Stanley v. Schwalby

Decision Date06 February 1893
Docket NumberNo. 1,092,1,092
Citation13 S.Ct. 418,147 U.S. 508,37 L.Ed. 259
PartiesSTANLEY et al. v. SCHWALBY et al
CourtU.S. Supreme Court

Statement by Mr. Chief Justice FULLER:

This was an action of trespass to try title, brought February 23, 1889, in the district court of Bexar county, Tex., against David S. Stanley and three other defendants, by Mary U. Schwalby, whose husband, J. A. Schwalby, was afterwards made a party plaintiff, to recover a certain parcel or lot of land in the city of San Antonio. Mrs. Schwalby claimed title to one third of the lot as one of the three heirs of her father, Duncan B. McMillan, deceased, and subsequently one Joseph Spence, Jr., intervened, and asserted title to one third of the lot through a conveyance made to him by Duncan W. McMillan, another of said heirs. Judgment of possession of the whole lot was prayed, upon an averment that defendants entered without right or title.

The land in question was part of a military reservation of the United States, and was used and occupied as a military post, and David S. Stanley and his codefendants were officers of the army of the United States, holding and occupying the land under authority of the United States. They pleaded not guilty, and specially that they held lawful possession of the property as officers and agents of the United States, which had had title and right of possession, under conveyance duly recorded, since the year 1875, as innocent purchasers for value without notice; and also the 3-year, the 5-year, and the 10-year statutes of limitation of Texas, and a claim for allowance for permanent and valuable improvements.

The United States district attorney appeared for the United States, acting, as he alleged, 'by and through instructions from the attorney general of the United States,' and joined on behalf of the United States in the pleas of the other defendants.

The district court being of opinion that the United States could not set up the statute of limitations, whether for 3, 5, or 10 years, or otherwise, the pleas of the United States to that effect were ordered to be stricken out.

On the trial evidence was adduced on both sides bearing upon the title and the purchase of the property by the United States and the value of the improvements. It appeared that one Dignowity was the common source of title, and had executed a statutory warranty deed of the lot in controversy to Duncan B. McMillan, dated and acknowledged May 9, 1860, but not recorded until September 30, 1889; that McMillan, then a widower, died February 5, 1865, leaving three children him surviving, of whom plaintiff Mary U. was born September 11, 1848, and married J. H. Schwalby January 18, 1871; and Duncan W. was born November 2, 1850, and conveyed to Joseph Spence, Jr., the intervener, March 26, 1889, by deed acknowledged that day and filed for record March 29, 1889.

Dignowity died in April, 1875, testate, and by the terms of his will, which was duly probated that month, his property passed to his widow, who, on May 1, 1875, in her own right, and as independent executrix of her husband's will, released and quitclaimed to the city of San Antonio all her right, title, and interest in the lot in question, 'known as the 'McMillan Lot," with covenant of warranty against any person claiming by, under, or through Dignowity or his estate. The city of San Antonio conveyed this and three other lots by warranty deed, dated June 16, 1875, and recorded October 21, 1875, to the United States for military purposes.

Gen. Stanley testified that he was a brigadier general of the United States army, that his codefendants were officers of the same, and that they took and held possession as such officers.

It was contended that the evidence tended to show that the city and the United States took with notice of a previous sale to McMillan; that McMillan had never paid the purchase price in full; that the unrecorded deed was never delivered to McMillan, but held in escrow; and that Dignowity paid the taxes on the lot from 1860 to 1875.

The district court gave judgment in favor of the plaintiffs Schwalby and Spence, that each had title to one third of the lot, and for the possession of the whole, and also in favor of the United States for $1,521 for the improvements; that being the difference between the value thereof and the amount found due from the United States for the use and occupation of the premises. Both parties excepted to the judgment, and perfected an appeal therefrom. The supreme court of Texas reversed the judgment, and rendered judgment dismissing the action as to the United States, that plaintiffs recover from the defendants, Stanley and others, possession of the lot in question, and the sum of $200, being the value of the use and occupation of said land, together with costs; to review which judgment this writ of error was sued out. The opinion is reported, in advance of the official series, in 19 S. W. Rep. 264.

Asst. Atty. Gen. Maury, for plaintiffs in error.

A. H. Garland, for defendants in error.

Mr. Chief Justice FULLER, after stating the facts in the foregoing language, delivered the opinion of the court.

In The Siren, 7 Wall. 152, Mr. Justice Field, who spoke for the court, in adverting to the familiar rule of the common law that the sovereign cannot be sued in his own courts without his consent, and the ground upon which the rule rested, said: 'This doctrine of the common law is equally applicable to the supreme authority of the nation, the United States. They cannot be subjected to legal proceedings at law or in equity without their consent; and whoever institutes such proceedings must bring his case within the authority of some act of congress. Such is the language of this court in U. S. v. Clarke, 8 Pet. 444. The same exemption from judicial process extends to the property of the United States, and for the same reasons. As justly observed by the learned judge who tried this case, there is no distinction between suits against the government directly and suits against its property.'

If, then, this suit had been directly against the United States, or the property of the United States, it could not have been maintained; and it is only upon the proposition that it was brought, not against the United States, but against the officers of the United States as individuals, although holding possession of the property under their authority, and as belonging to them, that it proceeded to judgment. The district attorney of the United States, acting, as he alleged, 'by and through instructions from the attorney general of the United States,' filed certain pleas on behalf of the United States, among others, of limitation and for allowance for valuable improvements. No question seems to have arisen in the state district court as to the authority of the district attorney to do this. The court ruled that the United States could not plead the statutes of limitation, and therefore struck those pleas out, but sustained the plea claiming an allowance for improvements, and rendered judgment in favor of the United States for the value thereof. The supreme court of Texas held that, as the instructions of the attorney general were not found in the record, and no act of congress empowering him to make the United States a party, either plaintiff or defendant, to an action in a state court was referred to, the United States could not be regarded as a party, and therefore reversed the judgment below, and rendered judgment dismissing the United States from the case. The error assigned to this action of the supreme court has not been pressed by counsel for the government, and we are not called upon to express any opinion upon it. We should remark, however, that from a very early period it has been held that even where the United States is not made technically a party under the authority of an act of congress, yet, where the property of the government is concerned, it is proper for the attorney for the United States to intervene by way of suggestion, and in such case, if the suit be not stayed altogether, the court will adjust its judgment according to the rights disclosed on the part of the government thus intervening. Such was the leading case of The Exchange, 7 Cranch, 116, 147, where the public armed vessel of a foreign sovereign having been libeled in a court of admiralty by citizens of the United States to whom she had belonged, and from whom she had been forcibly taken in a foreign port by his order, the district attorney filed a suggestion stating the facts, and, the circuit court having entered a decree for libelants disregarding the suggestion, this court, upon an appeal taken by the attorney of the United States, reversed the decree and dismissed the libel, and Mr. Chief Justice Marshall, in delivering the opinion of the court, said: 'There seems to be a necessity for admitting that the fact might be disclosed to the court by the suggestion of the attorney for the United States.'

Probably the instructions here were that the district attorney should make defense for Gen. Stanley and his fellow officers, and, in addition, he thought it wise to bring the rights of the United States to the attention of the court by application in their name.

The argument for the plaintiffs in error is confined to the disposition of the pleas setting up the statutes of limitation, in respect of which the decision did not turn upon the question whether on the facts the bar was or was not complete, but upon the view that, although, as between individuals, a perfect defense might have been made out, it could not be availed of by or under the United States.

By the Texas statute relied on it was provided that every suit to recover real estate 'as against any person in peaceable and adverse possession thereof under title or color of title shall be instituted within three years next after the cause of action shall have accrued, and not afterwards.' 'Title' was defined to mean a regular chain of transfer from or...

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