34 Kan. 57 | Kan. | 1885
The opinion, of the court was delivered by
This was an action of replevin, brought by J. W. Bliss against James S. Vedder, to recover certain personal property hereafter mentioned. The case was tried before the court without a jury, upon an agreed statement of facts. It appears from this agreed statement of facts that on December 19, 1882, the defendant, as constable, held an execution issued on an ordinary judgment for debt against the plaintiff, and then
Counsel for the defendant state the question for consideration in this court as follows:
“The one and the only question for your consideration is as to whether a printing press and other materials used in the publishing of a weekly newspaper come within the provisions of subdivision 8, § 3, of our exemption law, when the owner of the same is not an operative, not a tradesman, not a ‘ practical printer/ but uses the same only by and through his employés,*59 and this too in view of the fact that he is engaged at the same time in three other and distinct branches of business.”
The exemptions provided for by said subdivision 8, § 3, of the exemption laws, are as follows:
“ Eighth. The necessary tools and implements of any mechanic, miner, or other person, used and kept for the purpose of carrying on his trade or business; and in addition thereto, stock in trade not exceeding $400 in value.”
The defendant claims that the printing press and other materials levied on in this case are not exempt from execution, for the reasons that they are not tools or implements at all, or if tools or implements, then that they are not the kind of tools or implements contemplated by the exemption laws; that the plaintiff is not a mechanic or miner, or other like person— not even a printer, but is a professional man and an editor of a newspaper; that the articles in controversy are not used or kept for the purpose of carrying on the plaintiff’s trade or business as a professional man or editor, but are used and kept for printing a newspaper; and that the articles in controversy are not used or operated exclusively by the plaintiff, but are used and operated, partially at least, if not wholly, by employés.
And the plaintiff is not a mere editor of a newspaper; he is
Upon the claim of the defendant that printing presses and printing materials are not exempt from execution, he cites the following cases, among others: Buckingham v. Billings, 13 Mass. 82; Danforth v. Woodward, 27 id. 423; Spooner v. Fletcher, 3 Vt. 133.
These cases seem to hold that printing presses and printing materials are not “tools” within the meaning of their exemption statutes. Now these cases may not be in conflict with the views expi*essed by us, for these cases relate to tools only, while our statutes relate to “tools and implements;” and the statutes of Massachusetts and Vermont may in other respects differ very materially from ours. But if these cases do conflict with the views we have expressed, then we must say that we cannot follow them. We have examined all the other cases cited by counsel. The principal authorities will be found cited in Thompson on Homesteads and Exemptions, § 755, et seq., and Freeman on Executions, 266, et seq. The decisions are as diverse as are the statutes upon which they are founded.
The judgment of the court below will be reversed, and the cause remanded with the order that judgment be rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant for the property in controversy, and for costs.