די

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

In the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty Three.

AN ACT

Making further Provision in relation to the Attachment of Real Estate.

1 SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 2 Representatives in General Court assembled, and by 3 the authority of the same, That when any real estate 4 shall be attached on mesne process, the officer mak5 ing the attachment shall leave, at the office of the 6 city, town, district or plantation clerk, if such clerk 7 keep any office, and if not, at the dwelling house of 8 such clerk, within the city, town, plantation or dis9 trict in which the real estate attached is situated, a 10 true copy of the writ, exclusive of the declaration,

11 by virtue of which the attachment is made, and a 12 copy of the return of said officer, so far as said re13 turn relates to said attachment of real estate situate 14 in said city, town, plantation or district. And the 15 attachment of such real estate shall not be consider16 ed as made, until such attested copy shall have been 17 left in manner aforesaid. And in case there shall be 18 no such clerk in such city, town, plantation or dis19 trict, then the officer making such attachment shall, 20 within ten days from the time of making said at21 tachment, leave such copies as aforesaid at the 22 office of the Registry of Deeds for the County in 23 which said real estate lies, in which case the attach24 ment shall be valid from the time when the attach25 ment was made. But if said officer shall fail to 26 leave said copies as last mentioned, said attachment 27 shall be void as against subsequent attaching credit28 ors or purchasers.

1

SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That it shall be 2 the duty of the said clerks and registers to receive 3 and file such copies, left as aforesaid, and retain the 4 same on file in their respective offices; and each of 5 said clerks and registers shall be entitled to receive, 6 for filing a copy of such writ and officer's return 7 thereon, ten cents, to be paid by the officer making 8 such attachment, at the time of leaving the same; 9 and said officer may charge the same, and legal fees 10 for all necessary additional travel, with his fees for 11 serving and returning said writ, and the said sum 12 shall be taxed as part of the costs of serving said 13 writ.

1

SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That this Act shall 2 be in force from and after the first day of May next.

To the President of the Senate, and

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The undersigned, a Committee appointed on the petition of Peleg Slocum and others, praying for a division of the town of Dartmouth, in the County of Bristol, to visit that town, and to report to the Legislature the result of an investigation into the facts necessary to be ascertained, in order to determine whether the prayer of said petition ought to be granted, now Report, that having met the parties agreeably to appointment, they proceeded to Dartmouth, where they examined the several villages of which it consists, its harbor, its public buildings and its roads, and at New Bedford, heard their respective witnesses and counsel.

The petitioners propose to divide the town by a line drawn from the east to the west line, nearly equi-distant from the north and south lines of the town.

The principal facts which came under the observation of the Committee, or were proved or acceded to, are the following, viz:

By the roads usually travelled, the town is about twenty miles long, and five miles wide. An air line, drawn from the extreme parts, would be about seventeen miles long. It contains, including small streams and Slocum's River in the south part of it, forty thousand five hundred and fifty-five acres of land. Its whole population is 3867. In 1831, the whole number of its polls was 689. By the valuation of the assessors in 1831, its value was 1,148,000 dollars. It has 29,075 rods of roads and twenty-five school districts. The proposed line would run nearly through the middle of the town. On the north it would leave 21,160 acres of land, on the south 19,395 acres; on the north 283 polls, on the south 406 polls; on the north 1683 inhabitants, on the south 2184 inhabitants; on the north 462,000 dollars, on the south 686,000 dollars; on the north 14,456 rods of roads, on the south 14,619 rods; on the north eleven school districts, on the south thirteen, one school district being divided, so as not, injuriously, to break up farms.

There are several villages or settlements in this town. On the south is Clayville and Padanaram; on the north Smith Mills village and a settlement at Hix's Meeting House.

At Padanaram there is a fine harbor, and were it not for the proximity of New Bedford, doubtless the Committee would not be obliged to add, that but about one thousand tons of shipping is navigated from this place. Situated as a part of this town is, on Buzzard's Bay, and possessing so good a harbor, it yet has but an inconside

3

rable commercial and navigating interest. The reason is obvious. Materials for preparing vessels for sea, excepting perhaps timber, are more abundant, artisans more numerous and skilful, in the neighboring port of New Bedford. The town is chiefly agricultural; manufactures, on any considerable scale, there are none.

The condition of the roads did not appear, to the Committee, to be either a reason for, or an objection to, a division.

The mart of this town is in New Bedford. There they transact the principal part of their commercial business. Between the north and the south, there is no business connexion, or an inconsiderable one. The north is more particularly connected with New Bedford.

Since the adoption of the Constitution, forty-six towns have been divided, all of which had a population less than that of Dartmouth. If the proposed division should be made, each town would have a population exceeding that of one hundred and ninety towns in the State, and the north town would have a population greater than two hundred and thirty-one towns in this State. There are one hundred and thirty-five towns which, by the valuation of 1832, have a less valuation than the north would have.

On the north there is no petition for a division.

There has been no corporate vote for or against a division.

On the south there are fifty-five remonstrants.

There are three hundred and sixty remonstrants, and three hundred and seventy-seven petitioners, and the number of petitioners and remonstrants who are not qualified voters, are in the same proportion.

All the public buildings, excepting the school houses,