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 date of the filing thereof, be renewed by the filing in the office of the register of deeds of the proper county of a copy of such mortgage, together with a statement of the amount or balance of the mortgage debt for which a lien is still claimed, duly subscribed and sworn to by the then owner of the mortgage, his agent or attorney; and in like manner the copy and statement of debt must be again filed every three years, or the mortgage shall cease to be valid as against the parties in § 1 of this act mentioned.” This statute must be construed with a view to the object of the law in requiring a chattel mortgage to be filed and to be refiled after the lapse of a certain period. Filing is a substitute for possession. Jones, Chat. Mortg. § § 176, 178, 236, 237; Morrow v. Reed, 30 Wis. 81; Harrington v. Brittan, 23 Wis. 541; Dolan v. Van Demark, (Kan.) 10 Pac. Rep. 850; Fromme v. Jones, 13 Iowa, 474; Janvrin v. Fogg, 49 N. H. 340; Kelley v. Reynolds, 39 Mich. 467; Nicklin v. Nelson, (Or.) 5 Pac. Rep. 51.- When possession is immediately delivered, it is unnecessary to file the mortgage. If possession is taken by the mortgagee before the period arrives at which the mortgage is required to be renewed, there is no reason why the failure to renew it should effect its validity. There is ample authority to support this construction of the statute. Dayton v. Bank, 23 Kan. 421; Jones, Chat. Mortg. § § 294, 297; Porter v. Parmly, 43 How. Pr. 445, 459, on appeal, 52 N. Y. 185; Howard v. Bank, (Kan.) 24 Pac. Rep. 983, 985. See, also, Hauselt v. Harrison, 105 U. S. 401; Applewhite v. Mill Co., (Ark.) 5 S. W. Rep. 292; Bank v. Sprague, 21 N. J. Eq. 530. The plaintiff took possession of the property, under claim and delivery proceedings in this action, long before he was required to renew his mortgage, and was in possession of the property at the time of trial. The judgment in this case required him to return the property to the defendants, Being in possession before the time arrived at which the statute requires a chattel mortgage to be renewed, there was no occasion for renewing it. We think that, upon this record the plaintiff was entitled to recover except as to the engine, separator, and some of the plows. For