Arizona republican., 1917-09-09

tinuance of lease has become illegal it becomes void as matter of , course A very common instance of this is found where premises are leased to be used only for certain business, and subsequently. but prior to the termination of the lease, the local health authorities rule that the continuance of this business upon the leased premises would be in vio- lation of the law; or where the pub | lie authorities decree that the con | tinuance of the business upon the de- missed property would be a. public nuisance. In these cases the courts are uniform in holding that the leases l become void and of no further effect, and thus the obligation of the lessee to pay rent ceases as a matter of | course.
 In the same way, unless positive | legislation is to determine the ques tion, one can readily conceive that | drafted lessees, when sued for rent for a period during which they are
 serving in the conscriptive army,
 may set up as defenses that their continued occupancy of the premises
 would be contrary to the selective
 service law, and consequently illegal; | from which they would argue that | the lease was therefore voided when
 they were called into actual service ] It is my absolute opinion, unavail- l ing unless the courts, actuated by l, patriotic motives or by the feeling | that public policy demands such de- 1 nominations. should decide in favor l of the drafted lessees apart from | the law. 1 think most lawyers will | agree with me that, from a legal 1 e,fa ndn e hqf defenses of this kind, for a vast dis 1 tinction can be readily perceived be- 1 tween cases where the carrying on I of a business has become illegal and | those where the actual presence of
 the lessee would be contrary to law.
 The question whether or not the l lease is suspended should also be
 answered in the same way, for the , same reasons.
 There are certainly 6 number of drafted men in the country holding long leases at extremely high rentals and who are anXiously awaiting the
 determination of these questions.
 Another very important question which is bound to arise, and which should be Solved in some way as the inevitable chaos and confusion
 which otherwise would be bound to follow, is this: Is a drafted busi-
 ness man, owing thousands of dol lars to creditors. who would be
 found perfectly solvent if given suf-
 ficient time to carry out contracts which he has on hand, but who cannot carry out these contracts be-
 cause of his having been drafted into service, expected to find no
 other remedy than bankruptcy? Of | lna is bound to fail in business unless his creditors hold back from motives of patriotism or of generosity. Is it then to be expected that our bus mess men are to be forced to the ! wall through no fault of their own? | Cannot something be done to avoid
 such illogical and unjust conse- ttquences?
 IF It is clear that this situation can | be cured only by a moratorium in | favor of drafted men. At the pres ent writing I am unaware that any 1steps have been taken in this di rection. It is very clear, and l do | rot feel myself presumptuous in fFsuggesting that the sooner this mat | ter is taken up the better for us all. I Then We have the question as to
 real estate mortgages on property | tOWned Dy IutI. 1tIldlllly where the property owner was form
 erly earning a substantial salary or
 was in receipt of a substantial in- come, which salary or income is now superseded by a soldiers salary of s30 per month, he cannot be ex
 pected to keep up the payment of interest and other charges accruing | under his mortgage. In attempting to answer this, it might be argued that the income of the property | should be sufficient to carry the | mortgage. But suppose the property brings no income. Suppose it is un- | improved property. Suppose it is ! residential property upon which the | drafted owner himself resided, and for which he can find no lessee ] while he is away.
 Such cases are bound to arise in | innumerable quantity. Is the drafted property owner then to lose his | porperty? Is it possible that there | are no steps contemplated to protect | those who are serving our country? | Is it to be expected that our drafted | property owners, having come into | possession of property through years | of conscientious labor, are to return | from service in the army only to | find themselves in ruination and | with no other course to pursue than | once again to commence at the bot | tom of the ladder?
 Of course, there are numerous | kindred questions which are bound | arte Vltrf fhnNr o ln hr mol hac