Devise of both

SEC. 1174. DEVISE OF BOTH REALTY AND PERSONALTY.-If the will realty and person- of the husband devise and bequeath a part of both real and personal alty. estate to the wife, she shall renounce the whole or be otherwise barred of her right to both real and personal estate.

Devise of either

per

SEC. 1175. DEVISE OF EITHER REALTY OR PERSONALTY.—If the will realty or person devise only a part of the real estate or bequeath only a part of the alty. sonal estate, the devise or bequest shall bar her of only the real or personal estate, as the case may require:

—if expressly in lieu of her legal

share, etc.

When nothing passed by the de

vise.

Husband liable

certain cases.

Provided, nevertheless, That if the devise of either real or personal estate, or of both, shall be expressly in lieu of her legal share of one or both she shall accordingly be barred, unless she renounce as aforesaid. SEC. 1176. WHEN NOTHING PASSED BY THE DEVISE.-If, in effect, nothing shall pass by such devise she shall not be thereby barred, whether she shall or shall not renounce as aforesaid, it being the intent hereof that a widow accepting or abiding by a devise in lieu of her legal right shall be considered a purchaser with a fair consideration.

SEC. 1177. HUSBAND LIABLE FOR WIFE'S ACTS IN CERTAIN CASES.for wife's acts in Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to relieve the husband from liability for the debts, contracts, or engagements which the wife may incur or enter into upon the credit of her husband, or as his agent, or for necessaries for herself or for his or their children; but as to all such cases his liability shall be or continue as at common law.

Interest and

usury.

Rate of interest.

Express contracts.

What is usury.

Action to re

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR.

INTEREST AND USURY.

SEC. 1178. RATE OF INTEREST.-The rate of interest in the District upon the loan or forbearance of any money, goods, or things in action, and the rate to be allowed in judgments and decrees, in the absence of express contract as to such rate of interest, shall be six dollars upon one hundred dollars for one year, and at that rate for a greater or less sum or for a longer or shorter time.

SEC. 1179. EXPRESS CONTRACTS.-The parties to a bond, bill, promissory note, or other instrument of writing for the payment of money at any future time may contract therein for the payment of interest on the principal amount thereof at any rate not exceeding ten per centum per annum.

SEC. 1180. WHAT IS USURY.-If any person or corporation shall contract in the District, verbally, to pay a greater rate of interest than six per centum per annum, or shall contract, in writing, to pay a greater rate than ten per centum per annum, such contract shall be deemed usurious, and shall be void as to the excess of said interest above the rate of six per centum per annum, as aforesaid, and the creditor to whom the principal debt is due shall only be entitled to recover said principal debt with interest thereon at the rate of six per centum per annum. But no person, being a party to any contract for such unlawful interest, shall be liable to any penalty or forfeiture or criminal prosecution in consequence thereof.

SEC. 1181. ACTION TO RECOVER USURY PAID. If any person or corcover usury paid. poration in the District shall directly or indirectly take or receive any greater amount of interest than is herein declared to be lawful, whether in advance or not, the person or corporation paying the same shall be entitled to sue for and recover the amount of the unlawful interest so paid from the person or corporation receiving the same, provided said suit be begun within one year from the date of such payment.

Unlawful inter

SEC. 1182. UNLAWFUL INTEREST TO BE CREDITED. In any action est to be credited. brought upon any contract for the payment of money with interest at

a rate forbidden by law, as aforesaid, any payments of interest that may have been made on account of said contract in excess of the lawful interest shall be deemed and taken to be payments made on account of the principal debt, and judgment shall be rendered for no more than the balance found due after deducting and properly crediting the excess of interest so paid; but no bona fide indorsee of negotiable paper purchased before due shall be affected by any usury exacted by any former holder of said paper unless he had actual notice of the usury before his purchase.

Testimony of

SEC. 1183. TESTIMONY OF PARTIES. -Whenever in any action to recover a debt the defendant shall claim that payments of unlawful parties. interest on said debt have been made to said plaintiff or those under whom he claims, which the defendant is entitled to have credited on the principal of the debt, the plaintiff or the party who received said unlawful interest may be examined as a witness to prove the payment of the same, and shall not be excused from testifying in relation thereto, nor shall a creditor who is made defendant to a bill in equity exhibited against him for discovery as to payments of unlawful interest made to him be excused from answering as to the same.

Judgments for

SEC. 1184. JUDGMENTS FOR LIQUIDATED DEBT.-In an action in the supreme court of the District to recover a liquidated debt on which liquidated debt. interest is payable by contract or by law or usage the judgment for the plaintiff shall include interest on the principal debt from the time when it was due and payable, at the rate fixed by the contract, if any, until paid.

Judgments for

SEC. 1185. JUDGMENTS FOR DAMAGES.-In an action to recover damages for breach of contract the judgment shall allow interest on the damages. amount for which it is rendered from the date of the judgment only; but nothing herein shall forbid the jury, or the court, if the trial be by the court, from including interest as an element in the damages awarded, if necessary to fully compensate the plaintiff. In an action tc recover damages for a wrong the judgment for the plaintiff shall bear interest.

SEC. 1186. JUDGMENT IN SUITS ON CONTRACTS MADE ELSEWHERE.In an action on a contract for the payment of a higher rate of interest than is lawful in the District, made or to be performed in any State or Territory of the United States where such contract rate of interest is lawful, the judgment for the plaintiff shall include such contract interest to the date of the judgment and interest thereafter at the rate of six per centum per annum until paid.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE.

Judgment in suits on contracts

made elsewhere.

JAIL.

SEC. 1187. WARDEN. The supreme court of the District shall have authority to appoint a suitable person to act as warden of the jail and to remove such officer whenever, in the opinion of the court, the public interests may require his removal, and to fill all vacancies which

may occur.

SEC. 1188. TERM OF OFFICE. The warden shall hold office for the term of four years, unless sooner removed in accordance with the preceding section.

Jail.

Warden.

Term of office.

SEC. 1189. SALARY.-He shall receive an annual salary of eighteen Salary. hundred dollars, which shall include all fees and emoluments.

SEC. 1190. BOND.-The warden shall, before entering upon his office, execute to the United States a bond for the faithful performance of the duties thereof, in the penal sum of five thousand dollars, with sureties to be approved by some judge of the supreme court of the District.

Bond.

Powers and duties.

Employment of prisoners.

SEC. 1191. POWERS AND DUTIES.-The warden shall have the exclusive supervision and control of the jail of the District and be accountable for the safe-keeping of all prisoners legally committed thereto, and shall have all the power and discharge all the duties legally exercised and discharged over said jail and the prisoners therein prior to the twenty-ninth day of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, by the marshal of the District.

SEC. 1192. EMPLOYMENT OF PRISONERS.-Persons sentenced to imprisonment in the jail may be employed at such labor and under such regulations as may be prescribed by the supreme court of the District and the proceeds thereof applied to defray the expenses of the trial and conviction of any such person.

Commitment by SEC. 1193. COMMITMENT BY MARSHAL.-Nothing in the preceding marshal unim- sections of this chapter shall be construed to impair or interfere with paired. the authority of the marshal of the District to commit persons to the jail or to produce them in open court or before any judicial officer when thereto required.

Delivery to marshal.

Subordinate

officers.

oners.

SEC. 1194. DELIVERY TO MARSHAL.-It shall be the duty of the warden to receive such prisoners and to deliver them to the marshal or his duly authorized deputy, on the written request of either, for the purpose of taking them before any court or judicial officer, as provided in the preceding section.

SEC. 1195. SUBORDINATE OFFICERS.-The warden shall have authority to appoint such subordinate officers, guards, and employees as are necessary for the proper management and safe-keeping of prisoners, which may be authorized by law, subject to the approval of the chief justice of the supreme court of the District.

Rules for govSEC. 1196. SUPREME COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TO MAKE ernment of pris- RULES.-It shall be the duty of the supreme court of the District to make such rules for the government and discipline of the prisoners. confined in the jail as shall be deemed necessary for the health, security, and the protection of such prisoners from cruel treatment by any person in charge thereof.

Annual report of warden.

Execution in capital cases.

-mode.

-place.

-officers to at

tend.

-who may be present.

-who may not be present.

Subsistence of prisoners.

SEC. 1197. ANNUAL REPORT.-The warden shall annually, in the month of November, make a detailed report to the Attorney-General. SEC. 1198. EXECUTION IN CAPITAL CASES-Whenever any person confined in the jail is adjudged to suffer death, it shall be the duty of the warden to carry such judgment into execution.

SEC. 1199. MODE OF EXECUTION.-The manner of inflicting the punishment of death shall be by hanging.

SEC. 1200. PLACE OF EXECUTION.-Persons adjudged to suffer death shall be executed within the walls of the jail of the District, or within the yard or inclosure thereof, and not elsewhere.

SEC. 1201. OFFICERS TO ATTEND.-It shall be the duty of the warden or one of his deputies, with such officers of the prison, constables, and other peace officers as the warden or deputy may deem necessary and proper, to attend at such execution.

SEC. 1202. WHO MAY BE PRESENT. The warden or his deputy shall invite the district attorney, the counsel of the prisoner, two or more physicians, and twelve respectable citizens to be present at every such execution, and at the request of the person to be executed shall also allow any of his near relatives and any ministers of the gospel (not more than three) to be present thereat.

SEC. 1203. WHO MAY NOT BE PRESENT.-No persons other than those mentioned in the two preceding sections, and no person whatever under the age of twenty-one years, shall be allowed to witness any such

execution.

SEC. 1204. SUBSISTENCE OF PRISONERS.-There shall be allowed and paid by the Attorney-General for the subsistence of prisoners in the

custody of any marshal of the United States and the warden of the jail in the District of Columbia such sum as it reasonably and actually costs to subsist them. And it shall be the duty of the AttorneyGeneral to prescribe such regulations for the government of the marshals and the warden of the jail in the District of Columbia in relation to their duties under this chapter as will enable him to determine the actual and reasonable expenses incurred.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX.

JOINT CONTRACTS.

Joint contracts.

What contracts

SEC. 1205. WHAT CONTRACTS JOINT AND SEVERAL.-Every contract and obligation entered into by two or more persons, whether partners joint and several. or merely joint contractors, whether under seal or not, and whether written or verbal, and whether expressed to be joint and several or not, shall for the purposes of suit thereupon be deemed joint and several.

Death of joint

SEC. 1206. DEATH OF JOINT CONTRACTOR.-If one or more of such persons shall die, his or their executors, administrators, or heirs shall contractor. be bound by said contract in the same manner and to the same extent as if the same were expressed to be joint and several.

SEC. 1207. MERGER.If an action be brought against all the parties Merger. to such contract, but service of process is had against some only of the defendants, or an action is brought against and service had on some only of the parties, a judgment against the parties so served shall not work an extinguishment or merger of the cause of action on which such judgment is founded as respects the parties not so served, but they shall remain liable to be sued separately.

Death after suit

SEC. 1208. DEATH AFTER SUIT BROUGHT.-If any one of several defendants in an action shall die after the commencement of the action, brought. his legal representatives may be made parties thereto as directed in chapter two aforesaid.

SEC. 1209. EVIDENCE.--In actions ex contractu against alleged joint Evidence. debtors it shall not be necessary for the plaintiff to prove their joint liability as alleged in order to maintain his action, but he shall be entitled to recover, as in actions ex delicto, against such of the defendants as shall be shown by the evidence to be jointly indebted to him, or against one only, if he alone is shown to be indebted to him, and judgment shall be rendered as if the others had not been joined in the suit.

SEC. 1210. SEPARATE COMPROMISE.-Any one of several joint debtors, Separate comwhen their debt is overdue, may make a separate composition or com- promise. promise with their creditors, with the same effect as is provided in the case of parties in chapter forty-seven, on partners.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN.

JOINDER OF PARTIES AND CAUSES OF ACTION.

SEC. 1211. Where money is payable by two or more persons jointly or severally or jointly and severally upon the same obligation or instrument, one action may be sustained and judgment recovered against all or any of the parties by whom the money is payable, at the option of the plaintiff; but if separate actions be brought unnecessarily against the several parties to such contract, the said actions may on motion be consolidated, and the plaintiff shall be allowed the costs of one action only.

Joinder of parties and causes of action.

Judgments and decrees.

Limitations.

Expiration

cree.

of

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT.

JUDGMENTS AND DECREES.

SEC. 1212. LIMITATIONS-Every final judgment at common law and every final decree in equity for the payment of money rendered in the supreme court of the District, and every judgment of a justice of the peace certified to and docketed in the clerk's office of the said supreme court, as herein elsewhere directed, shall be good and enforceable, by an execution issued thereon, for the period of twelve years only from the date when an execution might first be issued thereon, or from the date of the last revival thereof under scire facias, except as provided in the next section; but the time during which the judgment creditor is stayed by agreement, or injunction, or other order, or by the operation of an appeal from enforcing the judgment is not to be computed as part of said period of twelve years.

SEC. 1213. EXPIRATION OF JUDGMENT OR DECREE.-At the expiration judgment or de- of said period of twelve years the said judgment or decree shall cease to have any operation or effect, and no action shall be brought on the same nor any scire facias or execution issued on the same thereafter; but this provision shall in no wise affect any proceeding that may be then pending for the enforcement of the said judgment or decree.

Lien of judgment or decree.

SEC. 1214. LIEN OF JUDGMENT OR DECREE. Every final judgment at common law and every unconditional final decree in equity for the payment of money from the date when the same shall be rendered, every judgment of a justice of the peace when docketed in the clerk's office of the supreme court of the District of Columbia, and every recognizance taken by said supreme court, or a justice thereof, from the time when it shall be declared forfeited, shall be a lien on all the freehold and leasehold estates, legal and equitable, of the defendants bound by such judgment, decree, or recognizance, in any lands, tenements, or hereditaments in the District, whether such estates be in re- possession or be reversions or remainders, vested or contingent. And cognizance, police any recognizance taken in the police court, after being forfeited, may be transmitted to the clerk's office of said supreme court and therein docketed in the same manner as the judgment of a justice of the peace as aforesaid, and thereupon shall have the same effect as if taken in the of said supreme court; and said lien shall continue as long as such judgment, decree, or recognizance shall be in force or until the same shall be satisfied or discharged.

-forfeited

court.

-duration

lien.

Scire facias.

Lien of mortgage.

Docket.

SEC. 1215. SCIRE FACIAS.-If during the period of twelve years from the rendition of the judgment or decree, or from judgment upon a scire facias thereon, the creditor shall cause a scire facias to be issued upon the judgment or decree and a fiat shall be issued thereupon, the effect of such fiat shall be to extend the effect and operation of said judgment or decree with the lien thereby created and all the remedies. for the enforcement of the same for the period of twelve years fro the date of such fiat.

SEC. 1216. LIEN OF MORTGAGE. -Where real property is sold and conveyed and, at the same time, a mortgage or deed of trust thereupon is given by the purchaser to secure the payment of the whole or any part of the purchase money, the lien of the said mortgage or deed of trust on the property shall be superior to that of a previous judgment or decree against the purchaser.

SEC. 1217. DOCKET.-The clerk of said supreme court shall keep and maintain a docket, to be known as the judgment docket, in which shall be entered the titling of every cause and proceeding in which any judgment or decree may be entered or any recognizance taken, as aforesaid, including recognizances transmitted from the police court, as aforesaid, with a minute of the dates and amounts thereof, and said