Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/200

HOMESTEAD LAWS. 17:i HOMICIDE. years fruiii llic date of the original entry, and then only upon furnishing the cvidenfe rcqiiiri-d by statulf of the actual oocupaiuy ipI IIr' land and its uukivalion by the olainianl during that period. I'lovision is made, however, for shorten- ing this term by •commuting.' that is, jmying the mininuim (iovernment price for the land. Upon such payment, the homesteader may obtain a patent at any time. It is also provided that the term whicha homestead settler served in the United States Army, Xavy, or Marine Corjis, "during the Rebellion," or in "the Sjianish War," or "in suppressing the insurrection in the Philip- pines" may be deducted from the live years re- quired to perfect his title and to receive a patent for his original entry. Passing now to State homestead laws, wc shall find, as we have already stated., that their ob- ject and tenor are quite difl'erent from those of the Federal (iovernment. Their aim, it has been judicially declared, "is to provide a place for the family and its surviving members, where they may reside and enjoy tlie comforts of a home, freed from any an.xiety that it may be taken from tlieni against their will, either by reason of their own necessity or improvidence, or from the importunity of their creditors." This policy of protecting "citizens and their families from" the miseries and demoralizing inlluences of destitution, of fostering the disposition to improve and to take pride in a permanent home- stead, has commended itself to both legislators and judges. The former have enacted laws pro- viding for large cNemptions to the homesteader, while the latter have, with fcr; exceptions, con- strued such laws very liberally in his favor. In most of the States, the benefits of this legislation are confined to families, although in a few com- monwealths they are extended to any resident. whether he has a family dependent upon him or not. State legislation provides three distinct ways in which a homestead may be secured to the family against the debts of its owner. The first method is by a prescribed form of public notice properly executed and recorded. It must contain a statement of the facts showing that the person making it is the head of a family; a statement that such person resides on the land and claims it as a homestead; a description of the land, and an estimate of its actual cash value. The second method is by actual occupancy and use. The third method is by a proceeding in a court of justice. Its principal characteristics arc an application to a designated court, a notice to creditors, and a judicial decree setting apart certain property as a homestead. It is not to be understood that homestead prop- erty is exempted from every sort of claim against its owner. As a rule it is subject to debts contracted before the homestead was duly recorded or set apart as such ; to the liens of mortgages and judgments which were on the property when it was set apart; to claims for unpaid purchase money for the property, as well as for such improvements to the property as en- title the creditor to a mechanic's lien (q.v.) thereon : and to taxes and assessments for public improvements. The amount of land which may be exempted under homestead laws varies in the difTerent States. In some the limits arc those of acreage, in others those of cash value. The former range ordinarily from 40 to 160 acres; the latter from .•fiJOO to .$5000. Consult: Thompson, lliimvxlrad.i (iihI LxviitiilioHx (.San I'rancisio. ISSli); Waplcs, lluinculiails and Uxciiiiiliijim ((.'hicago, 1802). HOME, SWEET HOME. A popular song by tlohn llov;iril I'auic. in his opera. Cliiri, or the Maitl of Milau, first produced in 1823. The music of the song is by the composer of the opera, Sir Henry Bishop, who is said to have adapted it from an old .'Sicilian air. HOMEWARD BOUND. A novel by .1. Feni- morc I'cMipcr (18.!S). It relates the adventures of passeng<-rs on the packet Monlauk, which was blown out of her course to the coast of .Africa.' HOMICIDAL MANIA. The impulse to take life ill oMi- iiuiitiilly di-ordered. In melan- ch(dia. in mania, in general paresis, in paranoia, and other insane conditions, the homicidal im- pulse is not infreqvient. Indeed, in normal mental action the desire to kill is not infn(|uently pres- ent, but is controlle<l. In the various stages of insanity this control is cither diiMiMi-hed, or through hallucinations or delusions, the motive is stronger and uncontrollable, and nuirder results. It is impossible to determine beforehand whether an insane person will or will not take another's life. Often such an act is apparently the first symptom of the insanity. It is fruitless to generalize concerning such acts; the obvious les- son is that the slightest symptoms of disturbed mental action should be carefully noted ami proper precautions taken to prevent accidents. This caution is particularly pertinent in the case of pueriMTal women in whose family there has liiin :.My taint of insanity. HOMICIDE (OF.. Fr. homicUlc. from l.at. homicidium, manslaughter, from homo, man + rwdcrc, to kill). The killing of one human being by the act. procurement, or omission of another. In primitive communities, we find that it does not subject the slayer to criminal prosecution by the State. It is thought of. not as an ofTense against the common weal, hut simply as a wrong to the slain man's kindred; a wrong which they are at liberty to redress by vengi-ance upon the slayer or his kindred. Rtit this policy leads to the perpetuation of blood feuds anil to great waste of human life. Accordingly, at a very early time, the practice is introduced of buying off the injured kindreil: of appeasing the feud by a money payment. Then a scale of compensation is fixed either by custom or by legislation, graduated generally by the rank of the person slain. In .Xnglo-Saxon law this is known as werfiihl — a man's price. At first the acceptance of such compensation is left to the choice of the injured kindred. They may take it and stay the feud, or they may reject it and enforce their right of private vengeance. But as the State grows more powerful, and the death of its citizens is felt to be a harm to trie common weal, public authority compels the injured kindred to accept the compensation and not to pursue (he feud. Then comes (he final stage of legal development, in which the unlawful taking of human life is considered as primarily a wrong to the .State, a public ofTense which cannot be compounded by private bargain. See Avenger of Blood ; Bi.oon FEfD; Bi,oon- Money: .Astt.um; Wergild; etc. Homicide is a generic term, including the crimes of manslaughter (q.v.) and murder (q.v.). as well as the non-criminal forms of killing