Court Opinion

ID: 9770424
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 16:04:46.30913+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:17.308119
License: Public Domain

STORCKMAN, Judge
(dissenting).
The trial of this case before Judge Randolph H. Weber without a jury began on April 21, 1955. There were 14 sessions and 38 witnesses were heard orally. The last session was on January 7, 1956, almost nine months after the hearings started. The testimony was then transcribed and the issues were briefed by the parties. The last brief was filed October 13, 1956, almost ten months after the trial was concluded. The decision in favor of the plaintiffs was rendered on March 21, 1957, which was about five months after the final submission of the case. Judge Weber then resigned to accept an appointment as United States District Judge.
Judge Weber found that there was an island offshore at the time of the patent; that the plaintiffs were owners by virtue of their patent and also that they had been in adverse and continuous possession since 1922 and would be entitled to the land by adverse possession.
Judge Philip S. Terry was appointed on March 30, 1957, in the place of Judge Weber who resigned about a week earlier. On June 13, 1957, the defendant’s motion for a new trial was argued before Judge Terry. About a week later, on June 21, 1957, Judge Terry sustained the motion for new trial on the ground that the judgment was against the weight of the evidence. The only finding on which there was a specification of error was with respect to the boundary line of New Madrid County.
The majority opinion reaches a conclusion different from that arrived at by either of the circuit judges in that it remands the cause to the trial court with directions to enter judgment in favor of the defendant on plaintiffs’ petition and in favor of defendant on his counterclaim and to declare the patent from New Madrid County void and of no effect.
I regret that I cannot agree with the result reached in the majority opinion nor its rationale. Among the reasons I believe the opinion is erroneous are these:
1. The patent issued by New Madrid County in 1915 to plaintiffs’ predecessors in title is sufficient evidence to establish that the couMty had title to the land at the time of the conveyance and if not overcome by defendant’s evidence is sufficient proof to support the judgment rendered by Judge Weber.
Section 241.310 RSMo 1949, V.A.M.S., provides that all counties in which the islands and abandoned river beds described in § 241.290 and § 241.300 are situated shall have the power to have them surveyed and “to sell and convey them in the same manner that the swamp lands acquired under the act of congress of September 28, 1850,” are conveyed. Sections 241.010 through 241.280 deal with these swamp and overflow lands and how they shall be conveyed. Frank v. Goddin, 193 Mo. 390, 91 S.W. 1057, 1058, holds that islands formed in navigable streams belong to the respective counties in which they appear and are subject to disposition as swamp lands for the benefit of the public schools.
Section 241.220 provides that when swamp lands are fully paid for, the county court shall issue a patent to the purchaser and § 241.120 provides that all patents issued, executed and duly recorded as required by §§ 241.010 through 241.280, which *96includes the patents issued pursuant to § 241.220, “shall be received and read in all courts in this state as prima facie evidence of the title in the counties where such overflowed and swamp lands severally lie.” Emphasis added.
Thus the patent in question is “prima fa-cie evidence that the title” of the land was in New Madrid County. In Hatch v. Rhyne, Mo., 253 S.W.2d 170, the plaintiffs claimed title to an island in the Mississippi River by reason of a county patent and subsequent deeds. Among other things the defendants attacked the validity of the patent. This court stated that the plaintiffs “made a prima facie case when they showed legal title in them under the patent” and the subsequent conveyances but that the defendants were entitled to prove that “the patent under which plaintiffs claimed was void on its face, or show by extrinsic evidence that the county did not have title to the land it conveyed.” 253 S.W.2d 172-173. In Morgan v. Stoddard, 187 Mo. 323, 86 S.W. 133, 135, the patent was held to be prima facie evidence of title in the county to swamp lands, although its effect was overcome by an admission that the lands did not lie in the county which undertook to convey them. Thus by statute the patent is not only evidence of the conveyance, but also is prima facie evidence that New Madrid County was the owner of the land it undertook to convey.
The term prima facie evidence has been frequently defined. In Missouri District Telephone Co. v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., 338 Mo. 692, 93 S.W.2d 19, 23 [9], prima facie evidence was said to be such evidence as in the judgment of the law is sufficient to establish the fact and if not rebutted remains sufficient for that purpose. See also State ex rel. Donnell v. Osburn, 347 Mo. 469, 147 S.W.2d 1065, 1068[8], 136 A.L.R. 667, and Kirkwood Realty, Ins. & Adjustment Co. v. Henry, 349 Mo. 522, 162 S.W.2d 600, 603 [7],
The majority opinion states that “the -fact that the county had the land surveyed and then issued a patent therefor on the basis that it was an island to which it had title * * * is entitled to substantial weight, it is not conclusive on the issue of whether there was then or ever had been such an island.” Under the statute the patent is conclusive evidence of ownership unless its force and effect, provided by law, is overcome by proof that title was not in the county when the patent was issued. The majority opinion does not refer to the statute nor consider its force and effect. In fact, except for the reference above noted, the opinion does not discuss the importance of the patent .as evidence; it seems to proceed upon the theory that the burden was upon the plaintiffs to prove their title by other evidence.
The patent describes the land it purported to convey and further characterized it “all known as Austin Island.” It was issued in 1915, recorded promptly and remained unchallenged for almost 40 years. There is no charge of fraud or wrongdoing in obtaining the patent. The wisdom of the statute making the patent proof of title is demonstrated by this case in which more than 40 years elapsed since the occurrence of the events about which the witnesses are called on to testify. Unless rebutted, the patent alone is sufficient evidence to justify Judge Weber’s judgment and it should not be held “clearly erroneous.”
2. In addition to the patent, there is sufficient evidence from which the trial court could reasonably find that there was an offshore island known as Austin Island to which Neiv Madrid County acquired title at some time prior to the issuance of the patent in 1915.
Originally the defendant’s brief referred to the land in question as a “mythical island” and denied there was ever an Austin Island or any island at the place in question. Nevertheless, at the second argument in division and during the argument before the court en banc defendant’s counsel, under questioning by a member of the court, *97conceded that there had been a high bank chute through which water flowed separating the land in controversy, or at least a portion of it, from the Girvin land. The theory of defendant’s counsel as expounded in oral argument was that the tract in question was originally an accretion to defendant’s land, and that the channel or high bank chute was caused by avulsion thereby continuing the title to the land thus separated in the original owner. On the other hand, the plaintiffs claim that .all sand bars and other accretions were washed away entirely and that the island formed as a towhead in the river independently of the defendant’s land. Apparently both parties now agree that a high bank chute existed which is now largely filled in although a high bank still remains. An aerial photograph is said to show the high bank although there is controversy .as to whether there was any water in'the chute. Therefore, as a result of two rehearings, it appears that the issue has been narrowed to whether the land in question originated and grew from a towhead in the river or as an accretion to defendant’s land separated at some time by avulsion then reunited by further alluvial deposits. Thus the parties agree that the area in question is made land in that it was created by alluvial deposits from the waters of the river.
We have read the testimony of witnesses said to be controlling on the manner of formation of the land. The testimony is lengthy and cannot be set out in its entirety, but we will refer to some of it and particularly that which relates to the existence or non-existence of an Austin Island or Towhead prior to 1915 and within the period designated by § 241.290 and § 241.300 when title would vest in the adjoining county.
John Grimes, a witness on behalf of the plaintiffs, was 78 years old at the time of the trial in April 1955 and had lived at Stewart in Pemiscot County all of his life. He first became acquainted with the Mississippi River when he was about 8 or 10 years old. (93)1 When he first came to know this part of the river, there wasn’t any Austin Island. It was all river. (134) There were no offshore islands between the ferry and Stewart’s landing. (94) He was acquainted with Bill Austin in his lifetime. (93) The first time that he noticed an island or a group of towheads developing out of the Mississippi south of the ferry road down to Stewart’s landing was about 1914 or 1915, but he stated that he was “a very poor hand to dates.” (95) At the time he first saw the island, there couldn’t have been but two or three acres. Mr. Austin lived on the island for two or three years and had a garden and a truck patch. Because he lived there, it was called Austin Island. Williams Island was located below Austin Island and there was a body of water between them. (97) The witness farmed, fished and hunted most of his life. At that time there was water between Austin Island and the high bank. He trapped in the high bank chute. (98) There was a “pretty good little body of water at the time” that he trapped there. That was along about 1914 and 1915. On the east of Austin Island towards the river there was mostly water. (99) From the old river chute or the old high bank, the chute went about three quarters of a mile east and turned out to the river and “another slough directed it down to the river.” He trapped some in that slough. The Williams Chute is the one between Williams Island and Austin Island. It is the lower one. (100) Where Mr. Austin “truck patched there was only two or three acres and the rest of it was river at that time.” Now it is land and grows timber. The chutes that he told the court about are there only in high water, in low water they dry up. (101)
On cross-examination the witness testified that it was only during high water that the island was surrounded by water. (107) What the witness called Austin Towhead was in there at the mouth of Williams Chute and a short distance from there Mr. *98Austin had his shanty built. (Ill) The Austin Towhead was separated from Williams Island by a little chute or a slough. (112) The witness again said that , as far as I could recollect it was 1914 or 1915. By 1916 or 1917 it was a little bit larget but he didn’t remember how much larger. (113) While the witness stated that the Austin Towhead had water on two sides (114), he further testified that on the lower end it ran down and almost connected with Williams Island and on the west side a slough came around. (115)
On redirect examination the witness testified that he did not testify on cross-examination that there was a little finger of land that ran out into the river north of the ferry that was known as a towhead. (116) He further testified that there was water around the Austin Towhead at that time and that he did not know anything about a little finger of land coming out into the river. (116) As the years went by, during low stages of the water, the chute that had had water around Austin Towhead went dry. (117) South of the island was water and sand and mud with little bits of sprouts of something just starting. On the north next to the high bank there was water, a slough of water was in there. On the west, the side furthest away from the river, there was “what you would call a ridge and water.” (124) At this point the witness appeared to be having difficulty expressing himself and this occurred: “A. If you would go with me, I would take you and show you what I mean. The Court: What we are trying to get you to do is give us a word picture because we can’t go out there and look at it. A. I am going to try to do it the best I can.” (126) (Some of the questions of counsel as recorded in the transcript are as confused and as difficult to understand as the witnesses’ answers. For example, see p. 127.) John L. Girvin’s Chute which runs east and west comes down from the high bank and runs for about two miles before it turned east and went back into the river. The west end came out with Williams Chute. (128) Austin Island was right between the two sloughs. (129) What the witness called Austin Island and Austin Towhead were the same thing. (131) The year when he couldn’t trap, it was because the water dried up, there was low water. (132) The witness volunteered to demonstrate with a drawing which was marked as Exhibit 17 and put into evidence, but it adds little if anything to his testimony. Without his explanation, the exhibit is not understandable and much of the examination, both questions and answers, was conducted by pointing, which means nothing to the reader of the written transcript although it doubtless had some significance to those who observed it.
Mrs. Ora Peppers, 76 years of age, presently living in Portageville and a witness for the defendant, came into the Girvin household with her parents when she was three years old. Her first recollection of the lay of the land was when she was about 11 years old. On direct examination she testified about a fence on the property and the location of the landmarks and stated that she had hunted cows and hogs and picked berries “from one end of that bar to the other and never seen a island in there.” (1186) On cross-examination she was asked about the old river chute and volunteered this information: “No, I went to that towhead, Austin Towhead, went straight through to Austin Towhead which is below” (1194) that line and there was a chute between the Austin Towhead and the bank. She was too small to remember how wide the chute was. (1194) The chute ran two or maybe three miles below the ferry. The water came about half way up the chute but steamboats couldn’t get up in that chute. They had to go around east of that chute up to Tiptonville. In 1897 the water came to the top of that chute and her husband cut paper wood right there and they would go in swimming in that chute of the evening when they would come in from work. (1195) The Austin Towhead got its name because old man Austin landed there and came there. She *99remembered about the boat catching fire and sinking on the upper end of the Towhead. She did not remember how much higher Austin Towhead was than the balance of the bar but she knew it was called the Austin Towhead and she was on it. She never heard the place called an island, it was just called Austin Towhead. (1197) The place where her husband was cutting timber in 1897 was just above the Austin Towhead. When the men came in for their night’s lodging they would go in to take a bath, a swim. Their camp was not on the Towhead but on the land above it and they swam in the chute between the land and the Towhead. (1198) That was in August 1897. The water stayed there the year around then but not since then. At that point there was a bank slanting down to the water but it wasn’t steep. (1199) Mrs. Peppers was recalled and testified that the chute where they camped did not connect up with the river. (1268) But again she testified on cross-examination that the water stayed in the chute all the time, it was river water and went right around the Towhead, but that the Towhead was attached up there to the ferry landing. (1270)
John Clarahan, age 79, testified by deposition for the defendant that he came to the New Madrid-Pemiscot area in September 1895. He was building levees in that vicinity and became familiar with the Girvin land. There was a body of land south of the Girvin line which was referred to as Austin Island. It was right above Stewart’s landing. (1234) The land that was called Austin Island was located about a mile above Stewart’s landing. He was never on the island and did not know anything about it.
S. L. Hunter, age 75, a landowner in the area, testified on behalf of the plaintiffs that in 1907 he saw the island called Austin Island when he was at that place in connection with a survey. It was small and had willows on it. It was completely surrounded by water. There was water between it and the main shore. It looked as if there might be a hundred acres on the island. (1803) It was cone shaped. (1804) He estimated that there was about 1,200 to 1,500 feet of open water between the island and the bank. (1805) It was in 1907 that the survey was run; he stood on the bank and saw the island. Steamboats went between that island and the Missouri shore for more than a year. It was the island that “they called the Austin Island.” (1964)
All of these witnesses agree that a body of land existed which was known as Austin Island or Austin Towhead. They vary as to time and dates and some of them as to whether it was connected with the mainland and, if so, to what extent. But I do not consider these differences sufficient grounds for this court to reject the testimony. We have seen records in this court where testimony given 40 days after a casualty that was less clear and more conflicting. So far as I know we have never held that the trial judge or jury was not justified in basing a finding on it. Moreover, so far as I could discover, the testimony of S. L. Hunter was clear and unimpeached.
Even defendant’s witnesses referred to the area as a towhead. While witnesses may use the same word with a different meaning, absent an explanation, the dictionary definition of the word towhead is important. A towhead is defined as: “A low alluvial island or shoal in a river; esp., such an island with clusters of cottonwood or the like. Local, US.” A shoal is: “A sand bank or bar which makes the water shoal [shallow].” Alluvial means: “Pertaining to or composed of alluvium”. The latter in turn is: “Soil, sand, gravel, or similar detrital material deposited by running water, esp. during recent geologic time.” Webster’s New International Dictionary, 2d Ed. This definition supports the plaintiffs’ theory.
The testimony referred to is consistent with the prima facie evidence of title in New Madrid County based on the patent. Additionally Judge Weber could reason*100ably find support in it for the judgment that he rendered.

3.The maps upon which the majority opinion depends are not conclusive and their probative value is for the court to determine in connection with related testimony given by the witnesses.

In a similar case this court stated in Dunlap v. Hartman, Mo., 338 S.W.2d 10,. 13: “Whether the point of contact of the accretions Vas the railroad right of way or the slough, even the interpretation of the photographs and plats, depends on whether one believes and accepts the testimony offered by the plaintiffs or that offered by the defendants.” Italics added. See also Hamburg Realty Co. v. Woods, Mo., 327 S.W.2d 138, 153, and 32 C.J.S. Evidence § 767a, p. 688, and § 730b, p. 638.
In seeking to show that the land did not originate and exist as an island, the majority opinion relies almost wholly on several river maps and the computation of the water stages in the vicinity of Austin Island by comparison with the gauge at New Madrid about 21 miles away. I am not convinced that these maps prove that the land in question could not and did not originate as an offshore island. For an interpretation of these maps, the court must depend upon witnesses having some special skill; the credibility of these witnesses, like others, is a matter primarily for the trial court. The vagaries of the Mississippi River, even from year to year, are well known. I do not think this court has the expertise to employ these several maps to destroy the effect of testimony which the trial court apparently chose to believe. Nor can these maps discount entirely the prima facie case made by the patent which was prepared and ordered delivered by county officials who were in a better position in 1915 to know the truth about the origin of the land in question than witnesses called to the stand 40 years later to give their recollections or to demonstrate by the use of maps that Austin Island did or did not exist. It is said that it can be scientifically demonstrated that a bumble bee because of its body size and limited wing span cannot fly but we know that it can. In my opinion, the patent issued in 1915 is superior evidence to a map prepared at another time for other purposes. Many witnesses testified that there was an Austin towhead or an Austin Island and sufficiently described its character so that the trial court could reasonably find the island offshore in origin.

4.The opinion recognises the rule of deference to the trial court’s judgment but does not apply it.

In the recent case of Schlanger v. Simon, Mo., 339 S.W.2d 825, 828, the author of the majority opinion thus stated the rule of deference and scope of review in a court-tried case: “On an appeal in an equity case, such as this, the appellate court reviews the whole record, determines the weight and value of the evidence, and reaches its own conclusions as to the facts, giving due deference to the findings of the chancellor who saw the witnesses and heard their testimony. Botto v. James, Mo.Sup., 209 S.W.2d 256; Mueller v. Mueller, Mo.Sup., 318 S.W.2d 365. But the appellate court performs the above functions only in respect to the specific matters urged by appellant as constituting error. It does not review the whole case on its own initiative to determine what result it would have reached if it were sitting as the trial judge.”
The trial of this case was before an able and experienced trial judge. The record shows some of the testimony was accompanied by reference and pointing which may have been helpful to the trial judge that saw it, but means nothing on appeal. The judgment should not be reversed unless clearly erroneous. Section 510.310, subd. 4 RSMo 1949, V.A.M.S. In reaching its conclusion in Hamburg Realty Co. v. Woods, Mo., 327 S.W.2d 138, 153-154, a similar case, this court stated: “The trial judge had before him the maps, deeds and other exhibits and saw the witnesses, and thereby was more able to judge of their credi*101bility and interest, if any, and to evaluate the conflicting interpretations placed upon the maps, deeds and other facts concerning which the witnesses testified than is the reviewing court.” This statement seems particularly appropriate for application in the present case.
The majority opinion also disregards the rule that a court may believe a part of a witness’ testimony and rej ect the remainder. Huffman v. Mercer, Mo., 295 S.W.2d 27, 32; Burr v. Singh, 362 Mo. 692, 243 S.W.2d 295, 298. Instead of observing these rules, the majority opinion views the evidence of the plaintiffs with a jaundiced eye and seeks to destroy it entirely. This is the antithesis of the approach enjoined on us by § 510.310, subd. 4 and our rules and decisions. For example, the opinion throws out entirely the testimony of witness Grimes. The central fact in his testimony was that when he first saw Austin Island it consisted of 2 or 3 acres and Mr. Austin was living on it. The witness stated that this was about 1915 but he warned the court and parties that he was not too good on dates. The trial court might very well have believed that Grimes did see the island when it consisted of 2 or 3 acres, but that he was mistaken as to the date and that, he had first seen it at an earlier time. His testimony permitted this inference. The trial court might reasonably have been influenced by this in conjunction with the patent and other evidence to hold that the land originated as an offshore island. But this and other evidence the majority opinion rejects completely.
Time and space does not permit a demonstration of the result that could be achieved by an application of the rule of deference to the testimony of the witness above referred to as well as others, some of whom were called by the defendant. Because of time limitation, I have been able to read only a portion of the 2,380-page transcript, but the sampling that I have done convinces me that I cannot agree with the majority opinion in the respects indicated., I have not treated adverse possession, the location of the county line and some other matters raised in the brief because it is obvious that it would be unrewarding to do so. Subject to a favorable determination on these other matters, I would reverse the judgment and remand the cause with directions to reinstate the judgment rendered by Judge Weber.
5. Even if re-entry of the judgment is not justified, the opinion appears gratuitous in that it sets aside the order of Judge Terry granting a new trial, directs the entry of judgment in favor of the defendant on his counterclaim as well as on plaintiffs’ petition and declares the 1915 patent void even though the defendant did not appeal from the judgments of the two trial judges denying his affirmative relief.
Plaintiffs’ first amended petition asserted a cause of action for wrongful cutting of timber and asked for treble damages. The defendant filed an answer denying plaintiffs’ claim and setting up a “cross-claim and affirmative defense”. The cross-claim prayed a cancellation of the plaintiffs’ patent; the affirmative defense pleaded title by adverse possession specifically and also generally asserted a superior record title. The reply denied the defendant’s affirmative assertions and claimed title by limitation if the court should find any defect in the patent. The reply prayed for judgment in accordance with the prayer of the amended petition and for an adjudication of title “in the event the court considers the count or claim to quiet title as injected” (29) by the defendant’s answer.
One of the plaintiffs, Effie M. Conran, claimant to a one-half interest in the land, died after the institution of the action and the cause of action as to her was revived in the name of her administrator. As to this, the defendant states, Respondent’s Brief, pp. 4-5: “This case was properly revived in the name of J. V. Conran, administrator of the estate of Effie M. Conran, if title to real estate was not involved, except as it might be indirectly involved to de*102cide the issues in the case; but if the action be one as apparently contended for by plaintiffs (and so found by Judge Weber), that title to real estate was directly involved, then the revival of the case in the name of the administrator of the estate of Effie M. Conran was improper; because in such case, the cause of action would have to have been revived in the name of the heirs of Effie M. Conran and also the grantees of Effie M. Conran who conveyed her interest in the real estate during the progress of the trial, to Mary Susan Conran and Salley N. Conran, Tr. 58, 59.” In the first paragraph of the “Conclusion” of his brief, the defendant contends, p. 131: “That title to the real estate was not directly involved, title to real estate being only indirectly involved in order to determine the issues made by the pleadings, and that Judge Weber erred and exceeded his jurisdiction in rendering judgment in favor of Appellants and against Respondent on the question of title to the real estate.” The defendant also pressed this point in oral argument.
If it would be improper to quiet title in favor of the plaintiffs on this record as the defendant contends, then it would be equally erroneous to quiet title in favor of the defendant as the majority opinion does. All persons materially interested in the subject matter of a suit to quiet title should be made parties to it so that there may be a complete decree which will bind all of them. This court so held in Buford v. Lucy, Mo., 328 S.W.2d 14, 19 [7], and reversed and remanded the case so that other necessary parties might be brought in.
But our main contention under this heading is that under established practice, the scope of this review is to determine whether Judge Terry erred in granting a new trial. The plaintiffs’ position was that the court did err because the judgment in plaintiffs’ favor was justified and it should be reinstated even if in a modified or amended form. Plaintiffs’ request that this court finally determine the case should be construed within the scope of proper appellate review. It seems anomalous and rather harsh to interpret this request as an invitation by the plaintiffs to give their opponent a free ride, so to speak. The opinion grants relief to the defendant which he did not seek on this appeal and to which he was not entitled absent an appeal. Thus he is spared the burden that goes with being an appellant. We believe the record bears this out.
The defendant’s after-trial motion prayed that plaintiffs’ judgment be set aside and that a new judgment be entered for the defendant or, in the alternative, that a new trial be granted. Also, the defendant filed a motion to amend the judgment in the event the court overruled the motion to set aside or to grant a new trial.
The order Judge Terry made in ruling on defendant’s motions found the southern boundary line of New Madrid County “to be a continuation of a straight line from the mouth of Major’s Mill Race, to a point” in the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi River rather than a line at a right angle to the shoreline which presumably would have the effect of locating the land in Pemiscot County so that New Madrid would not have acquired title to the island. This was the only reason assigned by Judge Terry for the grant of the new trial which was ordered in this manner:
“Therefore, it is ordered, adjudged and decreed that defendant’s Motion to Amend the Bindings and Judgment of the Court in favor of Plaintiffs and against Defendant be overruled.
“It is further ordered, adjudged and decreed that Defendant’s Motion to Set Aside Findings and Judgment of Court and to Enter New Judgment in favor of Defendant and against Plaintiffs, or in Lieu Thereof Motion for New Trial be overruled insofar as it constitutes a Motion to Set Aside Findings and Judgment of Court and to Enter New Judgment in Favor of Defendant and Against Plaintiffs; and that the same be sustained insofar as it constitutes a Motion for New Trial.
*103“And therefore the verdict and judgment of the Court is set aside and for naught held for the reason heretofore stated, and the submission is set aside and the re-trial of this cause is ordered.
“Thereupon it is ordered by the Court that the verdict and judgment heretofore rendered in this cause be and it is hereby set aside and for naught held and the submission is also hereby ordered by the Court set aside and re-trial is ordered.”
The defendant did not appeal. The plaintiffs appealed from the order granting a new trial. The plaintiffs’ original appellate brief requested that judgment be reinstated or that this court render “such amended judgment as it deems is justified by the evidence.” The defendant’s appellate brief prayed “that the order and judgment of Judge Terry be sustained and his action affirmed by this court.” In their reply brief, the plaintiffs stated their interpretation of the ruling on defendant’s motions to be that Judge Terry disagreed with Judge Weber on the location of the county line and that Judge Terry thereby overruled all other specifications of error raised by the after-trial motions of the defendant, citing Loveless v. Locke Distributing Co., Mo., 313 S.W.2d 24, 32. The plaintiffs then contended that the evidence overwhelmingly supported Judge Weber on every issue and stated that there was no contention that a new trial would adduce new evidence and it would he a miscarriage of justice if the parties would have to try the case again and wait another five years for a decision. The reply brief again requested that the original judgment be reinstated or that this court render such amended judgment as it deems is justified by the evidence.
The plaintiffs and the defendant both filed supplemental briefs when the appeal was transferred to the court en banc. The plaintiffs’ or the appellants’ supplemental brief concluded with this request: “Whereas, the plaintiffs respectfully ask that the proposed opinion be reviewed and set aside and the findings of trial Judge be reconsidered and affirmed.”
The defendant who was the respondent concluded his supplemental brief with this: “Defendant respectfully prays that the proposed opinion be adopted as the opinion in this case.”
This state of the record raises serious questions as follows:
1. Since the defendant did not appeal from the judgment of Judge Weber denying the defendant the relief requested in his cross-claim and affirmative defense nor from the order of Judge Terry denying relief except a new trial for the reasons stated by the court, is the defendant entitled to receive in this court the full measure of relief that could have been granted him as an appellant ? Ordinarily, a respondent who has not appealed cannot complain of the judgment which, in this case, is the order granting a new trial. See Botto v. James, Mo., 209 S.W.2d 256; State ex rel. Ginger v. Palmer, Mo., 198 S.W.2d 10; Moore v. Hoffman, 327 Mo. 852, 39 S.W.2d 339, 75 A.L.R. 135; Turner v. Hine, 297 Mo. 153, 248 S.W. 933; St. Charles Savings Bank v. Denker, 275 Mo. 607, 205 S.W. 208; and Oertel v. John D. Streett & Co., Mo.App., 285 S.W.2d 87.
2. “It is not the policy of the law to allow long-settled titles to be easily disturbed.” Williams v. Keef, 241 Mo. 366, 145 S.W. 425, 427[3], In that case the claimant waited 27 years before contesting the title. Should this court so easily, and apparently “on its own initiative”, disturb a title that has been of record for 40 years and which is buttressed by a statutory presumption of validity? Schlanger v. Simon, supra.
3. If Judge Terry’s order granting a new trial is to be sustained, should it be limited to the sole issue of the location of the boundary line between New Madrid and Pemiscot Counties; that is, to the determination of the issue of whether the land is located in New Madrid? See Corbin v. *104Hume-Sinclair Coal Mining Co., 361 Mo. .888, 237 S.W.2d 81, 84[7].
For these and other reasons that cannot 'be adequately developed at this time, I respectfully dissent.

. Numerals in parentheses refer to pages of the transcript of the record on appeal.