The Logger’s Right to be Paid
A landmark Supreme Court decision upholds the right of loggers to place liens on timber they harvested, shielding laborers from corporate efforts to dodge payroll.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A very important decision on the subject of laborers' liens has just been handed down by the supreme court of this state. The case is entitled Felix Prouix et al. vs. Stetson & Post Mill Company and A. J. Baker. Felix Prouix and other loggers were hired by J. V. Taylor to work in his logging camp. Something more than 900,000 feet of logs were cut and by Taylor sold to Stetson & Post Mill Company. The laborers instituted a joint action against the mill company and Taylor. The defendants appealed, but by this decision the judgment of the court below is affirmed. The decision states that it would be a harsh rule that would compel a laborer to ascertain exactly the amount of labor performed on specific logs if others were lost or disposed of by the owner. These lien statutes are remedial in their nature and should be liberally construed. There is nothing in the statute requiring the laborer to file a lien as often as a portion of the logs are boomed.
“These lien statutes are remedial in their nature and should be liberally construed.”
This 1893 court battle echoes modern struggles over wage theft and the difficulty of enforcing labor claims against contractors and large corporations. The principle established—that lien laws should be interpreted to protect the laborer rather than the employer—remains a cornerstone of Washington’s current lien statutes.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.