incorporated city, and the owner thereof or the person having it in charge can not be found, it shall be removed or buried at the expense of the city. [C. L. § 2256*.

65. Animals left unburied. Deposit on land of another. No such animal shall be left unburied within one-half mile from any town or settlement, or one-quarter mile from any main-traveled state or county road, or residence, or twenty rods from any spring, running stream, or water ditch. Any person who shall deposit any such animal on the land of another without his consent, and shall fail to remove it therefrom upon two days notice by the owner or possessor of such land, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished as in section sixty-six provided. [C. L. § 2257*.

66. Penalty. Any person refusing or neglecting to comply with any of the requirements of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof before any justice of the peace having jurisdiction, be fined in any sum not exceeding ten dollars, the expense of removing or burying said animal, and costs of suit. [C. L. § 2258*.

67. Owner liable for expense. If the owner or the person in charge of any such animal at the time of its death shall fail to remove or bury the same as in this chapter provided, any citizen may bury or remove such animal and collect pay therefor from the owner, if known, or from the county when the owner is unknown. It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, constables, and city marshals to see that the provisions of this chapter are carried into effect. [C. L. § 2257*.

CHAPTER 9.

KILLED ON RAILWAYS.

68. Notice to be given. Every person operating a railway within this state that shall injure or kill any live stock of any description by the running of any engine or engines, car or cars, over or against any such live stock, shall, within three days thereafter, post at the first railway station in each direction from the place of such injury or killing, a notice in writing in some conspicuous place on the outside of such stations, and file a duplicate with the county clerk of the county in which stock is injured or killed, which notice shall contain the number and kind of animals so injured or killed and a full description of each, with the time and place, as near as may be, of such injury or killing, and shall be dated and signed by some officer or agent of such person operating such railway. ['94, p. 100*.

Liability of railroad for stock killed, 446.

69. Penalty. Every person that shall wilfully fail, neglect, or refuse to comply with the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined in any sum not exceeding fifty dollars. ['94, p. 100.

CHAPTER 10.

INJURIES BY DOGS.

70. Liability of owner. Every person owning or keeping a dog shall be liable in damages for any injurious act committed by such dog; and it shall not be necessary in any action brought therefor to allege or prove that such dog was of a vicious or mischievous disposition, or that the owner or keeper thereof knew that it was vicious or mischievous. ['96, p. 138.

71. Dogs acting together. Where any injury has been committed by two or more dogs acting together, and such dogs are owned or kept by different persons, all such persons may be joined as defendants in the same action to recover damages therefor, and the amount found by the court or jury for such injury shall be apportioned among the several defendants found liable, and judgment entered severally against them for the amount so apportioned. ['96, p. 139*.

CHAPTER 11.

FENCES.

72. Throwing down fence. Opening gates. Any person who shall throw down a fence or open bars or gates into any inclosure other than his own or into any field owned by joint occupancy, and leave the same open, shall be deemed guilty of trespass, and on conviction thereof may be fined in any sum not exceeding five dollars; and he shall also be liable for all damages thereby sustained. [C. L. § 2235*.

73. Division fences. When two or more persons shall agree to fence a joint inclosure, or to build a division fence or fences, each party shall be required to build his portion of lawful fence, according to the amount of land inclosed, and keep the same in repair, and, if either party shall neglect or refuse so to do, he shall be liable for all damage done in consequence of said neglect. In all cases where a person has inclosed his land with a fence, and the owner of adjoining land desires to inclose such adjoining land with a fence so that the first fence, or any part thereof, will be made a partition fence between such tracts of land, the owner of such adjoining land must before making such inclosure pay to the owner of such fence one-half of the value of all that part of such fence as will become a partition fence between such adjoining tracts of land; and when one party ceases to improve or cultivate his land or opens his inclosure, he must not take away any part of the partition fence belonging to him if the owner or occupant of such adjoining inclosure shall within thirty days after notice pay therefor the value of said fence; nor shall such partition fence be removed when by so doing the crops inclosed by such fence will be exposed to destruction. [C. L. § 2236*; '90, p. 13.

TITLE 3.

APPRENTICESHIP.

74. Who may be bound. Contract. Any minor child may be bound to service until the attainment of the age of legal majority. Such binding must be by written indenture, specifying the terms of agreement, age of the minor, if known, and shall moreover be signed by the minor if over twelve years of age. Nothing herein shall be so construed as to prevent the district court from binding out any idle, vicious, or vagrant minor child without his or her consent or the consent of the parent or guardian of such minor child, if such parent or guardian neglects, refuses, or otherwise fails in properly controlling the actions and education of such minor, and does not train him or her up in some useful vocation. [C. L. § 2564*. 75. Duty of county commissioners. It is hereby made the duty of the county commissioners to look after and take notice of all such cases, and whenever they shall find a child incorrigible and the parents unable, unwilling, or

negligent, as herein before mentioned, to bring the matter to the attention of the district court. [C. L. § 2565*.

76. Relation of master and apprentice. The powers, liabilities, and duties of the master and the rights of the apprentice, are the same as those of parent and child respectively, except as to inheritance, and except as is otherwise provided by law. [C. L. § 2566.

77. Interests of minor. The parent, guardian, or officer by whose act or consent any minor is thus bound, must watch over the interests of the minor so bound, and take measures for his or her relief whenever circumstances shall justify or the true interest of the minor shall require it. [C. L. § 2567.

78. Ill-treatment. Discharge. Compensation. If the master shall ill-treat his apprentice, or in any manner palpably fail in the discharge of his duties in regard to said apprentice, the apprentice may be discharged from further service, and may recover damages and compensation for services. [C. L. § 2568.

79. Duty of master. Misbehavior of apprentice. It shall be the duty of the master to correct and teach such minor child to observe the principles of good order and industry, and train him or her to some useful vocation. And it is hereby made the duty of such minor to observe obedience to, and respect for. the requirements of the master. But if the apprentice bound as aforesaid, shall refuse to serve according to the terms of the indenture, or grossly misbehave, and the master shall be incapable or unable to influence or control such apprentice, he may be discharged from further obligations or liability, at the discretion of the court; and in the event of a discharge, the apprentice shall receive such allowance for the service previously rendered as may be considered just under the circumstances. [C. L. § 2569.

80. Dissolution of contract. The death of the master, or his removal from the state, works a dissolution of the indenture, unless otherwise provided therein, or unless the apprentice shall elect to continue in his service. [C. L. $ 2570.

81. Foreign indenture. Any person, apprentice, or servant, who shall have so elected or agreed to render service in any other state, territory, or country, shall come under the same regulations and requirements as herein provided; all such agreements or indentures for service being held as inviolate and binding as if they had been entered into and executed within this state. $ 2571.

[C. L.

82. Vicious parents. Duty of court. If from habitual intemperance and vicious and brutal conduct, or from vicious, brutal, and criminal conduct towards a child, the parent of the same shall be considered an unsuitable person to retain the guardianship or control the education of the child, the judge of the district court may appoint a suitable person to be the guardian of such child, and may, if deemed expedient, also cause said child to be bound as an apprentice to some suitable person, during his or her minority. Nothing herein shall be so construed as to permit the taking of such child if either the father or mother be a proper guardian. [C. L. § 2572.

83. Schooling and clothing. The master shall send the apprentice to school as provided by law, and at all times and in all cases shall clothe the apprentice in a comfortable and becoming manner. [C. L. § 2574*.

TITLE 4.

ASSIGNMENT FOR BENEFIT OF CREDITORS.

84. Insolvent debtor may assign. Transfer to creditor. An insolvent debtor may, in good faith, execute an assignment of property to one or more assignees, in trust for the benefit of creditors, in conformity with the provisions of this title; provided, that nothing herein contained shall affect the power of a person, although insolvent and whether residing within or without this state, to transfer property in this state in good faith to a particular creditor for the purpose of paying or securing the whole or a part of a debt owing to such creditor. p. 81.

Mont. Civ. C. 34510, 4512*.

The rule of the common law permitting insolvent debtors, whether individuals or corporations, to prefer creditors, is impregnable in this state, and cannot be overthrown, except by legislative enactment. Wyeth Co. v. James-Spencer-Bateman Co., - U. —; 47 P. 604. An insolvent debtor at common

['97,

law may assign a part or the whole of his property for the benefit of his creditors and may prefer the one creditor or class of creditors over others equally meritorious. Id. A corporation is an artificial person, and has the same power as a natural person, in the absence of statutory restrictions, to prefer creditors that are not its officers or agents. Id.

85. Wages a preferred claim. In all assignments for the benefit of creditors, debts due for wages or personal services of servants or employees of the assignor for services or labor rendered or performed within one year previous to the assignment, are preferred claims, and must be paid before any other creditor of the assignor, and shall be paid in full in all cases where there is sufficient property therefor; otherwise they alone shall be paid pro rata. ['97, p. 81. Wages preferred in similar cases, 1344.

Mont. Civ. C. 24514*.

86. Preferences to joint and to individual creditors. Joint or joint and several debtors, can prefer their joint creditors only out of joint property and can prefer the individual creditors of each only out of the separate property of each. ['97, p. 81.

Mont. Civ. C. 34517.

An assignment by a partnership which prefers the creditors of the individual partners, such creditors having loaned money to the individual partners knowing that both were insolvent at the time, is fraudulent in fact. Smith v. Sipperley, 9 U. 267; 34 P. 54. Where partners agreed that the joint property should belong to one of them, he to assume the partnership debts, such agreement, if

bona fide and for a valuable consideration, would be a valid transfer to the succeeding partner, and his right thereunder to assign for the benefit of creditors of the firm, in the absence of fraud, even though preference were made to the wife of the assignor, who was a bona fide creditor of the firm, could not be disputed. Douglass v. Alder, 13 U. 303; 44 P. 706.

87. Assignment void in what cases. An assignment for the benefit of creditors is void against any creditor of the assignor not assenting thereto in the following cases:

1. If it give a preference dependent upon any condition or contingency, or with any power of revocation reserved.

2. If it tend to coerce any creditor to release or compromise his demand. 3. If it provide for the payment of any claim known by the assignor to be false or fraudulent, or for the payment of more upon any claim than is known to be justly due from the assignor.

4. If it reserve any interest in the assigned property, or in any part thereof, to the assignor or for his benefit, before all his existing debts are paid.

5. If it confer upon the assignee any power which, if exercised, might prevent or delay the immediate conversion of the assigned property to the purposes of the trust; provided, that the assignment may provide reasonable terms and manner of sale to be carried out only so far as practicable and not prejudicial to the interests of the estate, in the discretion of the court. ['97, pp. 81-2.

Mont. Civ. C. 4518*.

Preferring a bona fide creditor of the partnership, who is a brother of one of the partners, is not in itself fraudulent. Pettit v. Parsons, 9 U. 223; 33 P. 1038. Where an assignment is attacked on the

ground of fraud in fact, the acts complained of must affect the assignment and be participated in by the assignee. Id. Where a voluntary deed of assignment prefers the assignee to a large amount, when in fact he was not a creditor of the insolvent

corporation, and the lower court finds that his claim is fictitious; held, to be fraud in fact as distinguished from fraud in law, and voids the deed entirely, notwithstanding the assignee did not participate in the fraud. Coblentz v. Driver Mercantile Co., 10 U. 96; 37 P. 242. The law relative to voluntary assignments will be found to be sustained by the following general rules in the absence of local statute: First-Antecedent and fraudulent acts by the assignor, in which the assignee or beneficiaries have not participated, will not render an assignment for the benefit of creditors void. Second-Mere fraudulent concealment of assets by the assignor at the time of or after the deed of assignment, if done without the concurrence of the assignee or beneficiaries, will not avoid the deed. Third-Fraudulent preferences or conditions in a voluntary deed of assignment itself will avoid it, whether known to the assignee or beneficiaries or not. Id. As to third subdivision, see Smith v. Sipperley, 9 U. 267; 34 P. 54. Where a voluntary assignment for the benefit of creditors is made to secure several independent debts, some valid and some fictitious, the court will eliminate the fictitious and allow the deed to stand as to those that are good, when the fraud complained of is fraud in law only; but when the transaction is void in part for fraud in fact, the deed will be held entirely void. Coblentz v. Driver Mercantile Co., 10 U. 96; 37 P. 242. The preference in a deed of assignment to one who was not a

creditor of the corporation assignor, but who merely loaned money to a director, who loaned it to the corporation, was fraudulent, and voided the assignment. Noble Mercantile Co. v. Mt. Pleasant Cooperative Ass'n, 12 U. 213; 42 P. 869. The corporation's deed of assignment, wherein the directors, who were general creditors, preferred themselves over other creditors whose claims are equally meritorious, is void. Id.

SALES ON CREDIT. Deeds of assignment giving authority to the assignee to sell upon credit are fraudulent and void as to creditors not consenting thereto. Beus v. Shaughnessy, 2 U. 492. An assignment of property to an assignee, with authority to dispose of such property for the benefit of certain creditors, and directing that the "times, places, and terms of selling the property shall be agreed on by the trustee and a majority in interest of the first and second class creditors," etc., authorizes the sale of such property on credit and is therefore fraudulent and void. Id. An assignment which provides that the assignees "out of the proceeds of the personal property will pay," etc., and that the assignees accept the trust and agree to execute the same by disposing of the property and collecting the choses in action due the assignor and applying the proceeds to the payment of debts," etc., is not void as authorizing expressly a sale upon credit. Sprecht v. Parsons, 7 U. 107; 25 P. 730.

46

88. Assignment to be in writing. Contents. Recording. Every such assignment shall be by an instrument in writing, setting forth the name of the assignor, his residence and business, the name of the assignee and his residence and business and in a general way describing the property assigned, with its location, and stating the purpose of the assignment. It shall be executed and acknowledged in the manner prescribed for the execution and acknowledgment of deeds, and recorded in the office of the recorder of the county where the property assigned is located. The assignor shall annex to such instrument an inventory, under oath, of his estate, real and personal, according to the best of his knowledge, and a list of the creditors, and the amount of their respective demands; but such inventory shall not be conclusive as to the amount of the debtor's estate, and such assignment shall vest in the assignee the title to any other property belonging to the debtor at the time of making the assignment, except property exempt from execution and insurance upon the life of the assignor, unless the instrument mentions such exempt property and insurance, and declares an intention of the assignor that they shall pass thereby. As soon as such instrument is recorded, it shall be filed, with the inventory and list of creditors, in the office of the clerk of the district court of the county in which the property so assigned is located; as shall also all subsequent papers connected with such proceedings. ['97, p. 82.

Iowa, McClain's An. C. (1888) ? 3294*.

89. Inventory. Bond. The assignee shall forthwith file with the clerk of the district court of the county where the property assigned is located, a true and full inventory and valuation of said estate, under oath, so far as the same has come to his knowledge, and shall then enter into bonds to the state, for the use of the creditors, in double the amount of the inventory and valuation, with one or more sureties, to be approved by said clerk, for the faithful performance of said trust; and the assignee may thereupon proceed to perform any duty necessary to carry into effect the purpose of said assignment. ['97, p. 82. Iowa, McClain's An. C. (1888) ? 3295*.

90. Notice of assignment. The assignee shall forthwith give notice of such assignment by publication in some newspaper in the county, and if none. then in a newspaper having general circulation therein, which notice shall be published at least once a week for six weeks, and shall forthwith send a notice by mail to each creditor of whom he shall be informed, directed to his usual place