Arizona republican., 1903-01-16

supreme court. which decided in favor
of the lodge officials. This apparently
settled the title in the trustees. but the
contesting lawyers applied for a re-
hearing and it was granted. and the
supreme court by a vote of three to
four reversed it's former decision, and
handed down the opinion above men
toned The present attitude of the
court is found i'm the syllabus of the
majority opinion which follows:
IAN instrument of writing purporting
TO convey lands to trustees and their
successors in perpetual trust to provide
a home and school for the maintenance
and education of the children of de-
ceased members of a secret society is
not gift for the purpose of a public
charity and is void, against the rule Of
prohibiting perpetuities of titles of
estates"
A dissenting opinion was handed
down by Mr.. Justice Pollock, which
seems to state the common sense view
of the controversy:
THE action in it's present form is to
set aside this conveyance on the ground,
OF fraud. No fraud was found by the
trial court. 1t is declared void for
reasons purely legal. The action is one
of purely equitable cognizance and is
governed and controlled by equitable
principles. That which is right and
just in the premises between man and
man alone appeals to the conscience
and binds the judgment of the court.
What is the attitude of the defendants
in this litigation? They represent the
helpless orphans of a large class of So
ciety in this state. Their grantor, from
an abundance of wealth, out of a large
heart, moved by a spirit of generosity
and benevolence, conceived the plan
of comforting upon these helpless or
phans the blessings of a large educa-
ton and better equipment for life than
they could otherwise obtain. 1t is a
commendable fact that in courts of all
Christian nations, such litigants have
been the favorites of the law, even to
the extent that a rule of decisions has
grown up that such grants must be
upheld. if possible. consistent with the
principles of the law,
ION the other hand, what is the at
titude of the plaintiffs? Their first APP
pearance in this controversy was as
counsel for the sister of the grantor.
in an action of ejectment to recover the
property. She resided in France. She
had no right to recover the property.
because an alien, and could not inherit
under existing laws. The property IS
estimated to be worth from $4,000 to
800, 900 According to plaintiffs show
fpc Hx-ff In rala
ton to her of legal adviser and at d
time when. in the absence of an au-
thorizing treaty between this govern
ment and France. she possessed no
Unbeatable or salable right to the prop
erty, plaintiffs engaged in the doubtful
transaction of securing from her 4
transfer of her pretended interest in
the litigation for the nominal sum Of
about $4,000. In other words, upon
their own showing, they are guilty Of
wagering with their client, at the ratio
of about twenty to one, that the courts
of this state would not uphold the deed
of her brother as grantor. to a worthy
charity. They came into a court OF
equity to recover their wager and have
won. When courts supreme, not alone
in name or in power, but supreme IN
lilc anu ildJcSly VI the Id W,
forget, ignore or refuse to be guided by
the we'll established and fundamental
principles of the law, there is no rem
edy for the correction of errors, but
when the issue is one of large public
Importance, involving the welfare of
a state, as in the case al bar, it becomes
necessary to inquire by what authority
is such decision made; by what process
of reasoning is such conclusion
reached what logic employed to con-
vince the mind, or what sophistry used
to deceive, that the decision reached
may be commended by the bench and
bar of this and other states, If sound.
or condemned if unsound?"
In the January Cosmopolitan the edi-
tor, Mr.. John Brisben Walker, discusses
at length the reasons for the vanish
ing practice of lawyers"-it being ad-
mitted everywhere that litigation is
yearly shrinking in volume. Perhaps
a sidelight would be thrown on the
subject by study of this Kansas case.