found in all the states of this Union, and in their construction so much is left to judicial determination that uniformity in the decisions would hardly be expected. The statutes, too, present great variety. Some, like ours, are prohibitory in form, with no penalty attached, and silent as to the consequences of noncompliance. Others, while not prohibitory in form, attach a penalty for doing or failing to do certain specified things. Others have both the prohibitory form and the penalty. Some declare contracts made without compliance with their provisions void and unenforceable or unlawful. Others specify various consequences that shall follow noncompliance. One class of cases, where the statutes are prohibitory, with penalty attached, holds that contracts made without compliance with the terms of the statute are nevertheless valid and enforceable, on the ground that by annexing a penalty the legislature manifested its purpose that the penalty should be exclusive of all other consequences of noncompliance. Of this class are Lumber Co. v. Thomas, 33 W. Va. 566, 11S. E. Rep. 37; Jusurance Co. v. Walsh, 18 Mo. 229; Insurance Co. v. McMillen, 24 Ohio St. 67; Harms v. Runnels, 12 How. 79. Another class of cases, under similar statutes, holds that the annexation of a penalty renders all acts which subject the party to the penalty unlawful, and hence unenforceable, on the universally accepted proposition that no cause of action can be based upon an unlawful transaction. See Buxton v. Hamblen 32 Me. 448; Miller v. Post, 1 Allen, 434; Wheeler v. Russell, 17 Mass. 257; Johnson v. Hulings, 103 Pa. St. 498; Holt v. Green, 73 Pa. St. 198; Dudley v. Collier, ( Ala.) 6S. Rep. 304; Insurance Co. v. Harvey, 11 Wis. 412; Elkins v. Parkhurst, 17 Vt. 105. But there is still another class ot cases, where the statute annexes a penalty, that holds that contracts made without compliance with the statute are nevertheless valid, on the ground that the purpose of the statute was not to prohibit business, but to accomplish some collateral object. In this class we cite Larned v. Andrews, 106 Mass. 435; Aiken v. Blaisdell, 41 Vt. 655; DeMers v. Daniels, 39 Minn. 158, 39 N. W. Rep. 98; Strong v. Darling, 9 Ohio, 201;
