The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1885-09-23
AND MECHANICS.
The Exemption Laws and Their APP
plication in This Territory.
BY GEORGE r. BORIE

y "
=. Laws exempting property OF insolven'
debtors from levy and sale upon execution
= have been prompted by the noblest dictates
of humanity, and when framed SO as tt
guarantee equal protection to all h hav'
" been SD unfortunate as to become involves
beyond their means. they prevent a great
deal of suffering and distress. These laws
u however, in many States and Territories
have been so inconsiderately drawn as t6
render them exceedingly unpopular, fol
;, various reasons. The principal objections
are first, that they are SO sweeping in theil
character as to encourage dishonesty; sec
: . ond, that they deprive the creditor OF any
remedy to enforce his rights, and third,
! ! hat they afford little, if any, protection to
! the great mass Of wage-workers, j. e. labor
{ ers and mechanics, who require the protec-
ton OF exemption more than any Others.
Z Exemption laws are all statutory, and
have been principally enacted during the
last half century and are to be found in
: nearly, if not quite, all the codes of laws Of
. the various States and Territories. In
some States real and personal property OF
debtors to the value of $4,000, and in one
State an entire quarter section (l6O acres
of land) with all the improvements,
are exempted from levy and sale on execu-
ton. In the latter State 1t was held that
no matter how valuable the improvements
are. they were exempt under the law. In
others the value of property exempt varies
from So, 500 to $500 in real estate; and
personal property, including wages, from
one months wages up to $1,000 or $4,000.
The great object of exemption is to pre-
vent actual want and abject poverty, and
not to enable dishonest debtors to revei in
luxury and hold their creditors in defiance,
while they securely shield themselves behind
the impenetrable barriers thrown around
them by the law. In nearly all the States
and Territories the fortunate possessor of
real estate is bomb proof against his
creditors, SO far, at least, as the retention
OF his homestead is concerned. But the
poor mechanic and laborer who has not
been enabled to save money enough to
purchase q house and lot or a valuable
farm is compelled to surrender almost the
last shirt off OF his back to satisfy the
avarice OF his i~mpecunious creditors. An
impecunious creditOr is one who pleads his
own poverty as an excuse for reducing those
who are indebted to him to a state OF
| starvation. He, like Shylock, the misery
broker in the play, is continually clamoring
! for his pound OF flesh, and with a grin of
satanic satisfaction chuckles over the mis-
fortune and poverty of his victims. Ii there
only was an army of living Portals such as
| SHAKESPEARE pictures in his beautiful play of
! the Merchant of Venice" who had the
power, she is represented as being possessed
of, and who would administer justice with |
as much impartiality as she did there would
be much less misery and suffering anOng
the work-day toilers.
The laws, as have been shown, d%isrinin-
ate very largely in favor OF the fortunate
property owner. What reason is there for
a law exempting one hundred and sixty
acres OF land, with all the improvements, |
from levy and sale to satisfy a creditors
just demand? This law isin force in Kan
sas, and probably the same statute is in
operation in other States. Under this pro-
vision OF indemnity against the payment o
honest debts, the debtor may be the pos
SCISSOR of a stately mansion, with numerous
out houses for his servants and labOrers,
an immense barn and other costly i'm
provements, aggregating in value the sum
of half a million dollars. Every candid,
disinterested mind must admit that such a
statute, under the disguise OF a homestead
law, is intended for nc other purpose than
that Of defeating creditors in collecting
debts from a class OF people whose circum-
stances and resources are such as to enable
them not only to discharge their obliga-
tions, but to rapidly recover themselves in
the event OF a reverse. 1t is not generally
the man who fails for a large amount, or
who successfully evades the payment OF
great sums of money, that suffers any
embarrassment; but it is he whose cir
cumstances are comprised in a small limit,
Or he who depends upon his daily labor
for the sustenance Of himself and family,
for they are compelled to yield up all they
have, and consequently have nothing left
to fall back upon.
The owner OF a homestead valued at, say
So, 1000, may be Justly indebted in a sum ten
times that amount, yet he can borrow at
least two.thirds the value OF his property
on mortgage and invest it in some profit
b business in another name. This is the
course usually pursued by those who fail in
business for large amounts, as wei as by
defaulters. They take the precaution, be-
fore their credit is attacked or their hon.
esty doubted, to gather together all
the available funds and invest them so
rs to legally thwart their creditors or those
whom they have defrauded from securing
their just dues. True, there is some risk in
such a course, for the law make such con-
duct a criminal offence, but they calmly and
deliberately take the risk, knowing full well
that the chances Tor escape are great be-
cause there is not one case out ola thousand
where the offender is punished. The poor
mechanic and laborer, even if they should
be SO dishonesty inclined as to desire to
defraud their creditors, by reason of their
limited means or poverty, are effectually
prevented from doing SO. From this rea-
soning it seems very clear that tine eyemp-
ulOu laws nave GENERALLY Uceu So duFOlCly
drawn as to protect those enjoying an ex-
tensive credit, in consequence of owning
valuable real estate, against those to whom
they are largely indebted in their efforts to
collect what is justly due them, while the
same laws afford little, if any protection, to
the horny-handed sons OF toll. {
The ownership OF valuable property,
whether exempt by law as a homestead or
not, is usually regarded as a basis for credit
100000 ;~oe v,oo CDp,o%.oor -, r,. I
a close trader will limit the credit of a GUS 6
owning merely a homestead, but as a :
general rule his responsibility is not ques-
toned. In Pennsylvania, and in a few I
other States, no distinctions or discrimina- l
tons are made under the exemption laws.
In the former State a debtor may claim
property, real or personal, to the value OF c
$500 from levy and sale under execution, t
and the law makes no distinction between
heads Of families and single persons, wheth- G
er male or female. This amount is doubt a
very small, but it is cited only to show a
the law treats all alike. In this re-
spect it differs materially from the statutes S
in many other States and Territories. s
The laws Of Montana upon this subject
were drawn, it would seem, for the express e
purpose OF affording protection to the par c
elements represented in the legis- q
latures e%nacting them, ard as the laborer I
and mechanic were without any one to adj Il
vocate their rights they were left out in .
the cold. Section 80, Code of Civil Pro- t
Revised Statutes 1879, exempts t
wearing apparel for debtor and family. g
also chairs, books, etc., to the value ofs1OO, :.
all household furniture, and provisions n
fuel for wv months, one horse, two cows n
calves, two swine and fifty fowls. p
This is for the head of a family only, but p
the farmer is allowed in addition, farming "
utensils to the value OF $500, besides ami
mails and food for them for three months
and seeds to the value OF 5000, a mechanic s.
or citizen his tools, a physician his ~instru- a
nents, library and a horse and buggy, a K
dentist his instruments and books, a lawyer n
lis library, a minister his library and a horse o
and buggy, a miner his cabin, worth $500,
md all appliances for carrying on his work t.
20 the value OF $500. also the necessary a
a cartman, huckster, peddler, a.
or !aborer, a horse or mule or Il
;wo oxen and harness and one cart or
wagon, the earnings of a married man for
rendered within thirty days of c.
The levy for the support of his family in W
Territory, one sewing machine. Section