St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-11-26
He Claims It Was the Very
Embodiment Of the Per-
lection Of Reason.
An Autopsy of the Dead Law,
and the Reasons That
Prompted 1t.
Lucas Sarcastieally Reviews
the Decision From the
Labor Standpoint.

nous lien law. He declined to go into
particulars without time for thought,
and finally prepared for the GLOBE the
following, under the heading. THE
Perfection of Reason" and over his
own signature:
The lien law is dead! But if it was
only the lien law that was dead, and
dead only from its own imperfectiOn.
the n it were we'll; but the decision goes
further, and says that until there be
public opinion enough evolved to cause
come subsequent supreme court to re-
verse the decision, labor is without
hope, as the decision makes some points
that say to the person performing labor
that money may at all times take proceed
! ence Of labor and appropriate it with
out compensation.
1t is due to the public that they should
| know the exact history OF the law, and
also the effect of the recent rulings Of
| the supreme court. In the syllabus no
| objection is made to section l.
| Sec. 2. All material furnished In the
| construction or building, or in AID
| thereof of any building. article or util-
| ity or anything whatever, shall be a sec
| ond lien thereon, whether it be real es-
| tate, homestead, personal property or
| otherwise, to the full amount of money
| Or other consideration agreed upon, and
| all costs. and an attorneys fee not eX-
ceeding ten dollars $40, in the dlScre-
| ton of the court;
Provided, That any person wishing to
file lien under the provisions OF this
act, having furnished both labor and
material, shall specify the amount of
l.al1 al ntn in
one statement; but the amount for ma
terial shall not be paid until all claims
for labor are satisfied.
The part of this section making home
SteadS subject to lien is objected to.
Mr.. Donnelly introduced the amend
ment to the constitution known as
House File 10, which was submitted and
carried at the recent election, and, al
though perhaps not officially declared,
is in fact part of the constitution, so
that slight delay in rendering the de-
ciSion would have remedied that which,
in face of this fact, is but all instance
of how technicality is greater in the
eyes of the law than the will of the peO-
pie expressed by ballot.
Sec. 3. Any contractor or subcOn-
tractor receiving the full amount of the
| money or other consideration due on his
contract, and falling to pay the person
performing any labor or furnishing any
material, expended or used in the con-
StructiOn OF any building, article or util-
ity, thereby allowing lien to be filed
against such property, shall be deemed
guilty of obtaining money under false
pretenSeS, and may be punished under
the statute made and provided for that
OtfenSe.
This section is objected to in toto on
the ground that ''if not unconstitutional
OH other grounds, it is repugnant to
section IL, article l., of the constitution
of the state, prohibiting Imprisonment
for debt" This opinion shows how
differently things look when viewed
through the reversed ends of a tole-
scope. If a man states that he has
money coming from MI. Doe or MIR. Roe,
and he will pay you tomorrow if you
Will lend him sum OF money, and
when the morrow comes it is found that
Mr.. Doe or Mr.. Roe does not owe him
any sum Of money, then he is guilty of
false pretenseS and may be sent to the
penitentiary: but man having house
to build may let the contract to any If
responsible person who will take it, and
pay him the full amount of his contract;
the contractor may hire poor mechanic
or laborer to do the work, and instead
of paying him, take the money and fur
nish his house, stock his cellar, I'LL his
coal bin and make himself generally
comfortable. and in this there is no
false pretenSe in the eye of the law as
defined by the supreme court, even if
the Door mans credit is destroyed, his
house empty of furniture, his cellar
destitute of food. no coal i'll the bin, and
his family shivering from the cold in
scanty and inadequate garments. l
would like to ask. is there not false
pretenSe when man hires another and
then fails to pay him? And should
not the man that lets his cupidity
lead him to let contract to the lowest
bidder who he knows will have to hire
his labor and may not be able to pay,
at least protect, himself by requiring
him to give honda thing that has
been done since the passage Of the now
defunct lien law? Should not man be
deemed as guilty of false pIetense when
he agrees to pay a person certain
amount of wages on the implied as
surance of his ability to pay-for no one
will work if this is not dOne-as though
he stated to man that he has so coming
to him that he will pay on the morrow?
Is the life of the man in his labor of
less value than the luxury of the person
enshrined in money?
To section 4 the court finds no obJec-
ton.
Section 5. The fact that the person
performing labor or furnishing material
was not enjOined by law from perform
ing labor or furnishing material by the
person in whom the title was vested at
the time such labor was performed or
material furnished, shall be conclusive
evidence that it was with and by the
consent of the owner that such labor
was performed and material furnished.
This is declared to be uncOnStitu-
tional: as liens are an remembrance
upon the owners property it is fund.-
mental that they can only be created
by his consent or authority. No man
can be deprived OF his property without
his consent or by due process of law.
This section was made to cure the de-
fectS in our laws concerning the hold
ing of land, to stop the holder of land
from using it as an instrument with
which to rob labor of its wages. Under
the lien law of 1870, it was impossible to
find the owner of land; if the lien was
served on the person OF record. some
one else had contract; and if the lien
was served on the person supposed to
have a contract, then some one else had
Qeeu, anu UeGWeeil tio uatVicooiS VI
real estate sharks and lawyers, labor
bounded about like shuttlecock until
he was exhausted, relieved of his form
Ell savings by lawyer and beaten out of
his earning by the real estate monster.
No objections was made to sections 6
and Z.
Sec. 8. The court granting judgment
under this act shall Immediately order
the sheriff to publish a notice Of the
sale of the property on which the lien
was fled. The notice shall be published
for three 81 consecutive weeks in
newspaper published in the county
where the lien was filed, and if there is
no newspaper, then. by posting a notice
in a conspicuous place in court house