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Show Utah Thursday. Horembei 7, 1957. INDEPENDENT- - ; Page2 Sag., House. - The second in a series of articles on law continues in this issue. Written by a young Salt Lake Attorney, Richard J. Maughan, who graduated from the Utah State Univer-- j sity, University of Utah Law School. (As editor we learn-ed one doesn't necessarily have to play a game with the Utes to get scalped. Fol-lowing his graduation he serv-ed as assistant to the attor- - ney general, as president of the Young Democrats of the state and with a Veterans Group in Washington, D. C. J. Maughan, B.S.- - L.L.B. In our last article we mentioned that the Sevan Grand Divisions of the Law would come in for a little more extensive analysis. You will remember that these divisions are Torts, Con-tracts, Crimes, iquity, Property, 3overnment and Procedure, Let us begin ith Torts. What s a tort? Every-one able to read this column has we assume behind the wheel oj an automobile .is, as I have saidj breath-takin- g when you run thru your minds eye all the situations you encounter on your way to work, to the market, to that pic-nic in the canyon, or on your way to church. First, there are all the other cars driving on the same highway on which you are driving; there are all the pede-strians crossing at the cross-walks together with those who: cross where they are not supposed to cross; then there are combina-tions of automobiles and pede-strians at the intersections and pedestrian lanes, and there are the automobiles and trudts which back out from parking places, driveways and alleyways. To all of these people you have an obliga-tion, an obligation which the law, forces upon you with or without your consent. That obligation is the duty to drive with reasonable care through all of these new andj ever-changi- ng situations reas- - onable care for the safety of all persons and property in the high-- l way. Concerned? You should not1 be, any more than should all those other people we have been taling about, for each of them owes to you the same kind of a duty to conduct themselves reasonably, with an eye for your safety. Now, you may ask, "What is reasonable conduct?" It has been said by judges that "reasonable" is an elastic term and of uncer-tain value in a definition. Howev-er, we must do better wit it than that, for without it we would have difficulty in defining or utilizing the geater part of our law of torts. And without our law of torts we would lose the grip in one of our most effective means of socially controlling oureslves. So, let us look again to the dictionary. There we find. that reasonable is synony-mous - .with equitable, fair, and just. From there it is an easy step to evaluate! our conduct un-der each of the above mentioned situations and teli whether at any given moment it is equitable, fair, just. When we drive along the highway, through the intersection, turn the corner, or do any of the hundreds of other acts we have to do in an automobile, is our con-duct equitable, fair and just in re- - an idea of the Maughn difference be-tween right and wrong, and will have no difficulty understanding that a tort is a wrong as opposed to a crime, which is a wrong also, but of a different kind. A tort is a civil wrong and a crime is a public wrong. Simply stated, a tort is an act for which one is not punished by imprisonment or criminal fine whereas a crime is an act for which punishment can be given in the, form of imprisonment or ' fine, and ' is considered an act against the public. Some torts and crimes are identical in their form and can be the subject matter for both a civil ' suit and prosecution. I will give you an example, of this in Just a mom-ent,- but - first ' let -- me' delve into the word itself. My lay dictionary gives the definition of a tort as follows: "Any wrongful act (not involving a breach of contract for which a civil action will lie." An old Illinois case defined a tort as "An iniurv or wrons commit-- ted, either with or without force, to the person or property of another. Such injury may arise by the nonfeasance, by the mal-feasance, or by the misfeasance of the wrong-doer.-" Nonfeasance means simply the omission or fail-ure to perform duties which one owes to another or others. Mal-feasance is the doing of an act which one should not do at all, and misfeasance is the doing of an act which a person has a right to do, but which he does in an improper manner each of these is a tort. The word itself comes from the Latin "tortus," meaning twisted or crooked, thus we might say that any conduct of a mem-ber of our society which is twist-ed from a reasonable course, or appears crooked to a reasonable mind is a tort; and if such twist-ed or crooked conduct causes an-other harm such another may bring a law suit against the wrong-doe- r to be compensated for the harm suffered. Let us take the common case of the automobile driver. It is here that our tort obligation comes into focus with breath-takin- g ef-fect. When we get behind the wheel of an automobile and put the ma-chine in motion, the law forces upon us an obligation to all per-sons on or about the highway. That obligation is to drive with reasonable care for the safety of all . these people, and if we acquit that obligation by driving with reasonable care, even though we may harm someone, we have not committed a tort. But the con-verse of that, driving without rea-sonable care, and harming some-one in the process, makes us a wrong-doe- r and we have commit-ted a tort for which we are liable The importance of the obligation lation to all tne other persons and property we find "there with us? If it is, we have not committed a tort. The law governing the conduct of people and "their automobiles forms the substance a great deal of legal literature, and the only reason that it does is that the con-duct of automobilists does not fit our definition of reasonable. We are all acquainted with the num-erous slogans apparent on the rear bumpers and the windshields of automobiles, which advocate the use of courtesy, and slo ad-monish us to make the golden rule our rule of the road. Well, if we were to put into practice eith-er of these sentiments we would be successfully acquitting our tort obligations on the highway. Other Branches of the Law Of Torts In order that we may not fix our attention too lastingly to the torts embodied in the traffic prob-lems of our day, it may be well to mention a few other avenues down which the law of torts makes it way in order to control conduct or compensate for harm. Here we will return to ojir terms of misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance, and now you will be able to make the connection. First we have torts arising from inten-tional interferences with one's per-Jso- n, and with one's property, j These would largely fall within our definition of malfeasance, be-jin- g intentional violations of cer-tainrigh- ts which you have, for tain rights which you have, for or a battery (that is, an unlawful touching of your person.) Next we have that branch of torts which deals with negligence substant-ially our misfeasance department. For example, we do something , which we can legally do, but which we do in an improper man-nerwe do it negligently ima-gine you are coming down a stair-way in a public building. You are allowed to do this, but you must do it with an eye toward the safe-ty of others who are there with you. If you came bounding down the stairway after the manner of a St. Bernard bumping your fel-lows in the process, you would be liable for such harm' as they suf-fered as a result of your negli-gence. There are many other branches of the law of torts which we should, at least, look at. These in-clude Nuisance, Strict Liability (liability without fault as we nor-mally understand it), Defanation and others too numerous to deal with at this week's meeting, but j interesting enough to bring in for .further discussion next .week. See !you then. 1 C " The serious nuisance of the neglected pet still plagues the Valley. Dogs running at large, destroying the peace and property of the entire neighborhood are an indication of i poor citizenship. Our entire form of government is founded upon the " respect and consideration of our fellowman, and little respect or consideration is shown for one's neighbor, when an owner allows his pet to run at large, tearing up valuable shrubs, , digging holes in otherwise well-ke- pt lawns, barking incessantly at trivial noises and frightening passer-by- s by shows of antagonism. The physical control of a pet is a simple thing, either a length cf chain attached to a solid object, or the con-structi-of a pen sufficiently secure to insure the pet being unable to escape. Certainly the peace of mind derived from the knowledge that .the animal is safe from harm in the form of passing cars or. irate neighbors should amply repay the owner for his time and money. . On the other side of the question, parents should see that their children are not allowed to tease and abuse animals, . whether they are tied, resting on their owners' property , , or even running, at large. Dogs are sensitive animals, and they resent undue abuse, heaped upon them by thoughtless , . people, who happen not to care for the canine species. But here again, the element of respect and consideration should come into play. This being a free country, with the personal ' rights secured by a just and fair constitution, individuals . should remember that people are privileged to own pets, and should a pet owner be neglectful of his duty to his neighbor, that owner should be courteously contacted, the rules of the Country Dog Ordinance pointed out to him, and then be given a chance-t- o comply to those rules, - before the irate ' r property owner 'explodes in his face and threatens to shoot' his dog or dump him a hunk of poisoned meat. In all the world, there is no more despicable person, no lower form of human life, than the dog poisoner. Judas himself would stand as a shining example of Purity and Chastity 'beside the creature that would toss poisoned food to an animal . whose entire existence has been based upon his trust for his ' god, Man. ' Not only does this base being break trust with a helpless 1 ' : ' "animal, but invariably he brings heartache and suffering to the human family who were owners of the dog. It is only r necessary to stand once beside a bewildered child, who, with ' : tear-staine- d . face, is watching the death agonies of his pet, to feel that "no form of punishment for this fiend would be - " too much to inflict. ' 'So, : irate property owners, get together with your neigh-""- ", bor who owns the annoying pet, explain courteously and j: carefully' the ' rights of both the pet - owner and the - property '"' "owner, with a copy of the Dog Ordinance, available at Room " 307, City and County Building, to verify your arguments, and "V .. see if your neighbor can be made , to understand your side of the question as well as his own. And. remember, no dog - " V likes to be teased by playing children, however innocent their ' intentions, and should the dog show resentment over this treatment, it does not necessarily mean that The is. vicious. In . '- - '''reality, there are mighty few vicious dogs, and usually their ' owners are the first to know this, and have posted signs to well-construct- enclosures warning the public to. "Beware, of the Dog." Let's remember our constitutional rights, friends and neighbors, and see if we, the People of the Valley, can't " find a solution-t- this problem. SOUTH EAST INDEPENDENT 1123 East 21st South Dial IN 32 Or HU 61 The South East Independent is entered as Second Class Matter, March 1, 1946, in Salt Lake City Post Office under the act of March 3, 1879. It is published each Thurs-day morning. South East Independent is pub-lished by the News Bulletin, Inc., and Sugar House Press, Inc., at 1123 E. Twenty-Firs- t South St. Sugar House, Utah. Subscription rates are 3.00 per year by mail. Single copy price is ten cents. Publisher Clair King Editor Emma D. King NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of John F. Scheib, De-ceased. Creditors will present claims with vouchers to the undersigned at the office of W. Douglas Allen, 2121 South State St.. Salt Lake City, Utah, on or before the first day of March, A.D. 1957. LEONA S. LAYTON, Executrix of the Last Will and Testament John F. Scheib, Deceased. W. Douglas Allen, Attorney for Executrix. .D. 1957.) (Date of first pub. October 31, NOTICE To Mortgagor by Mortgagee in proceeding to foreclosure and sale. By virtue of a chattel mortgage by Credit Finance and Hyrum and Carol Crowley dated the 12th day of December, 1956, and upon which default has been made and upon which is due $287.08, we will (expose for sale at public auction on November 15, 1957, at 10 a.m., o'clock at 063 East 21 South, Salt Lake City, Utah, certain property mentioned in said mortgage as follows, to wit: 1 21-in- ch Console TV The terms of the sale will, be made known on the day of " the sale. L. T. Williams, Mgr. ,. Olympus High P.T.A. Puts Hides to Use The Olympus High School Par-ent - Teachers Association is spon-soring a money - raising project that is both -- timely and unique. They are sending out a call to all those successful deer hunters who have no use for their deer hides. Should any of you happy nimrods not have a particular needf for the hides of your deer, bring them to Holladay and leave them with either the Olympus Lumber Co. or at the station of Carlos Smith on the corner of Hol-laday Blvd. and 4800 South, and the PTA will see that they are picked up and sold, the money to be used by the school for the furtherance of various school pro-jects. Individuals primarily interested in this drive are Mrs. John Pap-anickol- as, Carlos Smith and War-ren Pugh, president of the Olym-pu- s High PTA. building property is ruined be-cause it is impossible to live near the noise and dirt generated by gravel pits. Property taxes on re-sidences are much higher than those paid on gravel pits so the state is also losing needed reve-nue. This gravel operation is also on top of the Salt Lake City Aque-duct and the Hopper is on the Deer Creek Line, both of which supply Salt Lake City with water. In case of any damage to these water lines residents living under this pit would be flooded out while Salt Lake City itself would suffer a lack of water. Why is this gravel operation more important than the welfare and happiness of hund-reds of people? There is plenty of gravel near the point of the mountain which will never be a residential area. Patricia Russell, Lett "letters to The Editor I .4817 Wander Lane Hqlladay 17, Utah Why can't our . Planning Board v look to . the future? Our children ,. and grandchildren will never know ... how, beautiful, our Wasatch Moun- - tains were if these gravel opera- - tors, are allowed to continue their destruction. The state spent thou-sands of dollars to make a scenic drive; along the base of the Was-- ; atch range and then it is allowed to be-ruin-ed by excavations and 5. "gravel trucks. Now, Mt. 01ympusr one of our c ..famous-lan- d marks, is being ruin-- . ed by gravel operations.. The firm 1;. that is-- , being allowed to this does - not --even own the property . they - are destroying,, they are leasing it and . when they, have completely ruined it for anything else they will , move on to other desecra-- i , tions. - Why: should this destruction of our natural beauties be allowed? i Everyone also , knows that this is the growing residential area yet Three Navy planes from Air Development Squadron-- 6 complet-ed the earliest flight in history to Antarctica when they landed at the Air Facility at McMurdo Sound on Oct. 1 marking the be-ginning of Deepfreeze III. Morrison Meat Pie Co. Cafe No. 2 Regular Breakfasts O Special Luncheons j, ; O j ?&KE;ilOME HEPAKTMEXT ' ; Mcat Pies O Chili Stew Beef-Brot- h '"X-SPECiA-L! StWAit HOUSE 7''meat pies 6f 2036 So. 11th East lor only 3 Tues-and-Thur- s. |