Oconto County v. Union Manufacturing Co.

Sec. 86.02 of the Statutes provides: “Any person who shall injure any highway by obstructing or diverting any creek or watercourse or sluiceway, or by dragging logs or timber thereon, or by any other act, shall be liable in treble damages. . . .” In construing this statute we must “look; to the whole and every part of the law, to the intent apparent from the whole, to the subject matter, to the effect and consequences, to the reason and *47spirit, and thereby ascertain the ruling idea present in the legislative mind at the time of its enactment, and if that can be ^reasonably spelled out of its…