tracts of an insane person, except those for necessaries of life, are absolutely void; not merely void at the option of the insane person.

Courts will always relieve persons who have parted with valuable rights or property while insane, if they are entitled to disaffirm the transaction. An insane person must sue or be sued by guardian appointed generally or for the purposes of the suit. The presumption of law is always in favor of sanity until insanity is shown, when the presumption is in favor of its continuance; that is, the person alleging insanity must prove it, but when it has been proven, the courts will presume its continuance until disproven.

In Wisconsin it is provided by statute that whenever application is made for the appointment of a guardian for an insane person, drunkard or spendthrift, a copy of the petition and notice of application for the appointment may be recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds, and if a guardian is appointed on such petition, all contracts, gifts and conveyances of the incompetent, except for necessaries at reasonable prices, after the recording of such copy, shall be void.

A spendthrift is defined in Wisconsin by statute to include "every person who is liable to be put under guardianship on account of excessive-drinking, gaming, idleness or debauchery." The contract of a spendthrift, unless he is otherwise under disability, is not void until he is put under guardianship, or until a copy of the petition for the appointment of a guardian and notice thereon has been recorded as in the case of persons alleged to be insane.

In

Joint contracts.-A contract may impose an obligation or confer a benefit on several persons. If the contract imposes its whole obligation or benefit on two or more persons together, it is a joint contract, and usually all must sue or be sued for a breach, as the case may be. Joint contracts usually employ the terms "we agree", or "we promise." such case all the makers are liable so that each is responsible for the whole obligation. A contract may also be joint and several, that is, it may not only bind the parties jointly, but may bind each of the promisors to the performance of the whole contract, independently of the rest, and in such case any one of the obligors may be sued alone. Such contracts generally employ the terms "we jointly and severally agree”.

The advantage of a contract made in this way is that the party enforcing it can hold any one or all of the obligors to its performance. A contract which is written in the singular person, as "I promise", but signed by several, becomes a joint and several contract. At common law the release of one joint debtor operates as a discharge of all. The following statute in Wisconsin changes the common law. "Any creditor to whom two or more persons are jointly indebted, either upon contract or the judgment of any court of record, may release one or more of the persons so jointly liable from such joint indebtness; and such release shall operate as a satisfaction or discharge of such joint debt only to the amount of the proportion which the person so released ought in equity, as between himself and the other joint debtor or debtors, to pay; and as to the balance of such joint debt the contract or judgment, as the case may be, on which the same is owing shall be and remain in full force as to the joint debtor or debtors not so released and may be enforced against him or them alone the same as if such joint contract or judgment had been made or rendered against him or them alone; provided, that if the amount paid by the person released in any case to procure his release shall exceed the proportion of such joint debt which he, as between himself and co-debtor or creditors, ought to pay, then such joint debt shall thereby be satisfied to the extent of the sum actually paid to procure such release; and provided also that if the person released is only a surety his release shall operate as payment of such joint debt to the extent of the money actually paid by him to procure his release and no further." Under this statute a principal debtor cannot be released, however, without also discharging his surety.

In case of the death of a joint debtor the survivor or survivors may be sued, but the estate of the deceased may also be held liable. When a joint debtor pays more than his share of the joint debt, he may enforce contribution from the other joint debtor or debtors. It is provided by statute in Wisconsin that when joint debtors are sued and one or more cannot be found, the debtor or debtors served may be proceeded against. Judgment in such case is rendered in form against all of the joint debtors, but execution can only be issued against those served. The defendants not served may be proceed against afterwards.

Who bound by a contract.-The general rule is that only the parties to a contract are bound by it and can enforce it. Some courts have made an exception to the general rule and allow third persons for whose benefit a contract is made to enforce it, although they are not parties thereto. This is the law in Wisconsin. The mere fact that a third party may incidentally be benefitted by a contract is however not sufficient to enable him to enforce it; the contract must have been made for his benefit, and must have been intended to confer a benefit on him. Thus, it has been decided in Wisconsin that when one holds a policy of fire insurance in a company which afterwards re-insures in another company, he may sue the re-insurance company for a loss. "It is the settled law of this state that when one person for a valuable consideration engages with another, whether by simple contract or covenant under seal, to do some act for the benefit of a third person, the latter may maintain an action against the promisor for breach of the engagement."

"If a person makes a contract with another for the benefit of a third person, the latter may enforce it at law regardless of his relations with the first person or whether he had any knowledge of the transaction between such first person and such other at the time of its occurence, and regardless of any formal assent thereto on his part prior to the commencement of the action." "Upon the happening of such a transaction as that mentioned, the law operates upon the acts of the immediate parties thereto, at once creating all the relations of privity between the one making the promise and the one to be benefited thereby requisite to binding contractual relations between them." "Contractual relations being established in the manner indicated . . . . . . neither one or both of the immediate parties to the transaction can rescind the same or in any way interrupt or prejudice the rights of such other without his consent."

Substitution.-Persons not parties to contracts as originally made may become such subsequently by the action of the parties, or may become entitled to the benefits thereof by operation of law. When a change is made by agreement of all parties, it is made by what is called novation; when by one party transferring his rights under a contract to a third, it is done by assignment, and when rights are transferred by operation of law, it is called subrogation.

Novation.-Novation is the substitution of one contract for another between the same parties, or different parties, the consideration being the discharge of the old contract. Thus, if A owes B $100, and B owes C the same sum, the three may agree that A shall pay C this sum. A is thereby discharged of his debt to B and B of his debt to C. This is often accomplished by the drawing and acceptance of drafts. The new contract must be a valid one; if not, no novation takes place. Where the novation consists of a new contract between the same parties, there need be only two parties, but in all other cases there must be at least three parties. There can be no novation unless one contract is extinguished and another is substituted therefor. The original contract must be valid and legal, otherwise there will be no consideration for the subsequent one. The substituted contract must also be legal, and must therefore have all the elements of any other contract. There can be no novation unless the parties to the old and new contract assent, as without the consent of the parties to the old contract it cannot be extinguished, and unless all interested in the new contract assent, it cannot be made.

Assignment.-An assignment is a transfer or making over to another of the whole of any property, real or personal, in possession or in action, or of any estate or right therein. There has been a great change in the law in recent years as to the assignability of property rights of various kinds. Generally, at the present time, valuable interests of all kinds, whether they are definite or not, may be assigned. The rule of law in Wisconsin is that any cause of action or claim which will survive the owner, so as to pass to his estate, may also be assigned by him. Practically every cause of action growing out of contract may be assigned. In Wisconsin it is provided by statute that every action must be prosecuted by the real party in interest, and therefore when a cause of action of any kind has been assigned to another, it must be sued on in the name of the assignee. The Wisconsin statute provides that the following causes of action survive in addition to those which survive at common law, and may therefore be assigned: "Actions for the recovery of personal property, or the unlawful withholding or conversion thereof, for assault and battery, false imprisonment or other damage to the person, for goods taken and carried away, for

damage done to real or personal estate, equitable actions to set aside conveyances of real estate, to compel a re-conveyance thereof, and to quiet title thereto, and for specific performance of contracts relating to real estate."

Usually, cases of assignment arise in the transfer of a note, the sale of an account, assignment of an insurance policy, warehouse receipt or bill of lading, and the negotiation of a note or check. Other causes of action and rights which have been held assignable in Wisconsin are as follows: A claim of an employe of a corporation to enforce his claim against stockholders; a claim against an attorney who has become liable for costs; the income of personal property held in trust; the right to obtain compensation for land taken by a railroad company; a claim for personal injuries; the franchise or rights of an electric light company; subscriptions to the stock of a corporation; a claim for damage for negligently setting a fire. The following have been held not assignable: an instalment of alimony adjudged to be paid to a wife, before it is due; a right of action for libel, or growing out of a conspiracy to defraud, or a right of a vendor to avoid a sale on the ground of fraud, or a cause of action for breach of promise. These are mere personal rights, and are considered by law incapable of being alienated to others.

The better practice is to reduce an assignment to writing. It may, however, be made orally, unless required to be in writing by the Statute of Frauds. A judgment of a court of record in this state can be assigned only by an instrument in writing duly acknowledged and filed with the clerk of the court, or by an assignment entered on the judgment docket, witnessed by the clerk. A chattel mortgage, a real estate mortgage, a note or bond, for instance, may be assigned without any writing.

Effect of assignment.-The assignee of a claim or cause of action stands in exactly the same position as the assignor. He succeeds to the same rights and obligations that the assignor sustained towards the claim or cause of action assigned. The assignee takes it subject to every defense which existed against the assignor. It is provided by statute in Wisconsin that "in case of an assignment of a thing in action, the action of the assignee shall be without prejudice to any set-off or other defense existing at the time or before notice of the assignment. . . ." The only exception to this