58 Kan. 773 | Kan. | 1897
The town site of Palmetto was entered by the probate judge, in accordance with the act of Congress, for the benefit of the occupants thereof, as a town site. He conveyed the land to twelve persons, by name, as members of the Palmetto Town Company. Some of these persons, and the heirs of others, have conveyed to the plaintiff, which now claims the lots in controversy, which are included in the town site. The
The sixth instruction is faulty because it ignores the proposition that all entries of town sites are for the benefit of the occupants thereof, and asserts that a town site may be entered solely for the benefit of a corporation, and that the occupants may hold merely for the benefit of the corporation, without having tona fide individual claims. This is not in accordance with a sound interpretation of the law governing the entry of town sites. They are not entered, primarily, for speculative corporations, but for actual settlers engaged in building a town. The seventh instruction is subject to the same criticism. -
We appreciate the force of the suggestion, in the brief for the defendants in error, that the plaintiff corporation appears somewhat in the attitude of a speculator in stale titles, and, as such, is not entitled to any special favor from the court. The law, however, seems to allow the purchase of whatever title a vendor may have. The owner never loses his title by mere lapse of time alone if the property is unoccupied. We are well aware that the law relating to title to land falls far short of effecting an equal, or seemingly equitable, distribution of the face of the earth among the people. Arbitrary rules, often exceedingly harsh in their application, fix the rights of parties. Courts are not at liberty to take from one and give to another whom they deem more worthy, unless the established rules of law sustain his Tight. In the eye of the law, the need of one weighs nothing as against the strict right of another, who may have absolutely no apparent use for the property in controversy. It is better that we should adhere to and enforce the law as we find it than be guilty of any disregard of its principles for the purpose of attaining what, to us as individuals, may appear better justice. The plaintiff appears to have the legal right to an interest, the exact extent of which we shall not attempt to determine, in the land in controversy. The defendants appear to have but a