Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1910-09-30
FINE LEGAL WORK
The Drawing UP of a Big Mort
gage a Serious Matter.
CLOSE ANALYSIS OF WORDS.
Where the Document Is to Be Used as
Basis For an Issue of Bonds an Elk
pert on Definitions Is EmpIoyed-8ig
Expense and Big Fees Involved.

Drawing up a big mortgage. eSpc-
cially when 1t is to be the basis for an
issue of bonds it is desired 10 dispose
Of in the open market, Is n task tar
greater than most people have ANY
idea of. Sometimes months of con
tinuous labor elapse between the he
ginning of the first draft and the final
approval of the last revised copy by
those most directly concerned The
primary object of such Formidable
clearly and exactly what the morIga
gor will do. The individual or com.
pany In whose favor the mortgage is
drawn, however. through his attorney
seeks to protect himself from every
possible contingency. Some of these
possibilities that are sought to be
guarded against appear TO be absurd
to the lay mind
Some years ago boat line whose
vessels piled on a certain river deSir
ed TO mortgage its property and issue
bonds. One of the provisions of the
legal instrument provided what. should
be done in the event of the river dry
ing up or becoming impossible to navi.
gate. As the stream was II mighty
| food of. water at all seasons. the pos
| sibility of this contingency arising
seemed out of all reason. but the attor
neys for the>mortgHgee insisted upon
Its insertion. Nothing has happened
| to the river as yet.
The commoueSt weakness of Il mort.
gage and one that may escape the
| ordinary eye is not the use of the
wrong word to express the desired
meaning. but the use of not exactly
| the right one. After the mortgage has
| been worked into shape so that its
| provisions are satisfactory to both
sides the lawyers who draw the mort.
| gage In the first instance prepare a
list of words about whose meaning
they fear there may be some dispute
and turn this list over to the expert
etymologist who is in charge of the
! library in every big office. This man
I u iNpoit hH II HhpNN htl
only the dictionary definition of each
one of these words. but also furnishes
list of all legal decisions that have
been made relative to its exact signifi
canoe. This expert, being advised OF
the particular shade of meaning it is
desired to convey, also furnishes an
opinion as to what is the right word
supporting his statement by a list OF
such legal decisions as may apply. All
these reports are carefully bound to
gether and become a part of the mass
of papers, sometimes weighing many
pounds. that accumulates while the
mortgage is being drawn, They are
filed away when it is finished
After the mortgagor's counsel hav,
completed drawing up the instrument
as they think it should be it passes It
the attorneys on the other side. who
pick as many flaws as possible in it
They, too. pay special attention to til,
exact meaning of words. and frequent
ly their experts question the detini
tons of those on the other side. After
the two firms of attorneys have settled
all their differences the mortgage il
generally submitted to another set o,
expert legal advisers. who criticiSe i
from every possible point of view. Al
this takes great deal of time an(
costs great deal of money.
The total legal expense of DRAWN.
up a big corporation mortgage FIRE
quently runs into more than a hundred
thousand dollars. 1t is not uncommon
for single firm of experts to receiv,
as high as $4,000 for criticising an,
correcting one of these important lega
documents. When it has been teste,
In every possible way and is final
l passed upon and approved it is print
ed. 1t may cover between 100 and 2O
pages and contain from 10000 to 600
words. The latter is about the mum
Der In novel of the ordinary size. |
the interests affected have propert
In more than one county or state til
mortgage has to be recorded in eacI
of these.
1t is not until all this work has bee,
done that the bonds secured by tn
mortgage are placed on the market
Il. s. Dayton in New York Tribune.
|
, Mrs, Jacob Wilmprt Lincoln I'll