Systems of employment.-The lease, contract, public-account, and public-works-andways systems may be used.

Regulations.-Convicts whose terms do not exceed five years may be furnished on the requisition of boards of county supervisors for work on county roads; or they may be employed by contractors engaged in macadamizing any turnpike or other road. Railroad companies to which counties are subscribers may also lease convicts for labor on such railroads. But contractors are in general to employ the labor of convicts as far as possible in manufacturing.

Convicts not otherwise employed may be put at labor on a farm owned or leased by the State. A number may also be employed on the public buildings and grounds and on State Confederate cemeteries.

The tasking system is provided for, and convicts are to be allowed pay for overtime labor. Instruction in the mechanic arts is directed.

diet.

Prescribed punishments are whipping, the gag, solitary confinement, and restricted Discharged convicts receive each a suit of clothing and $10.

Sources: Code of 1888, sections 232, 4125 to 4147, 4154, 4172, 4173; Acts of 1894, chapter 795; Acts of 1903, chapter 201.

WASHINGTON.

Control.-The governor appoints a State board of audit and control, of which he is ex officio chairman, which makes rules for the government of the penitentiary, authorizes the employment of the convicts, and makes monthly inspections.

The sheriff has the custody of county convicts, their employment being within the direction of the county commissioners.

Systems of employment.—The labor of convicts must not be let out by contract. The public-account, State-use, and public-works-and-ways systems are authorized.

Regulations.-No article may be manufactured for sale at the State penitentiary except jute fabrics and bricks, but convicts may be employed at any point in the State at preparing stone for use on streets and highways.

Discharged convicts receive $5 if needed, a suit of clothing, and transportation to the place of sentence or other place not more remote.

County convicts may be employed on roads, streets, or about public buildings. They may be confined by a ball and chain while at work. Eight hours constitute a day's labor.

Goods.-Sales of jute fabrics and bricks must be to consumers, residents of the State, at private sale and for cash only, the price to be not less than the actual cost of production.

Prepared rock must be disposed of in such manner and for such price as will be most advantageous to the State.

Sources: Constitution; Codes and Statutes of 1897, sections 348, 2622 to 2624, 2734, 2747, 2748, 2763, 2764, 2786, 2787; Acts of 1903, chapter 138.

WEST VIRGINIA.

Control.-The governor appoints a board of five commissioners which has general control of the penitentiary and of the manufacturing operations carried on therein. The sheriff is keeper of the county jail, but the employment of misdemeanants held for unpaid fines rests with the county court.

Systems of employment.-As many convicts as possible are to be employed on contracts. Those not so employed may be employed under the piece-price, publicaccount, or State-use systems; or they may be temporarily hired.

County misdemeanants may be employed on public works and ways.

Regulations.-Nine hours are to be a day's labor, to be performed daily except on Sundays and national holidays.

Overtime pay is mentioned, without stating how it may be earned.

County misdemeanants held for unpaid fines are allowed $1 for each day's labor on streets or highways.

Source: Code of 1899, chapters 36,41; chapter 163, as amended by chapter 45, Acts of 1903.

WISCONSIN.

Control.-The governor appoints a board of control of five members, which has charge of penal, reformatory, and charitable institutions within the State. This board provides for the government of the penitentiary, has charge of the employment of the convicts, and makes monthly visits of inspection.

H. Doc. 733, 58-2—4

County jails and workhouses are under the inspection of the board of control, but their maintenance and the employment of their inmates is charged upon the county boards.

Systems of employment.-Employment may be under the contract, public-account, or State-use systems.

Regulations.-Contracts are limited to terms not exceeding five years.

The officers of State institutions are directed to procure from the penitentiary, furniture and such other supplies for use in their respective institutions as are obtainable, and the prison officials are directed to cause the same to be made on requisition therefor. Employment at farming and quarrying stone are also mentioned.

No labor is to be performed on any legal holiday.

No corporal or other painful and unusual punishment may be inflicted for violation of prison rules.

Convicts receive on discharge an allowance of $5 each and a suit of clothes. Deserving convicts may also have part of their earnings.

County convicts are employed for the benefit of the county, either within or without the county jail or workhouse, and labor ten hours per day, Sundays excepted. Goods.-All convict-made goods brought into the State for sale must be distinctly marked or branded as such.

Source: Statutes of 1898, sections 561a to 564, 608, 656, 697d, 697q, 4726, 4727, 4918 to 4942, 4960a.

WYOMING.

Control.-The governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, and superintendent of public instruction constitute a board of charities and reform which has the general superintendence of all penal and reformatory institutions in the State, including county jails, and provides for the employment of convicts in the State penitentiary. County convicts labor under the direction of the sheriff as provided for by the chairman of the county board.

Systems of employment.-The contract and piece-price systems are prohibited; also employment of State convicts on any public work outside the place of confinement. The public-account system may be used, and convicts may be employed to complete or repair the premises in which they are confined.

County convicts may be employed on public works and ways, or otherwise for the benefit of the county.

Regulations.-Employment of convicts in coal mines, or where the products of their labor will come in conflict with those of free labor, is prohibited.

Discharged convicts receive each a suit of clothing and $5 in money.

County convicts are to be employed for the benefit of the county during working hours on weekdays. Unless the county commissioners direct otherwise, such employment shall be on the roads, streets, or other public works.

Source: Revised Statutes of 1899, sections 632,to 636, 671, 5536 to 5539.

UNITED STATES.

Control.-The Attorney-General of the United States has control and management of United States prisons, and appoints superintendents and other officials in charge thereof.

Systems of employment.-The State-use system is prescribed.

Regulations.-Designated employments are the manufacture of articles and the production of supplies for use within the prisons, the manufacture of such Government supplies as can be produced without the use of machinery, the construction and repair of the buildings and inclosures of the prison and the making of the necessary materials therefor, and the cultivation and care of the prison grounds and farm.

Goods.-The importation of any article, the product in whole or in part of convict labor, is prohibited.

Source: Compiled Statutes of 1901, pages 1626, 3726, 3731.

DIGEST OF MECHANIC'S-LIEN LAWS.

In the various States of the Union, a lien is charged by statute on the real estate benefited by the erection or repair of buildings or by other improvements, to secure to laborers, contractors, and material men the payment of the wages or other sums due them for labor done or materials furnished.

Many States also give liens for labor done in and about mines and on railroads and farms; also for labor done or materials furnished in the construction and equipment of vessels or for labor performed in navigating the same.

Artisans, mechanics, and others have, in many States, a statutory lien on articles of personal property made, repaired, or cared for by them at the request or on behalf of the owner.

As fairly representative of such statutes, the law enacted by the Congress of the United States to control the subject of liens in the District of Columbia is here reproduced, certain sections relating to proceedings in court and to the liens of innkeepers and liverymen being omitted.

CODE OF LAW OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 1901.

CHAPTER 40.-Liens,

SECTION 1237. Every building erected, improved, added to, or repaired by the owner or his agent, and the lot of ground on which the same is erected, being all the ground used or intended to be used in connection therewith, or necessary to the use and enjoyment thereof, to the extent of the right, title, and interest, at that time existing, of such owner, whether owner in fee or of a less estate, or lessee for a term of years, or vendee in possession under a contract of sale, shall be subject to a lien in favor of the contractor with such owner or his duly authorized agent for the contract price agreed upon between them, or, in the absence of an express contract, for the reasonable value of the work and materials furnished for and about the erection, construction, improvement, or repair of or addition to such building, or the placing of any engine, machinery, or other thing thefein or in connection therewith so as to become a fixture, though capable of being detached: Provided, That the person claiming the lien shall file the notice herein prescribed.

SEC. 1238. Any such contractor wishing to avail himself of the provision aforesaid, whether his claim be due or not, shall file in the office of the clerk of the supreme court of the District during the construction or within three months after the completion of such building, improvement, repairs, or addition, or the placing therein or in connection therewith of any engine, machinery, or other thing so as to become a fixture, a notice of his intention to hold a lien on the property hereby declared liable to such lien for the amount due or to become due to him, specifically setting forth the amount claimed, the name of the party against whose interest a lien is claimed, and a description of the property to be charged, and the said clerk shall file said notice and record the same in a book to be kept for the purpose.

SEC. 1239. Any person directly employed by the original contractor, whether as subcontractor, material man, or laborer, to furnish work or materials for the completion of the work contracted for as aforesaid, shall be entitled to a similar lien to that of the original contractor upon his filing a similar notice with the clerk of the supreme court of the District to that above mentioned, subject, however, to the conditions set forth in the following sections.

SEC. 1240. All such liens in favor of parties so employed by the contractor shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the original contract except such as shall relate to the waiver of liens and shall be limited to the amount to become due to the original contractor and be satisfied, in whole or in part, out of said amount only; and if said original contractor, by reason of any breach of the contract on his part, shall be entitled to recover less than the amount agreed upon in his contract, the liens of said parties so employed by him shall be enforceable only for said reduced amount, and if said original contractor shall be entitled to recover nothing said liens shall not be enforceable at all.

SEC. 1241. The said subcontractor or other person employed by the contractor as aforesaid, besides filing a notice with the clerk of the supreme court as aforesaid,

shall serve the same upon the owner of the property upon which the lien is claimed, by leaving a copy thereof with said owner or his agent, if said owner or agent be a resident of the District, or if neither can be found, by posting the same on the premises; and on his failure to do so, or until he shall do so, the said owner may make payments to his contractor according to the terms of his contract, and to the extent of such payments the lien of the principal contractor shall be discharged and the amount for which the property shall be chargeable in favor of the parties so employed by him reduced.

SEC. 1242. After notice shall be filed by said party employed under the original contractor and a copy thereof served upon the owner or his agent as aforesaid, the owner shall be bound to retain out of any subsequent payments becoming due to the contractor a sufficient amount to satisfy any indebtedness due from said contractor to the said subcontractor, or other person so employed by him, secured by lien as aforesaid, otherwise the said party shall be entitled to enforce his lien to the extent of the amount so accruing to the principal contractor.

SEC. 1243. Any subcontractor or other person employed by the contractor as aforesaid shall be entitled to demand of the owner or his authorized agent a statement of the terms under which the work contracted for is being done and the amount due or to become due to the contractor executing the same, and if the owner or his agent shall fail or refuse to give the said information, or willfully state falsely the terms of the contract or the amounts due or unpaid thereunder, the said property shall be liable to the lien of the said party demanding said information, in the same manner as if no payments had been made to the contractor before notice served on the owner as aforesaid.

SEC. 1244. If the owner, for the purpose of avoiding the provisions hereof, and defeating the lien of the subcontractor or other person employed by the contractor, as aforesaid, shall make payments to the contractor in advance of the time agreed upon therefor in the contract, and the amount still due or to become due to the contractor shall be insufficient to satisfy the liens of the subcontractors or others so employed by the contractor, the property shall remain subject to said liens in the same manner as if such payments had not been made.

SEC. 1245. The lien hereby given shall be preferred to all judgments, mortgages, deeds of trusts, liens, and incumbrances which attach upon the building or ground affected by said lien subsequently to the commencement of the work upon the building, as well as to conveyances executed, but not recorded, before that time, to which recording is necessary, as to third persons; except that nothing herein shall affect the priority of a mortgage or deed of trust given to secure the purchase money for the land, if the same be recorded within ten days from the date of the acknowledgment thereof. When a mortgage or deed of trust of real estate securing advances thereafter to be made for the purpose of erecting buildings and improvements thereon is given, or when an owner of lands contracts with a builder for the sale of lots and the erection of buildings thereon, and agrees to advance moneys toward the erection of such buildings, the lien hereinbefore authorized shall have priority to all advances made after the filing of said notices of lien, and the lien shall attach to the right, title, and interest of the owner in said building and land to the extent of all advances which shall have become due after the filing of such notice of such lien, and shall also attach to and be a lien on the right, title, and interest of the person so agreeing to purchase said land at the time of the filing of said notices of lien. When a building shall be erected or repaired by a lessee or tenant for life or years, or a person having an equitable estate or interest in such building or land on which it stands, the lien created by this act shall only extend to and cover the interest or estate of such lessee, tenant, or equitable owner.

SEC. 1246. The proceeding to enforce the lien hereby given shall be a bill in equity, which shall contain a brief statement of the contract on which the claim is founded, the amount due thereon, the time when the notice was filed with the clerk, and a copy thereof served on the owner or his agent, if so served, and the time when the building or the work thereon was completed, with a description of the premises and other material facts; and shall pray that the premises be sold and the proceeds of sale applied to the satisfaction of the lien. If such suit be brought by any person entitled, other than the principal contractor, the latter shall be made a party defendant, as well as all other persons who may have filed notices of liens, as aforesaid. All or any number of persons having liens on the same property may join in one suit, their respective claims being distinctly stated in separate paragraphs; and if several suits are brought by different claimants and are pending at the same time, the court may order them to be consolidated.

SEC. 1248. If the original contractor and the persons contracting or employed under him shall both have filed notices of liens, as aforesaid, the latter shall first be satis

fied out of the proceeds of sale before the original contractor, but not in excess of the amount due him, and the balance, if any, of said amount shall be paid to him. SEC. 1249. If one, or some only, of the persons employed under the original contractor shall have served notice on the owner, as aforesaid, before payments made by him to the original contractor, said party or parties shall be entitled to priority of satisfaction out of said proceeds to the amount of such payments; but, subject to this provision, if the proceeds of sale, after paying thereout the costs of the suit, shall be insufficient to satisfy the liens of said parties employed under the original contractor the said proceeds shall be distributed ratably among them to the extent of the payments accruing to the original contractor subsequently to the service of notice on the owner by said parties, as aforesaid.

SEC. 1250. In case of labor done or materials furnished for the erection or repair of two or more buildings joined together and owned by the same person or persons, it shall not be necessary to determine the amount of work done or materials furnished for each separate building, but only the aggregate amount upon all the buildings so joined, and the decree may be for the sale of all the buildings and the land on which they are erected as one building, or they may be sold separately if it shall seem best to the court.

SEC. 1251. Any person entitled to a lien, as aforesaid, may commence his suit to enforce the same at any time within a year from and after the filing of the notice aforesaid or within six months from the completion of the building or repairs aforesaid, on his failure to do which the said lien shall cease to exist, unless his said claim be not due at the expiration of said periods, in which case the action must be commenced within three months after the said claim shall have become due.

SEC. 1252. If there be any contest as to the dimensions of the ground claimed to be subjected to the lien aforesaid, the court shall determine the same upon the evidence and describe the same in the decree of sale.

SEC. 1253. Whenever any person having a lien by virtue hereof shall have received satisfaction of his claim and cost, he shall, on the demand, and at the cost of the person interested, enter said claim satisfied, in the clerk's office aforesaid, and on his failure or refusal so to do he shall forfeit fifty dollars to the party aggrieved, and all damages that the latter may have sustained by reason of such failure or refusal. SEC. 1257. No subcontractor, material man, or workman employed under the original contractor shall be entitled to a personal judgment or decree against the owner of the premises for the amount due to him from said original contractor, except upon a special promise of such owner, in writing, for a sufficient consideration, to be answerable for the same.

SEC. 1258. In any suit brought to enforce a lien by virtue of the provisions aforesaid, if the proceeds of the property affected thereby shall be insufficient to satisfy such lien, a personal judgment for the deficiency may be given in favor of the lien or against the owner of the premises or the original contractor, as the case may be, whichever contracted with him for the labor or materials furnished by him, provided such person be a party to the suit and shall have been personally served with process therein.

SEC. 1259. Any person who shall furnish materials or labor in filling up any lot or in constructing any wharf thereon, or dredging the channel of the river in front of any wharf, under any contract with the owner, shall be entitled to a lien for the value of such work or materials on said lot and wharf upon the same conditions and to be enforced in the same manner as in the case of work done in the erection of buildings, as herein before provided.

SEC. 1260. Any mechanic or artisan who shall make, alter, or repair any article of personal property at the request of the owner shall have a lien thereon for his just and reasonable charges for his work done and materials furnished, and may retain the same in his possession until said charges are paid; but if possession is parted with by his consent such lien shall cease.

SEC. 1263. If the amount due and for which a lien is given by * * * [section 1260] is not paid after the end of a month after the same is due, and the property bound by said lien does not exceed the sum of fifty dollars, then the party entitled to such lien, after demand of payment upon the debtor, if he be within the District, may proceed to sell the property so subject to lien at public auction, after giving notice once a week for three successive weeks in some daily newspaper published in the District, and the proceeds of such sale shall be applied, first, to the expenses of such sales and the discharge of such lien, and the remainder, if any, shall be paid over to the owner of the property.

SEC. 1264. If the value of the property so subject to lien shall exceed the sum of fifty dollars, the proceeding to enforce such lien shall be by bill or petition in equity, and the decree, which shall be rendered according to the due course of proceedings