116 Iowa 675 | Iowa | 1902
It will be observed from tbe foregoing statement of facts that prior to tbe deed of Emily Martin, on September 4, 1894, an examination of the premises would have been necessary to locate the tract of land in controversy. Her deed pointed it out somewhat more- definitely as the west 18.1 acres of the north of the south -J of the quarter section, with the north side 1,192.95 feet long, and the south side 1,194 feet; the east end 695.5 feet wide, and west end 661.95. But nothing in the assessment or sale indicated the part of the 40 acres intended. Eor all the record disclosed, it may as well have been in the south -J as the north •J, in the east as well as the west; for the description, “part of section in southwest northeast ¿ section 27; * * * acres, eighteen,”-— furnishes no clew from which its location could be ascertained. Nor is its form or any of its boundaries or monuments indicated. An infinite number of 18-acre tracts can be surveyed in the 40, no two alike. It may be that such a description would suffice if contained in a contract or conveyance between individuals, for possibly extrinsic evidence could be received to point out the subject of their agreement. But in the assessment and sale for taxes the intention of the owner is in no way involved. The government is in a hostile attitude with respect to the collection of its dues, and the statutes conferring .powers on officers with respect thereto must be complied with. -Blackwell, Tax Titles (5th Ed.), section 157 et seq. See Wofford v. McKinna, 23 Tex. 36 (76 Am. Dec. 53). The statute in force at the time required the land to be assessed “by township, range, section or part of section, and when such part is not á congressional division or subdivision, some other description sufficient to identify it.” Section 821, Code 1873. In Roberts v. Deeds, 57 Iowa, 320, the description was, “northwest part northeast section 31 * * * containing therein three acres,” but the only land Deeds owned in the 40 extended across it; and, in holding the deed void for uncertainty, the' court said of the description: “It con