THE OCCUPATION OF THE LAND 151 



land-seeker definitely the location of tracts of each 

 type of soil, the character of the drainage, soil-mois- 

 ture, subterranean water, climate, economic and so- 

 cial environment, and such other information as 

 would determine for the inquirer whether or not that 

 location was for him desirable. There remained, 

 therefore, in the view of the commission, little more 

 than the poor expedient of general advertising of 

 the resources of the State directly and through the 

 agency of development bureaus. To obtain such 

 detailed information for the whole State or for any 

 large portion of it will require years. 



The basis of Michigan's homestead exemption law 

 is found in an article of the second state constitu- 

 tion adopted in 1850 and attributed to Eev. John 

 D. Pierce, better known for his connection with the 

 early school system. Its inclusion in the legal system 

 was characteristic of the reforming tendencies that 

 centered about the middle point of the last century, 

 and it remains essentially unchanged, a part of the 

 constitutional law of the commonwealth. "Every 

 homestead of not exceeding forty acres of land," 

 runs the second section of Article XIV, "and the 

 dwelling house thereon and the appurtenances to be 

 selected by the owner thereof and not included in 

 any town plat, city or village," or in lieu of this 

 a certain amount of urban property "shall be exempt 

 from forced sale on execution or any other final 

 process from court." This exemption does not apply 

 in case of mortgage or other lawful alienation of 

 title, but in such cases the previous consent of the 



