The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-08-04

bers." There is no jury empaneled
to try the issues of the fact. The
equity court does not sit at stated
terms. 1t is in session whenever
its Jurisdiction is invoked and the
justices may exercise its powers
while sitting in any part of the
Kingdom.
This section SAT and several that
follow enumerate some of the sub
jects of the jurisdiction of the JUS
tees at chambers. Section 85l
confers general jurisdiction to them
in all probate matters.
Section $50 reads: "said justices
shall have power at chambers to adj
measure dover and partition real
estate"
Article L. of the Code Comp. L.
p. 39D is entitled "Of Equity, Adj
miralty and Probate matters" Un-
der Section 1928 call applications
\ for the partition and division of
real estate shall be by sworn petit
ton addressed to some court or JUS
tice having jurisdiction thereof"
In 1878 an act was passed con-
corning the equity jurisdiction of
the Supreme and Circuit Courts,
reading SIN addition to the juris-
diction in equity otherwise con-
ferred, the Supreme Court and the
justices thereof and also the several
Circuit Courts shall have original
and exclusive jurisdiction of every
original process, whether by bill,
writ, petition or otherwise, in
which relief in equity is prayed for
except where different provision
is made" etc., and concluding Sec
ton 2, ''and shall have full equity
jurisdiction according to the usage
and practice of courts of equity in
all other cases where there is not
plain, adequate and complete rem
edy at law" and Hsuits between
co-partners, joint tenants and ten
ants in common and their legal rep
resentatives," are specifically emu
merated in section 2 as one of the
subjects of equity jurisdiction.
am of the opinion that the stat
ute of 1878 has not enlarged the
equity jurisdiction of the Justices
of the Supreme Court. They had
full equity powers conferred upon
them by section 847. The statute
of 1878 makes clear many subjects
of equity jurisdiction which without
the jurisdiction might be disputed.
Now it is undoubted that during
and since the reign of Elizabeth
courts of chancery or equity have
assumed jurisdiction in partition.
In consequence of the disadvanta-
ges Of the old common law method
of petition and the superiority of
the equitable remedy, the writ of
partition and the plant were abol-
ished by statute of and William
". Bispham's Eq. sec 4S7.
"Another branch of concurrent jur-
isdiction Tin equity is that of par
tition in cases of real estate held by
joint tenants, tenants in common
and coparceners." l Story Eq. Ju-
ris. sec. GAG. "This power of COM
polling partition has been exercised
in England by chancery ever since
the time of Elizabeth. 1t may be
done in chancery in several of the
States, in most if not all of which
there are also modes provided by
statute for causing partitions to be
made" j WWashRurn, R. p. sec
Az. "The law is firmly estab-
lished that equity has jurisdiction
in cases of partition. 1t has been
recognized and acted upon in
courts of chancery from an early
period in the jurisprudence of that
tribunal. Nor does the fact that a
concurrent remedy existed at COM
mon law, uuder the writ of parti-
ton, or under our statute, in the
least affect such jurisdiction. 1t is
but like other cases of concurrent
jurisdiction between the courts,
where litigants have choice of
the forum in which they will pro-
coed. Because a partition could
have been had under the
statute in this case, it does
not follow that equity was de-
prived of its jurisdiction" Hess
VS.. Voss, 50 ILL.,, 476. "This bill
is in the form of bill for partition,
and it may properly be regarded as
a bill in equity. We think that |
such bill may be we'll maintained.
There are no negative words in the
statute providing for a partition
upon petition, and the partition of |
real estate is an undoubted branch
of equity jurisdiction" Written
VS.. Written, SO n. H. 332.
Enough has been cited to estab-
fish the proposition that equity has
jurisdiction to partition real estate,
and these authorities show that this
Jurisdiction may be invoked even
where there is special statute con-
ferring the power and prescribing
the procedure in detail, unless the
statutory method is expressly ex-
elusive. In Massachusetts the stat.
ute of partition consists in all of 70
sections and preserves the common
aw method by writ. And it was
said in Whiting VS.. Whiting Is
tray 5O4, that bill in equity for
partition could not be maintained
because the statute provided an adj
'quate and complete remedy.
In this Kingdem the general jur-
SQlctiOn in on1itxy fo ,1artit;op Iond