convicted of offenses committed within the county, as well as persons convicted of offenses committed within the city, town or village; and such convicts, so sentenced, shall be under the direction and control of the said municipal authorities. 3. That the county sheriffs charged with the custody of prisoners so sentenced to hard labor shall, during the work hours of the day or during a term of days to be specified by said municipal authorities or county supervisor, upon the order of said municipal authorities or county supervisor, as the case may be, deliver them to the safe keeping of the authorities herein provided for their control and direction: Provided, That no fees shall be charged by the sheriff other than that of the original commitment and final discharge.

CHAPTER 34.-Convict labor.

SEC. 565. The board of directors of the penitentiary are hereby authorized and empowered to lease or hire out any convicts in the penitentiary, except convicts under sentence for murder, rape, arson and manslaughter, under the following rules, regulations and restrictions, with all others imposed by the said board: That the said board of directors shall make an annual report to the General Assembly at the regular sessions showing the number and names of convicts hired out, to whom hired, for what purpose, and for what consideration; and the board of directors are authorized to retain for the use of the penitentiary all amounts received by them from the hire or labor of convicts during the current fiscal year. SEC. 567. It shall be the duty of the board of directors of the state penitentiary in leasing convicts to hire them to the highest responsible bidder: Provided, That the board of directors shall have power to reject any and all bids: Provided, further, That no bid shall be received that does not include the board, clothing and all other expenses connected with the transportation and safe keeping of said convicts, to be paid by the bidder: Provided, further, That the said bidder do agree that if any convict or convicts so hired shall be proved to the satisfaction of said directors to have been ill treated, or the contracts in relation to them to have been in any way violated, to return said convict or convicts immediately to the penitentiary, upon the order of the said directors.

SEC. 573. No convicts shall be hired out as provided in the foregoing sections unless such convicts shall be and remain under the supervision of a sworn officer and guards appointed by the superintendent of the penitentiary; and every contract shall specify the hours of labor, and the time occupied in going to and returning from work shall be taken as a part of the hours making a day's work; and no convict so hired out shall be punished except by such officer. The pay allowance and ration of such officer and guards shall be included in the hire of the convicts, and shall be paid and supplied by the person hiring them; the amount of pay of such officer and guards to be paid by persons hiring convicts monthly in advance to the superintendent of the penitentiary, to be by him paid to such officer and guards, such officer and guards to be responsible to the superintendent of the penitentiary, and to hold their office subject to removal by the superintendent; that the directors of the penitentiary shall enforce the provisions of this section and shall hire no convict to be employed at any work or at any place until the physician of the penitentiary shall have declared in writing such work and place to be reasonably safe and healthy. The superintendent and directors of the penitentiary shall prescribe the rules and regulations to be observed by said officer and guards in all cases.

SEC. 574. The superintendent and board of directors of the penitentiary are hereby authorized to make contracts for the performance of specific work, such work to be done entirely under the direction and control of the officers of the penitentiary. Also to hire out the convicts under the provisions of the laws in force at the time of the passage of the preceding section, (December 23d, 1884.) and such other rules and regulations as they may adopt to secure the well-being and humane treatment of the convicts; and that they be authorized to employ a physician, to be nominated by the surgeon of the penitentiary, resident in the neighborhood, to have medical supervision of fifty or more convicts, such physician to be paid out of funds of the penitentiary, and to report weekly to the surgeon of the penitentiary, the superintendent and board of directors to have regard to such expense in fixing the compensation for the hire of such convicts. SEC. 578. No contracts for the hiring or leasing of convicts in phosphate mining shall hereafter be made by the board of directors of the penitentiary.

SOUTH DAKOTA.

CONSTITUTION.

ARTICLE XI.-Exemption from taxation.

*

SECTION 6. The legislature shall, by general law, exempt from taxation, * personal property to any amount not exceeding in value two hundred dollars for each individual liable to taxation.

ARTICLE XXI.-Exemption from execution, etc.

SEC. 4. The right of the debtor to enjoy the comforts and necessaries of life shall be recognized by wholesome laws; exempting from forced sale a homestead, the value of which shall be limited and defined by law, to all heads of families, and a reasonable amount of personal property, the kind and value of which to be fixed by general laws.

SEC. 5. *

* *

ARTICLE XXI.-Earnings of married women.

All property to which [a woman] may after marriage become in any manner rightfully entitled, shall be her separate property, and shall not be liable for the debts of her husband.

COMPILED LAWS OF 1887-TERRITORIAL

POLITICAL CODE.

CHAPTER 19.-Liens of miners, etc.

SECTION 2039 (as amended by chapter 134, acts of 1895). Every miner or other person who at the request of the owner or owners or his or their agents of any fode, lead, ledge, mine or deposit bearing silver, gold, cinnabar, copper or other ores or any coal bank or mine or at the request of any contractor or subcontractor shall perform any labor whatever on said mine, lode, lead, ledge or deposit, or furnish any timber, rope, nails or any other materials for timbering shafts or levels for the mine owned by such owner or owners or who shall furnish any kind of material for erecting any windlass or any other hoisting, apparatus, or machinery, or for any car tracks, cars, tunnels, drifts or openings thereon or shall perform any labor in any tunnel, or other mining works shall have a first lien prior and superior to every other lien except the lien of the State or of the United States, which shall be created after the passage of this act upon such lode, lead, ledge, mine, deposit, bank, tunnel, ditch, chute, work or improvement made in connection with the workings of any mine to secure payment of said labor or said material.

SEC. 2040. Every miner or other person doing and performing any work or furnishing any materials as specified in section 2039, under a contract, either express or implied between the owner or owners of any mine, or his or their agent, and any contractor working on such mine, whether such work shall be performed or materials furnished as miner, laborer or otherwise, whose demand for work so performed or materials so furnished has not been paid, may deliver to the owner or owners of such mine or tunnel or to his or their agent or superintendent, an attested account of the amount and value of the work and labor thus performed or of the materials thus furnished and remaining unpaid, and thereupon such owner or owners or his or their agent shall retain out of the first subsequent payments to such contractor the amount so due for such work and labor or materials furnished, for the benefit of the person so performing or furnishing the same.

SEC. 2041. Whenever any account for labor performed or materials furnished as specified in the last preceding section shall be placed in the hands of the owner or owners of any mine or tunnel or his or their agent, it shall be the duty of such owner or owners or agent to furnish such contractor with a copy of such papers, so that if there be any disagreement between such contractor or his subcontractor and the creditor of either, as the case may be, they may by amicable adjustment or by arbitration ascertain the sum due, if any; and if such contractor or subcontractor shall not within ten days after the receipt of such papers give such

owner or owners or agent written notice that he intends to dispute the claim, or if ten days after giving such notice he shall refuse or neglect to have the matter adjusted as aforesaid, he shall be considered as assenting thereto; and such owner or owners or agent may pay the same when it becomes due, and for that purpose may deduct the amount out of any moneys due such contractor, who may in like manner deduct such amount from any moneys due by him to his subcontractor in case such account or demand is against such subcontractor for work and labor performed or materials furnished as aforesaid.

SEC. 2042. The amount which may be due from any contractor to his creditor may be recovered from said owner or owners by the creditor of said contractor in any action at law to the extent in value of any balance due by the owner or owners to his or their contractor under the contract with him, at the time of the notice first given as aforesaid, or subsequently, according to such contract or under the same.

SEC. 2043. Any person entitled to a lien under this act shall make an account in writing of the items of labor, skill, machinery and material furnished, as the case may be, and after making oath thereto shall within sixty days from the time of completing such labor and skill or furnishing the last item of machinery or materials, file the same in the office of the clerk of the district court of the county or subdivision in which the lode, lead, ledge, mine, deposit, bank or tunnel may be situated, for or upon which labor, skill, machinery or materials shall have been furnished; and also file at the same time a correct description of the property to be charged with said lien, which account and description so made and filed shall be recorded in a separate book to be provided for that purpose by such clerk of court, and thereupon the same shall from the time of the completion of the work or furnishing the last item of machinery or materials, and for one year thereafter, operate as a lien on the property charged in such description; when any work and labor has been performed or materials furnished as aforesaid under a written contract, the same or a copy thereof shall be filed with said account and description; Provided, That all lien claims for labor performed or materials furnished shall be concurrent liens upon the property charged, and shall be paid pro rata out of proceeds arising from the sale thereof, if the same shall be sold or upon settlement without sale.

SEC. 2044. Any person holding such lien may proceed to obtain a judgment for the amount of his account thereon by civil action, and when any suit or suits shall be commenced thereon such lien shall continue until said suit or suits be finally determined and satisfied; and in all actions instituted under this act, all persons claiming liens upon the property charged shall be made parties to such action or proce[e]ding, and the rights of all parties therein shall be determined by the court, and such order made in regard thereto as shall preserve and protect the rights of all such parties under the provisions of this act.

SEC. 2046. The provisions of this act shall apply to oil wells or springs, iron and lead mines, as well as all other mines not herein specified, so far as the same may be applicable.

CHAPTER 22.-Factories and workshops-Fire escapes, etc.

SEC. 2412. All doors of ingress and egress in all buildings used for public assemblages of any character in this Territory, including schoolhouses, churches, theaters, public halls, city halls, courthouses, factories, hotels and all other buildings wherein numbers of persons are employed or are in the habit of meeting together for any purpose, shall be so constructed as to open and swing outward, and doorways shall not be less than four feet in width with proper landings and stairways of at least equal width.

SEC. 2413. It shall be the duty of all persons owning or having charge of such buildings, including trustees, boards of directors and boards of education, to comply with the provisions of this act within six months after the same shall take effect [June 1, 1887]; Provided, That nothing in this act shall be construed to require a change in the width of existing stairways and doorways, and that this act shall not apply to churches and schoolhouses not within the limits of any incorporated city or village.

SEC. 2414. Any person or persons failing to comply with the provisions of this act, or who shall build, maintain or permit to be used any such building contrary to the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

SEC. 2415. All factories, public halls, hotels and all other buildings in which large numbers of people congregate, which are two or more stories in height, shall be provided by the owners thereof with two or more fire escapes, placed within easy access of the occupants of said building.

CHAPTER 23.—Exemption from execution, etc.-Homesteads.

SEC. 2449. The homestead of every family resident in this Territory, as hereinafter defined, whether such homestead be owned by the husband or wife, so long as it continues to possess the character of a homestead, shall be exempt from judicial sale, from judgment lien, and from all mesne or final process issued from any court.

SEC. 2450. A widow or widower, though without children, shall be deemed a family while continuing to occupy the house used as such at the time of the death of the husband or wife.

SEC. 2452. The homestead shall be liable for taxes accruing thereon, and if certified and recorded as hereinafter directed, shall be liable only for such taxes, and shall be subject to mechanic's lien for work, labor or material done or furnished exclusively for the improvement of the same, and the whole or a sufficient portion thereof may be sold to pay the same.

SEC. 2453. The homestead may be sold for any debt created for the purchase thereof.

SEC. 2454. The homestead must embrace the house used as a home by the owner thereof, and if he or she has two or more houses thus used at different times and places, such owner may select which he or she will retain as a homestead.

SEC. 2455. It may contain one or more lots or tracts of land with the buildings thereon and other appurtenances, subject to the limitations contained in the next section, but must in no case embrace different lots and tracts unless they are contiguous, or unless they are habitually and in good faith used as part of the same homestead.

SEC. 2456. If within a town plat it must not exceed one acre in extent, and if not within a town plat it must not embrace in the aggregate more than one hundred and sixty acres. If the homestead is claimed upon any land, the title or right of possession to which was acquired or claimed under the laws of the United States relating to mineral lands, then the area of the homestead shall not exceed one acre, whether within or without a town plat.

SEC. 2457. It must not embrace more than one dwelling house or any other buildings except such as are properly appurtenant to the homestead as such; but a shop, store or other building situated thereon and really used or occupied by the owner in the prosecution of his own ordinary business may be deemed appurtenant to such homestead.

SEC. 2468. This chapter shall not be deemed or construed to include any gold or silver mine, or gold or silver mill, or any mill, smelter, or machinery intended or used for the reduction or milling of gold or silver ores.

CHAPTER 24.-Discharged soldiers and sailors preferred in employment on public works.

SEC. 2474. In every public department and upon all public works of the Territory of Dakota, and of the cities, towns and villages thereof, honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors of the late war shall be preferred for appointment; age, loss of limb or other physical impairment which does not in fact incapacitate, shall not be deemed to disqualify them, provided they possess the requisite qualifications and business capacity necessary to discharge the duties of the position involved.

SEC. 2475. All officials or other appointing power in the public service, as set forth in the section 2474, are firmly bound to a faithful compliance with this law.

CIVIL CODE.

DIVISION I, PART 3.-Earnings of married women.

SEC. 2594. *** 2. The earnings of the wife are not liable for the debts of the husband, and the earnings and accumulations of the wife, and of her minor children living with her or in her custody, while she is living separate from her husband, are the separate property of the wife.

SEC. 2618. The wages of a minor employed in service may be paid to him or her until the parent or guardian entitled thereto gives the employer notice that he claims such wages.

DIVISION II, PART 3.-Mining and manufacturing corporations-Liability of stockholders for debts due employees.

SEC. 3111. The stockholders of any corporation formed for the purposes mentioned in this article shall be jointly and severally liable, in their individual capacities, for all debts due to mechanics, workmen and laborers employed by such corporation, which said liability may be enforced against any stockholders by an action at any time after an execution against such corporation shall be returned not satisfied; Provided, Such action be commenced within four months; And provided always, That if any stockholder shall be compelled by any such action to pay the debts of any creditor, or any part thereof, he shall have the right to call upon all the stockholders to contribute their part of the sum so paid by him as aforesaid, and may sue them jointly or severally, or any number of them, and recover in such action the ratable amount due from the person or persons so sued.

DIVISION II, PART 3.—Institutions of learning-Industrial training.

SEC. 3152. Such corporation may connect with its institution, to be used as a part of its course of education, any mechanical shops or machinery, or lands for agricultural purposes, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres, to which may be attached all necessary buildings for carrying on the mechanical and agricultural purposes of such institution

DIVISION III, PART 4.-Definition of employment.

SEC. 3751. The contract of employment is a contract by which one, who is called the employer, engages another, who is called the employee, to do something for the benefit of the employer, or of a third person.

DIVISION III, PART 4.-Obligations of the employer. (a)

SEC. 3752. An employer must indemnify his employee, except as prescribed in the next section, for all that he necessarily expends or loses in direct consequence of the discharge of his duties as such, or of his obedience to the directions of the employer, even though unlawful, unless the employee, at the time of obeying such directions, believed them to be unlawful.

SEC. 3753. An employer is not bound to indemnify his employee for losses suffered by the latter in consequence of the ordinary risks of the business in which he is employed, nor in consequence of the negligence of another person employed by the same employer in the same general business, unless he has neglected to use ordinary care in the selection of the culpable employee.

SEC. 3754. An employer must in all cases indemnify his employee for losses caused by the former's want of ordinary care.

DIVISION III, Part 4.-Obligations of the employee.

SEC. 3755. One who, without consideration, undertakes to do a service for another, is not bound to perform the same, but if he actually enters upon its performance he must use at least slight care and diligence therein.

SEC. 3756. One who, by his own special request, induces another to intrust him with the performance of a service, must perform the same fully. In other cases one who undertakes a gratuitous service may relinquish it at any time.

SEC. 3757. A gratuitous employee, who accepts a written power of attorney, must act under it so long as it remains in force, or until he gives notice to his employer that he will not do so.

SEC. 3758. One who, for a good consideration, agrees to serve another, must perform the service, and must use ordinary care and diligence therein, so long as he is thus employed.

SEC. 3759. One who is employed at his own request to do that which is more for his own advantage than for that of his employer, must use great care and diligence therein to protect the interest of the latter.

SEC. 3760. A contract to render personal service, other than a contract of apprenticeship, as provided in the title on master and servant, cannot be enforced against the employee beyond the term of two years from the commencement of service under it, but if the employee voluntarily continues his services under it beyond that time, the contract may be referred to as affording a presumptive measure of the compensation.

a See Decisions, page 1330.