The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-10-25
in Cincinnati. / order ten barges Of
coal from a coal operator in the Kama
WIN valley. y. am n slted To ndxnnca

In Cincinnati. I order ten barges Of
coal from a coal operator in the Kama,
wha valley. am asked to advance
$1,000 on said purchase, or. indeed, /
may have paid for the entire cargo Of
coal. make the advance or advances.
The coal Is mine by purchase. Under
this bill It turns out that the men who
dug the coal. which purchased In part
or entirely. have not been paid for dig
cling or mining II. When attempt to
ship my coal, the miners who dug the
coal, having filed their mechanics
lien" under this law. attach the ten
bargcs OF coal. and ! am prevented
from shipping 1t to my place Of bust.
nsas. anna innocent party. and nee
essarilyga sufferer and loser thereby.
This is contrary to general principle
OF law, which is as old as the law itself.
that innocent purchasers must always
be protected glE
To Illustrate further: am lumber
dealer. a man comes TO me with n raft
OF lumber II suits. me. purchase 1t,
and pay for It. It turns out that the
men who cut and RATED the lumber
were not paid by their employers Un-t
der this bill, they can file their me-
chanlc's liens In the county or counties
where the work was done, and II the
timber has been transported Into an;
other county, they can follow the tim
Der: and although am an Innocent
purchnser OF the lumber. and have fully
paid for the same. my lumber Is made
subject TO the mechanics lien, and can
be taken from me nolens volens,
Difficult to Determine.
But II may be claimed by the friends
of this bill. that purchasers Of personal
property should ascertain whether there
Is a mechanics lien upon the same be-
fore they pay for It. This Is reasonable
upon lis face. ana yet 1t Is difficult
matter to determine. TAKE this Illus
tratlon; Scores OF men deal In lumber.
They employ labor, and theyare hnne,.
flied by the products OF such labor.
They, however, fail or refuse to pay
their laborers. They ship lumber or
some other article, which is the pro-
duct of the toll Of the men they employ.
They sell 1t and pocket the money, and
refuse to pay the men who produced 1t.
What is the result? The men who did
the work-who cut the timber, etc
find that their employer Is attempting
to. defraud them: they enter their mo-
N'th''N iS'io' iiia. Nile r.
and necessarily require the Innocent
purchaser OF the lumber or other ar
ticles to pay their bills. notwlthstand-
ins the fact that said Innocent pur-
chaser of the lumber or other article
has paid full value for tho same.
Mnnifestly Wrong and Unjust.
1t seems to me that every honest cit
lien will agree that a law so unlimited,
In Its character Is manifestly wrong
and unjust 1t will not only, in many
Instances. require an upright business
man, entirely without any Intent to de-.
fraud any one, to pay twice for what he
has honestly purchased In the conduct
OF his legitimate business: and 1t will
necessarily hamper trade and disrupt
business generally.
: am lumber dealer, we will say.
John Smith comes to me with raft OF
one thousand saw-logs. The lumber Is
exactly such as need. l pay Mr..
Smith his full price for the logs. He
receives his money and returns to his
home. He has been fully, paid, and Is
satisfied. week or month later the A
men who cut these saw-loss come to
me and inform me that they have an
unpaid claim against this raft OF logs.
They have filed their mechanics lien
for cutting them. In accordance with the
requirements Of this bill They have
not been paid for their honest work.
Under this law, they can take POSSESS