Commonwealth v. Young

• Decision Date: 07 September 1883
• Citation: 135 Mass. 526
• Parties: Commonwealth v. James O. Young
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

135 Mass. 526

Commonwealth v. James O. Young

Supreme Court of Massachusetts

September 7, 1883

[Syllabus Material]

Suffolk. Complaint to the Police Court of Chelsea, charging the defendant with the violation, on August 16, 1882, of an order or regulation made by the board of health of the town of Revere, adopted on October 11, 1881, as follows: "Reg 5. No swine shall be kept in any place in this town, on and after November 11, 1881, without a permit first being obtained from the board of health in writing. sad permit may be revoked at any time where said keeping of swine shall appear to the board to be prejudicial to the public health comfort or safety."

Trial in the Superior Court, on appeal, before Mason, J., who allowed a bill of exceptions in substance as follows:

It appeared in evidence, that the town of Revere, at the time the board of health made the order or regulation, for the violation of which the defendant was arrested, contained an area of 3419 acres, and a population of some 2200 inhabitants; that about one half of the area of the town was in use for agricultural purposes, and there were farms within the limits of the town containing from one hundred to one hundred and fifty acres; that the valuation of farming lands and farm buildings was not less than $ 340,000.

It also appeared that a large number of swine were kept in the town and had been for a number of years; that in some instances offal from the city of Boston had been brought to Revere and fed to swine; and that the defendant and others had been engaged for years in the business of feeding offal to swine kept in Revere.

It further appeared that the board of health of that town made the order or regulation referred to, at a meeting of the board held in 1881, the record of which is as follows: "1881, Oct, 11, Board of Health Record, continued. The board met at call of chairman, at 8 P. M. The matter of swine-keeping in the town was discussed, and the board, feeling that some action should be taken, looking to better regulation of the business, it was thought best to establish the 'permit system;' and it was voted that regulation 5 of the regulations of this board, made and published for 1881, be and is hereby rescinded from and after this date. Voted, that regulation 5 of the board of health regulations, town of Revere, shall be as follows: 'No swine shall be kept in any place in this town on and after November 11, 1881, without a permit first being obtained from the board of health in writing. Said permit may be revoked at any time when said keeping of swine shall appear to the board of health to be prejudicial to the public health, comfort or safety.' The secretary was instructed to publish the above votes in the Revere Journal."

Directly after said order was passed, copies of it were posted in different places in Revere, and sent to every house in the town, and published in the Revere Journal, a paper published in said town; but no other written notice was ever given to the defendant in reference to the order prohibiting the keeping of swine.

It was also in evidence, that the defendant kept, at the time of the complaint and his arrest, something like one hundred and fifty swine, near what is known as "Revere Beach," and that the dwellings near that place were largely cottages occupied during the summer only; that these cottages were built upon lots, containing, as a rule, five thousand square feet; that the nearest one was within five hundred feet of the place where the defendant kept his swine; that there was a railroad station within twelve hundred feet of the defendant's piggery, and that during the summer months a large...