PREFACE. The present volume is issued by the Attorney-General in pursuance of the authority contained in Resolves of 1906, chapter 18, which provides that the Attorney-General shall "collect and publish in a volume properly indexed and digested such of the official opinions heretofore published as an appendix to the annual reports of the attorney-gene during the years eighteen hundred and ninety-nine to nineteen hundred and five, inclusive, as he may deem to be of public interest or useful for reference." It has seemed best that the method of arrangement of this volume should follow that of Volume I of the Opinions of the AttorneysGeneral, issued in 1899, so that there should be a substantial uniformity in the several volumes of the series. The work of preparation has been in charge of Frederic B. Greenhalge, Assistant AttorneyGeneral. DANA MALONE, Attorney-General. Boston, December, 1907. TABLE OF STATUTES CITED OR REFERRED TO IN THIS VOLUME. 1862, July 2, 12 Stat. 503, c. 130, 359 1892, August 1, 27 Stat. 340, c. 352, 446 1868, June 25, 15 Stat. 77, c. 72, 446 1898, June 13, 30 Stat. 448, c. 448, 1890, August 8, 26 Stat. 313, c. 728, 437 § 6, 88 STATUTES OF THE COMMONWEALTH Con. PAGE PAGE . . . . 1833, c. 116, 1837, c. 229, 1839, c. 70, 5,. 1848, c. 276, § 2, 1852, c. 157, $$ 2, 3, c. 275, § 8, 1854, c. 448, $ 34, 1855, c. 445, $ 2, . 1856, c. 50, $ 1, c. 173, $$ 2, 9, 541 15 18, 80, 81, 291 24, 80 134 280 302 22 214 . 463 292 . . . . 4, 81 . $ 3, c. 372, $ 179, 1875, c. 173, $ 29, c. 241, $ 4, 1876, c. 227, § 5, 1877, c. 204, c. 224, § 8, 1878, c. 190, § 1, cl. 6; 1879, c. 130, $ 1, c. 242, $ 2, c. 263, 1880, c. 260, § 1, par. 1, 1881, c. 191, $ 1, c. 196, § 1, c. 271, § 1, 1882, c. 121, c. 246, c. 251, 1883, c. 127, 1884, c. 201, $ 11, c. 255, § 28, 127, 130, 139 25 139-141 139 614 193 193 501 · 636 501 27 539 74 74 48, 447 359 84, 359 84 501 26 26 127, 140, 141 141 277 26 631 132, 134, 135 179 233 26 65 65 15, 81, 292 4 479 5 7,8 469 27, 249 463 147 3 287 116 35 91 . . 1858, c. 1, $$ 1, 2, 1859, c. 139, § 5, c. 196, $ 9, c. 249, § 4, 1860, c. 211, $ 3, . 1862, c. 176, 1863, c. 166, c. 220, 1864, c. 223, c. 229, § 14, 1865, c. 162, 1866, c. 131, c. 149, c. 189, 1867, c. 268, c. 270, $ 4, $ 17, c. 296, § 7, . 1868, c. 309, 88 7, 8, 1869, c. 384, $ 7, c. 432, c. 461, 1870, c. 224, § 1, c. 284, c. 325, § 1, . 1871, c. 382, § 1, 1872, c. 188, § 2, . c. 236, $ 2, c. 298, § 4, $ 14, cl. 6, c. 330, $1, 1885, c. 109, c. 121, $ 1, 87, § 12, |