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TURNPIKE-OFFICERS. SECT. V.
ART. III
A Turnpike Officer, within whose view or knowledge
a carriage shall have been drawn upon the Road by more Beasts
than are allowed, willfully omitting neglecting for the space
of a week after the offence to make seizure, or to
prosecute each seizure before a Justice, shall forfeit £10.
OBSERVATIONS
The former part of this Section of the original, bearing
no relation truth in respect of person or of anything
else to this that follows it, can have no place
here: it be said will be found in the Section concerning Constables.
[Persons ... as do or shall receive Salaries ... who
shall neglect ...& O.] The construction here, it must be confessed
is rather of the mysterious order: add to this that
"as" without "such" before it, is not English for "who" on
this side the Kitchen-Door. It may be thought, the
word "such" was omitted by mistake: this indeed will
remove the vulgarism; but will not serve entirely to
clear the Grammar. The antecedent "such" being
already provided with it's relative "as" put for "who"
will not properly admitt properly of another upon the back of it.
It will be curious enough to make the comparison
of one of these two Sections: which tho' separated by an
interval of half the Act, are in truth so intimately
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related, that one of them, were it not for the a few agreeable
varieties no way , must have
appeared the effect of pure generosity after the other
By the 47th, of all of them all who receive Salaries or Rewards from
that are paid / they Trustees (Tollgatherers
get it ) in particular are to prosecute for the offence of
drawing with too many Horses, & this under penalty
of £10. of £10. By
to prosecute for the offence of drawing, with too many
Horses. By the 15th the last And now not only Horses, but "Oxen", & also
of the is moreover & besides "Neat Cattle" come into though
what follows to those who as to taking notice of Mules or any other Beasts
after to Sect. or.
[Sect... Act... New] with Beasts in fairs, where they should indeed <add>would it be if he were not, since as we </add>
in fairs & shall find by & by, it is none but Horses & Oxen that
in fairs &
are taken notice of in in the original provisions.
By the same section the lastmentioned persons are
also in virtue of the word "constructed" & what follows
it, to prosecute such as offend by using their wheels
+ § 7. Or. ff Art... New. at forbidden distances + or by drawing with Beasts
in a line when they should be in pairs & vice versa.|| || § 8 & 13. Or. ff... Art.... New
of this to there is not a Syllable in the 15th
In neither of them is there a Syllable about to enforce
the prosecuting for the several offences, of using carriages without
the justification enjoined ╫ ╫ §18. Or. §... Art... new of fraudulently evading Toll,# of using
# § 14.or. § Art... New
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47
..... every Surveyor or any Turnpike Road, and every Tollgatherer,
and all Persons employed or to be employed,
by Commissioners or Trustees, appointed or to be appointed
for the repairing Roads, as do or shall receive
neglecting to seize supernumary Horses drawing in Waggons, Salaries or Rewards, who shall willfully neglect, for the
Space of One Week after the Offence committed, to
seize any Supernumerary Horse or Horses drawing within
their View or Knowledge in any Waggon, Wain,
or Cart, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of
or to give due Information of the Offence, this Act; or shall wilfully neglect for the same Time to
lay such Information, upon Oath, before One or more
of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, for the County
Riding, Division, or Place, wherein such Offence was
committed, or before the Commissioners or Trustees at
their respective Meetings, as by this Act is directed;
forfeit 10/-shall, upon due Information made, upon Oath, before
One or more of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the
said County, Riding, Divison, or Place, forfeit, for every
such Neglect, the Sum of Ten Pounds.
15
Collector, & c. being privy to any of the within Offences, and not duly prosecuting for the Penalty,
And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That if any Toll-gatherer or Gate-Keeper shall permit or
suffer any Waggon, Wain, Cart or other Carriage, to
be drawn or pass upon any Turnpike Road within the
View, or with the Knowledge, of such Gate-keeper or
Toll-gatherer, or to pass through any Toll-gate or Bar,
with any greater Number of Horses, Dren, or Neat
Cattle, or with any Carriage constructed or drawn in any
other Manner than is before directed, and shall not, within
the Space of One Week, proceed for the recovery of
forfeits 40s. the Forfeiture or Penalty hereby inflicted for every such
Offence, in the Manner directed or authorized by this
Act; he shall forfeit and pay, for every such Neglect, the
Sum of Forty Shillings
improper Drag. Jrms + + § 17 or §... Art. ... New of taking by fraud the benefit of an exemption || ||
nor even for such offences as consist in the attempting to
elude by fraud the penalties for those very offences for which they are to ||
prosecute.
Was it the decided intention of the Legislator, that Turnpike Officers
in general should be charged with the duty of prosecuting for the one offence
mentioned in respect to them, & nothing more, & Tollgatherers in particular
with that & the two other offences mentioned respecting them (together with all other which will be noticed presently ) & nothing more?
I believe this will hardly will be imagined. The true account of the matter
seems to be, that when he first thought of Tollgatherers, he thought nothing
about Clerks, Treasurers & or Surveyors; (perhaps he thought nothing of Clerks
& Treasurers even when he penned the description that includes them) when he
thought of the firstmentioned of those 3 offences he thought nothing of the 2
others; & when at last he thought came to think of them he thought nothing of the
rest: as little, when he imposed a fine of £10 on the negligent Turnpikeman,
did he remember, that he had thought 1/5 of it enough
before.
As to the rest, I should not counsel a Turnpike-man to be very
forward to take advantage of the week's indulgence of a wherewith
he is complimented with in the 47th so as to seize a Horse that
had once got out of the Road, In the 1st place, out of 20 Horses
that are together in a Stable, how is he to distinguish (unless he has
looked very sharp indeed ) the criminal offending Animals (to say nothing of the accoutrements) from the unoffending?
In the next place, among the offending, how is he to make certain
which of them was not the Horse, which if he meddles with
he will burn his fingers? # In the last place who has given him #
authority to set his foot upon the owner's ground? "Where the Law (say
"a defender of this clause) grants a right, it thereby by implication grants
"the necessary means of coming at it." This is true, but as there is nothing like
any such necessity in the present case, since there is room enough
in the road, there is no room none here for the implication.
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