Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1889-02-27


adverse title, against which the statute is
invoked, has acquired such 4 patent.
Third-Where the claimant or occupant
claims "under color of title deducible OF
record from the governments of Spain,
Mexico or the United States"
/ What is the effect of all this? 4 grant is
asserted to exist, and claim made to it.
This claim is filed i'll the office of the
surveyor general, now or hereafter, and
thereupon the land is reserved from entry
at the United States land Office The
| settler or occupant tan not begin to &C.
quire any rights to any land within the
| boundaries Of such grant until alter u
patent has been issued by the United
States, or until such patent has been
refused by the United States, and this is
true even though the title to the grant
may remain unsettled for ten, twenty or
| fifty years. At present, no law compels
the grant claimant to even file his grant
in the office of the surveyor general.
With this explanation, it may be read
lily understood why the changes in the
existing law are proposed.
Section 1881 of the Compiled Laws fixes
ten years as the period within which
suits, either in law or equity, must be
brought for the recovery of lands, except
by persons under disabilities. This sec
ton provides that no suit shall be brought
for the recovery of lands unless within
So that defendant who had been in
actual occupancy of lands for ten years,
even without any deed or other color of
title, has perfect defense.
This bill extends that time to twenty
years. This is contraryto the usual policy
in the states where land titles were UNI
settled. In nearly, if notall, these states
especially during their early settlement
| short periods of limitation were adopted,
much shorter even than the present one
of ten years, here.
Statutes of limitation are said to be
statutes of repose. Their purpose is to
discourage stale claims and require
prompt assertion of hostile rights to prop
erty. The effect of this Bill is the reverse.
1t revives rights that are barred, in viola
ton of the constitution of the United
States-extends o period of limitation al
ready sufficiently long-is contrary to pre-
vailing legislative policy, and removes
condition in reliance upon which many
possessory claims have been acquired in
the territory.
A pressing need of New Mexico is some
regulation whereby speedy settlement
and stability of title may be assured.
That end can not be reached by the
methods established in this bill, but the
contrary will be the result 1t is better to
remain as we are than resort to methods
even more doubtful than what we now
have. EDMUND &. Ross.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE,
Territory OF New Mexico,
Santa Fe, Feb. q, 1882
To the 18th Legislative Assembly.
Gentlemen: | have the honor to trans
NIT herewith, to the house in which it
originated, council bill No. l22, can act
to compel persons, companies or corpora
tons cultivating or irrigating lands by
means OF water raised or pumped from
wells, and in other ways, to inclose the
same with fence" etc, without eXecu-
tive approval.
The mistake of this bill is that it makes
particular description of post and wire
fence a lawful fence, and none other; in
the absence Of which, or if the Enclosure
shall be composed OF any other kind of
fence and entirely sufficient and lawful,
no damage to crops can be collected.
While it might and undoubtedly would
in many cases work justly and to the
public good by preventing causes of fric-
ton, it is apparent that it might in many
others work grave injustice. For in
stance, it might be lnconvenient to con-