A writ of attachment is a writ which commands the seizure of the property of the defendant to satisfy the demand of the plaintiff. This writ to attach or measure process is an extraordinary power, unknown to the common law, and only created by statute. In the absence of statutory provisions prescribing a more liberal rule, statutes providing for attachments are to be strictly construed.2 In Moore vs. Hamilton,3 the Supreme Court of Illinois, discussing the then existing Illinois attachment law, said:

1 Consult statutes of several states.

"The statute only allows the remedy by attachment to recover indebtedness growing out of contracts, expressed or implied, or ascertained and liquidated by a judgment. An original attachment cannot be sued out for the purpose of recovering damages for a tort. By the 30th section, an attachment may be sued out in aid of an action of trespass. If the attachment thus instituted could be carried on without reference to the pending action, the effect would be to permit the plaintiff to recover a judgment in attachment against a non-resident for a personal injury. This would allow him to do indirectly by this kind of proceeding, what he cannot do directly by an original proceeding. The remedies by attachment are in derogation of the common law, and ought not to be extended by implication."

In all the states of the country, outside of the New England states, it is specially provided by statute that no attachment shall be issued, except upon the filing of an affidavit alleging the necessary ground for such attachment.

A writ of attachment must always be accompanied by a summons, unless the suit is brought against a non-resident defendant who has property within the jurisdiction of the court, before which the suit is brought. In such case the attachment of the property-gives the court a limited jurisdiction, and a judgment in rem may be issued, but not one in personam.

2 Elliott vs. Jackson, 3 Wis., 649; Shirley vs. Owners of Steamer, 5 La. Ann., 250.

3 7 Ill., 429.

An attachment is ipso facto dissolved by a final judgment for the defendant.4