49 So. 814 | Ala. | 1909
The appellee sued the appellant in the statutory action of ejectment to recover certain lands described in the complaint. By consent the defendant disclaimed possession to all the lands except one 40, and as to this 40 the trial was had upon the general issue, which resulted in a verdict and judgment for plaintiff, from which the defendant appeals, and assigns as error the giving of. the general affirmative charge for the plaintiff, and declining to give a similar charge for the defendant, and admit ting an act of the Legislature of Alabama approved February 5, 1885 (Acts 1884-85, p. 109), in evidence. It appears from the record that the only contest or dispute in the trial that finally resulted was as to the defendant’s right to about 3 acres of the 40 acres of land in question; his title and claim thereto' being based upon the adverse possession of himself and his father under whom he claims title. It appears that the plaintiff’s legal title to the land in question Avas indisputably sIioavu, except as to these 3 acres, and as to that defendant’s title or claim was based solely upon that of adverse possession. As stated by the learned counsel for appellee in his brief, there are three fundamental questions involved in this appeal, and upon a settlement of these necessarily depend all other questions involved in this appeal: First. Can title to the lands of the University of Alabama be acquired by adverse possession? Second. If the title to such lands can be so acquired, then Avhat period of adverse possession does the laAV require, 10 or 20 years? Third. If the period be 10 years, then has appellant shown a sufficient adverse possession to any of the lands for that time to acquire title thereto?
The exact date at which the title to the particular land in question passed out of the United States into the state of Alabama was May 25, 1885. It did not, as contended by counsel for appellant, pass at the date of the act of Congress; for that act expressly provided, when the selection of the lands is made and approved by the Secretary of the Interior, then the title to the same shall vest in the state of Alabama for the use and benefit of the University of Alabama. So by the express provision of the act the title passed upon the date of the approval by the Secreary of the Interior. Nor did it pass on the date of the patent, as contended by counsel for appellee. The patent in this case was a mere evidence- of the grant. The act of Congress, as well as the patent itself, shows that the title passed from the United States into the
The University of Alabama was originally established by act of the Legislature of December 18, 1820. The title of this act was “To establish a State University.” By an act of the Legislature of December 18, 1821, the University of Alabama was incorporated. On the-24th day of December, 1822, the Legislature of Alabama passed an act to amend the act which incorporated the University of Alabama. There were various other legislative acts of Alabama relating to the University, which we find digested in Aiken’s Dig. pp. 427-436, and Clay’s Dig. pp. 583-589. These laws or previous statutes relating to the University, or a part thereof,- were codified and rewritten, and appear in the Code of 1852 as sections 383, 384, 547, 548, 834—852; but, by virtue of section 10 of that Code, statutes or laws pertaining to the University were not repealed by its adoption. These statutes, with various amendments, appeared in subse
The University is shown to be, not only an institution of the state created, provided for, and preserved by the legislative power thereof, but for nearly 100 years it has been the subject and care of constitutional provisions.
The rights of the people of the state in and to this institution and the lands granted by Congress for its establishment, aid, and endowment have in some measure been protected by constitutional provisions. — Const. 1819, art. 6, among other things, provided: “The General Assembly shall take like measure for the improvement of such lands as have been or may be hereafter granted by the United States and by this state for the support of a seminary of learning, and the moneys which may be raised from such lands, by rent, lease or sale, or from any other quarters for the purpose aforesaid, shall be and remain a fund for the exclusive support of the State University for the promotion of the arts, literature and sciences; and shall be the duty of the General Assembly as early as may be to provide effectual means for the improvement and permanent 'security of the funds and endowment of such institution.” — Const. 1861, art-. 6, contained a similar provision. The revision and amendment of that'Constitution by the constitutional convention of 1865 seems not to' have disturbed this provision or otherwise provided' for it. — see Const. 1865, art. 4, § 33. Const. 1868. art. 31, forked a completo'
These statutes and constitutional provisions shoiv the history of the University of Alabama; but the origin and foundation stones of the University of Alabama depend upon acts of Congress. (Act April 20, 1818, c. 126, § 2, 3 Stat. 467, and Act March 2, 1819, c. 47, § 5, 3 Stat. 491) for the benefit of the University of Alabama. These acts of Congress enabled the people of Alabama Territory to form a Constitution and state government and for the admission of the state of Alabama into the Union, and in that the act required “that 36 sections or one entire township be designated by the Secretary of the Treasury under the direction of the President of the United States,” and, together with the one heretofore reserved for that purpose, shall be reserved for the use of a seminary of learning and vested in the Legislature of the state of Alabama, to be appropriated solely to the use of such seminary by the said Legislature. Judge Brickell, speaking of the origin, history, powers, and obligations of the University of Alabama in the case of Trustees of the University v. Moody, 62 Ala. 394, Says: “If we admit the legislative power (a question this case does not involve), to dissolve the corporation created by the enactment of 1820 and to create a new one in its place, we are not of opinion the power was exercised by either the provisions of the Constitution of 1868 or the act of March 1,1876. The seminary of learning established by the act of 1820 as the University of Alabama has continued in existence and is recognized as existing by the Constitution of 1868 and the subsequent legislation” — holding that all of the subsequent legislation and constitutional provisions simply ratified former legislation, superadding new corporate powers, rights, and privileges, changing the governing board and
It was decided by this court in the case of White v. Alabama Insane Hospital, 138 Ala. 479, 35 South. 454, that the hospital was a mere state agency created for the purpose of caring for and treating the unfortunate in-insane citizens of the state — purely a governmental function, wise and beneficial. It was also decided by this court in the case of Ala. Girls’ Industrial School v. Reynolds, 143 Ala. 579, 42 South. 114, that this school, popularly known as “Montevallo School,” is a mere avency of the state, and that all of its property is own
If this be true of the Alabama Insane Hospital and the Alabama Girls’ Industrial School, which are purely of statutory creation and of recent date as compared with the University of Alabama, how much more- so must it be of the University of Alabama and of its lands, some of which it acquired before the state was admitted into the Union. Others were acquired at the same time the state was admitted, and one of the conditions upon which the state was admitted was that it should forever maintain and protect these lands as a trustee for this in
It may be said to be settled law, and so far as we know without conflict, that the statute of limitations, unless the statute expressly so provides, does not run against the state, and that this applies to real or personal actions. It is also well settled that in actions brought in the name of the state, which inure exclusively to or for the benefit of the individual, or of a private corporation in which the state has no real interest in the litigation, then the statute of limitations does not run against such action. — Miller v. State, 38 Ala. 600; United States v. Beebe, 127 U. S. 338, 8 Sup. Ct. 1083, 32 L. Ed. 121. It is also settled law that where the action is for the benefit of the state, although not brought in the state’s name, the defense of the statute of limitations is not
Our statute of limitations, 'from the adoption of the Code of 1852 to the adoption of the Code of 1907, authorizes the defense-of the statute of limitations of 20 years in actions brought by the state for the recovery of real or personal property. — Section 2794 of the Code of 1896; section 2475 of the Code of 1852. Owing to various amendments of our statute of limitations, the difference in the statute at the time of the rendition of the various decisions of this- court, there is an apparent conflict, though it is probably not real. It may therefore be of interest, if not of information, to briefly state a history of this statute. The statute of limitations was fixed at 20 and 30 years as it first appeared in Aiken’s Dig. p. 270, and Clay’s Dig. p. 327, with no reference to actions by the state. So the first time the statute of limitations was made applicable to the state was by the Code of 1852, which provided that the limitation for actions at
Justice Somerville, in the case of Wyatt v. Tisdale, 97 Ala. 594, 12 South. 233, referring to this statute, through an oversight, the exact question not being under consideration, said that the statute as it then existed, which vas in 1896, had existed since the Code of 1852, which as to the second subdivision was an oversight. This oversight was discovered and attention called to it by Tyson, J., in the case of Tenn. Co. v. Linn, 123 Ala. 112, 26 South. 245, 82 Am. St. Rep. 108. This section was also amended by Act Nov. 30, 1876 (Laws 1876-77, p. 102), which provided that the statute of limitations of 10 years should not apply to actions for the recovery of sixteenth section lands. This, as recited by Justice Tyson, was codified ás a part of- section 3225 of the Code of 1876, and remained the law until the adoption of the Code of 1886. So it appears that this court has decided that the statute of limitations óf 20 years
But, however that may be, we think that case is distinguishable from a case involving, as this does-, title to the lands of the University. It will be noticed that the language of the grants by Congress of the sixteenth section lands for school purposes and the language of the grants conveying the lands to the state for the use of the University is different, and consequently the cases might be distinguished upon that ground. The language of the grant of Congress passed March 2, 1819, as to the sixteenth section lands, is as follows: . “That the section numbered 16 in every township * * * shall be granted to the inhabitants of such township for the use of. the schools;” whereas by the same act of Congress the grant of the University lands was that the lands should be vested in the Legislature of the state of Alabama, to be appropriated solely to the use of such seminary by the Legislature; whereas, the grant as to the lands in question, approved April 23, 1884 (Act April 23, 188, c. 27, 23 Stat. 12), is to the state of Alabama for the benefit of the University of Alabama, etc. It is true, as said by Judge Walker in Miller’s Case, that the Supreme Court
Miller’s Case was reaffirmed in the case of Wyatt v. Tisdale, 97 Ala. 594, 12 South. 233, in which Somerville, J., placed the decision upon the ground that the sixteenth section lands were held in trust by the state, but not as property of the state. But, as we have seen in the case of University lands, the legal title passed to the state by virtue of the grant and the selection and approval by the Secretary of the Interior. While the trust was'imposed upon the lands, the legal title-to the same
It therefore follows that under the Code of 1896 the statutory period for the recovery of the University lands is 20 years, the same as other proceedings by the state. While the argument of counsel for appellee is very persuasive that the statute of limitations should not run as against the lands of the University of Alabama, because they were granted for the specific purpose, that the state could not dispose of them except for that purpose, and that the state should not be allowed to do indirectly what is forbidden from doing directly. To use his language : “Can the state say to a squatter: I cannot sell you that land; but, if you will stay on it without my knowledge for a given number of years, it is yours?” The statute of limitations cannot indirectly change the purpose of the grant. Judge Brickell intimates the same in a dictum in the case of Trustees of the University v. Moody, 62 Ala. 393, in which, speaking of the University, he says that it is in a large sense a public rather than a private corporation, though the legislative power
It is a cardinal rule that the statute of limitations, unless so expressed, does not run against the state; but it is equally a cardinal rule that they do ran against the state, if so expressed. The state could certainly by grants dispose of this land for legitimate purposes. It could authorize the board of trustees to dispose of them for legitimate purposes. The acts of Congress and of the Legislature have authorized such dispositions, and, when they have been disposed of in the manner provided by the acts of Congress and of the Legislature, the objects and purposes or motive which caused the grant cannot be inquired into in a court of law in an action of ejectment, in which purely equitable defenses cannot avail. It may be conceded that the state by its grants, or in passing the statute of limitations, which might defeat the title of these lands may have violated its trust, yet it has been uniformly held by this court that a deed by a trustee in violation of' his trust nevertheless conveys
These two questions being disposed of renders it unnecessary to pass upon the third question, whether the appellant has shown a sufficient adverse possession of the lands to acquire title thereto, for the reason that the statute of limitations could not begin to run until after the 25th day of May, 1885, and as the period of limitations is 20 years, and the action was begun on the 16th day of March, 1904, the limitations of 20 years had not expired, which was necessary in order to confer title upon appellant such as to defeat the action of ejectment.
It therefore follows that the general affirmative charge was properly given for the plaintiff. There could be no error in the court allowing the act of the Legislature of Alabama, relating to the lands, the subject-matter of the suit, to be introduced in evidence. The court would take judicial knowledge of the act, while its introduction in evidence ivas not necessary, it Avas proper, and could not be error.
The judgment of the lower court is affirmed.