54 N.W. 313 | N.D. | 1892
This is an action for conversion of certain wheat. There was a demurrer to the complaint on the ground that it did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. The demurrer was overruled, and this appeal was brought by defendant solely upon such ruling. It will not be necessary to consume the space required to set out the complaint in full. Respondent claimed the wheat by virtue of a thesher’s lien, under Ch. 88, Laws Dakota Territory, 1889. Section 1 of that chapter reads as follows: “Every person or persons owning and operating a threshing machine shall have a lien, from the date of threshing, upon all grain threshed by him with such machine, for the value of the services so rendered in doing such threshing.”
Again, under the statute, it is not the party owning a threshing machine who is entitled to the lien, nor yet the party operating such machine, but it is the person “owning'and operating a threshing machine.” The only allegation in the complaint upon that point is as follows: “That plaintiff was at all times hereinafter mentioned doing business of running and operating a threshing machine.” That falls far short of an allegation of ownership in the machine. It is just as consistent with possession in any other capacity. An allegation much stronger than in this case was held to be an insufficient allegation of ownership in Rugg v. Hoover, 28 Minn. 407, 10 N. W. Rep. 473. We think the complaint was vulnerable to the demurrer on both these points.
Another insuperable objection is urged against the complaint, which we are compelled to notice, in view of what may hereafter appear by way of an amended complaint. Plaintiff does not