Source: https://openjurist.org/177/us/318/saranac-land-timber-company-v-james-a-roberts
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 02:18:14+00:00

Document:
JAMES A. ROBERTS, as Comptroller of the State of New York.
Argued December 21, 22, 1899.
The first sale upon which the title of the state is based was made in 1877 for unpaid taxes of 1866 to 1877, inclusive. A certificate was issued dated October 18, 1877, showing a sale to the state of the whole of the northwest quarter for the sum of $2,756.40, and subsequently a deed in the usual form, and dated June 9, 1881, which was recorded in Franklin county clerk's office June 8, 1882.
The subsequent sales were made respectively in 1881 for the unpaid taxes of 1871 to 1876; in 1885 for those of 1877 to 1879; in 1890 for those of 1881 to 1885. At all of the sales except the first one the property was treated as already state property, and struck off to the state without giving opportunity for bids. Certificates and deeds were duly issued to the state in pursuance of the sale of 1881 and 1885 in due form, and duly recorded in the clerk's office of the proper county. A certificate alone was issued in pursuance of the sale of 1890.
'Township 24, Great Tract One, Macomb's Purchase; N. W. 1/4, excepting 1,000 acres, lying in N. W. corner; also 1,215 acres which is water, leaving 5,285 acres.
There was evidence tending to show that on the tract in controversy there were bodies of water, but no part of them was within the parcel of 1,000 arces laid out in a square form in the northwest corner.
Notice is hereby given that the following is the list of wild, vacant forest lands located in the county of Franklin to which the state holds title, and that from and after three weeks from the 22d day of December, 1894, possession thereof will be deemed to be in the comptroller of this state, pursuant to the provisions of section 13 of chapter 711, Laws of 1893.
When the testimony in the case was closed the counsel for each of the respective parties, with the approval of the court, admitted that there was no question of fact in the case to be submitted to the jury; that the issues depended upon the construction that the court should give to the law; and thereupon the jury was discharged, and a written stipulation waiving a jury trial was signed by the attorneys of record for the respective parties, and filed with the clerk.
The plaintiff requested the court to rule on certain propositions of law which were based on the assumption of the sale of the tract in one parcel for the aggregate unpaid taxes for several years, and claiming the following as jurisdictional defects in the sale, and not cured or validated by chapter 448 of the Laws of 1885, or chapter 711 of the Laws of 1893: The sale of the whole tract for taxes which were assessed against separate and distinct parcels of it; such sale when during one or more of the years a part of the tract was not assessed; such sale when some of the taxes were assessed against the whole tract and others against a part only; insufficiency of the description to identify and distinguish the parcel sold; that at the sale of 1881 the comptroller treated the property as that of the state, and struck it off to the state without giving opportunity for other bids; and that chapter 448 of the Laws of 1885 was unconstitutional and void, and repugnant to the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.
'Macomb's Purchase, Great Tract One, township 24, northwest quarter, 5,285 acres, more or less, being all that remains of the said northwest quarter after excepting therefrom 1,000 acres in the northwest corner thereof, and 1,215 acres covered by water; 1,000 acres in the northwest corner of the northwest quarter.' Also in receiving in evidence the certificate of sale issued on the sale of 1890, because it was not in evidence of a legal title.
'First. Is chapter 448 of the Laws of New York of 1885 a valid and constitutional law when set up by the state in its own favor?
The act referred to is inserted in the margin. The circuit court found in favor of the state, basing its decision upon the constitutionality of chapter 448, following Turner v. New York, 168 U. S. 90, 42 L. ed. 392, 18 Sup. Ct. Rep. 38, and holding also the law to be curative of the defects urged against the validity of the tax sales. 83 Fed. Rep. 436. The complaint was filed January 25, 1895. The plaintiff sued out this writ of error.
Messrs. Frank E. Smith and Thomas F. Conway for plaintiff in error.
Messrs. Theodore E. Hancock and John C. Davies for defendant in error.
If chapter 448 is constitutional, it limitation attached some years before this action was commenced. It was held constitutional by this court in Turner v. New York, 168 U. S. 90, 42 L. ed. 392, 18 Sup. Ct. Rep. 38. The contention now is, however, that our conclusion depended upon reasoning not applicable to the case at bar. It is said that to the validity of a statute of limitations a remedy precedent to and during the period of limitation must exist, and that a remedy did exist we assumed was decided by the state court as a state question, and that on a writ of error to its judgment we were bound by the ruling, and for that reason affirmed the judgment. But the pending case being on error to a United States court, we not only may, but must, exercise an independent judgment—decide for ourselves, not follow the state court, whether a remedy existed.
But was the conclusion in the Turner Case as dependant as contended? The question is best answered by the case itself.
The action was brought in the state court, and was replevin for logs cut upon wild forest lands. The state claimed title through sales for delinquent taxes and deeds executed in pursuance of them. The defendant attacked the deeds, alleging the invalidity of the taxes for 1867 and 1870, and offered evidence to show that the oath of the assessors to the assessment roll of 1867 was taken on August 10, instead of on the third Tuesday of August; and that the assessors omitted to meet on the third Tuesday to review the assessment for that year.
The state objected to the evidence as immaterial because the comptroller's deed was made conclusive evidence of those matters by the statute of the state of 1885, chap. 448,—the statute now in controversy. To the objection it was replied that the statute infringed the 1st section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The state's objection, however, was sustained, and judgment was directed and entered for the state, which was affirmed by the court of appeals, 145 N. Y. 451, 40 N. E. 400.
'The statute according to its principal intent and effect, and as construed by the court of appeals of the state, was a statute of limitations. People v. Turner, 117 N. Y. 227, 22 N. E. 1022; People v. Turner, 145 N. Y. 451, 40 N. E. 400. It is well settled that a statute shortening the period of limitation is within the constitutional power of the legislature, provided a reasonable time, taking into consideration the nature of the case, is allowed for bringing an action after the passage of the statute and before the bar takes effect. Terry v. Anderson, 95 U. S. 628, 632, 633, 24 L. ed. 365, 366; Re Brown, 135 U. S. 701, 705-707, 34 L. ed. 316-318, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 972.
'The statute now in question relates to land sold and conveyed to the state for non-payment of taxes; it applies to those cases only in which the conveyance has been of record for two years in the office where all conveyances of lands within the county are recorded, and it does not bar any action begun within six months after its passage. Independently of the consideration that before the passage of the statute the plaintiff had had eight years since the sale and three years since the recording of the deed, during which he might have asserted his title, this court concurs with the highest court of the state in the opinion that the limitation of six months, as applied to a case of this kind, is not repugnant to any provision of the Constitution of the United States.
5. That as the state courts decided he had a remedy it was not for us to determine what that remedy was under the local Constitution and laws,—that is, whether it was either a direct application to the comptroller or by action of ejectment.
The case, however, as we have seen, was not so limited. It decided more than that the time allowed by the statute was reasonable and sufficient. It also decided that the statute took away no remedy the landowner had before its passage, and that the law of the state gave him a remedy. What it precisely was,—which of the three enumerated ones it was,—was not decided. Not, however, because of the assumption of anything, but because it was not demanded. And why? The question presented was the constitutionality of the statute. That depended upon the existence of a remedy in the landowner during the period of its limitation, and whether a remedy existed what better evidence or authority thority could there be than the decisions of the courts interpreting the laws of the state? To accept them as such was not to assume anything without deciding it. It was to ascertain a necessary element of decision, and then exercising decision. This was our duty then, and it is our duty now, and the fact that the case comes for review from the circuit court of the United States neither enforces nor justifies different considerations. If a precedent or coincident remedy is necessary to the constitutional validity of a statute of limitations, the existence of such remedy is necessary to be decided, and it depends upon the same considerations, and must be upon the same examination, no matter in what court it may be presented or may come.
'1. The sale of the whole tract of land in question for the aggregate unpaid taxes of several years when, during one or more of those years, a part of the tract sold was not assessed or taxed at all.
'2. The sale as one tract of two or more parcels separately assessed.
'3. The assessment of taxes by a description so uncertain as not to identify the parcel of land taxed.
The first two are treated by counsel as similar and dependent upon the same grounds of objection. The specification of those grounds is that at the sale of 1877 the whole quarter, containing 7,500 acres, was sold as one parcel for the aggregate unpaid taxes of 1866-1870 inclusive, amounting, with interest and costs, to $2,756.40, but that it was not assessed as a whole except for the years 1866 and 1867; that for the years 1868, 1869, and 1870 it was assessed in two parcels: (1) the northwest quarter of township 24, 'excepting 1,000 acres lying in the northwest corner; also 1,315 acres which is water;' and (2) '1,000 acres lying in the northwest corner of the northwest quarter.' And that 1,215 acres was not assessed at all for those years. The plaintiff in error, however, does not show that it was in any way injured by the manner of selling. Its counsel supposes a possible severalty of ownership of the different parcels, and claims a cause of action from an injury which might have resulted to someone else. 'We take it to be settled law,' counsel say, 'that the constitutionality of a statute is to be tested, not so much by what is done as what may be done under it. . . . The present record is silent as to the actual ownership of the different parcels of the quarter in question during the years 1866-1870, but plainly they might have been the subject of separate ownership.' And counsel proceed to show how a separate owner, if he had existed, would have been embarrassed in his right of redemption by the necessity of paying some other person's taxes besides his own, and of which he had not been notified during the pendency of the tax proceedings.
But even if we should suppose a several ownership of the lands at the time of the assessment or sale, we do not think that the defects in the latter were jurisdictional, and certainly of all other defects the law of 1885 is not curative only—it is one of limitation. It matters not, therefore, what the rights of any predecessor of the plaintiff might have been if seasonably asserted. They were not seasonably asserted, and they are therefore now precluded.
The law is like any other statute of limitations. It is not affected by what the rights of plaintiff in error were. Whatever they were their remedy is gone, and the title and possession of the state, whatever may have been the defects in the proceedings of which they are the consummation, cannot now be disturbed. This was the ruling in Marsh v. Ne-ha-sa-ne Park Asso. 25 App. Div. 34, 49 N. Y. Supp. 384, where the cases were reviewed, and we think correctly interpreted.
That case seems to have been qualified somewhat by Joslyn v. Rockwell, 128 N. Y. 334, 28 N. E. 604, where it was decided that the law was not conclusive against jurisdictional defects. But People v. Turner was reaffirmed in 145 N. Y. 451, 40 N. E. 400. If the cases are in conflict the latter must prevail, but assuming their reconciliation to be in the character of the defects passed on, they are equally authoritative against plaintiff in error.
In Joslyn v. Rockwell two defects were said to be jurisdictional: The payment of taxes and the occupation of the lands. Of the latter it was said: 'The act of 1885 (chap. 448) is one, by its title, relating 'to the collection of taxes on lands of nonresidents, and to provide for the sale of such lands for unpaid taxes.' It is provided that occupied lands are not the lands of nonresidents. (1 R. S. 389, § 3.) And where lands of a nonresident of a county are occupied by a resident of the town an assessment to the owner in the 'nonresident' part of the roll is illegal, and the lands should be assessed to the resident occupant. People ex rel. Barnard v. Wemple, 117 N. Y. 77, 22 N. E. 761. If the lands were occupied the act of 1885 would not apply.' In the case at bar there is no such fact to preclude the application of the law.
In the case of Meigs v. Roberts, recently decided by the court of appeals of New York, [162 N. Y. 371, 377, 56 N. E. 838] Joslyn v. Rockwell has been explained and limited, and People v. Turner again affirmed.
'We do not find it necessary to pass upon many of the questions which have been elaborately argued before us, or even the one upon which the decision of the trial court proceeded. We are of opinion that the lapse of time between the record of the conveyance of 1884 and the commencement of this action barred the right to the plaintiff to maintain it, even assuming the other questions in the case should be resolved in his favor. The learned appellate division held that the failure to publish a proper redemption notice was jurisdictional as to the conveyance of 1884, and, hence, not cured by chapter 448 of the Laws of 1885, and cited Ensign v. Barse, 107 N. Y. 329, 14 N. E. 400, 15 N. E. 401, and Joslyn v. Rockwell, 128 N. Y. 334, 28 N. E. 604, as authorities for that proposition. We think the learned court took too narrow a view of the statute of 1885. This statute, though in some aspects a curative law, is primarily and essentially much more; it is a statute of limitation. It was distinctly held to be such in two decisions of this court (People v. Turner, 117 N. Y. 227, 22 N. E. 1022; People v. Turner, 145 N. Y. 459, 40 N. E. 400), and by the Supreme Court of the United States. Turner v. New York, 168 U. S. 90, 42 L. ed. 392, 18 Sup. Ct. Rep. 38. A curative act in the ordinary sense of that term is a retrospective law, acting on past cases and existing rights. The power of the legislature to enact such laws is therefore confined within comparatively narrow limits, and they are usually passed to validate irreguarities in legal proceedings, or to give effect to contracts between parties which might otherwise fall for failure to comply with technical legal requirements. Cooley, Const. Lim. p. 454. A very full enumeration of the cases in which the legislature may properly exercise this power is to be found in Forster v. Forster, 129 Mass. 559. But there may be in legal proceedings defects which are not mere informalities or irregularities, but so vital in their character as to be beyond the help of retrospective legislation; such defects are called jurisdictional. This principle does not apply to a statute of limitations, for such a statute will bar any right, however high the source from which it may be deduced, provided that a reasonable time is given a party to enforce his right. Terry v. Anderson, 95 U. S. 628, 24 L. ed. 365; People v. Turner, 145 N. Y. 451, 40 N. E. 400. Ensign v. Barse, 107 N. Y. 329, 14 N. E. 400, 15 N. E. 401, was strictly a case of a retrospective statute, for no period of time was given within which any party affected could assert his rights. The same is true of Cromwell v. MacLean, 123 N. Y. 474, 25 N. E. 932. In Joslyn v. Rockwell, 128 N. Y. 334, 28 N. E. 604, as well as in the two cases of People v. Turner, all of which arose under the statute of 1885, there is to be found a discussion of defects which it was claimed were jurisdictional, and not cured by that act. Such discussion, however, is not to be construed as authority for the proposition that jurisdictional defects in legal proceedings which are beyond the scope of retrospective legislation will equally take a claim out of the bar of a statute of limitations. The existence of such defects was necessarily considered in the authorities cited, because the statute of 1885 in terms exempted from its operation cases where the taxes had been paid, or where there was no legal right to assess the land on which they were laid. There is no exception, however, as to defects in notices of redemption or in their publication; on the contrary, it is expressly provided that the comptroller's deed, after the lapse of the requisite time, shall be conclusive evidence that 'all notices required by law to be given previous to the expiration of the two years allowed by law to redeem were regular and regularly given."
These considerations dispose also of the other objections to the assessment and sale. If further comment be needed as to the insufficiency of the description, it may be brief. It is based on the possibility of there having been more or less land than 1,215 acres covered by water. But whether there were depends upon a question of fact, and what the court found we are not informed by the record. Not insisting on that, however, the evidence of the plaintiff tended to show that the area covered was 1,035 acres; the evidence means of identification, and does not positively was 1,284 acres. Even if the court found Keely v. Sanders, 99 U. S. 443, 25 L. ed. 327. assessment did not make the description insufficient. A description of land for the purposes of taxation is sufficient if it affords the means of identification, and dose not positively mislead the owner. Cooley, Taxn. 407; Keely v. Sanders, 99 U. s. 443, 25 L. ed. 327.
The same comment can be made of the '1,000 acres lying in the northwest corner of the northwest quarter' of the tract, whether we regard it as a parcel or an exception from another parcel. Jackson ex dem. Kellogg v. Vickory, 1 Wend. 407, 19 Am. Dec. 522; Dolan v. Trelevan, 31 Wis. 147; Bowers v. Chambers, 53 Miss. 259; Doe ex dem. Hooper v. Clayton, 81 Ala. 391, 2 So. 24.
The other assignments of error it is not necessary to specifically notice nor the defenses of champerty and the alleged illegal organization of the plaintiff in error.
Sec. 2. The provisions of this act are hereby made applicable only to the following counties, namely: Clinton, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saratoga. St. Lawrence, Sullivan, Ulster, Warren, and Washington, but shall not affect any action, proceeding, or application pending at the time of its passage; nor any action that shall be begun, proceeding taken, or application duly made within six months thereafter for the purpose of vacating any tax sale or any conveyance or certificate of sale made thereunder.

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