32 N.J. Eq. 302 | N.J. | 1880
In looking into the propriety of trying a case of this kind in chancery, I find in the precedents no warrant whatever
The general rule undoubtedly is, that damages, as such, will not be ascertained in equity. Chief Baron Gilbert, in his Forum Fomanum, thus expresses this inability—his words are: “And it is a general rule that whenever the matter of the bill is merely damages, there the remedy is at law, because the damages cannot be ascertained by the conscience of the chancellor.” This is the language of the decisions, both ancient and modern. It is true that there are exceptions to this rule, but those exceptions plainly show its generality and force. Such exceptions rest on the ground of a convenience very nearly akin to a necessity. The compensation afforded sometimes on bills for specific performance, is one of such exceptive instances, and yet even in such class the dominance of the general principle is conspicuous, for there is everywhere running through the decisions an assertion or implication of the inadaptation of a court of equity to the admeasurement of damages in their less tangible forms. The remedy in equity has been, substantially,
Such, then, being the usual principle, the question remains, whether it becomes modified, or, rather, altogether abolished, when a receiver appointed by the court is the wrong•doer. The actionable injury in the present case arose from the neglect of one of the employes of such receiver, and the inquiry, therefore, is, whether that quality of the transaction draws to the court of equity cognizance of the litigation. It is claimed that, under such a form of proceeding, although-the action is for a tort to the property and person, the chancellor can, in his discretion, try the law and the facts and assess the damages. Ve have seen already that, if such a jurisdiction exists in equity, it is, to a very remarkable degree, inconsistent with the ordinary principles on
Why, then, should there be q,- deviation, in these particular instances, from this clearly-marked t-rack ? I am unable
With regard to precedents indicating the possession of such a jurisdiction by courts of equity, I have not found one wearing such a semblance. The course of the English chancery on this subject appears not to have been settled until a comparatively recent period, but is now quite clearly defined. At no stage of such practice are there any indications, even in the faintest degree, that the prerogative was claimed to take cognizance of all the litigations in which the receiver was a party. The power exercised was this: to prevent the property put in trust in the hands of the-receiver from being taken from him without the assent of the court, and to protect that officer from molestation by baseless litigation. But the method by which these ends were accomplished was not by an assumption of jurisdiction over all actions, whether legal or equitable, brought against the receiver, but by the expedient of requiring, as a prerequisite to such suits, the assent of the chancellor. When such an application was made, unless it plainly appeared that the alleged right of action had no foundation, and that-the proceeding would be merely vexatious, the assent of the court to the bringing of the action was given, not as a matter of grace, but ex debito jusiitia. Neither in any ease,nor in any judicial expression, have I found any indication of a claim on the part of th.e chancellor of a right to try
Even that measure of control that prevented a suit being prosecuted against its receiver, without the permission of the court, cannot, perhaps, be said to have been fully established at the time the English decisions ceased to be imperative authority in the courts of this state. Angel v. Smith, which came before Lord Eldon in the year 1804, and is reported in 9 Ves. Jr. 335, is the leading case upon the subject. Before that time thg practice was settled for encumbrancers on the property sequestered to come into equity and be examined pro interresse suo, and the court, as is now-done on a foreclosure bill, proceeded to settle the rights and priorities. See Bowles v. Parsons, 1 Dick. 142; Hamlyn v. Lee, Id. 94; Hunt v. Priest, 2 Dick. 540. But in the first case just referred to, the question was distinctly presented, whether an ejectment would lie against tbe receiver without the chancellor having first sanctioned the proceeding. The action had been brought without asking permission. The point was treated by both court and counsel as an open one, it being urged, in argument, that it had “ never been decided that, where a receiver had been appointed, a person claiming under a legal title, not derived in the cause, may not bring an ejectment.” Lord Eldon appeared to be in doubt with respect to the rule of practice, and he appealed to the register of the court for information. The register “ apprehends ” that such motions for leave to bring-suit have been made, and then the chancellor says: “ There may be inconvenience in that, but the inconvenience the other way is enormous. If it is necessary to ask leave, the court must have credit for never refusing it when it ought to be granted; and, if so, very great purposes of convenience may be answered by putting the party to ask it.” He adds: “ The court certainly would not require a man to disclose all his evidence in the master’s office. That would be á very oppressive mode.” .Then the opinion concludes
I have thus emphasized this case because, as I have said, it is the case always referred to on this subject, and because it clearly marks out the line of practice. The limits of the practical rule are here very plainly settled. .It establishes that permission to sue must be asked, and that the court will look into the title, and if the claim be obviously frivolous, permission to sue will be denied. So, if the title were incontestably clear against the receiver, the court certainly would have the power to relinquish the property to the claimant. And this is the entire control that Lord Eldon claimed, for, so far was he from asserting any right to try the case as against the plaintiff, that he expressly declares “ the court would not require a man to disclose all his evidence in the master’s office. That would be a very oppressive mode.”
This is the rule that is; in substance, conformed to in the subsequent decisons, and the views thus expressed by Lord Eldon have never, so far as is observed, been brought in question. Brooks v. Greathed, 1 J. W. 175; Dunne v. Barrel, 1 Ball & B. 123 ; Gresley v. Adderley, 1 Swans. 578 ; Ames v. Trustees of Birkenhead Docks, 20 Bean. 332.
From this practice Vice-Chancellor Kindersley appears to have deviated in the case of Ranfield v. Ranfield, 1 Drew. & Sm. 314. The facts were these: A receiver was in possession, and the lord of the manor asked leave to enter upon the property and take the rents and profits, and the vice-chancellor considered that it was plain that he had no
These observations constitute a pointed re-affirmation of the proper rule of practice as promulgated by Lord Eldon, establishing plainly, as they do, that in this class of cases the chancellor will not undertake to decide a purely legal question against the person who demands from him a trial at law. And it seems' superfluous-to say that if it be abnormal for equity to pass upon so simple and uncircumstantial a question as a claim to realty, because such a subject belongs to common law cognizance, the supposition that such a tribunal can entertain an action for tort to the person becomes unreasonable in the extreme. If a proposition to take charge of such a suit has ever been made to the English chancery, it has escaped my attention. Nor have I found that such a course has been taken by the courts of any of the states of this Union. My conclusion is, that the jurisdiction exercised in this case has no footing in judicial recognition or in any principle of practice.
Nor would its existence in the practice of our own courts-harmonize with the arrangements of our legal system. The constitution, in its provisions establishing the inviolability of the trial by jury, must be regarded as admonitory to the courts to guard against every attempt to encroach on the legitimate sphere of that favored mode of redressing injuries. And the very statute which provides for the winding up of insolvent corporations through the apparatus of a receivership, is careful to preserve this right, for, with respect to mere money claims presented to the receiver, it ordains that either that officer or the creditor may require the controversy to be submitted for decision to a jury under the direction of a. justice of the supreme court. To preserve this right in such instances of accounts, and at the same time to abandon to equity the unaccustomed field of strictly legal rights, and such remedies as trespass and ejectment, would be an adjustment of procedures that would seem quite preposterous. In point of fact, this statutory provision restricts the operation of the rule of equitable practice as propounded by Lord Eldon, for, under that rule, these matters of account would be definitively ascertainable in chancery; but in all other respects that rule remains unmodified, aud exists as one of the modes of equitable procedure.
The result of this review of the subject is, that in my judgment the plaintiff in this case was entitled, as a matter of right, to a jury trial. But the order refusing him such.
Coming, then, to the merits of the case involved in the issues of fact, this court has concluded that this decree must, with respect to them, be reversed. We think this result must obtain on the admitted circumstances as they are drawn from the proofs and stated by the vice-chancellor. The defendant left a car standing on a siding at night, within the limits of a highway. Such an occupation of a public road, either by_a railroad company or by an individual, was illegal. This company had but the right of transit across this road; the highway could not be used through the night as a station for railroad cars. The car in question, therefore, was illegally placed, and the company must be held responsible for every injury resulting in the usual course of things from such unlawful appropriation of this highway. Whether the misconduct of the plaintiff’s horse on this occasion was the product, in a legal sense, of this misfeasance, is the only question on which I have had any serious doubt, but upon consultation with the other members of the court, and deferring to the great preponderance of opinion against my first inclination, that doubt has been dissipated. We think that the position of this car was such as to be naturally productive of fear in horses passing at this point in this public highway, and that a man •of ordinary prudence, when leaving the car in that position, would, unless neglectful, have foreseen the danger. This being so, it results that the carelessness of the employes of the defendant became in law the cause of the injury in question.
The remaining question, with respect to the liability of the defendant, is, whether or not the conduct of the plain
This court cannot agree with either of these constructions. We think it clearly appears, according even to the facts as settled in the judgment of the court below, that the act of the plaintiff in driving upon the track as he did, is not evincive of negligence. It is true that the plaintiff may have been aware that a train of cars was then about or exactly due, although he testifies that such was not the case; but such knowledge would properly have only had the effect of putting him on the alert for symptoms of danger. He surely could not be required to wait indefinitely until the train had actually passed. His eyes and ears, under the circumstances, for the view was unobstructed and the night was still, could be safely trusted, and the evidence is un'contradieted that he put them to proper use. It is also uncontradicted, and the point is established beyond any doubt whatever, that, as a matter of fact, he had ample time to cross the railroad under any ordinary conditions. The vice-chancellor seems to think that the evidence leads to the conclusion that he had a minute and forty seconds within which to escape from his danger, after his horse stopped upon the track. If this be so, is it not demonstrably clear that the act of attempting to cross was a prudent act? There is no testimony to show- that the horse of the plaintiff was vicious or'inclined to baulk. The plaintiff' had no reason to believe that the -crossing over the railroad was in any way obstructed, in whole or in part, or that there was any object before him calculated to frighten his horse. ' We think the proofs entirely absolve the plaintiff, therefore, from all imputation of being careless in endeavoring to cross this railroad at the time in question.
This result has, of necessity, compelled this court to-adjudge the amount of damages to which the plaintiff is entitled. We are of opinion he should recover the sum of three thousand dollars.
Let the decree be reversed and the record remitted with instructions.
Decree unanimously reversed.