The Teton peak. [volume] (St. Anthony, Idaho) 1899-1904, 1903-12-31
Labor Rights Construed

has given out for publication de-
cision affirming the lower court in
the case of William Thompson VS..
the Wise Boy Mining company,
appealed from Idaho county.
Thompson was employed as an
amalgamator in quartz mill loca-
ted on the Crystal Butte claim and
where ore was being reduced and
treated as it was mined from the
Wise Boy and the North Star
claims and obtained judgement for
$253.75 for his services, together
with a reasonable attorney S fee and
costs Of suit. From Judgment the
defendants pleaded.
The syllabus of the court says:
''Where the ore extracted from
the mine is milled upon the mine
and i'll a mill belonging to the
mine, the labor thereon comes
within the intent and meaning of
the lien laws and a lien therefor
is properly allowed.
'"That portion Of section - of
the lien laws of 1899 which pro-
vides that
"The court shall also allow part
of the costs the moneys paid for fiji
ing and recording the claim and
reasonable attorneys fees, is not
class legislation and is not in viola
ton of section Is of article 1 of the
constitution.
"Where such provision for allow
ance of attorneys fees do not Single
out particular debtors but is made
to apply alike to all debtors, it is
not upen to the objection that it
does not afford equal justice to
all.
The most serious question raised
by the defense was that the services
rendered by Thompson were not
the subject Of lien and the lien
laws Of the state did not contemp-
late the granting of the lien to one
doing such work in a quartz mill,
whether it be situated upon a mine
or elsewhere.
The appellants argued that the
labor for such which this lien was
sought was simply labor upon per-
sonal property, namely, the ore
after being extracted from the mine
and that snch labor could not be
said to be work in or upon the
mine. They further said: '"The
real test is whether the labor is
such as may have added to the
value of the property. =
In support of this contention the
appellants quoted several decisions
supposedly for the purpose Of show
ing that liens are allowed because
the claimant has done some work in
or about the property which tended
to improve the same or enhance its
value, and the labor thereby become
part of the property on which the
lien was claimed.
The court in its opinion, says:
"The Legislature, III enacting
these laws, evidently did not have
in mind the protection Of the mine
owners, but rather the protection of
the laborers They were not con-
templating, when they enacted this
law, the probability of the laborers
enhancing or depreciating the value
Of the prospects, mining claims, or
mines, as the case might be, but
rather that the men who were en-
ployed and sent out to do work up
on such properties should be enti-
tied to a lien on them for their
services. To say that the laborer
is worthy of his hire is to tell him
what he already knows; but what
he wants to know and what the
legislature evidently intended, is
that this maxim will be carried a
step further and that he shall be
assured that he is not only worthy
of his hire, but that he will get his
pay, and that that property upon or
about which he worked shall be lia-
BILE for such pay"
! SECRETARY Hitchcock has GRANTED