usually con- 
sidered in fixing benefits, such as the fertility of the soil and the loca- 
tion of the property with regard to towns, railroads, or markets, 
should be omitted. The factors of benefit to be considered will vary 
