The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-01-20
Court Decides Directors Of
Guard Company Were Not
Justified in Assuming That
They Had Lost Title to
Property and That There Is
No Evidence That Defend.
ants Acted in Bad Faith

Finding that directors Of Com
pany A were mot justified IN the
assumption that they had lost title
to the former armory property &C
the corner Of Broadway and Sec.
ond street as they could have learned
the truth by very little effort, .
Judge John G. Lowe Of Minot, who
presided during the trial Of the
case Of Company A W. c. B. Little,
Edmond A. Hughes, ct Il, found s.
favor Of the defendant In . deci.
sion handed down today.
The case was tried before the
court during the fore part Of this
week, and taking Of testimony was
completed Wednesday. Il has been
in various courts since the action 70
quiet title to the arnory property
was started in August, 1921. and
Judge Lowe, in his ruling, said that
he had thought he would like to Be
somewhat original and find the
facts and the law different from
that found by the other judges, but
after going over the matter very
carefully he had to forego tho salts.
faction Of doing so.
Text Of Decision
The judges decision in the case
follows:
"This is an action to quiet title
to certain lots in the city Of Bis
marck. The action YVES commenced
In August, 1921, and has been in
various courts since. Several opin-
ions have been written by various
judges concerning the law Of the
case. The undersigned had thought
he would like to be somewhat orig.
inal and find the facts and the law
different from that found by the
other judges, but after going over
the matter very carefully he must
forcgo the satisfaction Of doing so.
Counsel was given but . short
time to furnish the court their ver-
sion Of the law in the case because
this court feels that this case should
be decided without " further de-
lay. 1t seems that sometimes to
be wrong with expedition is better
than to be correct after tedious
cogitation. Therefore If there is no
other virtue in this decision, it is
at least prompt.
Hughes in Charge During War
1T appears that the officers Of
the plaintiff went away to the world
war, leaving the armory in charge
of the defendant Hughes. Upon
their return their building was re-
turned to the plaintiff. However, it
appears that the returned soldiers
had (no doubt for excellent csuse)
lost their enthusiasm for drilling
or meeting as military organisa-
tion. At any rate from the time
they returned up until 1921, no one
connected with the plaintiff com.
pany showed much interest in the
company or its property. It had
bills past due and It owed nearly
$1,000. Hughes paid either to or
for the benefit Of the palintiff $751;
S81.36 for the property. The value
at that date was not to exceed that
amount.
"There is no evidence that
Hughes acted in bad faith, although
II he had investigated he could
have easily learned that the per-
sons from whom he was buying had
no authority to sell. He left the
matter with his attorneys, and if
there was any negligence it was the
negligence Of his attorneys which
would have no bearing upon hja bad
faith. In the action to quiet title
no attempt was made apparently to
quiet title as against the plaintiff
and it was not done. Therefore, the
defendants annot prevail in this
case through either the deed from
Murphy or the action to quiet title.
Has Alterations Made
I'm the spring Of 1920, after
Hughes had paid the money above
referred to and after having been
advised by his counsel that the title
was all right, he caused alterations
to be commenced on the armory
building and new buildings to be
erected on the rear Of the lots. The
testimony shows that Messrs. Pres
ton. Langley, Paulson. Cordner and
WEIGH. all members Of the board Of
directors Of the plaintiff company,
either knew OF the attempted trans
ter Of title or Of the alterations and
knew or should have known Hughes
was in active possession during 1920
and up to August 4, 1921, the date
Of the commencement Of this &C.
ton, and they did nothing.
"That during this time Hughes
caused expenditures on the property