Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-03
TO REMEDY AN EVIL.
Argument of the District Bar Associa-
ton on the Lien Law.


District OF Columbia upon a house and the
ground on which it Is built in favor of the con-
! tractor building it, and also OF all subcontrac-
tors, material men. journeymen and laborers
| concerned Herewith. This lien begins with
| the commencement OF work on the build
| ing and continues until the expiration
/ Of three months after its completion. Thus
| this lien may, and oftentimes does, remain
| secret until two months and twenty-nine days
| after the building is completed and occupied,
| and then. by the filing of written notice. not
only spring into existence but remit the date
! OF its birth to the time of the first stroke
| OF the pick when the digging was begun.
| It. by mere operation of law, cuts out all
judgments, mortgages, deeds of trust and
! other liens OF all sorts, no matter upon what
| valuable consideration they may rest, inter-
vening between that pick stroke and the filing
| of the notice. II also enables the contractor
| to collect from the owner all OF the payments
! due him according to the terms of his contract,
| and then forces the owner to pay again to the
| material man and others what he has already
| paid to the contractor, although he had no no
/ tice OF any kind of any claim on the part OF
| any of these claimants until long after all of
| the contract payments payable to the con-
| tractor, as they well knew. This then, is the
| evil to be remedied. secret charge upon
| lands-resulting in fraud to innocent persons.
/ We say nothing of the great incon-
! venience and hindrance to the safe trans
| action of business imposed upon
| the public by this law. Neither will we ques-
| ton the policy which makes the community
! gratuitous collectors Of the trade debts of the
/ lumber man, the hardware man, the brick
maker, &c. Where there is a question of fraud
| these are minor considerations.
| THE REMEDY PROPOSED.
Simply the destruction OF the secrecy. Re-
| quire all who claim this extraordinary privi-
| lege to give notice of their intention so to
| claim and let the lien begin when !: sees the
| light rather than when its conception is first
dreamed of as possible necessity.
Points,. Natural justice would give every
man lien on property sold to another for the
amount of the unpaid purchase money. But
where the vendor has, by giving title and pos
| session of the property sold TO the vendee.
represented the vendee to the world the
owner of the property sold, then natural
| justice forbids the vendor from asserting any
| lien against an innocent purchaser, without
! notice of the vendors claim, Who has deal.
with the vendee on the faith of appearances
| created by the vendors own act
| 2 The position that tine owner of real estate.
| about to build thereon. constitutes the con-
| tractor for the proposed building his (the
owner's) agent for the purpose OF contracting
| III his (the Owners) name with subcontractors
| for material and work in connection with said
building, cannot be maintained Tho con-
| tract between the owner and the con-
| tractor is one between principals, and excludes
any idea of agency; each contracting party
assumes the liabilities of principals; far from
constituting the contractor his agent to buy
| from others, the owner expressly buys from
and promises to pay the contractor only.
3. When two persons contract with each other
ordinarily only personal liability is created
thereby. To add security beyond this there
is required either the act of the parties them
selves or of the law. Where the act of the par
ties gives this security that act must be notified
| i'll some way to all who are to be affected by it,
Otherwise property, apparently in the absolute
ownership OF one man. would be affected by a
secret trust in favor OF another man; this would
be a temptation to dishonesty and a snare to
innocence. Where the law gives this security
the same considerations apply with greater
force. ''Shall not the Judge of all the earth do
right?" Shall the law, the concrete expression
OF justice. create fraud?
4. Where an owner borrows money to build
the lender OF the money has no lien unless he
compels the owner to constitute il, and then it
has no validity unless and until solemnly no.
ticed to the world by public record Yet this
money builds the house, and to that extent i'm
proves the property The money is quite as often
| that OF widow or of an orphan, the Garner of
their daily bread, as of large capitalist; yet
| the law gives them no lien. In what respect is
| the claim of the material man superior to their
claim?
PROTECTING WAGES.
5. The wages of the carpenters. bricklayers
and other journeymen and labo-ers of every
| description IN readily be protected. 1t is the
UNIVERSAL CUSTOM III tAlS DlsblCt TO paw them
weekly; with Saturday afternoon comes the
| paymaster if he does not come the labor
unions step IN and stop work on that and all
| other buildings in the hands of that con-
tractor II any member ask their aid. This of
| itself is in truth a sufficient protection Never
| theless, If thought proper, let them be given n
| lien for two weeks wages. To give 1t for a
| longer term would only be to encourage con-
| spIracles between contractors and subcon-
| tractors aud workmen to postpone weekly
! payments for the purpose Of making the owner
| pay these wages twlce-Once TO the contractor
| to whom he has bound himself by contract to
! pay them, and once again to the workmen,
whom he does not know in the matter at ALL
| The wOrkmen do not suffer. The bills which
| have to be paid twice are those of the lumber,
| hardware and brick men, not the laborers'
wages. In the list of suits to enforce these
| liens are lumber men, hardware men and brick
| men, not labOrers. The lions skin worn by the
/ opponents OF amendment Is furnished by labor,
| but the voice coming from beneath is that OF
| trade.
6. These material men will have under the
amendment a protection given by the law TO
| their trade dealings which is denied generally
| to business men, denied even to those furnish
ing the money, adding to the value of the
/ prop erty improved by its means.
IN return for this they are asked only to give
/ the owner notice of their intention to claim
/ this protection, i'll order that he may protect
himself from the discharge OF his own contract
7
/ tractor for the lumber but the law steps in
and tells him that lie must pay the lumber man,
! with whom he has no contract; otherwise he
will be compelled to pay twice for the lumber.
Shall not he have the benefit of a notice before
l this liability, which was none of his maxi n.y. is
/ forced upon him by the law?
| AN INFAMOUS FRAUD.
| T. The law allows this notice to be given be-
l fore any material is furnished. To say that
/ the lumber man or other material man cannot
+ know how much he will furnish is not plaus-
/ Bile statement. The contractor is about to
! build house according to definite plans and
! specifications definite that bids taken
upon them for all the carpenter work, &c. Any
/ lumber man can learn. II he desires how much
\ lumber he will have to furnish and give notice
/ of his claim of lien accordingly There is no
penalty requiring unreasonable accuracy in
7 this statement of lumber to be furnished. In
/ truth. there Is only one reason why such notice
| Is, III the view of the material man. Impracti-
| cable. He fears that 1t would iniure his BUSH
ness to claim his lien il advance. Therefore
he wants to suppress his real intention. III he
! at once notified the owner OF that intention the
| contractor would suffer and would not in the
future deal with him. Therefore he conceas
his intention until IN many cases, the owner
has paid the contractor, aud then, for the first
| time notifies the owner of the claim. 1t is not
| too much to say that the law which permits
such fraud is infamous.
| INTENTION TO CLAIM LIEN.
| Iha claim that nOt,oa 70 v,yon hv a., n