of any other county, such acequias or ditches within the L. 1882. C. 30, § 2: proper precincts of their respective counties shall be under Feb 21. the exclusive control and management of the officers of such precincts and counties.

CONSTRUCTION CONDEMNATION OF LANDS.

Precinct control.

Acequias, right to construct: right of

§ 23. All the inhabitants of the Territory of New Mexico, shall have the right to construct, either private or common way to be paid for. acequias, and to take water for said acequias from wherever they can: with the distinct understanding, to pay the owner through whose land said acequias have to pass a just com- 1: Jan. 9. Tr. pensation taxed for the land used.

L. 1874. chap. 10, §

Appraisers, appointment of.

24. If the owner or owners of lands, where a new ditch for an acequia is to be made, should ask an exorbitant price as a compensation therefor, which shall not be satisfactory to the owner or owners of such acequia, it shall be the duty of the probate judge of the county in which it may occur, to appoint three skillful men of well known honesty, to make an appraisement thereof and fix the compensation; which, once : Jan. 9. Tr. done, shall be executed and without appeal.

L. 1874, chap. 10. §

Ditches

destroy

ed, how reopened.

$25. When any public ditch or part thereof shall be destroyed by rain or in any other manner, and it shall be absolutely impossible to reconstruct it where it usually ran before it was destroyed, the mayordomo of such ditch, with the consent of a majority of the common laborers of the same, should they deem it necessary, may cut through the lands of any person or persons, by first obtaining their consent, by the community of such ditch offering to pay a compensation to be agreed upon between the owner or owners of the lands through which the ditch is to be opened, and the parties inter- 1: Jan. 18. Tr. ested in the said ditch.

L. 1866, chap. 21. §

§ 26. If the owner or owners who shall be solicited to permit their lands to be ditched for the purpose of opening a new ditch, in the cases mentioned in the preceding section, should improperly refuse or decline to accept the compensation offered by the parties interested in such ditch, or ask a compensation which the parties interested do not agree to on account of its exorbitance, in such case the mayordomo of said ditch shall lay the case before the justice of the peace of the precinct in which such ditch may be situated, and it shall be the duty of the justice of the peace to whom the case is presented, to appoint three men, experts, of known integrity, pointment of. to establish a just compensation to be paid to the owner or owners solicited to permit their lands to be ditched through in the cases above mentioned.

Appraisers. ap

Id. § 2.

Appraisement.

$27. Whenever three experts shall be appointed as appraisers, before they enter upon their duties as such appraisers, they shall file in the office of the justice of the peace who appointed them, an oath to faithfully, legally and impar- how made. tially discharge the duties for which they were appointed, and they shall, as soon as possible, proceed to the place where the land or lands they were appointed to appraise are situated, and before appraising the same, they shall ascertain whether or not the ditch, for which a new channel is solicited,

3: Jan. 18. Tr.

L. 1866. chap. 21. § is entirely destroyed, and that the exorbitant labor or costs required to rebuild it, renders its reconstruction absolutely impossible; and if in their opinion the injury done to such ditch may be repaired, they will so report to the justice of the peace, and in such case the land solicited for the purpose of opening the ditch, shall in no manner be touched; but if they should be of the opinion that a part of the ditch is irreparably destroyed, they shall then proceed to examine the land or iands over which the new ditch should be opened, and the place where the said ditch should properly run.

Appraisement, report to be filed.

Id. § 4.

Property rights, procedure defend

ing.

Id. § 5.

§ 28. Whenever any land or lands of any person or persons are to be appraised, as in the cases above mentioned, the experts who shall make such appraisement, shall make a report which shall be filed in the office of the justice of the peace who appointed them, setting forth therein the name of the person whose land was appraised, and the sum to be paid him by the parties interested in the public ditch for which the opening on the land is solicited: they shall also state in said report, in the most distinct manner possible, the direc tion and the place and point where the opening for such ditch shall be made upon said land.

$ 29. The parties interested shall possess the right of property in the land or lands to them assigned under the provisions of this act, and in case of legal resistance being made to the possession of the land by the parties interested in a public ditch, they may compel the person or persons who interpose such resistance to desist therefrom, by an action of forcible entry and detainer, as provided by law, but the parties interested shall first pay the appraised value of such land or lands: Provided, That said appraisers shall be impartial persons. If any mayordomo of any public ditch or acequia, after having undertaken to serve as such, shall willfully neglect or refuse to fulfill the duties required of him by this act, or conduct himself with impropriety or injustice in his office as mayordomo, or take any bribe, in money, property, or otherwise, as an inducement to act improperly, or neglect the duties of his office, he shall be fined, for each of said offenses, in alty for neglect of a sum not exceeding ninety dollars, to be recovered before any justice of the peace in the county, one-half of which sum shall be paid to the county and the other half to the person bringing suit for the same, and on being convicted a second time, he may be removed from his office by the justice of the peace of the precinct, on the petition of two-thirds of the pro§ 15: Jan. 31. 1852. Tr. prietors of the land irrigated by said ditch or acequia. § 31. The pay and other perquisites of the mayordomos shall be determined by a majority of the owners of the land § 12: Jan. 7. 1852. Tr. irrigated by said ditch or acequia.

Mayordomo, pen

duty.

C. L. 1865. chap. 1.

Mayordomo, compensation of.

C. L. 1865. chap. 1,

Labor. apportionment of

C. L. 1865, chap. 1. § 5: July 20, 1851. Tr.

Labor, who shall perform.

Id. g 4.

LABOR MANAGEMENT OF.

$ 32. All persons interested in a common ditch or acequia. be they owners or lessees, shall labor thereon in proportion to their land.

§ 33. All owners of tillable lands shall labor on public ditches or acequias, whether they cultivate the land or not.

$ 34. It shall be the duty of the proprietors to furnish, each one, the number of laborers required by the mayordomo, at the time and place he may designate, for the purposes mentioned in the foregoing section, and for the time he may deem necessary.

$ 35. If any proprietor of any land irrigated by any such ditch or acequia, shall neglect or refuse to furnish the number of laborers required by the mayordomo, as prescribed in section thirty-four, after having been legally notified by the mayordomo, he shall be fined for each offense in a sum not exceeding ten dollars, for the benefit of said ditch or acequia, which shall be recovered by the mayordomo before any justice of the peace in the county, and in such cases the mayordomo may be a competent witness to prove the offense, or any fact that may serve to constitute the same.

$36. If any person shall in any manner obstruct, interfere with, or disturb any of said acequias or ditches, or use the water from it without the consent of the mayordomo during the time of cultivation he shall pay for each offense a sum not exceeding ten dollars, which shall be recovered in the manner prescribed in the foregoing section, for the benefit of said ditch or acequia, and shall further pay all damages that may have accrued to the injured parties, and if said person or persons have not wherewith to pay said fine and damages, they shall be sentenced to fifteen days labor on public works.

C. L. 1865, chap. 1.

$ 14: Jan. 7, 1852. Tr.

Laborers, how furnished.

Laborers. penalty failure to furnish.

Id. § 17.

Obstructing, penalty for.

Id. § 18.

Mayordomo to guard against injury

§ 37. It shall be the duty of all mayordomos of ditches in this territory to see that the water currents run so that no injury may result to the proprietors of lands or tenements or to the public convenience; and in case danger is anywhere threatened by said ditches, either from increase of water or by inundation from which damage might result, in such case said overseers are required, if the expected damage might result to but one precinct, to report the fact to the justice of the peace thereof, and if to two or more precincts then they shall $33: Jan. 28, 1863. Tr. so report to the judge of probate of the county.

$ 38. It shall be the duty of the judge of probate or of the justice of the peace, on receiving a report such as mentioned in the foregoing section, to appoint a committee of three suitable persons to go and examine whether such report is well founded, and should said committee sustain the report made by the mayordomo, the judge of probate or justice of the peace shall in such case issue his order that all persons owning real estate within the limits considered in danger, meet together, and either under direction of the mayordomo or of such person as the judge of probate or the justice of the peace may appoint, set about the prevention of such damage, by the construction of break-waters, barriers, or any other work that the person in charge deem prudent to avert the expected injury: Provided, Such labor shall be performed in proportion to the property of each person interested in the same.

§ 39. In all cases that it becomes necessary to undertake any of the steps mentioned in the foregoing section, it shall be the duty of the person in charge to direct such labor, notify each person interested in the same of the number of laborers he shall have to furnish, and of what part is assigned

Reports of danger required.

C. L. 1865, chap. 11.

Injuries. protection against.

Id. § 35.

Labor, how regu lated: penalty.

$ 35: Jan. 28, 1863. Tr.

C. L. 1865, chap. 11. to him of the work in hand, and informing him of the place and day the same will be commenced: Provided, That if after receiving such notice any person or persons fail to comply, the person so in charge may report to the judge or justice by whom he was appointed, and said judge or justice shall cause the delinquent to appear, and shall fine him in any sum not less than five dollars.

Labor. continuance of, required.

§ 40. Every person or persons, being tillers of irrigated lands, who shall have commenced the work on any public acequia in common labor, are and shall be by the present acts obligated to continue on that work until the completion of the $27: Jan. 29, 1861. Tr. clearing of said acequia.

C. L. 1865, chap. 1.

Abandonment.

penalty for.

Id. § 30. Labor. required until completion.

fulfilled,

§ 41. If any owners of lands, or lessees thereof, shall attempt to abandon their co-laborers without complying with sections forty-two and forty-three, they shall pay for each of such offenses a fine of not less than five dollars, nor exceeding ten dollars.

$42. If any number of laborers, or any person thereof, having their fields above on such acequias, and having reached them, shall pretend from any cause or causes, reason or pretext to abandon their co-laborers, he or they shall not be permitted to leave said work of the laborers in common until the completion of the cleansing of the said acequia Contracts to be so commenced to be worked: Provided, That touching the repairs and excavations to be made to said acequias, the proportion of the people, or the number of laborers for such purpose shall be furnished by the owners, and it shall be the duty of the mayordomos to superintend such work as provided in section nine. If in any acequias already constructed there shall be included any of the dikes and dams which may have been destroyed, and the parties interested therein shall have entered into any agreement or contract with the owners to work said acequia, then, by this act, they shall so remain and fulfill their engagements.

Id. § 28.

Labor, equalization of.

Id. § 29.

Labor, how regu lated.

sence.

$43. As the excavations of such acequias, and in the first cleansing of some of them, the work sometimes continues for thirty days, more or less, the different mayordomos shall take into consideration the small amount of land tilled by some, and not compel these to furnish an equal amount of labor in the cleansing.

$44. Every owner or tenant of irrigable lands, irrigated by any of such acequias in this territory, shall be compelled to hold at all times during the operations of the acequias to which they belong, the number of laborers to them assigned according to the provisions of this act, at the disposal and order of the respective mayordomo or his assistant. And it Liability for at- shall not be legal for any owner or tenant of irrigable lands, irrigated by any of such acequias, to absent himself for a time exceeding three days without informing the chief mayordomo of the respective acequia about the persons remaining in his stead to comply with his or their duty regarding said acequia, and he shall even present them, so that in his presence they may assume the responsibilities during the time of absence of such person or persons that are to be absent. And all the responsibilities of such absentees regarding said

acequias shall fall upon the substitutes left, and no other persons but those assuming the responsibility of the person by whom they are presented shall be admitted as substitutes. And if any of such owners or tenants of irrigable lands, irrigated under any of such acequias in this territory, should absent himself from the precinct during the time the acequias are in operation, without complying with the duty upon him imposed by this act, besides suffering the penalty fixed by the mayordomo, he shall be responsible to the public where he belongs for a just and common estimate, per diem, of the time he was absent, and the number of laborers that may have been assigned to him. Nor shall any proprietor, on account of having rented his lands, reserving a part for himself, be exempt from working on the acequia at any time of said work. $45. The penalties on those who shall fail to supply the amount of work due by them, according to the provisions of this act, or the number of laborers on them apportioned, or for any violation of existing laws on this subject; and those penalties that are applicable under existing laws to mayordomos, shall be the same that shall be applied in these cases, and they shall be executed and fines shall be disbursed in the same manner: Provided, That when any chief mayordomo shall have, in person, given notice to any person who is liable and owes work to the acequia of which he is mayordomo, and such person fails, then and in such case the mayordomo shall impose on the persons so failing the penalty or fine which the law authorizes. And if it is not paid he shall sue them before the justice of the peace for the same; and there it shall be finally decided and executed, if the defendant does not offer credible witnesses to disprove and combat the charge. In which case an examination of the whole subject shall be made by said justice of the peace, and he shall decide accordingly, or shall grant a change of venue to the nearest precinct, should the defendant so desire.

L. 1880. chap. 30,

$ 8: Jan. 31.

Penalties.

Procedure.

Id. § 4.

Bridges to be built.

$ 46. Mayordomos of public and community ditches, shall construct to the cost of the owners of said ditch, good and substantial bridges, made of lumber across all ditches that shall be under their charge, as said mayordomos in all the March 18. crossings of public road or roads.

$47. For the purpose of constructing such bridges, the respective mayordomos of acequias shall collect from the owners of said ditches, the amount required for the construction of the same, after the same have been constructed, which amount so taxed against the owners of said ditches shall be in proportion of their interests on the same: Provided, That neither the county nor the owners of other acequias shall pay anything for the construction of said bridges, but, the owners of each ditch respectively, shall suffer the necessary expense in the construction of said bridges that might be necessary to construct bridges over said ditches.

$48. Every person failing or refusing to pay his share for such purpose after he has been notified by the mayordomo, he shall forfeit his right to use the water of such ditch, or shall be deprived of the use of such water, until he pays his share as provided in section forty-seven.

C. 59, L. 97, § 1:

How paid for.

Ia. § 2.

Penalty for failure to pay.

ld. § 3.