CHAPTER XIII.

HOMESTEADS.

There shall be allowed homestead exemptions, to be selected by the debtor, consisting of lands and appurtenances thereon, not exceeding in value one thousand dollars for the judgment debtor, and the further sum of two hundred and fifty dollars for each member of the family (which, in some instances, amount to thirty or forty, including wives and children). If the premises amount in value to more than the homestead exemption, it may be ordered sold or partitioned, and in case of sale, the excess over the exemption valuation is subject to execution; and in case of partition, the part divided off from the homestead is subject to sale on execution, the valuation to be made by persons chosen by the debtor and the officers having the execution.

CHAPTER XIV.

DEPOSITIONS.

May be taken in any action at any time after service of summons, or the appearance of the defendant, and in a special proceeding after a question of fact has arisen therein, in the following cases:

1. When a witness is a party to the action or proceeding, or a person for whose immediate benefit the action or proceeding is prosecuted or defended.

2. When the witness resides out of the county in which his testimony is to be used.

3. When the witness is about to leave the county where the action is to be tried, and will probably continue absent when his testimony is required.

4. When the witness, otherwise liable to attend the trial, is too infirm to attend, or resides within the county, but more than fifty miles from the place of trial.

Either party may have a deposition of a witness taken before a Notary Public, Justice of the Peace, Judge, or Clerk of a Court, by serving notice on the adverse party of the time and place of the examination, together with a copy of the affidavit showing the case to be one of the kind above mentioned. The notice must be served at least five days, and one additional day for every twenty-five miles of distance of the place of examination from the residence of the person served, unless for cause the Court prescribes a shorter time.

The witness may be cross-examined, and after having his testimony carefully examined and read to him, he shall sign it; and the officer taking the deposition shall certify it up to the proper Court, inclosed in an envelope, and addressed to the Clerk of the Court in which the action is pending, or to such person as the parties may agree upon, or transmit through the mail; and such deposition may be used by either party on the trial. No objections to the form of an interrogatory at the trial will be heard, unless made at the time of taking, if the party making the objection is in attendance at the taking.

If a deposition be taken on account of the absence from the county, or intended absence, or because the witness is too infirm to attend, before being used proof must be made by affidavit or oral testimony that the witness' disability continues, to the best of affiant's knowledge. The deposition may be read in case of his death.

Depositions once taken may be read in any stage of the cause by either party, and shall be deemed evidence of the party reading them.

If a deposition be taken out of the Territory, it must be upon a commission issued by the Court, under its seal, upon five days' notice to the adverse party of the application for a commission, and shall be issued to a person to be agreed upon between the parties; and in case of disagreement, then to such

person as the Court may appoint, or to a Commissioner appointed by the Governor of this Territory to take affidavits and depositions in the States or Territories.

Such interrogatories, direct and cross, as the parties prepare, or in case of disagreement, such as the Court shall settle, shall be annexed to the commission. The cause shall not be continued on account of the non-return of the commission and deposition, unless upon evidence satisfactory to the Court that the testimony of the witness is necessary, and that proper diligence has been used to obtain it.

The statute also provides for the taking of testimony, and for its perpetuation, upon application to the Court, showing that the applicant expects to be a party to an action in this Territory, and giving the names of persons whom he expects will be adverse parties; that the proof of some facts is necessary to perfect the title to property in which he is interested, or to establish a marriage, descent, heirship, or any other matter which it may hereafter become material to establish, though no suit may at the time be anticipated. The names of the witneses and the general outline of the facts expected to be proven, to be stated. Affidavits or other proofs filed with the testimony shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein. No particular form of the certificate of the officer taking the deposition is prescribed by the statute.

CHAPTER XV.

JUDICIAL RECORDS, HOW PROVEN.

A judicial record of this Territory, or of the United States, or of any State or Territory of the United States, may be admitted in the Courts of this Territory by the attestation of the Clerk, with the seal of the Court annexed, together with the

certificate of the Judge, Chief Justice, or presiding Magistrate, as the case may be, that said attestation is in due form.

A judicial record of a foreign country may be proved by the production of a copy thereof, certified by the Clerk, with the seal of the Court annexed, if there be a Clerk and seal, to be a true copy of such record, together with a certificate of the Judge of the Court, that the person making the certificate is the Clerk of the Court, or the legal keeper of the records; and in either case, that the signature is genuine, and the certificate in due form; together with the certificate of the Minister or Embassador of the United States, or of a Consul, Vice-Consul or Consular Agent of the United States, in such foreign country, that there is such a Court, specifying generally its jurisdiction, and verifying the signature of the Judge and Clerk, or other legal keeper of the record.

A copy of the judicial record of a foreign country shall also be admissible in evidence, upon proof, first, that the copy offered has been compared by the witness with the original, and is an exact transcript of the whole of it; and that such original was in the custody of the Clerk of the Court, or other legal keeper of the same; and that the copy is duly attested by the seal which is proved to be the seal of the Court where the record remains, if it be the record of a Court; or if there be no such seal, or if it be not the record of a Court, by the signature of the legal keeper of the original.

CHAPTER XVI.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

Deeds, mortgages, powers of attorney, or other instruments affecting the title to real estate, must be acknowledged or proved and witnessed by one or more witnesses before they can be legally placed upon record.

The following is the form of the acknowledgment certificate:

STATE OR TERRITORY OF

COUNTY. S day of

SS.

On this A. D. 189-, personally appeared before a Notary Public in and for said county, who is personally known to me to be the person described in and who executed the foregoing instrument, who acknowledged to me that he executed the same freely and voluntarily, and for the uses and purposes therein mentioned. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and official seal, on the day and year last above written.

[SEAL.]

Notary Public.

A married woman may release her dower by uniting in the conveyance with her husband, and acknowledging the same in the same form as a femme sole.

The following officers are anthorized to take acknowledgments and certify to them:

If acknowledged or proven within this Territory: by some Judge or Clerk of a Court having a seal, or some Notary Public, or County Recorder, or by a Justice of the Peace of the county where the conveyance is executed, and to be recorded.

If acknowledged or proved out of the Territory, and within any State or Territory in the United States: by some Judge or Clerk of any Court of the United States, or of any State or Territory having a seal, or by a Notary Public, or by a Commissioner appointed by the Governor of this Territory for that purpose.

If acknowledged or proved without the United States: by some Judge or Clerk of any Court of any State, Kingdom, or Empire having a seal, any Notary Public therein, or any Minister, Commissioner, or Consul of the United States appointed to reside therein. Such officers may take and certify such proofs or acknowledgments by their respective deputies, in the names of their principals.