give to any creditor, or to any endorser or surety for the debtor, a preference or advantage over the other creditors contrary to the intent and purpose of this act.

$ 12. The debtor shall not be required to plead his discharge specially, but may give it in evidence under the general issue.

How debtor

to plead discharge.

signment not

creditor not

S13. No assignment or conveyance made by any insolvent debtor When asto assignees or trustees for the use of any of his creditors, shall be valid against valid and effectual against an attachment or execution in behalf of a party to it. any creditor who is not a party to it, unless it is so made as to allow all the creditors of the debtor to become parties to it if they see fit; and unless also, it is so made as to give to each of the creditors who shall become parties to it, an equal share of the property in proportion to their respective debts, excepting only such creditors as may by the laws of the United States, or of this territory, be entitled in such case to a preference.

AN ACT for relief of persons confined in jail on civil

process.

tain persons

$1. Every person confined in jail in [on] an execution issued on When cera judgment recovered in an action of tort, shall be discharged there- discharged from at the end of ten days from his first confinement, upon the conditions hereinafter specified.

from prison.

served on

S2. Such person shall cause notice to be given to the plaintiff in Notice to be the suit, his agent or attorney, in writing, that on a certain day and plaintiff. hour, and at a certain place, he will apply to two justices of the peace, of the county where the person is committed, stating the names of such justices, for the purpose of obtaining a discharge from his imprisonment.

served.

$3. Such notice shall be served by a copy on the plaintiff, his Notice how agent or attorney, twenty-four hours before the hour for hearing the and when application, in cases where the plaintiff, his agent or attorney lives within twenty miles of the place of the hearing; and twenty-four hours shall be added to the time of the notice, for every twenty additional miles the plaintiff, his agent or attorney, shall reside distant from such place.

be examined on oath.

4. At the time and place specified in such notice, such person Prisoner to shall be taken under the custody of the jailer, or the sheriff, or his deputy, before such justices, who shall examine the prisoner on his oath, concerning his estate and effects, and the disposal thereof, and his ability to pay the judgment for which he is committed; and they shall also hear any other legal and pertinent evidence that may be produced by the debtor or the creditor.

terrogato

$5. The plaintiff in the action may, upon such examination, Plaintiff may propose to the prisoner any interrogatories, pertinent to the inquiry, propose inand they shall, if required by the creditor, be proposed and answered ries. in writing, and the answers shall be signed and sworn to by the prisoner; and the plaintiff in the action may have a copy of the interrogations and answers, certified by the justices, upon paying therefor the legal fees.

administer

$6. If upon such examination, the justices shall be satisfied that Oath to be the prisoner is entitled to his discharge, they shall administer to him ed. the following oath, to wit:.

Form of

oath.

Justices to

" I

do solemnly swear, that I have not any estate, real or personal, to the amount of twenty dollars, except such as is by law exempted from being taken in execution, and that I have not any other estate, now conveyed or concealed, or in any way disposed of, with design to secure the same to my use, or to defraud my creditors. So help me God."

S7. After administering the oath the justices shall make a certimake certifi- ficate under their hands as follows:

cate.

Jailer to dis

To the sheriff or jailer of the county of

that

The undersigned, two justices of the peace for said county, certify confined in your jail upon an execution at the suit of is entitled to be discharged from imprisonment, if he be imprisoned for no other cause. $8. The jailer upon receiving such certificate, shall forthwith charge pri- discharge the prisoner, if he be imprisoned for no other cause. S9. If such justices should not discharge the prisoner, he shall be entitled to apply for his discharge at the end of every succeeding ten on first ap- days, in the same manner as above provided, and the same proceedings shall thereupon be had.

soner.

Provision

when not

discharged

plication.

Effect of discharge.

Discharge of

to affect

plaintiff's

$10. The prisoner after being so discharged, shall be forever exempted from arrest or imprisonment for the same debt, unless he shall be convicted for having wilfully sworn falsely upon his examination before the two justices, or in taking the oath before prescribed.

$11. The judgment against any prisoner, who is discharged as prisoner not aforesaid, shall remain in full force against any estate, which may then, or at any time afterwards, belong to him; and the plaintiff in the action may take out a new execution against the goods and estate of the prisoner, in like manner as if he had never been committed on the execution.

rights.

When debt

himself in

$12. If the debtor shall undertake to satisfy the execution, he or to support shall not be entitled to his discharge until he has paid all the charges for his support in prison, in addition to the sum due on the execution, and the costs and charges thereon.

S 13. The plaintiff in the action may at any time order the prisoner to be discharged, and he shall not thereafter be liable to imprisonment for the same cause of action.

$14. Whenever a person is committed to jail on execution issued on a judgment recovered in a civil suit, the creditor, his agent or attorney, shall advance to the jailer within twenty-four hours after such commitment, sufficient money to pay for the support of said prisoner during the time for which he may be imprisoned; and in case the money should not be so advanced, or if during the time the prisoner may be in confinement the money should be expended in the support of such prisoner, the jailer shall forthwith discharge such prisoner from custody, and such discharge shall have the same effect as a discharge by order of the creditor.

AN ACT concerning bills of exchange and promissory

notes.

$1. When any bill of exchange which may be drawn within this territory, upon any person or persons, body politic or corporate, out of the United States, or territories thereof, for any sum of money, shall be duly presented for acceptance or payment, and pro

tested for non-acceptance or non-payment, the drawer or endorser thereof, due notice being given of such non-acceptance or non-payment, shall pay said bill with legal interest, according to the tenor thereof, and twenty per cent damages in addition, together with costs and charges of protest.

bills on per

$ 2. If any bill of exchange drawn upon any person or body Dainages on politic or corporate, out of this territory, but within some state or son in ad- . territory of the United States, adjoining to this territory, for the pay- joining state. ment of money, shall be duly presented for acceptance or payment, and protested for non-acceptance or non-payment, the drawer or endorser thereof, due notice being given of such non-acceptance or nonpayment, shall pay said bill with legal interest, according to its tenor, and five per cent damages, together with costs and charges of protest.

state not ad

$3. If any bill of exchange drawn upon any person, or body when drawn politic or corporate, out of this territory, but within the United States, on person in or territories thereof, and not adjoining to this territory, for the pay- joining. ment of money, shall be duly presented for acceptance or payment, and protested for non-acceptance or non-payment, the drawer or endorser thereof, due notice being given of such non-acceptance or non-payment, shall pay said bill with legal interest, according to its tenor, and ten per cent damages, together with costs and charges of protest.

ble to

$4. All notes in writing made and signed by any person or by a Notes payafactor, or agent of any merchant or trader usually entrusted there- er, &c. nego. with, whereby such person or any merchant or trader, by such fac-tiable. tor or agent, shall promise to pay to any other person, body politic or corporate, his or their order, or unto bearer, any sum of money therein mentioned, shall by virtue thereof be taken and construed to be due and payable, as therein expressed, and shall have the same effect and be negotiable in like manner, as inland bills of exchange, according to the custom of merchants; and the payees or endorsees of every such note payable to them, or their order, shall and may maintain their action for such sum of money, against the makers and endorsers of the same respectively, in like manner as in cases of inland bills of exchange, and not otherwise.

AN ACT to regulate weights and measures.

standard measure.

1. That there shall be but one standard of measure of length But one and surface, one of weight and one of measure of capacity, in this territory.

yard.

S2. That the unit or standard measure of length and surface, Standard of from whence all other measures of extension, whether they be lineal, length to be superficial or solid, shall be derived and ascertained, shall be the yard as now in legal use in the state of New-York.

S3. That the yard shall be divided into three equal parts, called Yard, how feet, and each foot into twelve equal parts, called inches; and for divided. measure of cloths and other commodities, commonly sold by the yard, it may be divided into halves, quarters, eighths and sixteenths.

length of.

S4. That the rod, pole or perch shall contain five such yards and Rod, &c. a half; the furlong two hundred and twenty such yards; and the mile one thousand seven hundred and sixty such yards.

Acre, how measured, &G.

to be

S5. That the acre, for land measure, shall be measured horizontally, and shall be equal to a rectangle sixteen such rods, poles or perches in length and ten in breadth, and shall contain one hundred and sixty square rods, poles or perches, or four thousand eight hundred and forty square yards; six hundred and forty such acres being contained in a square mile.

Standard of $6. That the unit or standard of weight, from which all other weight weights shall be derived and ascertained, shall be the pound as the same is now in legal use in the state of New-York; and the said pound shall be divided into sixteen equal parts, called ounces.

Of capacity

$7. That the unit or standard of measures of capacity, as well for to be gallon. liquids as for any dry commodities not measured by heaped measure, from which all other measures of capacity shall be derived and ascertained, shall be the gallon.

gallons.

Two kinds of $8. That there shall be two kinds of gallons, one for the measure of all liquids, and one for the measure of all other substances, not measured by heaped measure, the first to be denominated the gallon for liquid measure, and the second to be denominated the gallon for dry measure.

What to be gallon.

Liquid mea

divided.

For substances not li. divided.

$9. That the gallon for liquid, and the gallon for dry measure, shall be the same as now in legal use in the state of New-York.

$10. That all other measures of capacity for liquids shall be desure how rived from the liquid gallon, by continual division by the number two, so as to constitute half gallons, quarts, pints, half pints and gills. S 11. That all other measures of capacity for substances not being quid, how liquid, nor sold by heaped measure, shall be derived from the gallon for dry measure, by continual multiplication by the number two in the ascending scale, so as to constitute pecks, half bushels and bushels, and by continual division, by the same number, in the descending scale, so as to constitute half gallons, quarts, pints, half pints and gills.

Bushel for

heaped mea.
sure, what
to be.

Commodities to be heaped.

Contracts deemed ac.

standard.

S 12. That the bushel for measuring commodities usually sold by heaped measure, shall be the same as now in legal use in the state of New-York, and shall be the standard measure of capacity for charcoal, ashes, Indian corn in the ear, fruit and esculent roots of every kind, and for all other commodities usually sold by heaped measure; and the measure used to measure such commodities shall be made round, with a plane and even bottom, and shall be of the following diameters at top, measured from outside to outside: the bushel nineteen and a half inches, the half bushel fifteen and a half inches, and the peck twelve and a third inches.

$13. That all commodities sold by heaped measure shall be duly heaped up in the form of a cone, the outside of the measure by which the same shall be measured to be the extremity of the base of such cone; and such cone shall be as high as the articles to be measured will admit.

S14. That all contracts hereafter to be made or executed, in this ording to territory, for any work to be done, or for any thing to be sold, delivered, done, or agreed for by weight or measure, shall be taken and construed to be made according to the standard weight and measure hereby established: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent parties from adopting a different standard of weight and measure, by mutual agreement.

treasurer.

$15. That the standards above mentioned shall be procured by Standard to the treasurer of the territory, and kept by him at his office, and shall be kept by be made of iron, brass or copper, as he shall direct; and he shall be, ex officio, sealer of weights and measures.

surers to be

$16. That the county treasurers shall be, ex officio, the sealers of County trea weights and measures, within their respective counties, and shall, at sealers." the expense of their counties, each of them procure a complete set of weights and measures, for the use of their respective counties, compared with those required to be kept by the treasurer of the territory, sealed and certified by him; and the weights and measures so procured shall be the standard of weights and measures of the counties repectively.

measures,

stamped.

$17. That the word WISCONSIN shall be impressed on the terri- Standard torial standard weights, measures and beams, and on the several weights, county standard weights, measures and beams, (and) such other de- &c. how vice as the said treasurer shall direct, in addition for each county; ⚫ which device shall be recorded by the clerks of the district courts in the counties respectively; and the said county treasurers shall have the custody of the standard weights and measures of the counties respectively, and shall impress upon all weights and measures sealed by them, the word WISCONSIN.

dards com.

$18. That it shall be the duty of the several county treasurers to County stan compare their standard weights and measures with the said territorial pared with standards, once in five years, and to post up a notice at the usual territorial. place of holding courts in the county, immediately on receiving the said standard of the county, that the said standards have been received; and the said county treasurers and treasurer of the territory, compensa. shall each be entitled to receive for his services in sealing and mark- tion for sealing weights, beams and measures, and steelyards, which shall be brought to him for that purpose, six cents each.

ing.

delivered to

$ 19. That whenever either of the sealers of weights and mea- Standards sures mentioned in this act, shall resign or be removed from office, successor. or whenever the office shall become vacant in any way, except by death, it shall be the duty of the sealer to deliver to his successor in office all the standards, beams, weights and measures in his posses

sion.

$20. That in case of the death of such sealer of weights and mea- Ib. sures, his representatives shall in like manner deliver to his successor in office such beams, weights and measures.

upon neglect or refusal.

S21. That in case of refusal or neglect to deliver such standards Proceedings entire and complete, the successor in office may maintain an action on the case against the person or persons so refusing or neglecting, and shall recover double the value of such standards as shall not have been delivered. And in every such action in which judgment shall be rendered for the plaintiff, he shall recover double costs; and one moiety of the damage recovered in such action shall be retained by the person recovering, and the other moiety shall be applied by him to the purchase of such standards as may be required in his office.

using

S22. That if any person or persons shall hereafter use any weights, Penalty for measures, beams or steelyards in weighing or measuring, which shall weights, &c. not be conformable to the standards of this territory as established by able to standthis act, whereby any purchaser or seller of any commodity or article ard.

not conform