83 Mo. App. 498 | Mo. Ct. App. | 1900
Plaintiff sued out an execution on a judgment she had against defendant Eord and notice of garnishment -was served on the above named railroad company. In answer to interrogatories the garnishee stated that it owed Eord nothing except wages for the last thirty days’ service as its employee, which it claimed was not subject to garnishment. In reply, plaintiff alleged, in substance, that Eord was employed by garnishee as comptroller and auditor at an agreed annual salary of $5,000, payable in equal monthly instalments, and that such compensation was not exempt from garnishment. The court thereupon sustained a motion for judgment discharging the garnishee and plaintiff appealed.
In behalf of the plaintiff it is contended, that the earnings of Eord can not be classed as “wages” due from his employer, and that therefore such compensation is not exempted by the provisions of the foregoing statute. While conceding that there is much force in the contention, we yet think the argument too narrow and restrictive, and that the judgment of the'circuit court was correct. Although wages and salary
We have examined the cases cited by plaintiff’s counsel and in none of them do we find the construction of a statute similar to ours. The compensation for services in most of the decisions referred to relates to “the wages of employees, operatives and laborers,” or to the “wages of laborers, servants or employees.” In most, if not all the cases, also, they were instances where certain persons were claiming preferences in the distribution of insolvent estates. The statute there (as in the state of New York where most of the eases were decided) it will be seen, provided that the wages entitled to the prefer
Erom this and other decisions cited it will he seen that quite a different statute was being construed and that rules of construction were there invoked which are wholly inapplicable here. Our statute is not one relating to preferences given to certain favored creditors, where a strict construction maintains, hut provides exemptions for the family, and which said statute is to he liberally construed. The wages referred to in our statute are not limited to that of laborers, servants and employees, but are tbe wages generally of anybody in the
The foregoing disposes of the only point in the case deserving mention. The judgment of the lower court was proper and will be affirmed.