Bradley v. Fallbrook Irr. Dist.

• Decision Date: 22 July 1895
• Docket Number: 553.
• Citation: 68 F. 948
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of California
• Parties: BRADLEY et al. v. FALLBROOK IRRIGATION DIST. et al.

68 F. 948

BRADLEY et al. v. FALLBROOK IRRIGATION DIST. et al.

No. 553.

United States Circuit Court, S.D. California.

July 22, 1895

Lee &amp Scott and Chapman & Hendrick, for complainants.

Aitken & Smith, for defendants.

ROSS Circuit Judge.

This is a suit in equity, by which it is sought to have enjoined the execution of a deed for certain land of the complainant Maria King Bradley under a sale made by the collector of the defendant irrigation district, to satisfy a delinquent assessment against the property levied under and by virtue of the provisions of an act of the legislature of the state of California, and its amendments, known as the 'Wright Act' (St. 1887, p. 29; St. 1889. pp. 15-18, 212, 213; St 1891, pp. 53, 142, 145, 147, 244), providing for the organization and existence of irrigation districts, and to obtain a decree adjudging the proceedings under that legislation, in so far as concerns the property of the complainant Maria King Bradley, void and of no effect. The regularity of the proceedings under the act is not questioned, and as the supreme court of the state has sustained its validity in a number of cases hereinafter referred to, and as the statute itself makes the deed executed pursuant to its provisions (except as against actual fraud) conclusive evidence of the regularity of all the proceedings from the assessment to the execution of the deed and declares that it conveys to the grantee the absolute title to the lands described therein free of all incumbrances except when the land is owned by the United States or this state, in which case it is prima facie evidence of the right of possession, it cannot admit of doubt that a bill in equity is the proper mode of obtaining relief, if there is any to which the complainants are entitled. Gage v. Kaufman, 133 U.S. 473, 10 Sup.Ct. 406. The principal ground of the suit is the alleged unconstitutionality of the Wright act, it being contended by the complainants that it not only conflicts with certain provisions of the constitution of the state of California, but also violates that provision of the constitution of the United States which declares that no person shall be deprived of his property without due process of law, and, moreover, provides for the taking of private property for private use.

The act of California under which the proceedings complained of were had provides, in its first section, as amended by the act approved March 20, 1891 (St. 1891, p. 142), that whenever 50 or a majority of the holders of title or evidence of title to lands susceptible of one mode of irrigation, from a common source and by the same system of works, desire to provide for the irrigation of the same, they may propose the organization of a district under the provisions of the act, and, when so organized, such district shall have the powers conferred or that may thereafter be conferred by law upon such irrigation districts. The equalized county assessment roll next preceding the presentation of the petition for the organization of an irrigation district, under the provisions of the act, it is declared, shall be sufficient evidence of title for the purposes of the act. Its second section, as amended by the act of March 20, 1891, is as follows:

'A petition shall first be presented to the board of supervisors of the county in which the lands, or the greatest portion thereof, is situated, signed by the required number of holders of title, or evidence of title, of such proposed district, evidenced as above provided, which petition shall set forth and particularly describe the proposed boundaries of the district, and shall pray that the same may be organized under the provisions of this act. The petitioners must accompany the petition with a good and sufficient bond, to be approved by the said board of supervisors, in double the amount of the probable cost of organizing such district, conditioned that the bondsmen will pay all the said costs in case said organization shall not be effected. Such petition shall be presented at a regular meeting of the said board, and shall be published for at least two weeks before the time at which the same is to be presented, in some newspaper printed and published in the county where said petition is presented, together with a notice stating the time of the meeting at which the same will be presented; and if any portion of such proposed district lie within another county, or counties, then said petition and notice shall be published in a newspaper published in each of said counties. When such petition is presented, the said board of supervisors shall hear the same and may adjourn such hearing from time to time, not exceeding four weeks in all; and on the final hearing may make such changes in the proposed boundaries as they may find to be proper, and shall establish and define such boundaries; provided, that said board shall not modify said boundaries so as to except from the operation of this act any territory within the boundaries of the district proposed by said petitioners which is susceptible of irrigation by the same system of works applicable to the other lands in such proposed district; nor shall any lands which will not, in the judgment of the said board, be benefited by irrigation by said system be included within such district; provided, that any person whose lands are susceptible of irrigation from the same source may, in the discretion of the board, upon application of the owner to said board, have such lands included in said district. Said board shall also make an order dividing said district into five divisions, as nearly equal in size as may be practicable, which shall be numbered first, second, third, fourth, and fifth, and one director, who shall be a freeholder in the division and an elector and resident of the district, shall be elected by each division; provided, that if a majority of the holders of title or evidence of title, evidenced as above provided, petition for the formation of a district, the board of supervisors may, if so requested in the petition, order that there may be either three or five directors, as said board may order, for such district, and that they may be elected by the district at large. Said board of supervisors shall then give notice of an election to be held in such proposed district, for the purpose of determining whether or not the same shall be organized under the provisions of this act. Such notice shall describe the boundaries so established, and shall designate a name for such proposed district, and said notice shall be published for at least three weeks prior to such election in a newspaper published within said county; and if any portion of such proposed district lie within another county or counties, then said notice shall be published in a newspaper published within each of said counties. Such notice shall require the electors to cast ballots, which shall contain the words 'Irrigation District-- Yes,' or 'Irrigation District-- No,' or words equivalent thereto, and also the names of persons to be voted for to fill the various elective offices hereinafter prescribed. No person shall be entitled to vote at any election held under the provisions of this act, unless he shall possess all the qualifications required of electors under the general election laws of this state.'

The third section provides how such election shall be conducted and for the canvass of the vote, and that if, upon such canvass, it appear that at least two-thirds of all the votes cast are 'Irrigation District-- Yes,' the board of supervisors shall, by an order entered on its minutes declare such territory duly organized as an irrigation district under the name and style theretofore designated, and shall declare the persons receiving respectively the highest number of votes for the several offices, to be duly elected thereto, and shall cause a certified copy of such order to be immediately filed for record in the office of the county recorder of each county in which any portion of such land is situated, and shall also immediately forward a copy thereof to the clerk of the board of supervisors of each of the counties in which any portion of the district may lie, and, from and after the date of such filing, the organization of such district shall be complete, and the officers thereof shall be entitled to enter immediately upon the duties of their respective offices upon qualifying according to law, and shall hold such offices respectively until their successors are elected and qualified. The third section of the act, as amended by that of March 20, l891, also provides that 'no action shall be commenced or maintained or defense made affecting the validity of the organization, unless the same shall have been commenced or made within two years from the making and entering of said order' of the board of supervisors declaring the territory duly organized as an irrigation district. Section 4 et seq. provides for subsequent elections, at which an assessor, a collector, a treasurer, and a board of directors for the district shall be elected. Section 11, as amended March 20, 1891, provides for the organization of the board of directors after their election; and by section 12, as so amended, it is provided that the board shall, among other things, have the right to enter upon any of the land to make surveys, and may locate the necessary irrigation works and the line for any canal or canals, and the necessary branches for the same, on any of the lands which may be deemed best for such location, and shall also have the right to acquire, either by purchase, condemnation, or other legal means, lands, waters, water rights, and other property necessary for the construction, use, supply, maintenance, repair, and improvements of said...