THE
BREVIER LEGISLATIVE REPORTS.
THIRTEENTH VOLUME.
INDIANA LEGISLATURE.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
WEDNESDAY, December 4, 1872.The House met and was called to order at nine o'clock a. m. by the Speaker, and prayer was offered by the Rev. Dr. Day, pastor of the First Baptist Church of this city.
On motion of Mr. BILLINGSLEY, the reading of the journal of yesterday was dispensed with.
REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES.
Mr. OGDEN, from the Judiciary Committee, returned Mr. Wesner's bill [H. R. 147] regulating the rate of interest on the loan, or forbearance of money or things in action, and repealing, etc., recommending that it be indefinitely postponed.
The report was concurred in.
Mr. WILSON, from the Committee on the Judiciary, returned Mr. North's bill, [H. R. 139] regulating the expenses incurred by any county by a change of venue from another county, with amendments, inserting a rule for certifying such allowance to the county from which the cause was taken; for a declaration of emergency for immediate taking effect, etc.
The amendments were adopted, and so the bill was ordered to be engrossed for the third reading.
Mr. MILLER returned his bill [H. R. 115] to repeal the act regulating the sale of patent rights and prevent frauds in connection therewith, which took effect April 23, 1869, recommending its passage.
It was ordered to be engrossed.
MECHANICS' LIEN.
Mr. BUSKIRK returned Mr. Lenfesty's bill [H. R. 136] to amend section 654 of the practice act, recommending that it be indefinitely postponed.
Mr. LENFESTY hoped the report would not be concurred in, as it amended a section under that which held that where a mechanic does work on any building, or furnishes material for the construction or repair of any building, he shall have a lien thereon; even after the owner has paid up in full the original contractor, any workman under him may also file his lien. The amendment is, that where the sub-contractor files his lien, or gives notice of it to the owner, he shall be liable, but not for more than his contract with the original contractor. The present lien is an outrage. Taking this particular section of the practice act, and it would appear that the owner is not liable for more than is in his hands belonging to the original contractor; but according to the decision of the Supreme Court, the owner is liable to the sub-contractor, although he has paid the original contractor in full.
Mr. BUSKIRK said, in the opinion of a majority of the Judiciary Committee, the bill would discriminate against the interests of the poor laborers, and in favor of those better able to endure losses by the dishonesty of contractors, and therefore the committee thought it best to report adversely to the bill. They thought the owner of the building ought to assume the responsibility for such dishonesty of the contractor.
page: 170[View Page 170]Mr. BILLINGSLY opposed concurrence.
Mr. MILLER said that for the remedy of the hardships that might bear on the owner of the building it would be necessary to amend another section of the act, a section which is not the one proposed to be amended by this bill.
Mr. LENFESTY explained that it is proposed in this bill that when any workman is not being paid, then he may give the owner notice of his right, and, by giving proper notice from that time forth the owner becomes liable till the work is paid for.
Mr. JOHNSON thought the bill a good one, but it did not accomplish the object. The amendment was to the wrong section.
Mr. LENFESTY. It may be possible that I have got the wrong number of the section. I would like to have it recommitted for examination.
It was so ordered by unanimous consent.
Mr. JOHNSON, from the Judiciary Committee, returned Mr. Gregory's bill [H. R. 133] to repeal sections fifty-three and ninety-eight, and to amend section ninety-seven of the practice act of June 18, 1852, recommending indefinite postponement.
Mr. GREGORY would like to see the bill pass, and thought it might if the House had the time to consider it. It is a bill for the purpose of avoiding delays in the administration of justice, by restraining amendments on the trial; and it would to some extent cut off the practice of what are called constitutional lawyers. Under our too liberal statutes they can continue from time to time and compass the delays of justice.
The report was concurred in and the bill indefinitely postponed.
MEMORY OF MR. GREELEY.
Mr. CAUTHORN, from the special committee appointed under Mr. Hardesty's resolution of yesterday, submitted and read the following:
Mr. Speaker: The Select Committee appointed to take order on the occasion of the death of Horace Greeley, have instructed me to make the following report:
In connection with our fellow citizens, we deeply deplore the loss by death of so great and so good a man as Horace Greeley. The sad news has found its way, not only to every city, town and hamlet of his native continent, but on the globe, is only limited and confined by the bounds of civilization and intelligence. His life is not only a lesson but an example which commends itself to every aspiring mind in coming years, and is full of hope and promise. He commenced life poor and unknown, he left it rich and with a fame world wide. For thirty years he has occupied a prominent position before the American people, and that peculiar field of labor that invites criticism and censure. Yet during all those thirty years of journalistic pre-eminence, he has maintained a reputation unspotted and without reproach. No man of his time has impressed his peculiar views upon the institutions of the country more fully or completely than Horace Greeley. Nearly every principle advocated by him, no matter how unpopular at first, finally received the sanction of the people. And his devotion to principle regardless of popular feeling is the highest evidence of his honesty and worth. Many designing demagogues cling to dominent political parties for self-aggrandizement, but not so with Horace Greeley. His convictions of right and wrong determined his course, and he worshipped at the shrine of duty with an Eastern idolatry. He was the friend of the slave when friendship for him was a political crime. But regardless of self, he followed his conviction of right, and labored for his enfranchisement through good and through evil report, until at length he witnessed the full fruition of his labors in the complete triumph of his principles.
Horace Greeley is the first person who, after a lifetime spent in political strife and discord, in the short space of a political canvass, overcame the prejudices of his political opponents and received with great unanimity their indorsement and support. His death is a striking illustration of the uncertainty of human life. On the first of May last he was nominated by a respectable convention of his fellow citizens in Cincinnati for the highest office on earth. On the 12th of June last his nomination was indorsed and ratified by the Democratic party of the great State of Indiana, and on the 7th of July last was ratified and indorsed by the Democratic party of the nation in convention assembled at Baltimore, and on the 6th of November he was voted for by more than 2,000,000 of his fellow citizens for President of the United States, and on this day he was to be voted for by the chosen electors of the people for that high office, but instead thereof his mortal remains are to be committed to the cold and silent grave. In his death our country has lost a distinguished citizen, the world an accomplished man, science a follower, literature a friend, philosophy a star, and labor a devotee. In memory of such a man we might do many meaningless things. We might shroud this hall in black, and resolve to wear the feelingless crape. But we prefer page: 171[View Page 171]to let each member in his own way manifest and express his respect and regret, and recommend the adoption of the following resolution:
RESOLVED, In respect for the memory of Horace Greeley that this House do now adjourn until to-morrow morning.
JOHN E. RUMSEY, Chairman,
HENRY S. CAUTHORN,
JOHN O. HARDESTY,
JOHN T. RICHARDSON,
C. A. RUSKIRK.
The report was concurred in, and the-resolution adopted unanimously by a rising vote; and the Speaker ordered the adjournment accordingly.
