Book Description

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. CONSTRUCTION OP LIEN LAWS. 14. Interpretation must conform to Statute and Genera Rules.1?The decisions in each State must conform to its own mechanics' lien law.2 The federal tribunals, in matters of lien, are bound by the decisions of the highest court of a State in interpreting its own statute.3 There is no distinction to be observed in the construction of statutes creating these liens, and other expressions of legislative will. The general rules adopted to discover and interpret the intention of laws are also applicable.4 Thus, the whole law on the subject of mechanics' lien must be read together when interpreting the rights of parties under any of its provisions.5 Again, it has been declared that, as acts in relation to mechanics' liens establish a system altogether out of the course of the common law, when points arise evidently not foreseen by the legislature, and upon which the statutes have not spoken, the grounds of decision to be resorted to must be the general scope and spirit of the enactment, the analogy of cases which have already been settled, and such considerations of policy as may be supposed to have had the1r influence on the minds of the law-makers, and to aim at such results as will most effectually promote the interest and security of those classes of men whom the system was designed to favor.6 Upon a doubtful question of construction, the argument from inconvenience has great force.1 As when the whole of enactments are considered in connection, and it is impracticable to carry out a particular intent by any procedure provided by the statute, or where absurd consequences in many supposable cases would result, these circumstances are sufficient to determine the judgment of the Court.2 So where an injustice would result from the constructi...