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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1898-1907 Town Records Book 12Town Records Book 12 1898-1907 IDs: TC -08, PP 38 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. Middlesex,ss. In the Superior Co,irt within and for the County of Middlesex, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine and four. The followinP. anendment to Article IV of the By -Laws of the Town of Lexington,in our County of Middlesex, is presented to this Court for approval, to wit: - "The Board of Selectmen may at their discretion grant permits to hawkers and peddlers,of the articles covered by Section 15 of Chapter 65 of the Revised Laws, upon such terms and conditions as said Board may deem reasonable and proper, and every such permit shall be printed or written, and contain the full name and address of the haerker or peddler to whom it is issued, the article to be hawked or peddled, and shall ex- pire within sixty (60) days from the date of its issue, and may be re- voked at any tine by notice from the Board of Select:aen. The Board of Selectmen shall keep a record of all such permits, showing the date of issue, the nave and address of the party to whoa eaci permit is issued and the articles to be hawked or peddled under each per mit. Every hawker or peddler who, without a permit from the Board of Selectmen so to do, sells, offers or exposes for sale to any person on a street, or on any public ground, or common, in the Town, any goods or articles covered by Section 15 of Chapter 65 of the Revised Laws, shall. be punished by a fine of not more than ten dollars ($10.) for each offence." Which said By -Law being read, seen and understood by the Court is on this fourteenth day of April., A.D.1904, approved. In testimony that the fore.going is a true copy of Record,I hereunto set my hand and affix the seal of said Court, this fourteenth day of April, A.D.1904. r Ass't.Clerk. BY-LAWS OF THE TOWN OF LEXINGTON. BY-LAWS OF THE TOWN OF LEXINGTON, APPROVED NOV. 26, 1888, CHARLES W. S)'MOSD6, PRIIVTER. 1PFF. I BY-LAWS O3: THE TOWN OF LEXINGTON, ARTICLE I. TOWN 5IEETINGS. Notice of every Town Meeting shall be given by posting a copy of the warrant calling the same, in the post -offices and two other public places in the town, and by leaving a printed copy of the warrant at every dwelling -house in the town, not less than seven days before the day ap- pointed for said meetiug. But in case of any emergency arising, making it neces-sary, in the judgment of the Selectmen, to call a meeting without giving so long it ' notice, the said meeting may be notified by posting copies of the warrant as before pro- vided, and by leaving a printed copy of COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. MIDDLESEx, SS. '. Superior Court, September Sitting A. D. 1888. The Town of Lexington in the County of Mid- dlesex, presents to this Court the following code of By -Laws, to wit: 4 BY-LAWS. the warrant at every dwelling -house in the town, not less than three days before the time of such meeting; and the return of the person or persons appointed to distri- bute the warrant, stating the manner of notice, shall be indorsed on the warrant. ARTICLE II. RULES FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF TOWN MEETINGS. .SECTION 1. The Town Clerk shall al- ways attend punctually at the time and place at which the meeting shall have been notified to be holden; and as soon as twenty-five persons are assembled who are qualified to vote in town affairs, he shall immediately take his place in the house, and call to order all persons who have there assembled, and proceed forthwith to read the warrant and the several articles therein contained, in regular order, as they may be there inserted, and also the A BY-LAWS. 5 return of the person or persons who noti- fied the meeting; and if it shall appear by the warrant that the said meeting was legally called and duly notified, he shall then call upon the voters present to bring in their votes for a Moderator (if one is required at the said meeting), and he shall preside until a Moderator is chosen. SEC. 2. Every person attending any Town Meeting shall be seated after the meeting is duly opened; nor shall any person be permitted to stand in the aisles betiyeen the settees, so as to interrupt a, free passage to and from the desk; nor to stand at the desk so as to annoy the Clerk, Moderator, or any Board of municipal officers, whose duty it is to preside at the meeting. SEC. 3. Every motion or order which is of a complicated nature, or of unusual length, shall be reduced to writing; and also every other motion, whenever the presiding officer shall desire it. 6 BY-LAWS. SLC. 4. Every person speaking shall address the Chair, standing and uncov- ered; shall confine himself to the question under debate and avoid personalities ; and no person shall be permitted to speak without first obtaining leave of the presid- ing officer. SEE. 5. No person while speaking shall be interrupted by another, except it be to call to order, to correct a mistake, or to give notice of a reconsideration. SLC. 6. No person shall speak more than twice on any question -without first obtaining leave of the house, except it be to make some explanation or correct a mistake ; nor more than once, until others who have not spoken on the question shall speak, if they desire it. SLC. 7. Whenever any vote declared by the presiding officer shall be doubted by seven or more of the legal voters present, it shall be made certain without debate by BT -LAWS. the presiding officer, who may proceed at once to poll the house by causing those who are in favor of the question to pass directly in front of the chair, and after- wards those who are opposed to it ; and when the house shall be thus divided, the Clerk shall duly record the number of votes for and against the question respec- tively. SEc. S. In choosing a committee by nomination, no individual shall nominate more than one person on any one commit- tee, if the person so nominated by hiid shall be chosen. Src. 9. No final cote shall he reconsid- ered, except upon notice for that purpose, by one of the majontc acting thereon, given within thin} 111him d Z11 ter such vote has passed; but after Aitch notice has been given, any person who voted Ncitb the ma- jority may make the motion to reconsider'. (. Sm. 10. When a question is under de- bate, no motion shall be received butAo 8 BY-LAWS. adjourn to a specified time, to lay upon the table, to postpone to a time certain, to commit, to amend, or to postpone indefi- nitely, which several motions shall have precedence in the order in which the} are here named ; and the first two shall be decided without debate. SEe. 11. No vote fixing the period for closing a ballot shall be reconsidered after such ballot shall have commenced ; but the time for closing such ballot may be extended without such reconsideration. ARTICLr I1I. TOWN AFFAIRS. SECTION 1. The Annual Town Meeting shall be held on the first Monday in March in each year, commencing at 9 o'clock A.M., anless the Selectmen shall, for sufficient reason, postpone it to any BY-LAWS. 9 other Monday during the same month, and the annual reports ofthe Town Offi- cers shall be printed and circulated with . the warrants for the annual meeting. SEc. 2. The Committee chosen to take charge of the cemeteries, shall take the general charge and superintendence of the cemeteries, and determine the grades, of the avenues and lots ; and make such improvements by planting trees in the avenues and around the borders of the cemeteries as they may think proper, pro- vided they do not exceed the amount of money devoted to such improvements. They shall also designate and set apart such portion of the general inclosure as they may deem expedient 1'or gravel to be used in grading the lots, the said gravel to be taken under the direction of the Super-intendent of the cemeteries. No per- son shall be allowed to take gravel in ex- cessive quantities, and no person shall be allowed to so fill up or grade a, lot as to interfere with the adjacent lots, or to ob- 10 BY -Laws. struet the avenues or paths between the lots; nor shall any two lots be united by one enclosure, without the consent of the Committee as well as the owners of the lots respectively. SEc. 3. The Sexton shall be deemed Superintendent of the Cemeteries, unless some other person be appointed by the Committee. He shall, whenever direct- ed by the Committee, collect whatever may be due on the lots taken, and hold the same subject to the order of the Com- mittee; and the Superintendent shall aunn- ally, in the month of January, make a written report to the Committee, stating the number of lots taken the past year, the amount of money collected during the same period, the amount due, and the names of the delinquents, which shall be submitted in a report presented to the Town by the Committee at the succeeding March meeting, in each year. SEc. 4. It shall be the duty of the Se- lectmen once every quarter, and as much BY -raves. 11 oftener as they may think proper, to ex- amine the books of the Treasurer, as- certain the condition of the treasury, and see that all temporary loans are paid in clue season, and that the funds of the Town are at all times available; and the Selectmen shall keep a record of these quarterly examinations, and report the result of the same to the Town in connec- tion with their report of the settlement with the Treasurer at the end of the year. SEC. . The Selectmen may authorize the•Treasurer to borrow money tempora- rily on the credit of the town, in anticipa- tion of the collection of taxes, should the same be in their judgment necessary, and to give the note or notes of the Town therefor, signed by the Treasurer. 12 BY-LAWS. ARTICLE IV. STREETS, POLICE REGULATIONS, LTC. , SECTION 1. No building shall be re- moved over a public street without a writ- ten permit from the Selectmen; and no permit shall be given by the Selectmen for the removal of any building, when such removal will cause the destruction or injury of any tree or shrub standing on j the street, or owned by any citizen and projecting over the street, unless the writ - ;ten consent of the person, on or in front of whose premises such tree or shrub may stand, shall first be obtained. The pen- alty for breach of this by-law shall not be less than five dollars, nor more than j twenty dollars. SEC. 2. If any building shall be re- moved over or through any public street or square, the owner of such building and the person or persons moving the same, shall be jointly and severally liable to the nY-r.aws. 13 Town for all damages, costs, and expenses for which the Town may be liable, or which it may be compelled to pay, in con- sequence of such removal, or of any ob- struction, incumbrance, or injury occa- sioned thereby. Sm. 3. No person shall place or cause to be.placed in any of the public streets or squares, without a written license from the Selectmen, any ashes, dirt, rubbish, wood, timber, or other material of any kind, tending to obstruct or mar the ap-' pearanee of the street or sidewalk, under' a penalty of not less than two dollars nor more than twenty dollars for each offence, and a like penalty for each additional day, after Ire shall have been found guilty of a breach of this by-law, that he shall suffer such material to remian in such street or square. Sic. d. No person shall pasture cattle or other animals, in or upon any of the streets or ways of the Town, either with 14 ss -raves. or without a keeper, under the penalty of five dollars for each and every offence. SEc. 5. Whoever shall tie or fasten a horse or other animal to, or leave the same standing by, any ornamental or shade tree in or near any of the streets, lanes, or public places of this town, so near as to in- jure such tree, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty dollars for each offence. SEc. 6. No person shall ride or drive, or cause to be driven, any horse or other .animal, or any vehicle, in, through; or along any highway, street, public avenue, or public passageway in this town, in such a manner as to endanger or unreasonably incommode travellers, nor in any event at a greater rate of speed than ten miles an hour, under a penalty not exceeding twenty dollars for each offence. SEc. 7. No person shall ride, drive, wheel, or draw, or cause to be driven, upon any sidewalk, in such a way as to BY-LAWS. 15 interfere with the free passage of all trav- ellers, a coach, cart, velocipede, bicycle, tricycle, or any carriage of burden or pleasure ; and no person shall in any event ride on any sidewalk, any bicyele, except for the purpose of going to or from the highway directly across the side- walk from or to private grounds. Who- ever is found guilty of a breach of this by-law, or any provision thereof, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty dol- lars for each offence Src. 8. The Selectmen shall appoint annually two or more Police Officers, whose special duty it shall be to see that these police regulations are duly enforced, and to make complaints under these by- law, who shall also have the same powers that constables now have, except as to the service of civil processes, and who shall remain in office until others are appointed in their stead, subject to removal by the Selectmen. 16 BY-LAWS. SEC. 9. The Police Officers shall receive from the town such compensation as the Selectmen may deem reasonable. SEc. 10. They shall disperse all gather- ings n the streets, or elsewhere, by day or night, of noisy men or boys, and may and shall take into custody all disorderly persons, and persons found wandering at unreasonable hours, and in suspicious places, and hold them in custody until they can be brought before a magistrate for examination. SEc. 11. Whoever behaves himself in a rude or disorderly manner, or uses pro- fane, indecent, or insulting language, in any public place in the town, or in or near any dwelling house or other building not his own, or upon any private grounds or premises, shall for each offence pay a fine not exceeding twenty dollars. SEc. 12. Whoever wilfully stands on any sidewalk or travelled place in such BY-LAWS. 17 manner as to impede the free passage of travellers, after being requested by a police officer to move on, shall be subject to a fine of not more than five dollars ; and whenever three or more persons shall stand in a group or near each other on any sidewalk or travelled place in such a manner as to interfere unreasonably with the Iree passage of travellers, they shall, ` if persisting in so doing after a request to move along made by a police officer, sev- erally incur a like penalty for each offence., Shc. 13. All idle or disorderly children' who shall misspend their time in the streets or fields during school -hours ; and all persons who shall, by day or night, con- gregate noisily in or about the streets, stores, or public places of the town, or disturb the public quiet by the unauthor- ized ringing of the church or other bells, or in any improper manner, or who shall at any time deface, pull down, or injure any building, fence, or sign, or other struc- ture, in this town, not tinder his own 18 BY-LAWS. rightful control, or shall trespass on any property, real or personal, or wrongfully remove therefrom, or injure thereon, any tree, plant, shrub, fruit or vegetable, or who shall create any disturbance of or in any lawful meeting of the citizens of this town, shall for each and every one of such offences, be severally liable to a fine not exceeding twenty dollars. ARTICLE V. TRUANCY, ETC. SECTION 1. The provisions of the forty- eighth chapter of the Public Statutes of this Commonwealth so far as applicable to truant children, to absentees from school, and to the care and education of neglected children, and all Acts in addi- tion to, or in amendment thereof, are hereby adopted. SEC. 2. All children between the ages of seven and fifteen years, residing in the town, and who may be found wandering BY -11A w n. 19 about in structs or lntblic places therein. having no hmful emplo'vment or business, not attending school. and growing up in ignorance, shall be conunittud to. the House of Reformation for Juvenile Of- fenders, in the City of Lowell in this Com- monwealth, for it term not exceeding two Years. SEC. 3. TWO or more truant officers shall be appointed mutually-, whose duty it shall be to inquire into all violations of the truant laws, and of the haw relatin< tt1 compulsory education, nud to do all the nets required of thcut be I He linv- of the Cornnlou fecal tl i. SEC. 4. 11 shall be the dutc of c\erc truant officer, prior to makint{ ;111.\ cuni- plaint mldee these laws, to uotifthe tru- ant or the abscirtec from school, aleo Liv parent or guardian, of the offense com- mitted, and of the penalty therefor ; and if the truant officer can obtain satislaeumc pledges for the restraint and reformation 20 BY-LAWS. of the child, he may forbear to prosecute, vo long as such pledges are faithfully kept. > SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of the . School Committee, the teachers of the j public schools, and the citizens generally, to aid the truant officers as far as possible in the discharge of their duty. SEc. 6. It shall be the duty of the tru- ant officers to keep a full record of all their official acts, and make an annual ieport thereof to the School Committee, who shall publish the same with their own report. SEC. 7. Nothing in these By -Laws shall be so construed as to alter or impair the obligation and duty of teachers to enforce punctuality and regularity of attendance, and to preserve good order and discipline. SEC. 8. The House of Reformation for Juvenile Offenders, above named, is hereby provided and assigned not only as a suitable i BY-LAWS. 21 place for the commitment of persons con- victed of any of the offences mentioned in Section 2 of this Article, but also (under Section 18 of said Chapter 48) as an in- stitution of instruction for children under sixteen years of age, who by reason of the neglect, crime, drunkenness, or other vices of parents, or from orphanage, are suffered to be growing up without salutary paren- tal control and education, or in circum- stances exposing thein to lead idle and dissolute lives ; and such children may be committed, by the Court or Magistrate hawing jurisdiction of the case, to said institution, there to be kept, educated and cared for, for a term not extendingbeyond the age of twenty-one years for boys, or eighteen years for girls. SEc. 9. The Selectmen are hereby di- rected to make all arrangements and contracts with the managers of said House of Reformation or other proper authorities. necessary to carry out and enforce the pro- visions of these by-laws. 22 BY-LAWS. ARTICLE VI. All existing by-laws and votes of the town which conflict with or are inconsis- tent with these by-laws are hereby re- pealed. BY-LAWS. 23 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. Middlesex ss. Superior Court. The foregoing by-laws were filed in Court on the third day of November, A. D. 1888, and now on the twenty-sixth day `of the same November, are approved. ' By the Court. THEO. C. HURD, Clerk. In testimony that the foregoing is a true copy of record, I hereto set [L. s.] my hand and the seal of said Court, this twenty-sixth day of November, A. D., 1888. THEO. C. HURD, Clerk. 24 NOTES. NOTES. [Reprinted from Edition of By -Laws published in 1873.1 Though Town Meetings as well as legisla- tive assemblies require rules for their gov- ernment, it is manifest that many of the rules of the latter bodies cannot apply to the former. A legislative body consists of two branches, occupying separate halls, continu- ing in session from day to day, and originat- ing its own business at pleasure; while a Town Meeting is a collection of citizens con- vened in one room to act on specified sub- jects, and generally continuing in session but a few hours. It is obvious, therefore, that many provisions in the code of Parh.a- mentary Law, a code designed expressly for a legislative assembly, are not applicable to a primary meeting in our little municipali- ties. Among the rules or motions of frequent application in the one, and of rare use in the other, is that of adjournment. In a parlia- mentary- assembly one of their first acts is to NOTES. 627 fix the hour for the commencement of their daily session, so that with them a motion to adjourn is simply to take a recess till the next meeting. In a Town Aleeting, where no time for a future session is fixed, a motion to adjourn is a misnomer, being in fact a motion to dissolve the meeting and one that cannot be put till all pending motions are disposed of. Nothing, perhaps, gives rise to more fre- quent debate in our primary assemblies than the precedence of certain co -existing or pend- ing motions. And though there may be. no absolute principle by which to decide all' theee questions, there is one fundamental consideration which will dispose of some of them and c:%st light upon all. The motions to which we refer, and which may all be pending at the same time, are " to lay on the table," "to amend," "to commit," "to post- pone to a day certain," "to postpone to the next meeting," or which is the same thing, . to postpone indefinitely." The considera- tion which should have great weight in de- ciding the precedence of these motions is this: the meeting is designed to transact business, and a motion to facilitate business 9M NOTES. takes precedence of a motion to obstruct or defeat it. A motion to lay on the table may be de- signed to obtain further information, or to accommodate a friend of the measure who is absent, or must leave immediately ; a motion to amend is designed to make the measure more acceptable, and so encourage its pas- sage ; a motion to commit may be the most expeditious mode of perfecting the measure ; ' a motion to postpone to a time certain, if `that time falls within the probable duration of the meeting, may have for its object the ob- taining of further information which would sustain the measure and secure its passage. But a motion to postpone to the next meet- ing, that is, beyond the session, or to postpone indefinitely, can have no other object than to defeat action, and so cannot, according to parliamentary principles, be put till all the pending motions are disposed of. And even if the motion to postpone indefinitely is first made, it may be superseded by any of the motions mentioned above, though subse- quently offered. An indefinite postponement covers the whole subject, and so opens the door to the fullest debate. NOTrs. 27 It is frequently asked whether the "pre- vious question" applies to a Town Meeting ? It obviously does not, unless the Town has adopted it as rule. The doctrine is this: stopping discussion is in derogation of the freedom of debate, and hence the previous question does not exist at common law, and can be applied only where it has been adopted as a rule.