Page:The truth about the railroads (IA truthaboutrailro00elli).pdf/177

Rh vacant lot, it was decided that an ordinance compelling cutting of noxious weeds was valid, that no injustice was done the individual in requiring him to cut the weeds, that it was in the interest of the public health, and that the municipality had the authority to compel the owner of the offending property to cut the weeds and abate a public nuisance. What palliation can be offered for the man who, through carelessness and indifference to the welfare of the community, allows weeds of the most vicious character to grow unrestrained on his land and allows the seeds to be carried throughout the neighborhood? Is this less a crime than depriving a man of his just property by theft? Yet we often see fields in which weeds are allowed to grow and mature their seed, where a few hours’ work would save great loss. Whole valleys, thousands of acres in extent, have been polluted with foul seeds by the careless indifference of one man who neglected to destroy a small patch of weeds that grew in his field.

Carelessness of regard for one’s neighbor is Rh