48 Miss. 1 | Miss. | 1873
Tate sued Blackburne, in an action of trespass, to recover the value of a gin-stand, cotton press and running gear, taken by -he latter from the land of the former, and the question is, whether these articles were fixtures or chattels. The facts are substantially these: Tate sold the land from which these articles were taken to one Harrell, in 1861, reserving in the deed of conveyance a vendor’s lien for the purchase money. While so owning and occupying this land, Harrell placed thereon the property in controversy. The gin-stand is the common one in use in the cotton regions, and put up in the usual mode. The press and gearing are -modern inventions. The press is called by the witness, Harrell, an “ Ingersoll hand-press.” The gearing is described by the same witness as the “ improved patent double pinion, portable horse-power,” but in a printed circular given in the record it is described as “our improved patent double pinion horse-power,” the word portable being omitted from the printed description. There was a roof to the building where this gin-stand was used, and the usual lint room. The gearing was fastened with great care. There were two timbers imbedded in the ground, and upon these the running-gear was secured by being let into notches cut in the two sills, and wedged. The whole seems to have been put up more securely than the old mode, and no more portable than the machinery formerly in use, save in this, that it was of lighter weight, requiring less force to move it.
In 1867, Harrell sold these articles, by bill of sale, to defendant, Blackburne, to pay a debt contracted in 1859.
In 1868, Harrell went into bankruptcy, and the land upon which these articles were erected was sold by order of the bankrupt court, Tate becoming the purchaser. Harrell had paid Tate nothing on the lands.
On the trial, Harrell testified, that in the annexation of this property, his intention was to make it serve tAvo plantations, by removal from one plantation to the other; but the property Avas never removed after its erection. It does not appear that this intention was ever, at any time, declared to any one.
Neither does it appear that the sale by Harrell to Blackburne was ever made known, or was, in fact, known to any others than the parties thereto, until the moment of removal.
The jury returned a verdict for the defendant. There was a motion for a neAV trial, which was overruled. Hence, the case comes tó this court. It is assigned for error: That the verdict was contrary to the law and the evidence; that the court erred in overruling the motion for a new trial; and, that the court erred in giving the latter clause of the charge asked by the defendant, viz.: “ But if Harrell intended to erect the running gear, gin-stand and press, so that they could be removed from one place to another, then they were not fixtures, and Harrell could sell them as he could any other property.”
In the whole range of jurisprudence there is, perhaps, no subject more difficult of definite rules than the matter of fixtures. The common law rule, it is true, is precise, and, were there no exceptions thereto, would be conclusive upon this case. But many exceptions have been sustained in favor of tenants, for the benefit of
In addition to the facts already stated, the plantation upon which this property was placed was without these very essential and necessary articles. No co'tton plantation is complete without them, and they add greatly to the value of every such place. These valuable additions were made by the owner and holder of the legal title, in possession, and who was also mortgagor to the present plaintiff. The title of Harrell would have been perfected in himself upon payment of the mortgage to Tate. Aside from the mental intention which Harrell says existed in his mind when he made this annexation, all the known facts and all the public acts of Harrell in connection with such annexation, indicate an intention to make permanent additions for the benefit of the plantation. And this intention, thus ’indicated, is the one which ought to prevail. An unexpressed mental intention is a myth; it is intangible; it is subject to no law, and cannot be tried. To give it efficacy, would invite to frauds and perjury which no court or criminal code could reach, as the evil-minded could defy the ingenuity of legislators and of grand juries.
The authorities cited in support of the verdict have been carefully examined. The case of Mott v. Palmer, 1 Comst. 564, to which counsel invites our special attention, was this: Mott was the owner of a farm, a pa^t of which he leased to a neighbor named Brown. By agreement between the two, Brown cut rails on his own land to inclose that rented of Mott, with leave to the
Judgment reversed and cause remanded.