134 Minn. 412 | Minn. | 1916
Action to determine adverse claims. There were findings and judgment for the defendant. The plaintiff appeals from the judgment.
Afterwards a deed was executed, pursuant to the agreement, and the defendant Bishop Iran Company now has title to the undivided interests
The plaintiff claims that the defendant has abandoned its option, and further that, because of its failure to enter and explore, it has forfeited its rights under it. The general findings for the defendant necessarily include a negative finding upon the issues of abandonment and forfeiture presented by the evidence.
An unperfected equitable title may be lost by abandonment. Mathwig v. Ostrand, 132 Minn. 346, 157 N. W. 589; Smith v. Glover, 50 Minn. 58, 52 N. W. 210, 912; Holingren v. Piete, 50 Minn. 27, 52 N. W. 266. So an easement may be, though originating in grant. Norton v. Duluth Transfer Ry. Co. 129 Minn. 126, 151 N. W. 907. A legal title cannot be lost by abandonment. Purcell v. Thornton, 128 Minn. 255, 150 N. W. 899; Krueger v. Market, 124 Minn. 393, 145 N. W. 30. An abandonment involves an intent to give up the right or estate abandoned. Smith v. Glover, 50 Minn. 58, 52 N. W. 210, 912; Rowe v. City of Minneapolis, 49 Minn. 148, 51 N. W. 907. The usual option does not give a legal or equitable title. It gives a legal right the exercise of which may result in the transfer of title.
It has been held that agreements, or options or leases, expressly or impliedly requiring work and exploration, may be abandoned, or that they may be forfeited for a failure to make the contemplated explorations. The following cases are typical: Stage v. Boyer, 183 Pa. St. 560, 38 Atl. 1035; Aye v. Philadelphia Co. 193 Pa. St. 451, 44 Atl. 555, 74 Am. St. 696; Tennessee Oil, Gas & Mineral Co. v. Brown, 131 Fed. 696, 65 C. C. A. 524; Genet v. Delaware & H. Canal Co. 136 N. Y. 593, 32 N. E. 1078, 19 L.R.A. 127; Eastern Kentucky M. & T. Co. v. Swann-Day Lumber Co. 148 Ky. 82, 146 S. W. 438, 46 L.R.A. (N.S.) 672; Hawkins v. Pepper, 117 N. C. 407, 23 S. E. 434; Negaunee Iron Co. v. Iron Cliffs Co. 134 Mich. 264, 96 N. W. 468; Florence Oil & Refining Co. v. Orman, 19 Colo. App. 79, 73 Pac. 628; Shenandoah L. & A. Coal Co. v. Hise, 92 Va. 238, 23 S. E. 303. Many of the cases involve contracts executed
“Nor are the exceptions and reservations contrary to public policy, which requires that freedom of contract shall remain inviolate, except only ip cases which contravene public right or the public welfare. Primarily it is the prerogative of the legislature to declare what contracts and acts are contrary to public policy and forbid them;’hence public policy is what a statute enacts. Courts cannot declare contracts or acts*417 authorized by statute to be contrary to public policy; but in the absence of a statute they may declare void, as against public policy, contracts which are clearly injurious to the interests of the public. * * *
"Contracts excepting ores and minerals from grants of land with a reservation of the right to .enter upon the portion thereof granted are in accordance with long-established usage and have been invariably held by the courts to be valid; hence they are not contrary to, but in harmony with, public policy.”
We do not fail to note the differences between the right there involved and that here involved nor do we overlook the resemblances. The situations are so similar, and the rights so far as any public policy is concerned are so alike, that the language quoted is pertinent and we hold it applicable. What was said in paragraph 1, when speaking of abandonment and forfeiture, relative to the character of the option agreement, the nature of the property included in it, and the situation of the parties when the option was given, is relevant upon the claim that it offends public policy. We hold that it does not.
Judgment affirmed.