In like manner, policy established exceptions
to the general prohibition against entering another's premises,
as in the instance put by Chief Justice Choke in the Year Book,
of a tree being blown over upon them, or when the highway became
impassable, or for the purpose of keeping the peace. /2/
Another example may perhaps be found in the shape which has been
given in modern times to the liability for animals, and in the
derivative principle of Rylands v. Fletcher, /3/ that when a
person brings on his lands, and collects and keeps there,
anything likely to do mischief if it escapes, he must keep it in
at his peril; and, if he does not do so, is prima facie
answerable for all the [117] damage which is the natural
consequence of its escape. Cases of this sort do not stand on the
notion that it is wrong to keep cattle, or to have a reservoir of
water, as might have been thought with more plausibility when
fierce and useless animals only were in question. /1/ It may even
be very much for the public good that the dangerous accumulation
should be made (a consideration which might influence the
decision in some instances, and differently in different
jurisdictions); but as there is a limit to the nicety of inquiry
which is possible in a trial, it may be considered that the
safest way to secure care is to throw the risk upon the person
who decides what precautions shall be taken.
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