54 F. 63 | 9th Cir. | 1893
This appeal is taken from an order of the circuit court in the district of Washington sustaining a demurrer and dismissing the bill of! complaint. Hinchman v. Kelley, 49 Fed. Rep. 492.
The bill, in substance, alleges that in February, 1872, one Ira B. Thomas held the legal title to certain land, described in the bill, and was apparently the owner thereof; that in fact the land was then owned by Philo Osgood, and the legal title was vested in Thomas in secret trust for Osgood; that the Lake Superior & Puget Sound Company, a corporation, through its agent, Edward B. Smith, in good faith, and without notice of the said trust, contracted for and
Can this action be maintained for the enforcement of the trust? Is the rignt of action barred by lapse of time? Was the grantor of appellant, the Lake Superior & Puget Sound Company, guilty of such laches as to deprive it of the right to maintain this action? Can laches or lapse of time be pleaded in bar to an action for the enforcement of a trust of the character set out in the MR? There & no averment in the bill that the cestui que trust ever requested the enforcement of'the trust during the life of Thomas, or during the life of Smith, its alleged trustee. No explanation is given as to why the suit was not brought in their lifetime, nor any reason given why the eommeiicemont of the action was delayed for such a long period of time after their death, — 19 years after the death of Thomas, smd 6 years after the death of itaith. There is no averment that the executors of Smith, have ever admitted the trust. No written contract is alleged to be in existence as evidence of the trust. The assignment of the trust was not executed by the Lake Superior & Puget Sound Company until nearly six years after the death of its alleged trustee, and long after the statutory period of limitation, under the law of Washington, had fully run. . Courts of equity have always refused to give any aid to stale demands when the parties seeking relief have slept upon their rights, and acquiesced for a long period of time, and have repeatedly declared that nothing can call a court of equity into activity but conscience, good faith, and reasonable diligence. Ladies and unreasonable neglect are always discountenanced. This defense is peculiar to courts of equity, and is founded upon grounds of public policy, and is often based upon the mere lapse of time, and the stoleness of the claim, in cases where no statute of limitations directly governs the case; the courts acting sometimes by analogy of the la,w of limitations, and sometimes upon their own inherent doctrine of discouraging antiquated demands by refusing to interfere where there has been gross laches in prosecuting alleged rights. This general rule is admitted. Its application to the facts of this case is, however, denied. Every case must, of course, depend upon its own peculiar facts. While it is true that one ground most frequently mentioned for the enforcement of the general rule, to wit, the possession of the party against whom the demand is made, and long and unreasonable acquiescence in the assertion of adverse rights, does not exist in this case, yet there are other grounds that are directly applicable to the facts of this case that have been recognized as equally controlling in favor of the rule. One of the particular reasons which have induced the courts to
The principles applicable to the case at bar are clearly stated in 2 Story, Eq. Jur. § 1520a, as follows:
“It is often suggested that lapse of time constitutes no bar in cases of trust. But this proposition must be received with its appropriate qualifications. As long as the relation of trustee and cestui que trust is acknowledged to. exist between the parties, and the trust is continued, lapse of time can constitute no bar to an account or other proper relief for the cestui que trust. But where this relation is no longer admitted to exist, or time and long acquiescence have obscured the nature and character of the trust, or the acts of the parties or other circumstances give rise to presumptions unfavorable to its continuance, in all such cases a court of equity will refuse relief upon the ground of lapse of time, and its inability to do complete justice. This doctrine will apply even to cases of express trust, and, a fortiori, it will apply with increased strength to cases of implied or constructive trusts.”
After a careful review of the decisions upon this question, we are of opinion that the North Olympia Land Company, upon the facts alleged in the bill, has the right to rely upon the well-settled principles of equity that time and long acquiescence, the want of diligence, the failure to assign any reason for delay, and other acts of the parties, sufficient to raise the presumption that the Lake Superior & Puget Sound Company had abandoned its claim, or that it was in some manner arranged or compromised prior to its assignment to complainant, have deprived complainant of asserting any rights in the premises in a court of equity.
It affirmatively appearing from the averments of the bill that complainant is not entitled to any relief by reason of the laches and unreasonable delay of the Lake Superior & Puget Sound Company, the objection was properly taken by a demurrer. Maxwell v. Kennedy, 8 How. 210; Brown v. County of Buena Vista, 95 U. S. 159; Bank v. Carpenter, 101 U. S. 568; Speidel v. Henrici, 120 U. S.