| Show mtr PRATT VS YOUNG decision of chief J fustice ustice white while delivered rido ridi in the third district court salt sal lake city nou nov 1 in district sarah if pratt appetent appe tant I 1 1 court third vs V 8 1 judicial dib dla brigham YOU youner 1 3 ap appellee clice allce I 1 brict octoba r J term 1873 the appellant and appellee both claim under the act of congress of march ad 1667 entitled an act for the relief of the inhabitants of cities and towns upon the public lands and the act of the territory of utah of february 1809 1869 prescribing rules and regulations for the execution of the trust arising under said sald act of con CoD congress giess gresa the relief which was designed to be granted by said act net of congress was to enable the inhabitants of cities and towns settled upon the public lands of or the united states to secure a title to such lauds lands from the government by paying to the government the minimum price for lor such lands As a means of doing this most conveniently it was as provided that when a city or town was incorporated the corporate authorities ties thereof and when not incorporated the judae judge of the county court of the county in which such city or town s may be situated sho bho should uld office and at the minimum price the land so settled and occupied in trust for the several use us e and benefit of the occupant thereof according to their respective interests these tin so s o provisions created the corporate authorities of an incorporated city or town and the judge of the cou nty uty court in case the city eity or town was not incorporated when the land was entered under the provisions of the act of congress trustees depos stories of the le leai legal leal al title titie fon for the inhabitants of the eity city or town who had settled and occupied the land for the several use and benefit of the occupants thereof according to them thew respective interest the execution of which trust as to the disposal of lots in such town and the proceeds or of the sales thereof was to be conducted under such rules and regulations as might be prescribed by the legislative authority of the state or territory ry in which the same i was situated whatever may bave have been the purpose of congress with re ference reference to cities and towns as communities it is evident that the leading object was to secure individual rights to the inhabitants of cities and towns who were occupants of th the elands lands embraced within the limits of the entry contemplated by said acts these individual rights flow from and are based upon the grant in the act of it confers the right defines its character limits its ita scope and points polut sout out the tho manner of its consummation the power conferred upon the territorial legislature is to execute the trust it has no power to interfere with the individual rights which vested or became vested under the act of congress if this proposition be true then we are to look fook to the act of congress alone to determine who are entitled under it the primal fact which gives the tho right to the inhabitants of the eley cley or town as a community is that they have settled and occupied the public lands as a city or town and the primal fact that gives to any individual a right to any lot or subdivision of such public lands is that he be or she was the occupant of such lot or subdivision occupancy is the central and leading idea of the grant and upon this khz in a positive or qualified sense ense must depend any right which can bo be asserted under it it is in trust arthe several use and benefit of the occupants thereof according to their respective interests the execution of this trust as to the disposal of the lots in such town and the proceeds of the sales thereof is to be conducted under rules and regulations prescribed by the legislative nuth auth authority of the state or territory what these rules and regulations shall be is left to legislative discretion limited int d only by the condition tha that att they ellist must be in furtherance of the execution of the trust and must not violate its letter 0 or its spirit As to rights which may accrue to individuals under the grant the iho legislature can only make rules and regulations to eliminate and und define jand jund establish them As the rights which accrue catiti to the community it hag haa the right to dispose of the proceeds of or thesalis the sales in determining what are the rights of individuals under the act of congress the rules and nal regu latious adopted adolte d by the legislature could c tild be looked to at costas only a legislative exposition or construction orthe or the actor cong tessand could not be regarded as authoritative or binding upon the court as a legislative enactment there being no controversy as to compliance with the rules and regulations enacted by the territorial legislature in bringing the claims of the parties before the judge of probate in the court below and none as to the regularity of the appeal to this court the court will not look to the act of the legislature of feb 1869 in the determination of the question at issue in this case but will address itself to the construction of the act of congress as the source from which whatever rights may be asserted assert bd by either cither of the parties must flow and as the standard by which their respective claims must be tested and determined it has for a long time been the settled policy of the government of or the united states to encourage the actual settlement of the public landsrud land lands saud sand and it has also regarded with disfavor the entry of public lands for purposes of or speculation the settlement required by law includes actual occupation of the land jand and the subjection of or the soil boll by b labor to the beneficial use of or we the person proposing to enter or buy the land atom the government the price at which the land could be bough bought t was fixed by jaw law as ail were also tho the precedent conditions to a purchase the first aut act of the set feet tier tien was the becu occupancy pancy of the land the last was the payment ot the purchase money by the entry of the land at the proper land the issuance of the patent followed as a sequence to the regular entry of the land the title to the land and the right to the title remained in the government until the entry of or the land at the proper land office f ce the settler had possession and the right to possession and hod on compliance with the prerequisites of the law aw he had thet thel exclusive right to buy of the govern government meni at the price fixed by jaw the entrance money or the minimum price for the land jand he was called a preemptor one who buys buya before or one who bas has by law a first and exclusive right to buy the land of the government the right of the preemptor depends upon the occupation of the land and its continued possession to the time of application to enter it at the proper land office an abandonment or surrender of possession is a forfeiture of all right to enter the land the right light of the settler settled upon public hinds lands is then a possession with a right to possession coupled with a right ight the precedent conditions being complied coni plied piled with to enter the arld land arid at the minimum government price the title to the land remains in the government and no right to the title inures ingres to the preemptor pre emptor until he has entered the land even after he has occupied the land made his improvements and filed his declaration of an intention to enter the land the government can by special grant convey the land to another the preemptor pre emptor has no estate legal or equitable in the land laud which can be recognized or enforced in law except such as grows out of the possession of the land the policy of the federal government with regard to public lands settled and occupied as sites bites of cities or towns was in the beginning the reverse of that that governing as to public lands open to preemption pre emption such lands were withdrawn from entry and the government held them with a view to public sales to td the highest bidder ali this Is latter policy was abandoned in 1844 and jince bince then the policy of the government has been to allow the entry of such lands at the minimum price for the use and benefit of the occupants of bf the thi jaud land within such city ar town sites according to their respective interests iii in other words the policy which had guided the government with regard to the settlement and entry of agri aul C L cultural lands was adopted by y it mu as to the inhabitants of cities and towns the occupancy of lands in both caes enes being the substantial basis upon which the individual right depends the nature and quality of the interest which each class has baa in the lands ia Is the sime same the govern government ment holds the title the anter inter t of the occupants is only a bostc sion slon and the right to the possess possession ioki with the right to the one as a pre ampter and the other as a member of a community to enter or have entered the land in other words to buy it of the government at the mini mum price this limited Inter interests int iut erstS esi tsi in the land is the creature of the acts of congress Con giess it is novel and anomalous and only subject to the ordinary rules of law go governing verning real estate if at all in a narrow and subordinate sense the fee simple which is usually the largest possible estate which a man can have in and which draws to it all of the incidents of such an estate such as possession and the right of possession slop and is the tho predicate of the relations of the landlord and tenant d does oes not enter into or constitute any part of this statutory interest in laud which is created by tho acts of congress on the contrary the fue fee is recognized as being in another and this thia estate or Inte interest in t the 0 land exists in its narrow and meagre entirety without and independent of it to apply to it the rules and analogies which ordinarily govern and gulde guide in determining interest and relations in regard to real estate would be in contravention of the very nature of the light right itself the title to real estate is now in abey a alpe vanile e this statutory interest vacile vanishes upon the mere abandonment of the possession of the land I 1 he title of real estate can only be transferred from one person to another by y writing in proper form and duly tested attested nt this interest can pass from one to knotner by the surrender of nos Ros possession session of the land the conclusion deduced educed from analogies and above announced is further strengthened and confirmed by the language of the acts of congress in conferring this right upon the inhabitants of cities and towns the entry under authority of the acts of congress is in trust for the several use and benefit of the occupants thereof oc cording to their respective interests this phrase points out the class who are the thi beneficiaries benefi ciares in trust mccu pant sand also fixes the time of occupancy cu pancy the date of the entry of the land by the corporate authorities or the judge of the county court which determines the individual que trusts those in pos poa possession session of the land when the entry is made by the probate judge are the persons persona for whom the land Is s held in trust and to whom he is to make the deeds s this is the construction and meaning of df the act of congress cofeld vs mcclelland wallace wailace 3 34 the act of congress of tiny may 1814 1844 referred to in the citation just tande made use uses the same phraseology in reference to this subject matter as the tiie act of congress of march ad 1867 under which the parties in this case claim that this is the reasonable and just construction of the act of congress and that the presumption is in favor of the actual occupant t at the time of entry of a lot or parcel of ground within the limits of tf a city or townsite town site settled and occupied as such upon public lands and entered under authority of the act of congress march above referred to Is in the opinion of the court sustained by reason and authority tho rity bot lot out of this springs another question of general general interest and necessary to the of this case and that is whether the occupancy at the time of entry is conclusive in favor of the right of the individual occupying to the title to tiie tile laud or whether it is only presumptive and if so whether the circumstances in this case repel the presumption in favoron the actu al occupant at the time of or the entry of the land by the trustee and show the right to the land in controversy tro versy to be in another the act not of congress of alarca march 2 confers upon the state or teri terl tenito rial legislature the execution of the trust das pas as to the disposal of the lots in such town etc under such rules and regulations as may be jre prescribed crl bribed crI bed mete etc ete this must be done according to the tho respective interests of the occupants does this language 91 respective Inte interests rests apply to the ibe topographical alrea area and measurement of the tho lots occupied or is it to be considered in a larger sense aa as embracing I 1 the tho nature of the tho occupancy and the tho quality of interest in the fhe lahd which the occupant claims as well the tha legislature has gons pons construed trued this language in the larger and more comprehensive sense beuse by section 3 of the act of the legislature of utah entitled an act prescribing rules adles and nod regulations for the execution of the trus trusty arising under the act of congress of march 2 1867 11 it is enacted that each and every person or association or company of persons or corporation claiming to be the rightful owner of possession occupant or occupants occupant sj or to bo be en titled to the occupancy or sion of such lands or to any ally lot block share or parcel thereof shail shall within six months lyn fen e 6 sign a statement in writing 01 ac these are the persons and these the interests which the legislature regarded as entitled to claim and land assert titles to lots or parcels of land in any city or town in the territory auder this act of congress it is man amt that it ife was the design of the legislature to extend the tile benefits of the act of congress to two classes of persons actual occupants and the rightful claimants or owners of possession without the occupancy or possession this legislation in tho olid opinion nion of the court was wag in harmony with the act of Congress and within the authority conferred by the act of congress upon the territorial legislature and the construction given by the thie the legislature to thelast thel act of or congress IM this particular is adopted by the court the findings lof of the law by the tho court in the case under consideration are as follows fellows first that under the several acts of congress upon the subject and especially the act of the of bf may 1841 entitled agan igan an act for the relief of citizens of towns upon the etab public lands of the united states ui ut der certain the act of march 2 1867 entitled an act for the relief of dhe the ahe inhabitants of cities and towns upon the tho public lands that the right which the individual inhabitant of the city or town took was a possession of the land and a right to possession and the use with til the e right as a member of the mm community to have land entered by bk the trustee indicated in oaid paid acts of congress at the minimum A price in in the proper land office of the united states and the right under such rules and regulations regulation s as might be prescribed by the proper legislative authority to have title made to himself borsuch for such lot jot or subdivision as he occupied or had the rightful claim of possession to at |
