CHAPTER XX.

CHATTEL MORTGAGES

May be given upon all kinds of personal property. To be valid against subsequent incumbrancers, or purchasers in good faith, for a valuable consideration, the mortgage must show the residence, and the profession, trade or occupation of both the mortgagor and mortgagee, and each of the parties must make affidavit thereto, that the mortgage is made in good faith, and without any design to hinder, delay or defraud creditors. When so made and recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds, such mortgage is good against all persons.

CHAPTER XXI.

INTEREST AND USURY.

Ten per cent. per annum is the legal rate of interest. Parties may agree in writing for any rate of interest not exceeding two per cent. per month, but any judgment rendered upon such contract bears only ten per cent. per annum. The penalty for a greater rate than above specified is three times the amount so paid, and the person receiving a greater rate than two per cent. per month is liable to a fine of three hundred dollars, or six months' imprisonment, or both. Interest does not commence to run on open accounts until a balance is struck and agreed to, or a settlement is had.

CHAPTER XXII.

AFFIDAVITS.

An affidavit to be used before any Court, judge or officer of this Territory may be taken before any judge or clerk of any Court, or any justice of the peace or notary public in this Territory.

An affidavit taken in another State or Territory of the United States, to be used in this Territory, shall be taken before a commissioner appointed by the Governor of this Territory to take affidavits and depositions in such other State or Territory, or before the judge of a Court of record having a seal. An affidavit taken in a foreign country, to be used in this Territory, shall be taken before an ambassador, minister, or consul of the United States, or before any judge of a Court of record having a seal in such foreign country, or before a commsssioner of deeds appointed by the

governor.

When an affidavit is taken before a judge of a Court in another State or Territory, or a foreign country, the genuineness of the signature of the judge, the existence of the Court, and the fact that such judge is a member thereof, shall be certified by the clerk of the Court under the seal thereof.

CHAPTER XXIII.

SOLE TRADERS.

A married woman may become a sole trader by the judgment of the Probate Court of the county in which she has resided for six months next preceding the application.

A person intending to make application to become a sole trader must publish notice of such intention in a newspaper published in the county, or if there be none, then in a newspaper published in an adjoining county, for four successive wecks.

The notice must specify the term and the day upon which application will be made, the nature and place of the business proposed to be conducted by her, and the name of her husband.

Ten days prior to the day named in the notice, the applicant must file a verified petition, setting forth :

1. That the application is made in good faith, to enable the applicant to support herself, and others dependent upon her, giving their names and relation.

2. The fact of insufficient support from her husband, and the causes thereof, if known.

3. Any other grounds for application, which are good causes for a divorce, with the reason why a divorce is not sought; and,

4. The nature of the business proposed to be conducted, and the capital to be invested therein, if any, and the sources from which it is derived.

The applicant may invest in the business proposed to be conducted a sum derived from the community property or of the separate property of the husband, not exceeding five hundred dollars.

Any creditor of the husband may oppose the application by filing in the Court (prior to the day named in the notice) a written opposition, verified, containing either:

1. A specific denial of the truth of any material allegation of the petition, or setting forth

2. That the application is made for the purpose of defrauding the opponent; or,

3. That the application is made to prevent, or will prevent him from collecting his debt.

Issues of fact must be tried as in other cases. If the facts found sustain the petition, the Court must render judgment, authorizing the applicant to carry on in her own name and on her own account, the business specified in the notice and petition.

The sole trader must make and file with the clerk of the Court an affidavit, in the following form:

“I, A B, do, in presence of Almighty God, solemnly swear that this application was made in good faith, for the purpose of enabling me to support myself, (and any dependent, such as husband, parent, sister, child, or the like, naming them, if any) and not with any view to defraud, delay or hinder any creditor or creditors of my husband; and that, of the moneys so to be used by me in business, not over five hundred dollars have come, either directly or indirectly, from my husband; so help me God."

A certified copy of the decree, with this oath endorsed thereon, must be recorded in the office of the recorder of the county where the business is to be carried on.

A married woman who is adjudged a sole trader is responsible and liable for the maintenance of her minor children.

The husband of a sole trader is not liable for any debt contracted by her in the course of her sole trader's business, unless contracted upon his written consent.

PART VIII.

WYOMING TERRITORY.

PREPARED EXPRESSLY FOR THIS WORK BY E. P. JOHNSON, CHEYENNE.

CHAPTER I.

COURTS AND THEIR JURISDICTION.

The Courts provided for this Territory are a Supreme Court, District Courts, Probate Courts, and Justices of the Peace.

The Supreme Court has no original jurisdiction, except in habeas corpus cases. It exercises an appellate jurisdiction, principally in cases coming up from the District Courts.

The District Courts have chancery and common law jurisdiction, and jurisdiction in appeals from the Justice and Probate Courts. The Probate Court has no jurisdiction, except over probate business proper.

The Justices of the Peace have no jurisdiction of any matter in controversy where the title or boundaries of land may be in dispute, or where the debt or sum claimed shall exceed one hundred dollars.