Herrington v. Martinez
| Decision Date | 24 June 1942 |
| Docket Number | No. 1610.,1610. |
| Citation | 45 F. Supp. 543 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of California |
| Parties | HERRINGTON v. MARTINEZ et al. |
Armond M. Jewell and Willedd Andrews, both of Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff.
Vincent & Eaton, and Eldred L. Eaton, all of Whittier, Cal., for defendants.
A pre-trial in the above entitled matter was had and the parties agreed that certain legal questions were determinative of the issue. Briefs were filed by the parties.
This is an action to quiet title to certain parcels of land and mining claims, known as the "Liberty Group", all of which are situated in San Bernardino County, California. The litigation is exclusively between the plaintiff herein and the defendants, Martinez and Becker. The pertinent facts leading up to the issue involved are: All of the claims in the "Liberty Group" were located by the defendant, Walter Becker, and he posted notices of location on each of the claims, erected monuments to mark the boundaries of each claim, and filed notice of location of each claim for record in the office of the County Recorder of San Bernardino County, and did all of this prior to the year 1934, and prior, in point of time, to the plaintiff and cross-defendant, E. H. Herrington, locating the claims. Subsequent to the location of the mining claims comprising the "Liberty Group", and prior to the commencement of this action by the plaintiff, the defendant, Walter Becker, did convey all of his right, title and interest in the said "Liberty Group" of bentonite mining claims to the defendant, Luis Martinez, which said conveyance is of record in the office of the County Recorder of San Bernardino County, California, and at the time of the commencement of this action, the defendant, Walter Becker, had no interest, and now has no interest, in said "Liberty Group" of bentonite mining claims and disclaims all interest therein. Subsequent to the location by Becker, and after 1935, the plaintiff filed a location on the same mining claims.
The plaintiff asserts a priority of ownership therein, predicated upon averments in his complaint wherein he alleges in substance, that at the time the defendant, Becker, had perfected his location on the "Liberty Group" mining claims, he was neither a citizen of the United States of America, nor had he declared his intention of becoming a citizen thereof, but was and is now a citizen of Germany. Plaintiff alleges further that the defendant, Martinez, at the time of the conveyance to him by Becker, of his entire interest in said "Liberty Group" mining claims, was neither a citizen of the United States nor had he filed a declaration of his intention to become one, but was then a citizen of Spain. However, the pleadings indicate that within several years last past, and prior to commencement of this action, the defendant, Martinez, has become a citizen of the United States and also the exclusive owner of the "Liberty Group" mining claims.
The plaintiff contends:
1. That by reason of the alien status of the defendants, Becker and Martinez, they were disqualified from locating the mining claims in question, a fortiori; their subsequent ownership was invalid ab initio.
2. The later location by the plaintiff was entitled to priority over that of the defendants in view of the latter's disqualification to locate.
3. The plaintiff, as an individual, has a right to question the validity of the location by an alien of mineral lands owned by the United States on the ground of alienage.
A solution of the last contention is determinative of the first two.
Title 30, U.S.C.A. § 22, provides: "All valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging to the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, shall be free and open to exploration and purchase, and the lands in which they are found to occupation and purchase, by citizens of the United States and those who have declared their intention to become such, under regulations prescribed by law * * *." Section 1426 of the California Civil Code contains a substantially similar provision.
For an individual to avail himself of the right to locate a mining claim under one of the above statutes, citizenship of the United States, or a declaration of intention to become such is a prerequisite. The judicial construction of these sections by the United States Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of California indicates that such qualifications are merely directory as against everyone except the sovereign authority of the government concerned. The leading case of Manuel v. Wulff, 152 U.S. 505, 14 S.Ct. 651, 38 L.Ed. 532, is frequently cited as authority for the proposition of law that the ownership of a mining claim by an alien is subject to question in regard to his citizenship by the government alone. Therein a mining claim was conveyed by deed to an alien by a qualified locator. Unquestionable title was procured by the grantor and the only question was whether such title devolved upon the alien grantee. The grantee's title was voidable and not void, the court held. Under the present facts, the defendant, Becker, an alien, was the original locator, and aside from the question of his right to the mining claims in dispute by reason of his alienage, consummation of title therein was duly secured.
May not the principle enunciated in Manuel v. Wulff apply to the present case? This question has been answered in the affirmative by the weight of authority. In McKinley Creek Mining Co. v. Alaska United Mining Co., 183 U.S. 563, at pages 571, 572, 22 S.Ct. 84, at page 87, 46 L.Ed. 331, after discussing the case of Manuel v. Wulff, the court said: "The meaning of Manuel v. Wulff, is that the location by an alien and all of the rights following from such location are voidable, not void, and are free from attack by anyone except the government." The highest court sustained the validity of a conveyance made by an alien, and reversed the Supreme...
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