public places of the town, and not less than fifteen days before the time of the holding of such election. [L. 1861, p. 217, § 9.

14. CONDUCTING ELECTION.] § 14. The first town election shall be conducted in the same manner as other town elections.

15. JUSTICES AND CONSTABLES.] § 15. The justices of the peace, and constables residing in any town organized pursuant to this act, shall continue to hold their office for the time for which they were elected, and shall be considered as justices and constables of such town; but if the number of justices of the peace and constables allowed by law shall not reside in any such new town, the electors thereof may, at the first town election, elect a sufficient number of jus tices and constables, who shall hold their offices until the next election at which justices of the peace and constables may be elected, as provided by law, and until their successors are elected and qualified.

16. COMMISSIONERS OF HIGHWAYS.] § 16. Of the commissioners of highways elected at the first election, one shall hold his office for one year, and one for two years, and the other for three years, to be determined between them by lot before entering upon the duties of their office, and until their respective suc cessors are elected and qualified. [L. 1861, p. 266, § 7, S.

17. REFUSAL TO ORGANIZE-SECOND ELECTION.] § 17. If any town shall refuse or neglect to organize and elect town officers, the county board of the county may order another election for that purpose, and state the time and place of holding the same, notice of such election to be given as required for the first election. [L. 1861, p. 219, § 2.

18. CONTINUED REFUSAL.] § 18. If the town shall not then organize and elect officers, the board may, at any regular or special meeting, appoint the ne cessary officers for such town, and the persons so appointed shall hold their offi ces until the next annual town meeting, and until their successors are elected or appointed and qualified. [L. 1861, p. 219, § 2.

19. FAILURE TO QUALIFY.] § 19. If the persons so appointed shall fail to qualify, as required by law, or if, at any time after the organization of the town, the electors thereof refuse to elect or appoint officers, or to exercise the powers required by law, the county board may annex such town to an adjoining town, and the town so annexed shall thereafter constitute a part of the town to which it is annexed. [L. 1861, p. 219, § 3.

20. WHEN PART OF COUNTY NOT ORGANIZED.] § 20. When, in any county under township organization, there is any territory co-extensive with the limits of a city situated therein, and which is not included within any organized town, such territory shall constitute a town by the name of such city, and all the provisions of this act shall apply to the town so constituted, the same as if it had been organized in the manner provided in this act in the case of the organization of new towns.

ARTICLE II.

HOW DISCONTINUED.

21. PETITION-ELECTION.] § 1. Upon the petition of at least one fifth of the legal voters of any county having adopted township organization, to be ascertained by the vote cast at the last preceding presidential election, the county board shall cause to be submitted to the voters of such county, at the next gen eral election, the question of the continuance of township organization, to be voted on by ballots, written or printed, or partly written and partly printed, "For the continuance of township organization," or, "Against the continuance of township organization;" notice to be given, and the votes to be canvassed and returns made in like manner as in this act provided in reference to a vote on the adoption of township organization. [L. 1861, p. 265, § 4.

22. RESULT OF ELECTION.] § 2. If it shall appear, by the returns of said election, that a majority of the votes cast on that question, at said election, are against the continuance of township organization, then such organization shall

cease in said county, as soon as a county board is elected and qualified; and all laws relating to counties not under township organization, shall be applicable to such county, the same as if township organization had never been adopted in it. [L. 1861, p. 265, § 5.

23. ELECTION OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.] § 3. When township organization shall cease in any county, as provided in this act, a special election shall be held in such county on the first Monday of January next following, for three county commissioners, one of whom shall hold his office until the next general election of county commissioners, one until a year from the next general election, and the other until two years after the next general election, to be determined by lot, and until their successors are elected and qualified; and at every yearly general election after such special election, one such officer shall be elected. [L. 1861, p. 266, § 6.

24. WHEN COMMISSIONERS ASSUME DUTIES, ETC.] § 4. The county board elected at the special election, as provided in the next preceding section, shall assume the duties of their office on the first Monday of February next after their election, and shall be the legal successors to the county board of such county, and shall have all the rights and emoluments, and be subject to all the liabilities as provided in other cases of counties not under township organization.

25. DISPOSITION OF TOWN RECORDS, BUSINESS, PROPERTY, ETC. § 5. When township organization is discontinued in any county, the records of the several towns shall be deposited in the county clerk's office, and the county commissioners of the county shall have power to close up all unfinished business of the several towns, and sell and dispose of any of the property belonging to the town, for the benefit of the inhabitants thereof, as fully as might have been done by the towns themselves, and to pay all the indebtedness of any town existing at the time of such discontinuance, and cause the amount thereof, or so much as may be necessary, to be levied upon the property of the town.

ARTICLE III.

OF THE ALTERATION OF BOUNDARIES, AND DIVISION OF TOWNS AND TOWN

PROPERTY.

26. POWERS OF COUNTY BOARD.] § 1. The county board of each county shall have full and complete power and jurisdiction to alter the boundaries of towns, to change town lines, and to divide, enlarge and to create new towns in their respective counties, to suit the convenience of the inhabitants residing therein, but no new town shall be created under the provisions of this act of less territory than seventeen square miles, nor unless there shall be at least fifty legal voters residing in such new town, nor unless at least twenty of the legal voters of such town shall petition for such alteration; nor shall any new town be made, or any town divided, or the boundaries of any town changed by the county board without notice thereof having been given by posting up notices in not less than five of the most public places of the town interested, or if several towns are interested, in each of them, at least sixty days before the final action of the board, and also by publishing such notice at least three times in some newspaper published in the county wherein said towns are situated, if any shall be published therein Provided, that no incorporated town shall be divided, except consent thereto is given by a majority of all the electors voting at a general annual election in said town-notice that the question of dividing said town will be submitted to the legal voters thereof having been given by the county clerk at the same time and in the same manner as the notice of said general annual election. [L. 1861, p. 218, § 1.

27. ELECTION IN NEW TOWN.] §2. When a town is divided into two or more towns, a new election shall be ordered in each of the new towns by the county board, and the time and place of holding the election shall be fixed, and judges of election appointed, and notice given in the same manner as required

upon the first organization of towns: Provided, that when parts of several towns are taken to make a new town, it shall not be necessary to order an election in the towns from which territory is taken; but if any of the officers thereof shall continue to reside in the new town, his office shall be declared vacant, and filled as in other cases of vacancy.

28. TERMS OF OFFICERS.] §3. The officers elected or appointed at any such town meeting shall hold their offices until the next annual town meeting, and until their successors are elected and qualified; except that one of the highway commissioners so elected shall hold his office until the next annual meeting, one until the second annual meeting, and the other until the third annual meeting, to be determined between them by lot, and until their successors are elected and qualified, and except that any justice of the peace or constable so elected shall hold his office until the next general election of justices and constables, as fixed by law.

29. TAXES.] § 4. The division or alteration of a town, after the making out of the assessor's books in any year, shall not in any manner affect the assessment or collection of the taxes assessable or collectable in that year, but the same may be assessed and collected in the same manner and by the same officers as if no division or alteration had taken place.

30. DISPOSITION OF REAL ESTATE ON DIVISION OF TOWNS.] § 5. When a town possessed of real estate shall be divided into two or more towns, the supervisors and assessors of the several towns constituted by such division shall meet as soon as may be after the first town meetings subsequently held in such towns, and when so met shall have power to make such agreement concerning the disposition to be made of such town property and the apportionment of the proceeds as shall be equitable, and to take all measures and execute all conveyances which may be necessary to carry such agreement into effect. [L. 1861, p. 219, § 4. 31. DISPOSITION OF REAL ESTATE ON ANNEXATION OF TOWNS.] § 6. When a part of any town possessed of real estate shall be annexed to another town or towns, or taken to form a part of a new town, the supervisors and assessors of the town from which such territory is taken, and of the town or towns to which the same shall be annexed, or of which it constitutes a part, shall, as soon as may be after such alteration, meet for the purpose and possess the powers provided in the last preceding section. [L. 1861, p. 219, § 5.

32. DISPOSITION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY.] §7. When a town possessed of or entitled to money, rights or credits, or other personal estate, shall be divi ded or altered, such personal estate, including moneys, shall be apportioned between the towns interested therein by the supervisors and assessors of such towns according to the amount of taxable property in the town divided or altered as the same existed immediately before such division or alteration, to be ascer tained by the last assessment list of such town; and such supervisors and asses sors shall meet for the purposes aforesaid as soon as may be after the first town meetings subsequently held in such towns. [L. 1861, p. 220, § 6.

33. MEETING OF SUPERVISORS AND ASSESSORS.] § 8. Whenever a meeting of the supervisors and assessors of two or more towns shall be required, in order to carry into effect the provisions of this article, such meeting may be called by either of said supervisors; but the supervisor calling the same shall give at least ten days' notice in writing, to all the other officers, of the time and place at which such meeting is to be held. [L. 1861, p. 220, § 7.

34. BURIAL GROUNDS.] § 9. The preceding section shall not, however, ap ply to any cemetery or burial ground, but the same shall belong to the town within which it may be situated after a division shall have been made. [L. 1861, p. 220, § 9.

35. APPORTIONMENT OF DEBTS.] § 10. Debts owing by a town so sub-divided or altered shall be apportioned in the same manner as the personal property of the town, and each town shall thereafter be charged with its share of such debts according to such apportionment. [L. 1861, p. 220, § 9.

36. DISPUTES SUBMITTED TO COUNTY BOARD.] § 11. When the several towns cannot agree in relation to a division or apportionment of the real or personal property, or debts, or any part thereof, as provided in the six preceding sections, the dispute shall be submitted to the county board of the county, whose decision in the matter shall be conclusive between the parties.

37. PROCEEDINGS TO UNITE TOWNS.] § 12. The county board of each county shall have full power and jurisdiction to unite two contiguous towns into one; but no such towns shall be united except in the following manner, that is to say: Whenever one-fourth of the voters in each of the towns sought to be united shall petition the county board to unite such towns, said county board shall cause to be submitted to the voters of said towns, at a general annual election to be holden in each of such towns, the question of uniting. Notice of such election shall be given by causing written or printed notices thereof to be posted in five public places in each of said towns at least twenty days before such election, and by publishing the same in at least one newspaper (if any there be published) in each of said towns, or a newspaper published in said county. The ballots cast at such elections to be written or printed, or partly written and partly printed, "For uniting," or "Against uniting"-to be canvassed in like manner as votes for county officers, and returned to the county board, who shall cause the votes to be canvassed; and if a majority of voters of each town voting at such election shall vote for uniting such towns, such county board at the meeting at which such vote is canvassed, or at the next succeeding meeting, shall proceed to declare such towns united, and give the united towns a name, and define the boundaries thereof: Provided, that the officers of each of such towns shall continue to hold their respective offices, and discharge the duties thereof, during the remainder of the term for which they were respectively elected: And, provided, that the commissioners of highways for each of said towns in office at the time of such union shall continue in and discharge the duties of their respective offices during the remainder of the terms for which they were elected, and in the discharge of their duties shall act in conjunction: And, provided, further, that the union of such towns shall not be complete until the expiration of the terms of all officers in said town who are elected to serve for the period of one year.

ARTICLE IV.

CORPORATE POWERS OF TOWNS, AND THE EXERCISE THEREOF

- WHAT MAY

BE DONE AT TOWN MEETINGS-BY-LAWS, RULES AND REGULATIONS. 38. CORPORATE NAME.] § 1. The corporate name of each town shall be: "The town of (name of town)," and all acts done by the town, and all actions by or against the town shall be in its corporate name. [L. 1861, p. 218, § 3.

39. CORPORATE POWERS.] § 2. Every town shall have corporate capacity to exercise the powers granted thereto, or necessarily implied, and no others. It shall have power

1. To sue and be sued.

2. To acquire by purchase, gift or devise, and to hold property, both real and personal, for the use of its inhabitants, and again to sell and convey the same. 3. To make all such contracts as may be necessary in the exercise of the powers of the town. [L. 1861, p. 218, § 1, 2.

WHAT MAY BE DONE AT TOWN MEETING.

40. POWERS OF TOWN MEETING.] § 3. The electors present at the annual town meetings shall have power

1. To make all orders for the sale, conveyance, regulation or use of its corporate property that may be deemed conducive to the interests of its inhabitants. 2. To take all necessary measures and give directions for the exercise of their corporate powers.

3. To direct the raising of money by taxation for the following purposes:

-

First-For constructing or repairing roads, bridges or causeways within the town, to the extent allowed by law.

Second-For the prosecution or defense of suits by or against the town, or in which it is interested.

Third-For any other purpose required by law.

Fourth-For the purpose of building or repairing bridges or causeways in any other town in the same county or in another county: Provided, that notice is given by posting notices describing the location of the bridge or causeway, and the probable amount required therefor, in at least three public places, at least ten days before the meeting in the town in which the taxes are proposed to be levied: And, provided, also, that the tax, when collected, shall be paid only on the joint order of the commissioners of highways of the town in which the bridge or causeway to be built or repaired is situated, and those of the town in which the tax is collected.

4. To provide for the institution, defense or disposition of suits at law or in equity, in all controversies between the town and any other town, or any individual or corporation, in which the town is interested.

5. To prevent the introduction, growing or dissemination of Canada thistles or noxious weeds, and to allow rewards for their destruction, and to raise money therefor.

6. To offer premiums, and to take such action as shall induce the planting and cultivating of trees along the highways in such towns, and to protect and preserve trees standing along or on highways.

7. To make rules and regulations for ascertaining the sufficiency of all fences in such town, and to determine what shall be a lawful fence within the town, except as otherwise provided by law. [See "Fences," ch. 54.

8. To restrain, regulate, or prohibit the running at large of cattle, horses, mules, asses, swine, sheep or goats, and to determine the time and manner in which such animals may go at large, unless the same are restrained from running at large in some manner provided by law. [See "Animals," ch. 8, § 1, seq.

9. To establish and maintain pounds at such places within the town as may be deemed necessary and convenient, and discontinue any pounds therein. When any pound is erected, it shall be under the care and direction of a pound master. 10. To determine the number of pound masters, to prescribe their duties, and to elect pound masters, either by ballot or in such other manner as they may determine, or provide for their appointment.

11. To authorize the distraining, impounding and sale of cattle, horses, mules, asses, swine, sheep or goats for penalties incurred and costs of the proceeding: Provided, that the sale of animals distrained or impounded shall be conducted, as near as may be, according to the law regulating sales of property by consta bles under execution: And, provided, also, the owner of such animals shall have the right to redeem the same from the purchaser thereof at any time within three months from the date of the sale, by paying the amount of the purchaser's bid, with reasonable costs for their keeping, and interest upon the amount bid at the rate of ten per cent. per annum.

12. To construct and keep in repair public wells or other watering places, and regulate the use thereof.

13. To prevent the deposit of night soil or other offensive substances within the limits of the town.

14. To make all such by-laws, rules and regulations as may be deemed necessary to carry into effect the powers herein granted, and to impose such fines as shall be deemed proper, except when a fine or penalty is already allowed by law: Provided, no fine or penalty shall exceed $50 for one offense.

15. To apply all penalties, when collected, in such manner as may be deemed most to the interests of the town. [L. 1861, p. 221, § 5; p. 222, § 6; L. 1867, p. 173, § 3.

41. EXCEPTION AS TO CITIES AND VILLAGES.] § 4. In towns in which there are incorporated cities or villages, the boundaries of which are co-extensive with the limits of the town, or the town lies wholly within the limits of an incorporated