1768

CAROLINE COUNTY.

thep upon proof thereof before a justice of the peace, it shall

Remedy

provided.

be lawful for the said justice under his hand and seal, to autho-
rize the party aggrieved, and suffering by such refusal or de-
lay, to make or repair the said fence, as above required, and
for so doing, he, she or they, shall be reimbursed all costs and
reasonable expenses necessarily incurred, to be recovered from
the party so refusing or delaying, in the same manner as debts
of a like amount are now recoverable.

Or discon-
tinuance.

SEC. 4. And be it enacted, That in cases joint fences are not
made and kept in repair according to the provisions of this act,
it shall also be lawful for the party aggrieved or likely to be
injured, instead of pursuing the remedy above allowed, to
discontinue the said fence by giving three months notice in

Notice
required.

manner aforesaid ; and in all other cases (unless by mutual
consent) twelve months notice shall be required to discon-
tinue any joint fence.

Duty of
persons
who assess

damage for
trespass

Sec. 5. And be it enacted. That whenever any person or
persons shall, under and by virtue of this act, or any law of
this state, be summoned or called upon to value and assess the
damages done upon any enclosed land in the counties afore-
said, by trespassing live stock of any kind or description what-
soever, the said person or persons so valuing or assessing the
said damage, shall inspect and examine into the state and con-
dition of the enclosure of the land upon which the said tres-
pass or damages shall be alleged to have been done or commit-
ted, and if the said enclosures shall not be good and sufficient,
according to the true intent and meaning of this act, he or they
shall not make out any award or assess any damages whatever.

This law
maybe
plead.

Sec. G. And be it enacted, That in all cases of action of tres-
pass quare clausum fregit or legal process of any kind hereafter
to be sued out, commenced or prosecuted in the counties afore-
said, to recover damages for trespass upon lands in said coun-
ties, by any kind or description of live stock, the defendant or
defendants may plead the general issue, and give the special
matter in evidence under this act, and the plaintiff or plaintiffs
in all and every such suit, shall be non-suited and mulct in
costs, whenever it shall be clearly proven by legal and compe-
tent testimony, that the lands whereon the said trespass shall
be alleged to have been done or committed, was not enclosed
according to the provisions of this act.

A SUPPLEMENT to the ACT to regulate Fences in Dorchester and Caroline
Counties, passed at December session, eighteen hundred and thirty-
three, chapter one hundred and nineteen. — 1834, ch. 225.

Certain
enclosures
exempt.

Be it enacted, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That
all lands in Dorchester and Caroline counties, where enclo-
sures consisted at the time of the passage of the act, to which