LAWS OF VARIOUS STATES RELATING TO LABOR ENACTED SINCE JANUARY 1, 1896. [The Second Special Report of the Department contains all laws of the various States and Territories and of the United States relating to labor in force January 1, 1896. Later enactments are reproduced in successive issues of the Bulletin from time to time as published.] VIRGINIA. ACTS OF 1899-1900. CHAPTER 328.-Railroad bridges-Safety of employees. SECTION 1. Where any railroad track passes under any bridge or structure not sufficiently high to admit of the safe passage of the cars upon such railroad tracks, with the servants and employees standing at their posts of duty on said cars, the person or persons, firm or corporation, operating said railroad and running its trains thereon, shall erect and maintain, at proper distance on each side of such bridge or structure, warning signals of approved design, and in general use to warn the servants and employees, or those operating such railroads, of the approach to such bridge or structure, and the failure to erect and maintain such danger signals shall make those operating such railroads liable in damages for the death or injury of any employee or servant resulting from the insufficient height of such bridge or structure, and no contract, expressed or implied, and no plea of, or defense based upon, the contributory negligence of the servant or employee shall relieve those operating such railroads of the liability hereby imposed. The railroad commissioner is hereby authorized, by general or special regulations or order, to determine or approve the character and location of any danger signal which may be erected and maintained to comply with the provisions of this act, and any and every such danger signal constructed and located as the railroad commissioner shall so determine and approve shall be deemed within the meaning of this act to be an approved danger signal and erected at the proper distance on each side of such bridge. SEC. 2. This act shall be in force from April first, nineteen hundred. CHAPTER 806.-Licensing of labor agents, etc. Whereas the farming and other interest of Buckingham County are being badly crippled, and in some instances almost ruined, by the carrying off by labor agents, and agents of railroad contractors and others, the pick of the laboring class of Buckingham County, by offering inducements, which are seldom, if ever, carried out, with the result of taking from Buckingham County the most desirable and best labor for six or seven months of the year, and leaving them without employment for the remainder of the year, and thereby seriously embarrassing the agriculturists and manufacturers of Buckingham County as before stated, and not being any benefit or gain to the laboring man; now, therefore, 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, that the board of supervisors of Buckingham County, Virginia, are hereby authorized and empowered to place a tax upon all labor agents, or representatives of persons, firms, or corporations, that come into Buckingham County for the purpose of inducing the laborers to move from the county, as before stated. 2. In no case shall the tax imposed upon such agents or representatives of persons, firms, or corporations soliciting men to leave Buckingham County be less than one hundred dollars per annum or more than two hundred dollars per annum, at the discretion of the board of supervisors. Any agent or representative found in any part of the county soliciting men to leave said county for the purpose heretofore stated, without having in his possession license or receipt showing that license has been paid, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished, on conviction, by fine of not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars in each case. 3. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. Approved March 5, 1900. UNITED STATES. ACTS OF CONGRESS OF 1899-1900. CHAPTER 339.-LEGISLATION FOR THE TERRITORY OF HAWAII. * CHAPTER 1.-Contracts for labor. SECTION 10. * * Provided, That no suit or proceedings shall be maintained for the specific performance of any contract heretofore or hereafter entered into for personal labor or service, nor shall any remedy exist or be in force for breach of any such contract, except in a civil suit or proceeding instituted solely to recover damages for such breach: Provided further, That the provisions of this section shall not modify or change the laws of the United States applicable to merchant seamen. All contracts made since August twelfth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, by which persons are held for service for a definite term, are hereby declared null and void and terminated, and no law shall be passed to enforce said contracts in any way; and it shall be the duty of the United States marshal to at once notify such persons so held of the termination of their contracts. The act approved February twenty-six, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, "To prohibit the importation and migration of foreigners and aliens under contract or agreement to perform labor in the United States, its Territories, and the District of Columbia," and the acts amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto, are hereby extended to and made applicable to the Territory of Hawaii. CHAPTER 3.-Collection of statistics by the United States Commissioner of Labor. SECTION 76. * * * It shall be the duty of the United States Commissioner of Labor to collect, assort, arrange, and present in annual reports statistical details relating to all departments of labor in the Territory of Hawaii, especially in relation to the commercial, industrial, social, educational, and sanitary condition of the laboring classes, and to all such other subjects as Congress may, by law, direct. The said commissioner is especially charged to ascertain, at as early a date as possible, and as often thereafter as such information may be required, the highest, lowest, and average number of employees engaged in the various industries in the Territory, to be classified as to nativity, sex, hours of labor, and conditions of employment, and to report the same to Congress. CHAPTER 6.-Chinese-Certificates of residence-Exclusion from the United States. SECTION 101. Chinese in the Hawaiian Islands when this act takes effect may within one year thereafter obtain certificates of residence as required by "An act to prohibit the coming of Chinese persons into the United States," approved May fifth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, as amended by an act approved November third, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, entitled "An act to amend an act entitled "An act to prohibit the coming of Chinese persons into the United States,' approved May fifth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two," and until the expiration of said year shall not be deemed to be unlawfully in the United States if found therein without such certificate: Provided, however, That no Chinese laborer, whether he shall hold such certificate or not, shall be allowed to enter any State, Territory, or District of the United States from the Hawaiian Islands. Approved April 30, 1900. CHAPTER 786.-LEGISLATION FOR THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA. TITLE 1.-Recording, etc., of mining claims, etc. SECTION 15. The respective recorders shall, upon the payment of the fees for the same prescribed by the Attorney-General, record separately, in large and well-bound separate books, in fair hand: Ninth. Affidavits of annual work done on mining claims; Tenth. Notices of mining location and declaratory statements; * Eleventh. Such other writings as are required or permitted by law to be recorded, including the liens of mechanics, laborers, and others: Provided, Notices of location of mining claims shall be filed for record within ninety days from the date of the discovery of the claim described in the notice, and all instruments shall be recorded in the recording district in which the property or subject-matter affected by the instrument is situated, and where the property or subject-matter is not situated in any established recording district the instrument affecting the same shall be recorded in the office of the clerk of the division of the court having supervision over the recording division in which such property or subject-matter is situated. SEC. 16. * * * Miners in any organized mining district may make rules and regulations governing the recording of notices of location of mining claims, water rights, flumes and ditches, mill sites and affidavits of labor, not in conflict with this act or the general laws of the United States; and nothing in this act shall be construed so as to prevent the miners in any regularly organized mining district not within any recording district established by the court from electing their own mining recorder to act as such until a recorder therefor is appointed by the court: * * * SEC. 26. The laws of the United States relating to mining claims, mineral locations, and rights incident thereto are hereby extended to the District of Alaska: Provided, That subject only to such general limitations as may be necessary to exempt navigation from artificial obstructions all land and shoal water between low and mean high tide on the shores, bays, and inlets of Bering Sea, within the jurisdiction of the United States, shall be subject to exploration and mining for gold and other precious metals by citizens of the United States, or persons who have legally declared their intentions to become such, under such reasonable rules and regulations as the miners in organized mining districts may have heretofore made or may hereafter make governing the temporary possession thereof for exploration and mining purposes until otherwise provided by law: Provided further, That the rules and regulations established by the miners shall not be in conflict with the mining laws of the United States; and no exclusive permit shall be granted by the Secretary of War anthorizing any person or persons, corporation or company to excavate or mine under any of said waters below low tide, and if such exclusive permit has been granted it is hereby revoked and declared null and void; but citizens of the United States or persons who have legally declared their intention to become such shall have the right to dredge and mine for gold or other precious metal in said waters, below low tide, subject to such general rules and regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe for the preservation of order and the protection of the interests of commerce; such rules and regulations shall not, however, deprive miners on the beach of the right hereby given to dump tailings into or pump from the sea opposite their claims, except where such dumping would actually obstruct navigation, and the reservation of a roadway sixty feet wide, under the tenth section of the act of May fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, entitled "An act extending the homestead laws and providing for right of way for railroads in the district of Alaska, and for other purposes," shall not apply to mineral lands or town sites. TITLE 2.-Earnings of married women. SECTION 28. A wife may receive the wages of her personal labor, and maintain an action therefor in her own name and hold the same in her own right, and she may prosecute and defend all actions for the preservation and protection of her rights and property as if unmarried. TITLE 2.-Exemption from execution, etc. SECTION 272. The homestead of any family, or the proceeds thereof, shall be exempt from judicial sale for the satisfaction of any liability hereafter contracted or for the satisfaction of any judgment hereafter obtained on such debt. Such homestead must be the actual abode of and owned by such family or some members thereof. It shall not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars in value, nor exceed one hundred and sixty acres in extent if not located in a town or city laid off into blocks or lots, or if located in any such town or city, then it shall not exceed one-fourth of one * The homestead aforesaid shall be exempt from sale or any legal process after the death of the person entitled thereto for the collection of any debts for which the same could not have been sold during his lifetime. acre. SEC. 273. All other property, including franchises or rights or interests therein, of the judgment debtor shall be liable to an execution, except as in this section provided. The following property shall be exempt from execution if selected and reserved by the judgment debtor or his agent at the time of the levy, or as soon thereafter before sale thereof as the same shall be known to him, and not otherwise: First. The earnings of the judgment debtor, for his personal services rendered at any time within sixty days next preceding the levy of execution or attachment, when it appears by the debtor's affidavit or otherwise that such earnings are necessary for the use of his family supported in whole or in part by his labor; Second. Books, pictures, and musical instruments owned by any person, to the value of seventy-five dollars; Third. Necessary wearing apparel owned by any person for the use of himself or his family: Provided, Watches or jewelry exceeding in value the sum of one hundred dollars shall not be exempt by virtue of this subdivision; Fourth. The tools, implements, apparatus, team, vehicle, harness, or library necessary to enable any person to carry on the trade, occupation, or profession by which such person habitually earns his living to the value of five hundred dollars; also sufficient quantity of food to support such team, if any, for six months; the word "team in this subdivision shall not be construed to include more than one yoke of oxen, or a span of horses or mules, or two reindeers, or six dogs, as the case may be; Fifth. The following property, if owned by the head of a family and in actual use or kept for use by and for his family, or when being removed from one habitation to another on a change of residence: Ten sheep with one year's fleece or the yarn or cloth manufactured therefrom; two cows and five swine; household goods, furniture, and utensils to the value of three hundred dollars; also food sufficient to support such animals, if any, for six months, and provisions actually provided for family use and necessary for the support of such person and family for six months; Sixth. The seat or pew occupied by the head of a family or his family in a place of public worship. Seventh. All property of any public or municipal corporation. Eighth. No article of property, or if the same has been sold or exchanged, then neither the proceeds of such sale nor the articles received in exchange therefor, shall be exempt from execution issued on a judgment recovered for its price. TITLE 2.-Wages preferred-In administration. * * * * * * SECTION 872. The charges and claims against the estate shall be paid in the following order : First, funeral charges; second, taxes of whatever nature due the United States; third, expenses of last sickness; fourth, all other taxes of whatever nature; fifth, debts preferred by the laws of the United States; sixth, debts which at the death of the deceased were a lien upon his property or any right or interest therein according to the priority of their several liens; seventh, debts due employee [employees] of decedent for wages earned within the ninety days immediately preceding the death of the decedent; eighth, all other claims against the estate. TITLE 3.-Earnings of married women. SECTION 64. All property, either real or personal, acquired by any married woman during coverture by her own labor shall not be liable for the debts, contracts, or liabilities of her husband, but shall in all respects be subject to the same exemptions and liabilities as property owned at the time of her marriage or afterwards acquired by gift, devise, or inheritance. TITLE 3.-Exemption from execution, etc. SECTION 238. Burial lots sold by such [cemetery] association shall be for the sole purpose of interment and shall be exempt from taxation, execution, attachment, or any other claim, lien, or process whatsoever if used, as intended, exclusively for burial purposes and in no wise with a view to profit. TITLE 3.-Liens of mechanics, laborers, etc. SECTION 262. Every mechanic, artisan, machinist, builder, contractor, lumber merchant, laborer, teamster, drayman, and other persons performing labor upon or furnishing material, of any kind to be used in the construction, development, alteration, or repair, either in whole or in part, of any building, wharf, bridge, flume, mine, tunnel, fence, machinery, or aqueduct, or any structure or superstructure, shall have a lien upon the same for the work or labor done or material furnished at the instance of the owner of the building or other improvement or his agent; and every contractor, subcontractor, architect, builder, or other person having charge of the construction, alteration, or repair, in whole or in part, of any building or other improvement as aforesaid shall be held to be the agent of the owner for the purposes of this code. SEC. 263. The land upon which any building or other improvement as aforesaid shall be constructed, together with a convenient space about the same, or so much as may be required for the convenient use and occupation thereof (to be determined by the judgment of the court at the time of the foreclosure of such lien), and the mine on which the labor was performed or for which the material was furnished shall also be subject to the liens created by this code if, at the time the work was commenced or the materials for the same had been commenced to be furnished, the land belonged to the person who caused the building or other improvement to be constructed, altered, or repaired; but if such person owned less than a fee-simple estate in such land, then only his interest therein shall be subject to such lien; and in case such interest shall be a leasehold interest, and the holder thereof shall have forfeited his rights thereto, the purchaser of such building or improvement and leasehold term, or so much thereof as remains unexpired at any sale under the provisions of this code, shall be held to be the assignee of such leasehold term, and as such shall be entitled to pay the lessor all arrears of rent or other money and costs due under the lease, unless the lessor shall have regained possession of the land and property, or obtained judgment for the possession thereof, prior to the commencement of the construction, alteration, or repair of the building or other improvement thereof; in which event the purchaser shall have the right only to remove the building or other improvement within thirty days after he shall have purchased the same; and the owner of the land shall receive the rent due him, payable out of the proceeds of the sale, according to the terms of the lease, down to the time of such removal. SEC. 264. A lien created by this code upon any parcel of land shall be preferred to any lien, mortgage, or other incumbrance which may have attached to the land subsequent to the time when the building or other improvement was commenced, or the materials were commenced to be furnished and placed upon or adjacent to the land; also to any lien, mortgage, or other incumbrance which was unrecorded at the time when the building, structure, or other improvement was commenced, or other materials for the same were commenced to be furnished and placed upon or adjacent to the land; and all liens created by this code upon any building or other improvements shall be preferred to all prior liens, mortgages, or other incumbrances upon the land upon which the building or other improvement shall have been constructed or situated when altered or repaired; and in enforcing such lien, such building or other improvement may be sold separately from the land, and when so sold the purchaser may remove the same, within a reasonable time thereafter, not to exceed thirty days, upon the payment to the owner of the land of a reasonable rent for its use from the date of its purchase to the time of removal: Provided, If such removal be prevented by legal proceedings, the thirty days shall not begin to run until the final determination of such proceedings in the court of first resort or the appellate court it appeal be taken. SEC. 265. Every building, or other improvement mentioned in section two hundred and sixty-two, constructed upon any lands with the knowledge of the owner or the person having or claiming any interest therein, shall be held to have been constructed at the instance of such owner or person having or claiming any interest therein; and the interest owned or claimed shall be subject to any lien filed in accordance with the provisions of this code, unless such owner or person having or claiming an interest therein shall, within three days after he shall have obtained knowledge of the construction, alteration, or repair, give notice that he will not be responsible for the same, by posting a notice in writing to that effect in some conspicuous place upon the land, or upon the building or other improvement situated thereon. SEC. 266. It shall be the duty of every original contractor, within sixty days after the completion of his contract, and of every mechanic, artisan, machinist, builder, lumber merchant, laborer, or other person, save the original contractor, claiming the benefit of this code, within thirty days after the completion of the alteration or repair thereof, or after he has ceased to labor thereon from any cause, or after he has ceased to furnish materials therefor, to file with the recorder of the precinct in which such building or other improvement, or some part thereof, shall be situated, a claim containing a true statement of his demand, after deducting all just credits and offsets, with the name of the owner or reputed owner, if known, and also the name of the person by whom he was employed or to whom he furnished the materials, and also a description of the property to be charged with the lien sufficient for identification, which claim shall be verified by the oath of himself or of some other person having knowledge of the facts. SEC. 267. The recorder shall record the claim in a book kept for that purpose, which records shall be indexed as deeds and other conveyances are required by law to be indexed, and for which he shall receive the same fees as are allowed by law for recording deeds and other instruments. SEC. 268. No lien provided for in this code shall bind any building, structure, or other improvement for a longer period than six months after the same shall have |