The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-12-07


which arose from the nature OF the
surveys made. In a country which
was largely unbroken wildnerness
and with constant danger from hos
tile Indians, the surveys proceeded
upon broad lines and resulted In in-
definite descriptions and insufiicient
and often transitory monuments. To
q great extent the actual settlers de-
pended upon their improvements as
notice Of their occupation and in
their presumption notices, the de-
scription OF a given number Of
acres sincluding my cabin" war all
that was thought necessary to delim-
1t the land which they intended to
acquire. IN fact, this description was
so usual that 1t became necessary
for the courts Of the state to con-
strue 1t, and 1t was held that the
lines OF such holding should be es-
tablished by taking the location Oh
the cabin for the center point OF q
square and running out diagonal
lines to a sufficient distance to In
clude the amount of land claimed
within the four sides.
Whom, following the Revolutionary
war. the great western growth OF
the United States became, assured,
and lands even beyond Kentucky be-
gan to assume a real value. the Ken
lucky settlers were almost over.
whelmed by the flood OF litigation
which poured in upon them from
claimants out Of possession. They
had recourse to a principle sestab ish-
ed in Virginia as far back as 1861
and pushed its application to the
uttermost limit In an effort to save
the fruits of their labor from going
into the hands of others.
The colony Of Virginia had been
confronted at an early date with the
same difficulties and insufticiencies of
the system of surveying in vogue,
difficulties and insuf1iciencies which
could be avoided only by a compre-
hensive governmental survey such
as was afterwards established by the
United States, and 1t was provided by
1.-THE early laws of Virginia that
where there had been occupation Of
sanother's lands by honest mistake,
the matter might be arranged by
payments, on the one hand, for inn
provements made, or. on the other,
for the original value of the land.
The legislature of Kentucky
adopted and expanded this principle
in two enactments, the second more
ldrstic than the first. which pro-
Ivided that TIE holder of a paper til
tie proceeding against the actual oc-
cupant and improver Of the laha
should first be required to give three
months notice of the claim before
taking any action; should be requir-
ed to pay for all work that had been
done on the land, and that II the
value Of the latter amounted to
three-fourths Of the total value of
the land, then the claimant must
transfer his own title to the occu-
pant Of the land and accept in full
satisfaction an amount equivalent to
the original vaiuer of the land as&un-
improved.
The serious and general hardships
that were threatened the settlers of
Kentucky by the adverse claims made
by. non-residents is indicated by the
nature of these laws. While sym
pathy is naturally commanded by
those who had by their personal toll,
especially under conditions of dan
ger and hardship, created the i'm
proyements on the land, 1t is prob
able that the attempt of the Ken
lucky legislature to save there inn
provements amounted to contlscation
of the rights of citizens. of Virginia.
The necessities of the Kentuckians
made the proposed program a popu-
lar one in that state and the elo-
quence Of Henry Clay was enlisted
to defend the proposition before the
supreme court of the United States.
That tribunal. however, held the acts
of the Kentucky legislature to be un-
constitutional as violating the COM
pact which had been made between
Virginia and Kentucky that rights
under. Virginia grants which We're in
existence at the time of the separa-
ton of the territory OF the two states
should not be impaired.
Tomorrow: Land Titles. "
Texas and California.