The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-10-30
(Politicaf advertising.)

the coming election n most import
ant Office to be filed is that OF Judge
of the supreme court. 1t is q non
partizan Office for which there are two
ca~ndidates-A. A. Bruce, who Is now
holding the office, and ]. u. Robinson,
IN attorney of Fargo.
Mr.. Robinson has recently distribut-
ed a pamphlet in support of his can
didacy. In that pamphlet, under the
title, Keynote of Judicial Reform, he
misrepresents the procedure and work.
Of the supreme court Under h
title, Story of a Simple Case. he mis-
represents the facts of the case and
does an injustice to Judge Bruce.
The Simple case" referred to by Mr..
Robinson was n with which l be-
came connected professionally after 1t
had been appealed the first time. In
asmuch as ! know the facts Of that
case! all of which are Of record in the
district court Of Rollette county, North
Dakota, I feel ii to be my duty to
the voters of the state to make known
to them the real facts and refute the
misrepresentation put forth by Mr..
Robinson in the pamphlet mentioned.
/ feel confident that when the voters
know what the facts are they Will
administer to Mr.. Robinson the rebuke
he deserves; and will agree with me
that he is unfit for the high office he
is seeking.
The simple case is the case Of
Robert Blesset and r. Percy Abbey
against E. L. Turcotte in Rollette
county, North Dakota.
The facts are as follows:
Robert Blesset homesteaded a quart
er section in Rollette county in 1888.
A friend of his, w. F. Galloway, who
lived in Ontario, Canada, advanced
to Blesset the money necessary to buy
seed. stock, etc, to enable Blesset to
farm the land; taking a chattel mort
gage as security.
Blesset proved UP in January, 1890;
and at that time owed Galloway $500.
To secure it Blesset gave Galloway a
mortgage on the land for the $500,
agreeing to pay interest at 8 per cent.
Blesset disposed Of all the chattel
mortgaged property shortly after
proving UP and absconded to Canada.
He has never paid the debt or the in
terest on it and paid any of
the taxes on the land. He had neal
while, however, agreed to let Galloway
have the land for the debt, but never
made the deed.
The land remained unoccupied I'M
til the summer of 1896 and no taxes
were paid on it. Galloway then sold
it to TurcOtte who was a near by
farmer. In order to get title and to save
the cost Of foreclosure Galloway took
- "D"- AAeAASAAI Va NAF~ Jill - Ia
title and procured a tax deed.
Turcotte believing he had a good
title broke up the lane and farmed and
improved 1t from year to year, and
paid all the taxes from 1896 until 1907,
when 1.-THE simple CASE was commenc-
ed by Mr.. Robinson.
Turcotte was not a lawyer and sup
posed Galloway had a good title. When
Mr.. Robinson commenced his simple
case Mr.. Turcotte discovered for the
first time that legal technicalities had
not been properly observed and his
title was consequently in question.
Galloway had neglected to forclose
the mortgage, but had relied on a tax
deed as a means of getting the title.
The tax deed as is usually the case
was void because Of an irregularity in
the tax proceedings.
Mr.. Robinson or his clients had dis
covered this technical defect and had
t~hereupon obtained from Blesset for
about &25 a quitclaim deed of the land;
although Blesset himself had abandon
ed the land and never intended TO as
sert any title to it. In fact his claim
would be Outlawed within a month or
two.
This quitclaim deed from BIesset
was obtained in February. 1907 and
named r. Percy Abbey as grantee. II
enabled the grantee to bring an action
TO recover the land and use Blesset's
name for that purpose. Upon obtain
ING the quitclaim deed from Blesset,
Robinson had Abbey execute a mIit-
claim deed of an undivided hall of
the land to Robinson & Lemke (The
firm OF which Mr.. Robinson is the
senior member).
Immediately thereafter Mr.. Robin
son commenced the lawsuit against
Turcotte.
All this was lone in spite of the fact
that the laws of this state forbid such
speculation in defective titles. The
laws of this state make a criminal
oftense to give or take a deed of land
adversely held by a third party claim
ing title where the adverse possession
mas continued more than one year.
IL Is also a criminal offense for an
attorney to buy disputed claims or
titles for the purpose of prosecuting
same.
, Both these statutes were intended 10
prevent just such transactions as the
in question.
The case vas tried in the winter Of
1913 and judgment favorable to Mr..
Robinson was entered in the Spring OF
1908. Turcotte appealed to the SJ-
preme Court. The appeal was heard
by the Supreme Court at the October
term 1908.
The Supreme Court decided that al
though the tax deed was void vet
Turcotte could o be put off the land
without paying him the mortgage and
interest and the taxes he had paid and
that he should be charged with the
rental value of the land; but If he had
been in adverse possession for more
than ten years he could not be de-
prived of the land. On these points
however the evidence was so garbled
n insufficient that the court could
not tell what the facts were and there
fore sent the case pack to be tried on
these questions in the district court.
Mr.. Robinson filed several petitions
for re-hearing and asserted that this
decision was wrong. The Court made
| ONE minor corrections in the decision
but refused to change it in any ma
terial degree.
There were not, as Mr.. Robinson
states, three decisions written in this
appeal. There vas only one decision:
n that was written by Judge Car
mody. 1T was modified In some par
ticulars on the rehearings.
When the cas- was tried again In
the District Court the decision of that
court vas adverse to Mr.. Robinson.
1t was tried in the spring of 1911.
That it was not one tried was not
the fault of the Supreme Court.
Mr.. Robinson appealed to the Su-
preme Court the appeal was heard
at the October 1911 term. Judge Bruce
wrote the decision for the Court on
this second appeal. On this appeal il
was decided that Turcotte had not
been in adverse possession of the Ia ed