The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1910-04-02
POSSESSION

claiming to hold title from an old grant of the
Spanish government Now we do not know any
thing of the merits of this case, but the suit nat
urally brings UP the question of possession of land
by individuals and the validity of land titles To a.
tablish title is rather a difficult thing i'm some
instances while in others it is easy. An owner If
real estate owns it until some other fellow come.
along and puts him out of possession In these
days. title to land is pretty well established TIN.
records of the counties show for number of va,-.
every transfer that has taken place. In the 7f.-
settled portions this record gets quite hay as it
traced back and usually winds up with the orig
nal" owner grabbing it. In the California SUIT
the claimant has title from the grant of the Span
ish government. But the Spanish government got
possession by a grab, and when the United State,
extended It's sovereignty the territory in dis
pute, this government made grab. Whether the
grant of the Spanish grabbers holds against the
present owners is for the courts to decide.
In the history of the early voyages of discovery
to America, there are a great many amusing Incl
dents of taking possession of the newly diseov-
cred land. About the first thing Columbus did
when he landed on San Salvador was to unturl the
royal banner of CASTLE. Balboa, when he discov-
cred the Pacific waded into its waters waved his
sword in a pompous fashion, and took possession
of the ocean in the name of the king of Spain
Ponce de Leon also claimed Florida by right of dis
covery for the king of Spain The discovery bust
ness was new. and the early adventures are to be
forgiven for their enthusiastic claiming of the new
country. That the natives were already in posses
sion was of no matter. Their tenure was only
neidental-perhaps accidenta-while the claim of
A. L. IL
cry"
Then the English and the French nations sent
out expeditions, and the leaders of these took pos
session of the portions they discovered in the name
of their sovereigns When the settlers arrived
they squatted on certain spots and claimed them as
their And nobody disputed their title except -
the Indians, and the aboriginees were in no posi-
ton to offer much resistance. No doubt in the
case of much of the property in the United States,
away back in the past possession was gained by
Staying the Indian who disputed title with the set
tiers. They very bad Indians in those days,
to dispute with white man the possession of the
land which they had called their own long before
the advent, of the white men,
The possession of real estate then, if carried
back to the beginning we find lies in a grab OF
course no record of title says that and the number
of transfers which the record shows, for a consd-
Grafton, rather strengthens than weakens the claim
of the present owner. Such an arrangement is in
evitable; titles must be clear to warrant man
working to improve the land, to build him a house
and establish home that he can call his own. 1t
may be his now, but it belonged to some one else in
the years gone by, and viii belong to still another
in future years. In the Cosmopolitan Magazine Of
some ten years ago, Ada A. Mosher had a little
poem entitled Possession" which covers the point:
With prineely pride his princely lands toward,
He pointed saying: "Of these acres broad,
Lol [, alone, am master sole, and lord"
The old earth chucked at the boaster's stress:
"Fool, know that I, alone, am masterless-
All them that hath possessed me, 1 possess?"