USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Norwood > Norwood annual report 1895-1899 > Part 42
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SECT. 4. The Town Officers which are required by law to be chosen by ballot, and their respective terms of office, shall be designated in the warrant for the annual meeting.
SECT. 5. Rules for the Government of Town Meetings : -
All questions submitted for the consideration of the Town, involving the expenditure of money, shall be in writing or printed.
No vote fixing the period for closing a ballot shall be recon- sidered after such a ballot shall have commenced, but it may be in order to extend the period without such reconsideration.
When a question is under debate motions shall be received to adjourn, to lay on the table, the previous question, to postpone to a certain time, to postpone indefinitely, to commit, or to amend, which several motions shall have precedence in the order in which they are herein arranged.
The powers and duties of the presiding officer not especially provided for by law, or by the foregoing rules, shall be deter- mined by the rules of practice contained in "Cushing's Manual," so far as they are adapted to the condition and powers of the town.
No vote shall be reconsidered except upon a motion made within one hour after such vote has passed, unless such recon- sideration is ordered by a vote of two-thirds of the voters present and voting.
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SECT. 6. No motion to dissolve a Town Meeting shall be in order until every article in the warrant therefor has been duly considered and acted upon.
SECT. 7. Upon taking the question, if the decision of the Moderator is doubted, or a division of the house called for, the Moderator shall request the house to be seated, and shall appoint tellers. The question shall then be distinctly stated, and those in the affirmative and negative, respectively, shall be requested to rise and stand in their places until they are counted by the tellers, who shall carefully count each side and make report thereof to the Moderator; and no person shall be counted who does not occupy a seat, provided that the tellers, under the direc- tions of the Moderator, may count the votes of those who are unable to obtain seats.
ARTICLE II.
OF CERTAIN POWERS AND DUTIES OF TOWN OFFICERS NOT PRESCRIBED BY THE STATUTES.
SECTION 1. The Selectmen shall have full authority, as agents of the Town, to institute and prosecute suits in the name of the Town, and to appear and defend suits brought against it, and to appear in proceedings before any tribunal, unless it is otherwise specially ordered by a vote of the Town.
SECT. 2. The Selectmen may authorize the Treasurer to bor- row money temporarily, in anticipation of the collection of taxes, and to give promissory notes therefor in behalf of the Town, the same to be signed by the Treasurer and countersigned by a majority of the Selectmen, and all promissory notes of the Town shall be executed in like manner.
SECT. 3. Whenever it shall be necessary to execute any deed conveying land, the same shall be executed by the Treasurer, in behalf of the Town, unless the Town shall otherwise vote in any special case.
SECT. 4. The Selectmen shall annually appoint three or more Police Officers, pursuant to Public Statutes, Chap. 27, Sect. Số,
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who, in addition to their other duties required by the laws of the Commonwealth, shall make complaints and carry into execution any judgments for violation of these By-Laws, excepting those relating to truancy.
SECT. 5. The Selectmen shall annually, not less than three days before the annual meeting, cause to be printed and distrib- uted among the taxpayers of the Town a detailed report of all moneys paid out of the town treasury during the preceding fin- ancial year, with such information and recommendations as they may deem proper, and with detailed estimates of the amounts of money which will be required for the current financial year. The report of the Auditors and of the School Committee, also the record of the Town Meetings held during the preceding year, and an abstract of the Births, Marriages, and Deaths, to be fur- nished by the Town Clerk, shall also be printed annually with the Selectmen's Report. Each decennial valuation of estates made by the Assessors, or an abstract thereof, together with a. list of poll-tax payers, shall be printed with the Selectmen's Report for the next year after the same shall be made.
SECT. 6. The Board of Highway Surveyors shall annually, in the month of March, appoint a Superintendent of Streets, and they shall keep a record of their official acts, and an account of receipts and expenditures. All specific repairs of streets or bridges, all contracts for making or repairing the same, and all bills for the same shall be authorized or approved by a majority of the Board. The Superintendent shall annually, in March or April, inspect the streets and bridges of the town to determine their condition in respect to safety, to the existence of obstruc- tions and encroachments, and need of repair. He shall make a. report to the town annually, on or before February 1, to be printed with the Selectmen's Report, specifying the work which has been done, and the amounts which have been expended on each street, with an estimate of the appropriation required for highways the succeeding year.
SECT. 7. Notice of intention to lay out, alter or discontinue a town way, in addition to the notice required by the Public Statutes, shall be given by publication in any newspaper pub- lished in Norwood before the day of hearing.
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SECT. 8. Whenever a town way is laid out or altered, a plan thereof shall be made and filed in the Town Clerk's office, with the location, thereof, and it shall be the duty of the Town Clerk to keep a book of records for the sole purpose of recording the location of all highways and town ways within the town, with an index thereto.
SECT. 9. The Selectmen shall appoint annually, in the month of April, three suitable persons to be Cemetery Commissioners, who shall hold their offices until their successors are appointed. They shall have the care, superintendence and management of the public cemeteries in the town, and may make rules and regu- lations concerning the same, which the Board of Health are not authorized by law to make, and which are not repugnant to any law of the Commonwealth, or in contravention of any vote of the Town. They shall cause to be prosecuted all offences enumer- ated in Public Statutes, Chapter 207, Sections 49 and 50, and in any other law relating to the same. All moneys raised by the Town, or hereinafter appropriated for the care, improvement or embellishment of said public cemeteries, shall be expended under their direction. They shall annually, on the first day of Feb- ruary, make up and render a report, in writing, of the condition of the cemeteries, with an itemized account of receipts and expenditures, and estimates of amounts of appropriations required for the coming year, which report shall be printed in the Annual Report of Town Officers.
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ARTICLE III.
FINANCIAL REGULATIONS.
SECTION 1. The financial year shall begin with the first day of February in each year, and end with the last day of January following.
SECT. 2. No money shall be paid from the treasury, except the State and county taxes, without a warrant therefor, signed by a majority of the Selectmen.
SECT. 3. The assessment of taxes shall be completed, and the
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tax list and warrant shall be committed to the Collector on or before the first day of August in said year.
SECT. 4. Taxes assessed in each year shall be payable on or before the first day of November in the same year, and on all such taxes as shall not be paid on or before the said first day of November, interest at the rate of six (6) per cent. per year shall be charged and collected from said first day of November till the tax is paid, and the Collector shall immediately, after the first day of January in each year, exert all the powers vested in him by law for the collection of unpaid taxes.
SECT. 5. The Collector shall cause to be printed upon the tax bill the foregoing by-law.
SECT. 6. All persons who may be assessed a poll tax only shall pay the same on demand.
SECT. 7. No Town Officer having the control of the expendi- ture of the public money, shall incur any debt or obligation on account of the Town, in any department, beyond the amount appropriated therefor by the Town; and no amount, for any department, beyond the sum appropriated, shall be drawn from the town treasury until the same is sanctioned and approved by the Town.
SECT. S. In all accounts brought against the Town for settle- ment, the Selectmen shall require each item of indebtedness to be clearly stated before their acceptance of the same.
SECT. 9. There shall be chosen at the annual meeting three Auditors of accounts, who shall audit the accounts of the Treas- urer and Collector ; and for this purpose they shall have access to and examine all accounts kept by the Selectmen, School Com- mittee, Engineers of the Fire Department, and all other Town Officers. They shall have power to employ the assistance of an expert accountant when they think proper.
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ARTICLE IV.
TRUANCY.
SECTION 1. All habitual truants residing in this town, and children between the ages of seven and fifteen years, who may be found wandering about in the streets or public places of said town, and having no lawful occupation or business, not attending school, and growing up in ignorance, shall be committed to the union truant school established by the county commissioners of this county and other counties.
SECT. 2. The School Committee shall annually appoint and fix the compensation of two suitable persons to be Truant Offi- cers, who shall perform the duties required by the provisions of Public Statutes, Chapter 48.
SECT. 3. It shall be the duty of any Truant Officer, before making any complaint according to law, to notify the parent or guardian of any such child as is described in the first section of this article, if he has any, of the offence, and if satisfactory pledges shall be given to the Truant Officer for the future restraint and reformation of such child, he may in his discretion forbear to make or prosecute such complaint, so long as such pledges shall be faithfully kept.
SECT. 4. The Truant Officers shall keep a record of their official acts, and make an annual report thereof to the School Committee, who shall publish the same in their annual report.
ARTICLE V.
POLICE REGULATIONS.
SECTION 1. The Selectmen, before granting a written permis- sion to move a building in any public street or way in the town, under Public Statutes, Chapter 53, Sect. 17, shall ascertain if the destruction or injury of any shade or ornamental tree, shrub, or any fixture of ornament or utility, standing in a street, way, or enclosure adjoining the same, will be caused thereby, and if
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in such case, in the opinion of the Selectmen, such permission should be granted, they may require the person applying to give satisfactory security to any person owning such trees, shrubs, or fixtures, to indemnify him for any damage caused as aforesaid, before giving such permission.
SECT. 2. Whoever shall pasture any cattle, goats or other animals, either with or without a keeper, upon any street or way in the town, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding twenty dollars for each violation hereof.
SECT. 3. Whoever shall affix with paste or other adhesive substance any bill, placard, or notice, or shall write any figures, words, or devices, to or upon a building, fence or wall in the town, where the owner or occupant shall have posted a notice forbidding the same, or shall post any bill, placard, or notice on any tree in a public street or town way, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than one dollar nor more than ten dollars for each offence.
SECT. 4. Whoever shall wilfully or maliciously deface or tear down any bill, placard, or notice, posted for a lawful purpose, except the same be affixed to premises owned by him or under his control, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than one dollar nor more than ten dollars for each offence.
SECT. 5. Whoever shall ride any horse, or drive any horse or horses attached to a vehicle of any description, in or upon any street or way for public travel, at such an immoderate rate of speed as to endanger or expose to injury or inconvenience any person standing, walking, or riding therein, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than five dollars nor more than twenty dollars for each offence.
SECT. 6. Whoever shall be or remain upon any doorstep, portico or other projection from any house or building, or upon any wall or fence on or near any street or public place, after being requested by any occupant of the premises or by any con- stable or police officer to remove therefrom, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than one dollar nor more than ten dollars for each offence.
SECT. 7. Whoever shall coast upon any sled or sleds upon
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any sidewalk, or in any street or public place, except upon such streets or places as the Selectmen may by public notice desig- nate for such purpose, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than one dollar nor more than five dollars for each offence.
SECT. S. Whoever, by any means or in any manner, shall wilfully frighten any horse, or play at any game in which a ball is used, or shoot with bows and arrows, or throw stones or other missiles, in any street or on any sidewalk, shall forfeit and. pay a sum not less than one dollar nor more than ten dollars for each offence.
SECT. 9. Whoever shall drive any horse, cattle or swine, or permit any horse, cattle or swine under his care to go upon or over any sidewalk, or hitch his horse to any ornamental tree standing or growing upon any sidewalk, or suffer any horse to remain hitched across any sidewalk, or draw or propel any hand- cart over any sidewalk, so as thereby to cause any injury either to person or property of others, or to obstruct the safe and con- venient passing of persons lawfully using the same, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than one dollar nor more than ten dollars for each offence.
SECT. 10. Whoever shall throw or drop in or upon any foot- path, sidewalk or highway in the town, any piece of wire, nail, metal or mineral, that might or would be a source of annoyance or danger to anyone lawfully passing over or using such path, walk or way, or shall behave in an indecent or disorderly man- ner, or use indecent, profane or insulting language in any public place or on any street or sidewalk in the town, to the annoyance or disturbance of any person there being or passing in a peace- able manner, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than five dol- lars nor more than ten dollars for each offence.
SECT. 11. Whoever, unless by leave of the Town Officers, having charge of the repairs of the highways, shall throw or deposit in any street, or on any sidewalk, ashes, dirt, rubbish or filth of any kind, or any animal or vegetable substance, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than one dollar nor more than ten dollars for each offence.
SECT. 12. Whoever shall suffer any wood or coal, or any cart
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or wagon, to remain within the limits of a street or upon any sidewalk so as in any manner to obstruct the travel thereon, or for more than twenty-four hours after he has been notified by the Superintendent of Streets or any Constable or Police Officer to remove the same, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than one dollar, and not more than ten dollars for each offence.
SECT. 13. Whoever shall make any indecent figures or write any indecent or obscene words upon any fence, building or struc- ture in any public place, or wantonly expose his naked person to the view of other persons then and there passing or being in any street or public place, or in or near any dwelling house, or commit a nuisance upon any sidewalk, or against any tree, build- ing or structure adjoining the same, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than five dollars, nor more than twenty dollars, for each offence.
ARTICLE VI.
SECTION 1. These By-Laws may be amended at any annual town meeting, an article or articles for that purpose having been inserted in the warrant for such meeting.
SECT. 2. All forfeitures under any of the By-Laws of the town shall be recovered by complaint, and shall inure to the use of the Town of Norwood.
SECT. 3. No person shall be prosecuted or tried for any breach of the provisions of any By-Law of the town, unless the com- plaint for the same shall be made within six months from the time of committing such breach.
SECT. 4. These By-Laws shall take effect from and after their approval by the Superior Court, and all By-Laws heretofore adopted by the Town are hereby repealed.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
NORFOLK, SS.
SUPERIOR COURT.
Upon the petition of Edgar L. Bigelow, Town Clerk, praying that certain By-Laws, adopted at a meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Norwood, on the eleventh day of April, A.D. 1898, a copy of said By-Laws being hereto annexed:
I certify that on the twenty-third day of May, A.D. 1898, said By-Laws were approved by the Court, and with such approval have been duly entered and recorded in the office of the Clerk of Courts for said County of Norfolk.
THE SUPERIOR COURT.
Witness my hand and the seal of said Court, this twenty-fifth day of May, A.D. 1898.
R. B. WORTHINGTON,
Assistant Clerk.
GENERAL LAWS
WHICH HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED OR ADOPTED BY THE
TOWN OF NORWOOD,
AGREEABLY TO THE PROVISIONS IN TIIAT BEHALF THEREIN CONTAINED.
ALSO, RULES AND REGULATIONS OF HIGHLAND CEMETERY.
GENERAL LAWS.
[STATUTES 1869-CHAPTER 169.]
AN ACT CONCERNING THE LAYING OUT, ALTERING, WIDENING AND IMPROVING STREETS AND WAYS IN CITIES AND TOWNS.
Be it enacted, ete., as follows :
SECTION 1. The provisions of chapter one hundred and seventy-four of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and of chapter two hundred and seventy-six of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, are hereby extended and made applicable to any and all the towns of the Commonwealth; prorided, that the powers vested by said acts in the board of aldermen of the city of Boston shall be vested in and exercised by the selectmen within their respective towns, and no assess- ments shall be made under the provisions of said acts until the work of laying out, altering, widening and improving any street or way shall be completed; and also provided, that the assessments authorized in said acts may be made when highways or town-ways are laid out, altered, widened or improved within any town by or under the order of the county commissioners; and in any such case due allowance shall be made for any benefit set off under the provisions of section sixteen of chapter forty- three of the General Statutes.
SECTION 2. All parties aggrieved by the action of the selectmen under this act shall have the rights and remedies provided in the laying out of town-ways.
SECTION 3. This act shall not apply to the laying out, altering, widening or improving streets and ways within any town, commenced before the acceptance of this act by the town as herein provided, and shall not be construed as repealing any existing laws relating to the lay- ing out, altering, widening, discontinuance or improvement of ways in any town by the selectmen or the county commissioners.
SECTION 4. The preceding sections shall take effect in any town whenever the same is accepted by a vote of a majority of the legal voters of such town present and voting at a town meeting duly held for the purpose.
(Accepted in town meeting, May 17, 1875.)
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[STATUTES 1877-CHAPTER 38.]
AN ACT RELATING TO THE TERM OF OFFICE OF ENGINEMEN AND OTHER MEMBERS OF FIRE DEPARTMENTS.
Be it enacted, etc., as follows:
SECTION 1. Any eity or town which has established, or may here- after establish, a fire department under the provisions of chapter twenty- four of the General Statutes, or acts in addition thereto or amendment thereof, may by vote of the eity council in such city, or of the inhabitants of such town, at a meeting called for the purpose, appoint the term of office for the engineers, enginemen and other members of the fire depart- ment, to begin at any future day, and to end in one year from the day so appointed, and so on from year to year.
SECTION 2. Whenever a year is thus appointed other than the year beginning on the first day of May, which is preseribed in said chapter twenty-four, all dates or other provisions of said chapter that have refer- ence to the month of May, shall be so far altered as to have like reference to the first month of the year thus appointed.
SECTION 3. For the purpose of ehanging, in accordance with a vote passed as provided in section one, the system existing at any time, any city or town, may, by another vote which may be passed at the same time, abridge or protract the eurrent term of office of the engineers, en- ginemen and other members of the fire department: prorided, that no term shall be made shorter than six months nor longer than eighteen months; and provided, further, that the incumbents of such 'offices shall in all cases hold office until others are appointed in their stead.
SECTION 4. This aet shall take effect upon its passage. [Approred March 10, 1877.]
(Adopted in town meeting, May 17, 1875.)
[PUBLIC STATUTES 1882-CHAPTER 48.]
OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN AND REGULATIONS RESPECT- ING THEM.
SCHOOLING AND LIMIT OF LABOR OF CHILDREN EMPLOYED IN MANUFACTURING AND OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS.
SECTION 1. No child under ten years of age shall be employed in any manufacturing, mechanical or mereantile establishment in this Common- wealth; and any parent or guardian who permits such employment shall for such offence forfeit not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars, for the use of the public schools of the city or town.
SECTION 2. No child under fourteen years of age shall be so employed, except during the vacations of the public schools, unless during the year
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next preceding such employment he has for at least twenty weeks at- tended some public or private day school under teachers approved under section two of chapter forty-seven by the school committee of the place where sueh school is kept, which time may be divided, so far as the arrangements of school terms will allow, into two terms, each of ten consecutive weeks; nor shall such employment eontinuc, unless such child in each and every year attends school as herein provided; and no child shall be so employed who does not present a certificate, made by or under the direction of said school committee, of his compliance with the require- ments of this section: provided, that a regular attendance during the con- tinuance of such employment in any school known as a half-time day school may be accepted by said school committee as a substitute for the attendance herein required.
SECTION 3. Every owner, superintendent, or overseer of any sueh es- tablishment shall require and keep on file a certificate of the age and place of birth of every child under sixteen years of age employed therein, so long as such child is so employed, which certificate shall also state, in the case of a child under the age of fourteen years, the amount of his school attendance during the year next preceding sueh employment. Said certificate shall be signed by a member of the school committee of the place where such attendance has been had, or by some one authorized by sueli committee; and the form of said certificate shall be furnished by the sec- retary of the board of education, and shall be approved by the attorney- general.
SECTION 4. Every owner, superintendent, or overseer of any such es- tablishment, who employs or permits to be employed any child in viola- tion of either of the two preceding sections, and every parent or guardian who permits sueh employment, shall forfeit not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars, for the use of the public schools of such city or town.
SECTION 5. The truant officers shall, at least once in every school term, and as often as the school committee require, visit the establishments de- scribed in section one in their several cities and towns, and inquire into the situation of the children employed therein, and ascertain whether the provisions of the four preceding sections are duly observed, and report all violations thereof to the school committee.
SECTION 6. The truant officers may demand the names of the children under sixteen years of age employed in such establishments in their sev- eral cities and towns, and may require that the certificates of age and school attendance prescribed in section three shall be produced for their inspection ; and a failure to produce the same shall be prima facie evidence that the employment of such child is illegal.
SECTION 7. Every owner, superintendent, or overseer in any such es- tablishment, who employs, or permits to be employed therein, a child under fourteen years of age who cannot read and write, while the public
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schools in the city or town where such child lives are in session, and every parent or guardian who permits such employment, shall for every such offence forfeit not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars, for the use of the public schools of such city or town.
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