If the landlord, having distrained, is | training shall and may, with the sheriff forcibly expelled, he may break open outer doors or gates in order to retake the distress. If a window be open, a distress within reach may be taken out at it. At common law a distress might be taken for rent in a street or other highway being within the land demised. But now, by the statute of Marlbridge, private persons are forbidden to take distresses in the highway. This statute applies only to distresses for rent or for services, and not to toll. Nor does the statute make the distress absolutely void; for though the tenant may lawfully rescue cattle distrained in the highway, or may bring his action on the case upon the statute, yet if he brings trespass or replevin, it seems to be no answer to a justification or an avowry made in respect of the rent. or under-sheriff, or with the constable of the place, cause the goods to be appraised by two sworn appraisers, and after such appraisement may sell the goods distrained towards satisfaction of the rent, and of the charges of distress, appraisement, and sale, leaving any surplus in the hands of the sheriff, under-sheriff, or constable, for the owner's use." At common law, goods distrained were, within a reasonable time, to be removed to and confined in an enclosure called a pound, which is either a pound covert, i. e. a complete enclosure, or a pound overt, an enclosure sufficiently open to enable the owner to see, and if necessary, to feed the distress, the former being proper for goods easily removed or injured, the latter for cattle; and by 5 & 6 Will. IV. c. 59, § 4, persons impounding cattle or animals in a common open or A distress may be made either by the close pound, or in enclosed ground, are party himself or his agent, and as dis- to supply them with food, &c., the value tresses in manors were commonly made of which they may recover from the by the bailiff of the manor, any agent owner. By 11 Geo. II. c. 19, § 10, authorized to distrain is called a bailiff. goods distrained for any kind of rent may The authority given to the bailiff is be impounded on any part of the tenant's usually in writing, and is then called a ground, to remain there five days, at the warrant of distress; but a verbal au- expiration of which time they are to be thority, and even the subsequent adoption sold, unless sooner replevied. The landof the act by the party on whose behalf lord is not however bound to remove the the distress is made, is sufficient. In goods immediately after the expiration order that the distrainee may know what of the five days; he is allowed a reais included in the distress, an inventory sonable time for selling. After the lapse of the goods should be delivered, accomof a reasonable time he is a trespasser if panied, in the case of a distress for rent, he retain the goods on the premises with. by a notice stating the object of the dis-out the express assent of the tenant, tress, and informing the tenant that which assent is generally given in unless the rent and charges be paid writing. within five days, the goods and chattels will be sold according to law. This notice is required by 2 W. & M. sess. i. c. 5, § 2, which enacts, "where any goods shall be distrained for rent due upon any demise, lease, or contract, and the tenant or owner of the goods shall not, within five days next after such distress taken, and notice thereof with the cause of such taking, left at the chief mansion house, or other most notorious place on the premises, replevy the same, with sufficient security to be given to the sheriff,-that after such distress and notice and expiration of the five days, the person dis The 1 & 2 Ph. & M. c. 12, requires that no distress of cattle be removed out of the hundred, except to a pound overt in the same county, not above three miles from the place where such distress is taken, and that no cattle or other goods distrained at one time be impounded in several places, whereby the owner would be obliged to sue out several replevins. The 2 Will. & Mary, sess. 1, c. 5, § 3, directs that corn, grain, or hay distrained be not removed, to the damage of the owner, out of the place where the same shall be found or seized, but be kept there until replevied or sold; and 11 Geo. II. c. 19, which gives a distress for rent-service upon growing crops, directs, §§ 8 and 9, that they shall be cut, gathered, and laid up, when ripe, in the barn or other proper place on such premises, or if none, then in some other barn, &c., to be procured for that purpose, and as near as may be to the premises, giving notice within one week of the place where such crops are deposited; and if the tenant, his executors, &c., at any time before the crops distrained are ripe and cut, pay or tender the rent, costs, and charges, the goods distrained are to be restored. In all other cases, if the rent or other duty be paid, or performed, or tendered to be paid or performed before the distress is impounded, a subsequent detainer is unlawful, and a subsequent impounding or driving to the pound is a trespass. rent. The statutes authorising the sale of distresses extend only to those made for At common law distresses cannot in general be either sold or used for the benefit of the party distraining. But a distress for fines and amerciaments in a court leet, or for other purposes of public benefit, may be sold; and a special custom or prescription will warrant the sale of a distress in cases where the public has no immediate interest. A distress made by a party who has no right to distrain, or made for rent or other service which the party offers to pay or perform, or made in the public highway, or upon goods privileged from distress either absolutely or temporarily, is called a wrongful distress. Where no right to distrain exists, or where the rent or duty is tendered at the time of the distress, the owner of the goods may rescue them or take them forcibly out of the possession of the distrainer, or bring either an action of replevin, or of trespass. In replevin, the cattle or goods taken are to be redelivered to the owner upon his giving security by a replevin bond, for returning them to the distrainer, in case a return shall be awarded by the court; and therefore in this action damages are recovered only for the intermediate detention and the costs of the replevin bond. In the action of trespass the plaintiff recovers damages to the full value of the goods; because upon such recovery, the property in the goods is transferred to the defendant. The 2 W. & M. sess. i. c. 5, § 5, provides "that in case of any distress and sale for rent pretended to be due, where in truth no rent is due, the owner of the goods so distrained and sold may, by action of trespass or upon the case, recover double the value of such goods, with full costs of suit." Whether goods are rightfully or wrongfully distrained, to take them out of the pound is a trespass and a public offence. The proceeding by action is a more prudent course than making a rescue, even before an impounding, where any doubt exists as to the lawfulness of the distress. Independently of the danger of provoking a breach of the peace by the rescuer's thus taking the law into his own hands, he will be liable to an action for the injury sustained by the distrainor by the loss of the security of the distress, should the distress ultimately turn out to be lawful; and in such action, as well as in the action for poundbreach, the rescuer will be liable, under 2 W. & M. sess. i. c. 5, § 4, to the payment of treble damages and treble costs. A distress for more rent, or greater services than are due, or where the value of the property taken is visibly disproportionate to the rent or other appreciable service, is called an excessive distress, for which the party aggrieved is entitled to recover compensation in an action on the case; but he cannot rescue, nor can he replevy or bring trespass. Upon a distress rightfully taken being afterwards irregularly conducted, the subsequent irregularity at common law made the whole proceeding wrongful, and the party was said to be a trespasser "ab initio." But now, by 11 Geo. II. c. 19, where distress is made for rent justly due, and any irregularity or unlawful act is afterwards done by the party distraining or his agent, the distress itself is not to be deemed unlawful nor the party making it a trespasser; but the person aggrieved by such irregularity, &c. may recover satisfaction for the special damage sustained. (Bradby On Distresses; Gilbert, Distr.; Bracton; Fleta; Coke upon Littleton; Bacon, Comyns, and Viner's Abridgments; Willes's Reports; 6 Nevile and Mann, 606.) DIVIDEND, in commerce, is a word which has two distinct meanings. In its more general employment it is understood to express the money which is divided, pro rata, among the creditors of abankrupt trader, out of the amount realised from his assets. [BANKRUPT.] he acquires various sources of enjoyment. The ingenuity with which he has been endowed, and the hard necessities of his condition, lead him to discover the most effective means of applying his labour to whatever objects he may be seeking to attain. He desires first to work no more than is necessary, and secondly to obtain the largest return-the most abundant enjoyment, for his industry. He soon The other meaning attached to the finds that his own unaided labour will word dividend is not so appropriate as scarcely provide for him the barest necesthat which has just been explained. It saries, and that ease or enjoyment is unis used to signify the half-yearly pay- attainable. Thus instead of each man ments of the perpetual and terminable labouring separately, and independently annuities which constitute the public debt of all others, many men combine together of the country, and does not therefore for securing the various objects of life, by strictly express that which the word is means of their joint labour; and this made to imply. The payment of those combination of labour leads to division of so-called dividends is managed on the part employments. Labour is naturally exof the government by the Bank of Eng-erted in these two forms in the very earland, which receives a compensation from the public for the trouble and expense attending the employment. The exact number of individuals who are entitled to receive these half-yearly payments is not known, as the number of annuitants is not nearly so great as the number of distinct warrants, because many individuals are possessed of annuities due at the same periods of the year, which are included under different heads or accounts in the books of the bank, as bearing different rates of interest, or being otherwise under different circumstances; and besides, many persons hold annuities which are payable at both half-yearly periods. It is certain, however, that the greater part of the public creditors are entitled to annuities for only small sums, more than ninetenths of the payments being for sums not exceeding 100l., and nearly one-half for sums not exceeding 101. The number of warrants issued for the payment of dividends at each quarter of the year ending 5th January, 1843, was as follows:-5th April, 89,560; 5th July, 191,980; 10th October, 89,379; 5th January, 192,970. DIVISION OF EMPLOYMENTS, | in political economy, is an important agent in increasing the productiveness of labour. It is by labour alone that wealth is produced. It is a law of man's nature that "by the sweat of his face he shall eat bread;" and in return for his labour liest stages of society. The first pair whom God's ordinances and their own instinct united, must have combined for the support of themselves and their common family, and diversity of sex alone must have produced distinct employments. Among savages the man engages in the chase, for which he has a natural predi lection, and for which his strength adapts him, while his mate rears their children and executes those functions which are suited to her sex, but which are as conducive to the comfort of both as if both performed them. In this manner a division of employments naturally arises, and each family affords an example of its origin and character. This combination for a common object, succeeded by a division of employments, pervades every process of human industry, and increases in variety and complexity with the growth of civilization. One of the earliest forms of industry is that of fishing, and none, perhaps, exemplifies more aptly the mode in which labour is necessarily applied to the purposes of life. A man desirous of building a fishing-boat may cut down a tree, without any assistance from others, and may even hew it into shape: but if it be larger than a mere canoe he cannot, by his own strength, remove it from the spot on which the tree had fallen, and launch it upon the sea. To effect this, others must combine their strength with his. To manage a boat the labour of more than one man is ordinarily required, and the larger the boat the greater must be the number who combine to navigate it. If they paddle or row it, their labour is simply combined for one purpose and in one manner, except that one, instead of rowing, may probably steer the boat. As the art of navigation improves and its objects become multiplied, in addition to a more extensive combination of men in pursuit of the same objects, a diversity of employments ensues. In a deep-sea fishery, some attend to the nets, others to the sails; and on their return to land, some arrange the nets to dry and repair them, while others are engaged in disposing of the fish. From these illustrations it is evident that the cause of a division of employments is to be sought in the nature and circumstances of man. It is not the result of extraordinary foresight, but is suggested by the most common exigencies of life its convenience is obvious, but the feeling which prompts men to adopt it is spontaneous and, as it were, intuitive. It is a social necessity, and the very foundation of any social system whatever, yet it is practised almost unconsciously by the greater part of mankind. Its existence, however, lies so open to observation that it is scarcely to be ranked as a discovery of political economy; but that science, having noted the facts of a combination of labour and a division of employments, explains their uses and results; and in pursuing these inquiries it developes some of the most important principles connected with the production and distribution of wealth. To these inquiries we must now devote our attention. As labour is the lot of man, it is desirable that his labour should be as productive as possible, in order that the sum of his enjoyments should exceed that of his endurance. This result is attained by several men combining their labour for one object, and pursuing different employments for their reciprocal benefit, instead of each man labouring independently for himself and employing himself in the same manner as all other men. A division of employments, therefore, is not only a natural incident of labour, but is an important auxiliary of human enjoyment. The means by which it adds to the efficacy of labour are described by Adam Smith to be-1st. an "increase of dexterity in every particular workman ;" 2ndly. "the saving of the time which is commonly lost in passing from one species of work to another;" and, 3rdly. "the invention of a great number of machines which facilitate and abridge labour, and enable one man to do the work of many:" to which may be added, 4thly, the separation which it causes between labour and the direction of labour; 5thly, the power which it gives of using machinery effectually, when invented; 6thly, the opportunities of exchange which it affords and the means of availing our selves of the enjoyments arising from the natural capabilities of the soil, climate, situation, or mineral productions of different parts of the world, and of the peculiar aptitude of their inhabitants for various kinds of industry. 1. The superior dexterity of workmen engaged exclusively in one occupation is universally known. "Use is second nature," and when a man has been long accustomed to a particular employment, not only has he acquired great dexterity, but his mind appears to be endowed with faculties specially adapted to his business. The jockey seems to have been born for the saddle; the sailor for the ship: both are active, intelligent, dexterous: but fancy their occupations exchanged or combined! the sailor in the saddle, the jockey at the helm; or both alternately riding the favourite horse at Newmarket and furling the top-gallants of a threedecker at Spithead! The constant exercise of the faculties in any act or business gives them an aptitude for it, which to others is a matter of astonishment. The eye and the hand perform their offices with such precision and rapidity, that their work seems spontaneous, as it were, and independent of the will of the workman. Without deliberation, almost without care, the business is done; and done better than others could do it. with the greatest pains. All processes of art and manufacture, and the daily experience of all men, confirm this statement as an un- | particular occupations those who exert questionable fact (Babbage, Economy of Machinery and Manufactures). The advantages of peculiar skill are that men can work better and faster, that the products of their labour are more valuable and more abundant, and that their contributions to the general stock of the world's enjoyments are multiplied. By following out these advantages through all their relations, they will be found to be the primary source of wealth; and, in a moral point of view, the main cause of social progress and of the development of the highest faculties of man. 2. The saving of time which is commonly lost in passing from one species of work to another" enables a man who is constantly engaged in one process to perform more work than he would have been able to get through in the course of a day, if he had been required to change his employment. For this reason, as well as on account of his skill, a division of employments makes his labour more productive. 3. The invention of tools and machinery is the most effective auxiliary of labour, and it is necessarily promoted by a division of employments. Those who are constantly attending to one business or description of labour must become best acquainted with its requirements—their observation and experience are concentrated upon it-their interest urges them to facilitate their own exertions. How many inventions are due to workmen employed in manual labour the history of the steam-engine and of the cotton manufacture will furnish examples: but it is not in the case of workmen alone that division of employments facilitates invention. Their employers also have their whole minds bent upon improving their business; and amidst the multiplication of trades arise engineers and machinists, whose sole business it is to construct, improve, and invent machinery, aided by all the lights of theoretical science. And this leads us to the fourth advantage of a division of employ ments. 4. If all men were doing the same thing, and working for themselves unaided by others, their condition would never be improved; but by following | most skill and industry produce more than they require for their own subsistence, and reserve a fund for the employment of others. [CAPITAL.] And thus there grows up from the midst of the people a class of employers who direct the labour of others. Until labour is so directed and maintained by the previous accumulation of capital, it is comparatively ineffectual; and while a division of employments is a powerful agent in producing capital, the latter, in its turn, facilitates a further subdivision. Without it, indeed, a system of division can only be carried out imperfectly and to a very small extent. The growth of capital also gives to many men the glorious privilege of leisure, exempts them from the necessity of labour, and leaves them free to study, to reflect, to observe, to reason and investigate. From this class arise men of science and of letters-philosophers, statesmen, historians, poets. And even with these the apportionment of a peculiar province gives power to their minds, and expands their knowledge. Their natural talents are developed, and their aptitude for particular pursuits becomes as conspicuous in intellectual industry as that of other men in manual operations. 5. Adam Smith speaks of the importance of a division of employments as leading to the invention of machinery, but passes over its utility in using machinery effectually, when invented. Every part of a large machine requires workmen whose sole business it is to work in unison with its peculiar movement. So distinct are these various processes-so diverse their character-that in all large manufactures there is an extensive vocabulary of names by which operatives working in the very same factory are distinguished.* Without such a subdivision of peculiar employments the most ingenious machinery would be useless: and thus while machinery multiplies distinct operations of labour, they are, in their turn, essential to its efficacy. A curious example will be found in the glossary annexed to the Report of the Commission on Frame-Work Knitters,' 1845: and numerous others in the Occupation Abstract of the Census Commissioners --counties of Lancaster, Leicester, West Riding of Yorkshire, &c. |