Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-12-29
THE MECHANICS LIEN LAW.
The Architects Continue 70 Talk About
its Injustice.

Its Injustice.
HoxrsrY-r FANS TO PaorEcr THE CLASS
WEIGH n WAS INTENDED TO PRorEcr-suo-
aEsTIoNs 40 10 IT'S AMENDMENT.
The practical operation Of the present lien
law is topic Of great interest to the people of
the District. In THE STAR Of last Saturday in
terviews on this subject with q number Of
architects were printed. The opinions ex-
pressed, as win be remembered, we're all en-
phatic in condemnation of the law. 1t was
pointed out that this legislation was q species
Of class legislation, and that, too, in favor Of
class not intended to be benefited, and that 1t
was an injury to the city. In brief, this law
gives to the contractor, any Of the sub-con-
tractors. and to all material furnishers, jour
neymen, and laborers to whom the general
or his sub-conractors have become
liable, the right to file q lien upon any new
house or improvement with the clerk Of the
court. This right may be exercised during the
construction or within three months after the
Of q building. The clerk IL simply
to file and record the notice in q book provided
for the purpose.
A. B. MULLErT's OPINION.
'This law" observed Mr.. A. B. Mullett,
"benefits no honorable man. 1t. in fact,
offers premium for robbery and fraud.
The impression, if any such prevails ut this late
day, that the law Is Of benefit to the mechanic
or laborer is without foundation. 1t benefits
no one but o set Of men without character or
means, who step in and take work from honest
contractors who are responsible for the per-
Torrance of the obligations they incur, while
others are without character or reputation, and
but for this law would be recognized as con-
tractors. The only other parties benefited are
not mechanics, but material men. Under law
OF this character such men are regardless OF
the kind Of bid which they make in competition
with others. Their sole object Is to underbid
honorable men and get the fob. Then they go
to the material men and get all the credit they
want, who are careful before they deliver the
material to look up the title to the property
and ascertain if it is free from encumbrances.
owner makes his payments and at the last sup
poses he owns the house. The rascally con-
tractor, however, pays nothing except what he
has to and keeps the rest. The owner has no
remedy when his property il liened, and is
obliged to pay twice for the same material"
''As far as / am concerned" continued Mr..
Mullett, '.this law has occasioned no loss to my
clients. But hare had to exercise vigilance
to see that the contractors and sub-contractors
did the honest thing. There is one singular
feature about the operation Of the law, and
that is the pay rolls of the mechanics and
the law was ostensibly passed for their benefit
it is, by the rules Of labor organizations, il
men are not paid regularly they are not
allowed to continue at work. So you see the me-
chanics protect themselves. I am believer in
q lien law. think that the contractor should
be protected house that is being built may
be sold before all the money due to the builder
is paid, and, without some protection in law,
the builder is the loser. But the present
law is demoralizing, it is injurious to
the prosperity of the honest contractors
to ss
they could not conceal themselves be-
hind the provisions of this most iniquitous
piece Of legislation. The Law encourages
shoddy, bad work Of every description. People
who purpose to erect houses naturally wish to
have the work done a. cheaply as possible. In
they are inclined to favor the low
est bidder. They are, therefore, disposed to
accept the lowest bidder without regard to re-
liability. II the public understood the Law
there would be such clamor against it that its
repeal would quickly follow.
THE law also has . tendency to check the
progress Of improvements. ia man wishes to
borrow money to complete q house, he is
obliged to give bond TO secure the lender
against the operation Of this law. The owner
may be honest, so may the contractor and
most Of the sub-contractors, but all these hon
est men are powerless to prevent fraud IL there
are one or two who are not 80 scrupulous. In
my opinion II would be hard to devise q law
which in its effects is more unjust and injuri-
Gus than the present lien law"
SOME FACTS FROM MR. cLUss.
Mr.. Adolph Cluss, Of the firm Of Cluss 4
gives some figures and facts, which
forms an interesting supplement to what he
said in the interview printed last Saturday.
During the current calendar year." he says,
"about $50 liens have been recorded, varying
in amount from a few dollars up to "a 900. The
liens from journeymen and laborers form q
small fraction.
I'm my own practice q. s. Senator con-
tracted for building home, paid his install
ments on account regularly, and intended to
meet the final payment by loan on the prop
erty. To his surprise he was informed that the
application could not be granted since the
house was covered by heavy lien. On in
quiry it was discovered that the prominentc con-
tractor had concluded 1t was well to be guarded
with man hailing from distant state,
and had filed, on commencing work, q lien for
the whole amount Of the cOntract-price. Work
is generally underbid by parties in order to OBJ
tain payments on new contracts Instead Of
using these legitimately they are diverted for
keeping urgent creditors quiet and reducing
old debts SO as to bolster their credit for the
time being. The subs desire to keep on
pleasant terms with their customer, the gen.
eral contractor, as long as possible, hence they
delay in filing the liens. and if on q later stage
Of this work a panic seizes them, and they
file liens covering the full amount Of the bal
ance of the contract-price, the run produces
the usual results There are cases of late
record where more than thirty notices were
given against the same small property within q
few days. This course produces usually the
same result, the frsil lease of credit disap-
pears the contractor is not able to finish the
building. and the owner is left to his fate.
"A judicious owner, who discriminates be-
tween men as well as between bids, can mostly,
but not always, avert ruinous consequences,
hence there is no reason why a law shall i'm
pose any risks upon him. In amending the
bill care should be taken to provide for the
within limited time after pay has been re-
fused to them"
WHAT n. 7. HALLKR PRoPosKs
'There are three amendments" said N. T.
Halter, the architect, (which, if adopted, would
make the present law, in my opinion, entirely
and equitable. The time for fling
, lien should be limited to one month after the
completion of the house, instead of three
Material men should be required to
notify the owner when they have supplied
for building, and lastly it should be
made punishable offense for q contractor or
to divert the money paid to him
Tor work upon Q building to any other purpose
mean, OF course, where he has received suf-
icient money to meet all Just demands on
account of any building and has left debts
which are lien upon the property. believe
IN lien law, but am not in favor Of the one
now in force"
VIEWS OF cHAs. 4 HARKNKss.
''The principal defect in the lien law" said