USA > New York > St Lawrence County > Gazetteer and business directory of St. Lawrence County, N.Y. for 1873-4 > Part 7
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Next, let us consider the advantages of a cautious circumspection in our inter- course with the world. Slowness of be- lief and a proper distrust are essential to success. The credulous and confiding are ever the dupes of knaves and impostors. Ask those who have lost their property how it happened, and you will find in most cases that it has been owing to mis- placed confidence. One has lost by en- dorsing, another by crediting, another by false representations ; all of which a little more foresight and a little more dis- trust would have prevented. In the af- fairs of this world men are not saved by faith, but by the want of it.
Judge of men by what they do, not by what they say. Believe in looks rather than words. Observe all their movements. Ascertain their motives and their ends. Notice what they say or do in their un- guarded moments, when under the influ- ence of excitement. The passions have been compared to tortures which force men to reveal their secrets. Before trusting a man, before putting it in his power to cause you a loss, possess yourself of every available information relative to him. Learn his history, his habits, inclinations and propensities ; his reputation for honor, industry, frugality and punctuality; his prospects, resources, supports, advantages and disadvantages ; his intentions and mo- tives of action; who are his friends and enemies, and what are his good or bad qual- ities. You may learn a man's good qualities and advantages from his friends-his bad . qualities and disadvantages from his ene- mies. Make due allowance for exaggeration in both. Finally, examine carefully before engaging in anything, and act with energy afterwards. Have the hundred eyes of
Order and system in the management of business must not be neglected. Nothing contributes more to dispatch. Have a place for everything and everything in its place; a time for everything, and every- thing in its time. Do first what presses most, and having determined what is to be done, and how it is to be done, lose no time in doing it. Without this method all is hurry and confusion, little or nothing is accomplished, and business is attended to with neither pleasure nor profit.
A polite, affable deportment is recom- mended. Agreeable manners contribute powerfully to a man's success. Take two men, possessing equal advantages in every other respect, but let one be gentlemanly, kind, obliging and conciliating in his man- ners; the other harsh, rude and disobliging; and the one will become rich, while the other will starve.
We are now to consider a very important principle in the business of money-getting, namely-Industry - persevering, indefati- gable attention to business. Persevering diligence is the Philosopher's stone, which turns everything to gold. Constant, regu- lar, habitual and systematic application to business, must in time. if properly directed, produce great results. It must lead to wealth, with the same certainty that pov- erty follows in the train of idleness and inattention. It has been truly remarked that he who follows his amusements in- stead of his business, will, in a short time, have no business to follow.
The art of money-saving is an important part of the art of money-getting. Without frugality no one can become rich ; with it, few would be poor. Those who consume as fast as they produce, are on the road to ruin. As most of the poverty we meet with grows out of idleness and extrava- gance, so most large fortunes have been the result of habitual industry and frugali- ty. The practice of economy is as neces- sary in the expenditure of time as of money. They say if " we. take care of the pence the pounds will take care of them- selves." "So, if we take care of the minutes, the days will take care of them- selves.
The acquisition of wealth demands as much self-denial, and as many sacrifices of present gratification, as the practice of virtue itself. Vice and poverty proceed, in some degree, from the same sources, namely-the disposition to sacrifice the future to the present ; the inability to fore- go a small present pleasure for great future advantages. Men fail of fortune in this world, as they fail of happiness in. the world to come, simply because they are un- willing to deny themselves momentary en- joyments for the sake of permanent future happiness.
Every large city is filled with persons, who, in order to support the appearance of wealth, constantly live beyond their in- come, and make up the deficiency by contracting debts which are never paid. Others, there are, the mere drones of so-
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HOW TO SECURE THE PUBLIC LANDS.
ciety, who pass their days in idleness, and subsist by pirating on the hives of the in- dustrious. Many who run a short-lived career of splendid beggary, could they be but persuaded to adopt a system of rigid economy for a few years, might pass the. remainder of their days in affluence. But no ! They must keep up appearances, they must live like other folks.
Their debts accumulate; their credit fails ; they are harassed by duns, and be- sieged by constables and sheriff. In this extremity, as a last resort, they submit to a shameful dependence, or engage in crim- inal practices which entail hopeless wretch- edness and infamy, on themselves and families.
Stick to the business in which you are regularly employed. Let speculators make thousands in a year or a day; mind your own regular trade, never turning from it to the right hand or to the left. If you are a merchant, a professional man, or a me- chanic, never buy lots or stocks, unless you have surplus money which you wish to invest. Your own business you under- stand as well as other men ; but other peo- ple's business you do not understand. Let your business be some one which is useful to the community. All such occu- pations possess the elements of profit in themselves.
How to Secure the Public Lands,
OR THE ENTRY OF THE SAME UNDER THE PRE-EMPTION AND HOMESTEAD LAWS.
The following circular gives all necessary ; tract, with its area ; the Register will then information as to the procedure necessary in purchasing and securing the public lands :
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GEN'L LAND OFFICE, July 19, 1865. 5
Numerous questions having arisen as to the mode of procedure to purchase public lands, or acquire title to the same by bounty land locations, by pre-emptions or by home- stead, this circular is communicated for the information of all concerned.
In order to acquire title to public lands the following steps must be taken :
1: Application must be made to the Reg- ister of the district land office in which the land desired may be situated.
A list of all the land offices in the United States is furnished by the Department, with the seats of the different offices, where it is the duty of the Register and Receiver to be in attendance, and give proper facilities and information to persons desirous of obtaining lands.
The minimum price of ordinary public lands is $1,25 per acre. The even or re- served sections falling within railroad grants are increased to double the minimum price, being $2,50 per acre.
Lands once offered at public sale, and not afterwards kept out of market by reserva- tion, or otherwise, so as to prevent free competition, may be entered or located.
2. By the applicant filing with the Regis- ter his written application describing the
certify to the receiver whether the land is vacant, with its price ; and when found to be so, the applicant must pay that price per acre, or may locate the same with land warrant, and thereafter the Receiver will give him a "duplicate receipt," which he is required to surrender previous to the delivery to him of the patent, which may be had either by application for it to the Register or to the General Land Office.
3. If the tract has not been offered at public sale it is not liable to ordinary pri- vate entry, but may be secured by a party legally qualified, upon his compliance with the requirements of the pre-emption laws of 4th September, 1841, and 3d March, 1843; and after such party shall have made ac- tual settlement for such a length of time as will show he designs it for his perma- nent home, and is acting in good faith, building a house and residing therein, he may proceed to the district land office, es- tablish his pre-emption claim according to law, by proving his actual residence and cultivation, and showing that he is other- wise within the purview of these acts .- Then he can enter the land at $1,25, either in cash or with bounty land warrant, unless the premises should be $2,50 acre lands. In that case the whole purchase-money can be paid in cash, or one-half in cash, the residue with a bounty land warrant.
4. But if parties legally qualified desire to obtain title under the Homestead Act of 20th May, 1862, they can do so on com-
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LAW MAXIMS.
plying with the Department Circular, dated | that the claimant has made the land his 30th October, 1862. -
5. The law confines Homestead entries to surveyed lands; and although, in cer- tain States and Territories noted in the sub- joined list, pre-emptors may go on land be- fore survey, yet they can only establish their claim after return of survey, but must file their pre-emption declaration within three months after receipt of official plat, at the local land-office where the settlement was made before survey. Where, however, it was made after survey, the claimant must file within three months after date of set- tlement; and where actual residence and cultivation have been long enough to show
permanent home, he can establish his claim and pay for the same at any time before the date of the public sale of lands within the range in which his settlement may fall.
6. All unoffered surveyed lands not ac- quired under pre-emption, homestead, or otherwise, under express legal sanction, must be offered at public sale under the President's Proclamation, and struck off to the highest bidder, as required by act of April 24, 1820.
J. M. EDMUNDS, Commissioner General Land Office.
LAW MAXIMS.
1. A promise of a debtor to give "satis- factory security" for the payment of a por- tion of his debt, is a sufficient considera- tion for a release of the residue by his creditor.
2. Administrators are liable to account for interest on funds in their hands, al- . though no profit shall have been made upon them, unless the exigencies of the estate rendered it prudent that they should hold the funds thus uninvested.
3. Any person who voluntarily becomes an agent for another, and in that capacity obtains information to which as a stranger he could have had no access, is bound in subsequent dealing with his principal, as purchaser of the property that formed the subject of his agency, to communicate such information.
4. When a house is rendered untenanta- ble in consequence of improvements made on the adjoining lot, the owner of such cannot recover damages, because it is pre- sumed that he had knowledge of the ap- proaching danger in time to protect him- self from it.
5. When a merchant ship is abandoned by order of the master, for the purpose of saving life, and a part of the crew subse- quently meet the vessel so abandoned and bring her safe into port, they will be enti- tled to salvage.
6. A person who has been led to sell goods by means of false pretenses, cannot recover them from one who has purchased them in good faith from the fraudulent vendor.
7. An agreement by the holder of a note to give the principal debtor time for pay- ment, without depriving himself of the right to sue, does not discharge the surety.
8. A seller of goods who accepts, at the time of sale, the note of a third party, not endorsed by the buyer, in payment, can- not in case the note is not paid, hold the buyer responsible for the value of the goods.
9. A day-book copied from a "blotter" in which charges are first made, will not be received in evidence as a book of origi- nal entries.
10. Common carriers are not liable for extraordinary results of negligence that could not have been foreseen by ordinary skill and foresight.
11. A bidder at a Sheriff's sale may re- tract his bid at any time before the prop- erty is knocked down to him, whatever may be the conditions of the sale.
12. Acknowledgment of debt to a stran- ger does not preclude the operation of the statute.
13. The fruits and grass on the farm or garden of an intestate descend to the heir.
14. Agents are solely liable to their prin- cípals.
15. A deposit of money in bank by a hus- band, in the name of his wife, survives to her.
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LAW MAXIMS. .
16. Money paid on Sunday contracts may be recovered.
17. A debtor, may give preference to one creditor over another, unless fraud or special. legislation can be proved.
18. A court cannot give judgment for a larger sum than that specified in the ver- dict.
19. Imbecility on the part of either husband or wife, invalidates the mar- riage.
20. An action for malicious prosecution will lie, though nothing further was done than suing out warrants.
21. An agreement not to continue the practice of a profession or business in any specified town, if the party so agreeing has received a consideration for the same, is valid.
22. When A consigns goods to B to sell on commission, and B delivers them to C, in payment of his own antecedent debts, A can recover their value.
23. A finder of property is compelled to make diligent inquiry for the owner there- of, and to restore the same. If, on finding such property, he attempts to conceal such fact, he may be prosecuted for larceny.
24. A private person may obtain an in- junction to prevent a public mischief by which he is affected in common with others.
25. Any person interested may obtain an injunction to restrain the State or a munici- pal corporation from maintaining a nuisance on its lands.
26. A discharge under the insolvent laws of one State will not discharge the insol- vent from a contract made with a citizen of another State.
27. To prosecute a party with any other motive than to bring him to justice, is malicious prosecution, and actionable as such.
28. Ministers of the gospel, residing in any incorporated town, are not exempt. from jury, military, or fire service.
29. When a person contracts to build a house, and is prevented by sickness from finishing it, he can recover for the part per- formed, if such part is beneficial to the other party.
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30. In a suit for enticing away a man's wife, actual proof of the marriage is not ne- cessary. Cohabitation, reputation, and the admission of marriage by the parties, are sufficient.
31. Permanent erections and fixtures, made by a mortgagor after the execution of the mortgage upon land conveyed by it, be- come a part of the mortgaged premises.
32. When a marriage is denied, and plain- tiff has given sufficient evidence to estab- lish it, the defendant cannot examine the wife to disprove the marriage.
33. The amount of an express debt can- not be enlarged by application.
34. Contracts for advertisements in Sun- day newspapers cannot be enforced. .
35. A seller of goods, chattels, or other property, commits no fraud, in law, when he neglects to tell the purchaser of any flaws, defects, or unsoundness in the same.
36. The opinions of witnesses, as to the value of a dog that has been killed, are not admissible in evidence. The value of the animal is to be decided by the jury.
37. If any person puts a fence on or plows the land of another, he is liable for trespass whether the owner has sustained injury or not.
38. If a person, who is unable from ill- ness to sign his will, has his hand guided in making his mark, the signature is valid.
39. When land trespassed upon is occu- pied by a tenant, he alone can bring the action.
40. To say of a person, "If he does not come and make terms with me, I will make a bankrupt of him and ruin him," or any such threatening language, is actionable, without proof of special damage.
41. In an action for slander, the party making the complaint must prove the words alleged; other words of like meaning will not suffice.
42. In a suit of damages for seduction, proof of pregnancy, and the birth of a child, is not essential. It is sufficient if the ill- ness of the girl, whereby she was unable to labor, was produced by shame for the seduc- tion; and this is such a loss of service as will sustain the action.
43. Addressing to a wife a letter contain- ing matter defamatory to the character of her husband is a publication, and renders the writer amenable to damages.
44. A parent cannot sustain an action for any wrong done to a child, unless he has in- curred some direct pecuniary injury there- from in consequence of some loss of ser- vice or expenses necessarily consequent thereupon.
45. A master is responsible for an injury resulting from the negligence of his ser- vant, whilst driving his cart or carriage, provided the servant is at the time engaged in his master's business, even though the accident happens in a place to which his master's business does not call him ; but if the journey of a servant be solely for a pur- pose of his own, and undertaken without the knowledge and consent of his master, the latter is not responsible.
46. An emigrant depot is not a nuisance in law.
'47. A railroad track through the streets is not a nuisance in law.
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LAW MAXIMS.
48. If an agreement upon which a party relies be oral only, it must be proved by evidence. But if the contract be reduced to writing, it proves itself; and now no. evidence whatever is receivable for the purpose of varying the contract or affecting its obligations. The reasons are obvious. The law prefers written to oral evidence, from its greater precision and certainty, and because it is less open to fraud. And where parties have closed a negotiation and reduced the result to writing, it is pre- sumed that they have written all they in- tended to agree to, and therefore, that what is omitted was finally rejected by them .-.- [PARSONS.
49. Delivery of a husband's goods by a wife to her adulterer, he having knowledge that she has taken them without her hus- band's authority, is sufficient to sustain an indictment for larceny against the adul- terer.
50. The fact that the insurer was not in- formed of the existence of impending liti- gation, affecting the premises insured, at the time the insurance was effected, does not vitiate the policy.
51. The liability of an innkeeper is not confined to personal baggage, but extends to all the property of the guest that he con- sents to receive.
52. When a minor executes a contract, and pays money, or delivers property on the same, he cannot afterwards disaffirm such contract and recover the money, or prop- erty, unless he restores to the other party the consideration received from him for such money or property.
53. When a person has, by legal inquisi- tion been found an habitual drunkard, he cannot, even in his sober intervals, make contracts to bind himself or his property, until the inquisition is removed.
54. Any person dealing with the repre- sentative of a deceased person, is presumed, in law, to be fully apprized of the extent of such representative's authority to act in behalf of such estate.
55. In an action against a railroad com- pany, by a passenger, to recover damages for injuries sustained on the road, it is not compulsory upon the plaintiff to prove ac- tual negligence in the defendants; but it is obligatory on the part of the latter to prove that the injury was not owing to any fault or negligence of theirs.
56. A guest is a competent witness, in an action between himself and an inn-keeper, to prove the character and value of lost personal baggage. Money in a trunk, not exceeding the amount reasonably required by the traveler to defray the expenses of the journey which he has undertaken, is a part of his baggage ; and in case of its loss, while at any inn, the plaintiff may prove its amount by his own testimony.
57. The deed of a minor is not absolutely void. The court is authorized to judge, from the instrument, whether it is void or not, according to its terms being favorable or unfavorable to the interests of the minor. ry provisions, sufficient.
58. A married woman can neither sue nor be sued on any contract made by her dur- ing her marriage, except in an action relat- ing to her individual property. The action must be commenced either by or against her husband. It is only when an action is brought on a contract made by her be- fore her marriage, that she is to be joined as a co-plaintiff, or defendant, with her hus- band.
59. Any contract made with a person ju- dicially.declared a lunatic is void.
60. Money paid voluntarily in any trans- action, with a knowledge of the facts, can- not be recovered.
61. In all cases of special contract for ser- vices, except in the case of a minor, the plaintiff can recover only the amount stip- ulated in the contract.
62. A wife is a competent witness with her husband, to prove the contents of a lost trunk, or when a party.
63. A wife cannot be convicted of receiv- ing stolen goods when she received them of her husband.
64. Insurance against fire, by lightning or otherwise, does not cover loss by lightning when there is no combustion.
65. Failure to prove plea of justification, in a case of slander, aggravates the offence.
66. It is the agreement of the parties to sell by sample that constitutes a sale by sample, not the mere exhibition of a speci -. men of the goods.
67. An agent is liable to his principals for loss caused by his misstatements, tho' unintentional.
68. Makers of promissory notes given in advance for premiums on policies of insur- ance, thereafter to be taken, are liable there- on.
69. An agreement to pay for procuring an appointment to office is void.
70. An attorney may plead the statute of limitations, when sued by a client for mon- ey which he has collected and failed to pay over.
71. Testimony given by a deceased wit- ness on first trial, is not required to be re- peated verbatim on the second.
72. A person entitling himself to a reward offered for lost property, has a lien upon the property for the reward ; but only when a definite reward is offered.
73. Confession by a prisoner must be vol- untarily made, to constitute evidence against him.
74. The defendant in a suit must be serv- ed with process; but service of such pro- cess upon his wife, even in his absence from the State, is not, in the absence of statuto-
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LAW MAXIMS.
75. The measure of damages in trespass for cutting timber, is its value as a chattel on the land where it was felled, and not the market price of the lumber manufactured.
76. To support an indictment for mali- cious mischief in killing an animal, mal- ice towards its owner must be shown, not merely passion excited against the animal itself.
77. No action can be maintained against a sheriff for omitting to account for money obtained upon an execution within a reas- onable time. He has till the return day to render such account.
78. An interest in the profits of an enter- prise, as profits, renders the party hold- ing it a partner in the enterprise, and makes him presumptively liable to share any loss.
79. Males can marry at fourteen, and fe- males at twelve years of age.
80. All cattle found at large upon any pub- lic road, tan be driven by any person to the public pound.
81. Any dog chasing, barking, or other- wise threatening a passer-by in any street, lane, road, or other public thoroughfare, may be lawfully killed for the same.
82. A written promise for the payment of such amount as may come into the hands of the promisor, is held to be an instru- ment in writing for the payment of money.
83. The declaration of an agent is not ad- missible to establish the fact of agency .- But when other proper evidence is given, tending to establish the fact of agency, it is not error to admit the declarations of the agent, accompanying acts, though tend- ing to show the capacity in which he act- ed. When evidence is competent in one respect and incompetent in another, it is the duty of the court to admit it, and con- trol its effects by suitable instructions to the jury.
84. The court has a general power to re- move or suspend an attorney for such im- moral conduct as rendered him unworthy of confidence in his official capacity.
85. Bankruptcy is pleadable in bar to all actions and in. all courts, and this bar may be avoided whenever it is interposed, by showing fraud in the procurement of the discharge, or a violation of any of the pro- visions of the bankrupt act.
86. An instrument in the form of a deed, but limited to take effect at the termination of the grantor's natural life, is held to be a deed, not a will.
87. A sale will not be set aside as fraud- ulent, simply because the buyer was at the time unable to make the payment agreed upon, and knew his inability, and did not intend to pay.
88. No man is under an obligation to make known his circumstances when he is buying goods.
89. Contracting parties are bound to dis- close material facts known to each, but of which either supposes the other to be igno- rant, only when they stand in some special relation of trust and confidence in relation to the subject matter of the contract. But neither will be protected if he does any- thing, however slight, to mislead or deceive the other.
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