happen, the same shall be final and conclusive upon all parties, except only in relation to an assessment for lands taken or damaged as is hereinafter provided; and that such compensation shall be paid to the commissioners of assessments for any services so rendered by them as shall, in each case, be determined by a resolution of the township committee. 33. And be it enacted, That the township committee in May assess considering the said report and map, shall have the power in their discretion to assess any part (not exceeding the onefourth part) of the said benefits or expenses attending or occasioned by the said improvements, upon the township at large, and the remainder thereof upon the owner or owners of the said lands and real estate benefited by or upon the line of said improvement as aforesaid.

portion of the the township

benefits on

at large.

34. And be it enacted, That no notice to the owner or own. Notices. ers of said lands and real estate to be taken for or to be damaged or benefited by said improvement, or to be assessed for such benefits, or for the expense of making said improve. ments shall be required other than the several notices mentioned in the twenty-eighth, the thirty-first and the thirtysecond sections of this act.

aggrieved may

35. And be it enacted, That any person or persons feeling All persons himself, herself or themselves to be aggrieved by any such appeal. assessment of damages for any lands and real estate taken for or damaged by any such improvement may appeal to the supreme court of this state, at any time within sixty days after the final adoption of said report by the township committee, and that the said supreme court shall thereupon order a trial by jury to assess such damages anew, and that the said trial shall be conducted as in other cases of trial by jury; provided, that the completion of said improvement Proviso. shall not be delayed thereby, and that the township committee may proceed therewith as though said appeal had not been taken.

provement is

shall tender to

lands the

36. And be it enacted, That before any such improvement Before imshall be carried into effect, it shall be the duty of the treasurer carried out of the township, under the direction of the township commit- the treasurer tee, to pay or tender unto the owner or owners of lands and owners of real estate taken therefor, or damaged thereby as aforesaid, amount of the amount or amounts of damages so assessed to him, her or them respectively; provided, that if such owner do not reside in said township, or upon due inquiry cannot be found therein by the said treasurer, or is a lunatic or idiot, or is under age,

damages as

sessed.

Proviso.

Report and

to collector of
taxes, who
shall proceed

sessments.

or otherwise legally incapacitated to receive such damages, or if such owner or owners will not accept such damages, and sign a proper receipt therefor when tendered, then the said treasurer of the township shall make an affidavit of the fact, and shall file the same with the township clerk, and the township committee shall, after inquiry, direct the amount or amounts of said damages to be placed on special deposit in some suitable depository, for the use of the person or persons to whom the same may be due; and the same shall be paid to him, her or them, when duly authorized to receive the same, without interest, except from and after the time when demand may be made for the same and refused; and provided also, that no tender shall be necessary in any case where the benefits which may be assessed against the said owner or owners are equal to or exceed the amount of damages assessed in his, her or their favor.

37. And be it enacted, That after the said report of the map delivered board of assessments shall have been adopted and ratified by the township committee, whether with or without alteration to collect as as aforesaid, and shall have been duly recorded at full length in the record of their proceedings, it shall, together with the last mentioned map, be delivered to the collector of taxes for preservation in his office, and that said collector shall, immediately thereafter, prepare an abstract of said report, including therein a brief description of the improvement, the names (when known) of the several owners of the lands and real estate assessed, the several amounts so assessed against them, and a brief description of the several parcels of lands and real estate, specifying the locality thereof, with reference to streets, numbers and cross streets, as far as the same can be conveniently stated; that the said collector shall enter the said abstract in a book to be kept in his office for that purpose, and which shall be called the "Book of Assessments for Improvement," and that he shall then give notice, for four weeks in some newspaper printed in the town of Orange and also in a newspaper printed in the city of Newark, that said report and map have been so delivered to him, and requiring the owners of land and real estate affected thereby to pay the amounts of the several sums assessed against them, to him, at his office, within sixty days from the time of the the first publication of said notice.

Interest, if
not paid with.

38. And be it enacted, That if any assessments to be in sixty days. paid by virtue of this act, shall not be paid to the said col

lector of taxes within sixty days after the first publication of the notice mentioned in the thirty-seventh section of said act, the said assessment shall draw interest thereupon, from and after that time, until paid at the rate of two per centum per month.

ed by owner

ed and taken

39. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the town- Streets openship committee whenever they shall deem it expedient, to may be deemordain by ordinance as aforesaid, that any street or highway to be public which may have been or may be opened by the owner or streets. owners of any land over which the same passes, and which has been dedicated to public use by permitting the public to use the same for any length of time, and by selling lots. fronting thereon, shall be deemed and taken to be a public street or highway, and that the same shall thereafter be made, maintained and treated as such in all respects.

hereafter to be opened by or

40. And be it enacted, That hereafter no street or high- All streets way to be laid out and opened in said township, shall be deemed and taken to be a public street or highway, unless dinance. laid out and opened under and by an ordinance of the township committee; and that it shall be lawful for the said township committee to lay out any street or highway, exceeding four rods in width; provided, all the lands embraced therein Proviso, shall be given to the town for that purpose by the owner or owners thereof.

mine lines and

streets.

41. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Commissiontownship committee from time to time, to appoint by ordin- ers to deterance three freeholders of the township to act as commis- courses of sioners in ascertaining and determining the precise lines, courses and width, of any street or streets in said township, whether legally laid out and opened or not, but which may have been used by the public for twenty years or more, as the said street or streets is, are or shall be so used at the time of the passage of such ordinance, which commissioners, or any two of them, shall with all convenient speed, return to the said township committee a report in writing, accompanied by a map showing such lines, courses and width of said street or streets; and such report and map, when approved by said township committee shall be filed in the office of the township clerk, as well as recorded in the record of the proceedings of said township committee, and shall thereafter be taken to be full and conclusive evidence of the existence of such street or streets, as a public highway or highways, and

that the same shall thereafter be treated and maintained as such in all respects.

No person an incompetent witness by rea.

an inhabitant.

TITLE VI.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

42. And be it enacted, That upon the trial of any issue, or upon the judicial investigation of any fact, to which the son of being said "The Inhabitants of the Township of West Orange" is a party, or in which it may be interested, no person shall be deemed to be incompetent to act as a judge, juror or witness, by reason of his being an inhabitant or freeholder of said township, and that if any person shall be sued or impleaded, by reason of anything done by virtue of this act, it shall be lawful for such person to plead the general issue, and to give this act and special matter in evidence at the trial.

Ordinances

force.

43. And be it enacted, That all ordinances of the township continued in committee of the said township, passed under and by virtue of the act entitled "An Act to set off from the town of Orange, and the townships of Caldwell and Livingston, in the county of Essex, a new township to be called the township of Fairmount," approved March eleventh, anno domini, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and the several supplements thereto, not inconsistent with this act, shall continue in force until altered or repealed by the said township committee.

All books of

township records to be taken as eridence.

Township .committee

may act by resolution.

Licenses for

inns and taverns.

44. And be it enacted, That the books of record kept by any officer of the township, under and by virtue of the provisions of this act, or any ordinance of the township committee, shall be admitted as evidence of the matters and things therein contained in all courts and places whatsoever.

45. And be it enacted, That except in those cases wherein it is hereby specially directed that the township committee shall proceed by ordinance, it shall be lawful for them to proceed and act, either by resolution or by ordinance, as to them may seem fit.

46. And be it enacted, That if any person shall hereafter obtain a license to keep an inn or tavern within the limits of the township, the fee to be paid for the same shall be twentyfive dollars, and no person shall be allowed to sell beer, porter cider or wine within the limits aforesaid, until he, she or they shall first pay to the treasurer of the township, for the use of

the township, the sum of fifteen dollars, and for every violation of this section, either by refusal or neglect, to pay the said sum of fifteen dollars, it shall be the duty of the treasurer forthwith to prosecute and recover the same in any court having jurisdiction thereof, in an action of debt, with costs, and on non payment thereof the defendant shall be committed to the common jail of the county, for any term not exceeding sixty days, and until the said sum of fifteen dollars and costs shall be paid; provided, that the sum as Provise. aforesaid when paid, shall be an exemption for the space of one year and provided also, that this section shall not be Proviso. held to apply to druggists, or other persons who may sell beer, porter, cider or wine that is not drank upon the premises when sold.

47. And be it enacted, That from and after the passage of Repeater. this act, all acts and parts of acts inconsistent therewith or repugnant thereto be and the same are hereby repealed; but nothing herein contained shall be construed so as to destroy, Disclaimer. impair or take away right or remedy acquired or given by any act so repealed, and all proceedings commenced under any such former act, shall and may be carried out and completed, and all prosecutions for any offence committed, or penalty or forfeiture incurred, shall be carried on in all respects in the same manner, and with the same effect as though this act had not been passed.

48. And be it enacted, That this act shall take effect immediately.

Approved March 10, 1870.

CHAPTER CC.

An Act to incorporate the Spotswood and Matchaponix Turnpike
Company.

1. BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, That the subscription books of the