such district by the board of trustees thereof, when authorized by the board of school inspectors of the township of Calumet". Section 1 of Act 446 of the Local Acts of 1903.

If all of the territory in the township of Calumet has been attached to said district No. I so that the boundaries of the district are now co-extensive with the boundaries of the township, then we think that the district should be said to be a township district operating under a local act, but if only a portion of the territory within said township has been annexed to said district No. 1, then it could not be said that the district is a township district within the intent and meaning of Section 24 of Act 117 of the Public Acts of 1909 as amended.

Very respectfully,

ANDREW B. DOUGHERTY, Attorney General.

SCHOOLS: Boundary lines of districts organized under Act 166 of the Public Acts of 1917 cannot be changed by annexing territory outside of the city, except as the boundaries of the city are changed. March 13, 1924.

Hon. Thomas E. Johnson, Superintendent of Public Instruction,

Lansing, Michigan.

Dear Sir: You have requested the opinion of this Department as to whether the boundary lines of the Lansing city school district may be changed by annexing territory, no change being made in the boundary lines of the city of Lansing.

The school system of the city of Lansing is organized and operated under Act 166 of the Public Acts of 1917 and is known as a third class school district. Section 1 of said act provides in part: "That the territorial limits of any school district may be increased or decreased at any time by consolidation, division or otherwise in accordance with the laws of this state."

I

The only act relative to changing the boundary lines of city school districts where the boundary lines of the city are not changed is Act 86 of the Public Acts of 1909. Section I of said act, however, provides in part as follows: "The provisions of this act shall apply to all school districts, the boundaries of which have been fixed by legislative act, and to school districts governed by the fourth class city act."

The boundaries of the Lansing school district have not been fixed by legislative act and the district is not governed by the fourth class city act, therefore said Act 86 of the Public Acts of 1909 is not applicable.

There are also other considerations such as the registration of voters, which force us to the conclusion that the boundaries of districts organized and operating under said Act 166 of the Public Acts of 1917 cannot be changed by annexing territory except as territory is annexed to the city.

Very respectfully,

ANDREW B. DOUGHERTY, Attorney General.

SCHOOL LAW: Child holding an eighth grade diploma is not exempt from attending school unless lawfully employed. March 17, 1924.

Department of Public Instruction, Lansing, Michigan.

Gentlemen: You recently submitted to us a letter received by your Department from George H. Curtis, Superintendent of Schools at Alpena, Michigan, in which he asks for advice on certain provisions of the school law. He wishes to know if a child who has satisfactorily completed the eighth grade work can be compelled to attend school.

In reply will advise you that under the provisions of Section 5979 of the Compiled Laws of 1915, the parent or other person having control of any child between the ages of seven and sixteen years, shall be required to send such child to school except under certain conditions mentioned in subdivisions (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of the Section. The exception mentioned in subdivision (b) is that a child who has received an eighth grade diploma is not required to attend school. This exception, however, is qualified by subdivision (f) of the same Section, which provides that a child claiming exemption on the ground of being entitled to, or having obtained an eighth grade diploma, shall secure a permit to work in accordance with the state labor law and shall be regularly employed in some lawful employment. If the child is employed in a class of work for which a labor permit is not required, he must obtain an excuse to stay away from school from either the county school commission, superintendent of schools or a duly authorized agent, as the case may be.

Such child must also furnish satisfactory evidence each month to the officer who issued the excuse, showing that he is actually performing the work for which the excuse was granted. The superintendent or other person issuing the permit must be satisfied at the time the same is granted that the person is of the age represented, has reached the normal development of a child of such age and is of sound health and physically able to perform the work for which he seeks a permit. When the child is under sixteen years of age, the officer must also be satisfied that the service of the child is essential to the support of himself or his parents.

Therefore, a child who has passed the eighth grade is not exempt from attending school unless he is employed as above mentioned, either upon a labor permit issued as herein mentioned or upon an excuse granted by one of the officers above named.

Very respectfully,

ANDREW B. DOUGHERTY, Attorney General.

INSANE PERSONS: Deeds and contracts executed by insane persons are voidable only.

Kalamazoo State Hospital, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

March 17, 1924.

Gentlemen: You have recently requested this Department for an opinion as to whether it is "left with the judgment of the medical superintendent to

determine whether a patient is competent to sign a check, contract, deed, will or any other instrument.”

The statutes of this state contain no provisions relative thereto. The general rule is that "If a person at the time of making a conveyance has sufficient capacity fully to comprehend the nature and effect of the act, the conveyance is valid; but if the grantor has not capacity equal to a full and clear understanding of the nature and consequence of the act, the conveyance is not valid. A conveyance is invalidated by monomania or specific delusion of the grantor affecting the transaction in question; but it has been held that the deed is valid if the delusion exists only with reference to an extraneous matter so that it cannot be reasonably supposed to have influenced the grantor in making the conveyance. A person insane on all subjects may make a valid conveyance in a lucid interval." 22 Cyc. 1170.

In this state the contracts and deeds of an insane person not under guardianship are not void but are merely voidable at the option of such insane person or those representing him and may be ratified by the insane person after his restoration to reason. Wolcott v. Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, 137 Mich., 309. See also 22 Cyc., 1196-1197.

Your opinion as to whether or not a patient is competent to execute a deed or contract would be valuable as evidence, but would not be conclusive.

Very respectfully,

ANDREW B. DOUGHERTY, Attorney General.

LABOR: The word "Workshop" includes an establishment where newspapers are wrapped in bundles to be mailed.

Department of Labor and Industry, Lansing, Michigan.

March 17, 1924.

Gentlemen: On the 10th instant you requested in writing an opinion as to the meaning of the word "Workshop," in Section 5330 of the Compiled Laws of 1915, as amended by Act 206 of the Public Acts of 1923. You state in your letter that a newspaper office is employing a boy between the hours of six p. m. and six a. m. to wrap bundles of papers for mailing. You wish to know if a newspaper printing establishment or the room where the papers are wrapped and tied is a workshop within the perview of the above act.

It is our opinion that the word "Workshop" as used in the statute is broad enough to include places such as mentioned above. Webster's Dictionary defines the word as "A shop where any manufacture or handiwork is carried on." In Cyc. Volume Forty, Page 2862, the word "workshop" is stated to mean: "A shop where any manufacture or handiwork is carried on whether for the purpose of repair or manufacture."

In Ritchie v. People, 155 Illinois, 98, 29 L. R. A., 79, the word "Workshop" as used in an eight hour law declaring that no female should be employed in any manufacturing establishment, factory, workshop, et cetera, more than eight hours in any one day, means any place where goods or products are manufactured or repaired, cleaned or sorted in whole or in part for sale or

wages, and in the case of Sourseleid v. Red Lake Falls Milling Company, III Minnesota, 275, the word was held to include any premises, room or place in a mill or factory wherein manual labor was exercised for purposes of cleaning or adapting for sale any aritcle or part thereof. In In Re: Spencer, 149 Cal. 396, 117 American State Reports, 137, the word "Workshop" as used in a statute prohibiting employment of children under fourteen in any mercantile institution, office, laundry, manufactory, workshop, restaurant, hotel or apartment house, was construed to include working in a barber shop, that being a place where handicraft is carried on. If the establishment you have in mind also does jobprinting, it might fall under the definition of a manufacturing establishment within the meaning of the above section of our statute.

Very respectfully,

ANDREW B. DOUGHERTY, Attorney General.

CORPORATION LAW: Right of stockholder to inspect corpor

ation's books and records, discussed.

March 28, 1924.

Mr. P. J. Whiteside, Room 1102, 10 N. Clark St., Chicago, Illinois. Dear Sir: You have requested the opinion of this Department on the following:

"Will you please advise the writer as to whether there is any law in your state that makes it compulsory for a corporation to furnish its stockholders with a financial statement of their condition upon demand?

"If such corporation refuses to give such a statement, what recourse has a stockholder? If a corporation has operated according to their own financial statement at a loss, for three years, is there any way in which a stockholder can cause such corporation to dissolve?"

In reply to your first question, I would respectfully direct your attention to Section II of Chapter I of Part II of Act 84 of the Public Acts of 1921, as amended, which provides: "The books of every corporation containing its accounts shall be kept and shall at all reasonable times be open in the city, village or township where such corporation is located, or at the office of the treasurer of such corporation within this state, for inspection by any of the stockholders of said corporation and said stockholders shall have access to the books and statement of said corporation and shall have the right to examine the same."

In answer to your second question, will say that any stockholder who seeks to examine the corporate books and statements of the corporation for the purpose of securing information for legitimate purposes can enforce this right by mandamus.

In answer to your third question, will say that the mere fact that a corporation has operated at a loss for a period of years is not sufficient ground for winding up the corporation.

Very respectfully,

ANDREW B. DOUGHERTY, Attorney General.

CORPORATION LAW: Building and loan associations cannot extend their corporate existence under Act 84 of the P. A. 1921. March 28, 1924.

Hon. Charles J. DeLand, Secretary of State, Lansing, Michigan.

Dear Sir: You have requested my opinion as to whether or not a building and loan association can extend its corporate existence by complying with section of subdivision 1 of Chapter 4 of Act 84 of the Public Acts of 1921, as amended.

Building and loan associations are organized under Act No. 50 of the Public Acts of 1887 as amended. Section 14 of that act provides the method for extending the corporate existence of corporations organized thereunder.

Section 8 of Chapter I of Part I of Act 84 of the Public Acts of 1921, as amended, expressly states that its provisions shall not apply to certain classes of corporations including building and loan associations, excepting as any specific provision may be made to expressly apply to any of said classes of corporations.

Section 1 of subdivision 1 of Chapter 4 of Act 84 applies to "any stock corporation whose term is about to expire by limitation." Reading this general language in connection with the restrictive language of Section 8 of Chapter I of Part I of Act 84 of the Public Acts of 1921, it follows that inasmuch as none of the exempted classes of corporations are mentioned therein, it only applies to corporations organized and doing business under Act 84 and can have no application to building and loan associations.

You are therefore advised that in my opinion, your question should be answered in the negative.

Very respectfully,

ANDREW B. DOUGHERTY, Attorney General.

BLUE SKY LAW: A corporation cannot sell its securities to stockholders without the same being approved by the Michigan Securities Commission.

Wixson and Quinn, Caro, Michigan.

March 28, 1924.

Gentlemen: You have requested my opinion as to whether or not bonds. of a corporation can be sold to a stockholder without the same being first approved by the Michigan Securities Commission.

Under Act 220 of the Public Acts of 1923, with the exception of securities expressly exempted from the operation of the act, all securities sold within this state must first be approved by the Michigan Securities Commission.

The classes of securities exempted from the operation of the act and issued to the stockholders of a corporation are found in subdivision (d) of Section 5 of the act which exempts: "The distribution by a corporation of capital stock, bonds or other securities to its stockholders or other security holders, as stock dividends or other distribution out of earnings or surplus."