Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878] WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1892.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4259, 2 November 1892, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878]

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1892.

Being the extended title or the Wairarapa Daily, with which it is IDENTICAL

That " fools build houses " is an old adage; but the fool of the past is likely to be eclipsed by tbe feol of the future, now that the"" Workmen's Lien Act" in the law of tbis land. This measure is intended to protect contractors, sub-contractors &ml workmen, by giving them liens on the work in which they may be employed, Everybody concerned, say in the conduction of a house, is protected at tbe expense of the owner of the property, In tlio lirst instance, tbe contractor has a lien on tbo land which he diiims, or excavates, or the building which he erects; but the liability of the proprietor is not limited to the contractor. The Bub-conlractor or sub-contractors chip in next with a special lien oi their own ; and last, but not least, the workmen have their lien. (The prior lien is the workmen'**, next comes the claim of the sub-con-tractors and, lastly, tbe security of the conlraotor. Under such nil Act, n man who proposes to build or to construct a work, such as a drain or an embankment, must be very wary or he may jipd himself tied up in all directions by liens, The practical effeci of the measure will be that none but contractors possessing both capital and character wjlj bo entrusted with ypork; and these, in their turn, will only employ sub-contractors who are thoroughly reliable and trustworthy. As a further protection, the Bub-con* tractors will be compelled to engag? steady bands, Tbe Act will kill small contractors, petty sub-contractors, and workmen whose qualifications are doubtful, Though it be tbe outcome of liberal legislation, its action will he decidedly conservative. It will raise the price paid for contracts, and the earnings of contractors, sub-oon-tractors, aud workmen actually engaged thereon; but it will limit the amount of work undertaken, and cmubo a considerable number of persons wlio have hitherto be® engaged in such work to st ek other employment or join that popular band known as " the Government unemployed." In the intricate provisions of the (neasure there is pvjcjently q little goldmine fpr lawyers, ancl money which has hitherto been expended in labour, will have to be devoted to unravellicg tho complicalions of tho new legislation in our courts of law. This clever invention of one lien within|a second, and asecond within a third must surely have emanated from a legal brain and have been designed as a specialty in the interests of the profession. However this nifty be, people will know now that tho building of a lioubo is a very • hazard-' ous undertaking and that if a man desires to incur no undue risks, he will do well to buy a hammer and a saw and |)e bis o)vn contractor, his own subcontractor, and liis own work-