203 P. 414 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1921
Plaintiff was given judgment for the possession of certain agricultural land and the defendant appeals.
On January 25, 1917, the defendant executed and delivered to the plaintiff a lease of said land for a term of three years, commencing the first day of February, 1920, and ending the thirty-first day of January, 1923. On the same day the defendant executed and delivered to I. Murayama a lease of the same land for a term of three years, commencing on the first day of February, 1917, and ending on the thirty-first day of January, 1920. By separate answer and by proof offered at the trial the defendant sought to show that Suwa and Murayama are aliens, being subjects of the emperor of Japan; that prior to the execution of the two leases Murayama desired to acquire the land for a term of six years; that the defendant then informed Murayama that a lease for six years would be invalid under the alien land law of 1913; that thereupon it was agreed between them that the two leases should be executed, one to Murayama for a term of three years and the other to Suwa for three years after the termination of the first lease; that the two leases were executed and delivered pursuant to this understanding; and "that the two leases were made for the benefit of I. Murayama and I. Murayama alone, and for the purpose of avoiding" the restrictions of the alien land law. On motion of the plaintiff the separate answer was stricken out and his objection to the proof offered was sustained. Murayama held possession and farmed the land for the term of the first lease, paying the stipulated rental therefor. The defendant retook possession before the commencement of the term of the second lease and refused to deliver possession of the land to the plaintiff. Thereupon this action was instituted.
[1] The only question argued on appeal is whether a lease for six years to an alien, ineligible to citizenship, can be avoided at the suit of the lessor on the ground that the lease is invalid on account of the alienage of the lessee. *121 Section 2 of the alien land law (Stats. 1913, p. 206) provides that aliens ineligible to citizenship "may acquire, possess, enjoy and transfer real property, or any interest therein, in this state, in the manner and to the extent and for the purposes prescribed by any treaty now existing between the government of the United States and the nation or country of which such alien is a citizen or subject, and not otherwise, and may in addition thereto lease lands in this state for agricultural purposes for a term not exceeding three years." Section 6 provides: "Any leasehold or other interest in real property less than the fee, hereafter acquired in violation of the provisions of this act by any alien mentioned in section 2 of this act . . . shall escheat to the state of California. The attorney-general shall institute proceedings to have such escheat adjudged and enforced as provided in section 5 of this act." Section 5 provides that "the attorney-general shall institute proceedings to have the escheat of such real property adjudged and enforced in the manner provided by section 474 of the Political Code and title eight, part three of the Code of Civil Procedure."
The question presented is not new and the act of 1913 discloses no intention on the part of the legislature to provide any new rule for its determination. It has uniformly been held under statutes forbidding ownership of land by aliens that an alien grantee takes a defeasible estate, "free from attack by anyone except the government" in a direct proceeding. (Ramires v. Kent, Bartel Co.,
There are cases holding that a court will not assist an alien to acquire title. In Ales v. Epstein, 283 Mo. 434, [
From the foregoing authorities it seems clear that the issue of alienage, tendered by the separate answer, was not available to the defendant but can be raised only by the attorney-general on behalf of the state, in the manner provided by the act of 1913.
The judgment appealed from is affirmed.
Hart, J., and Burnett, J., concurred.
A petition to have the cause heard in the supreme court, after judgment in the district court of appeal, was denied by the supreme court on October 24, 1921.
All the Justices concurred, except Shaw, J., who was absent. *124