Edward Douglass White

“ On October 9, 1879, what is termed a 'private contract of sale' of the plantation to De Fleurian was executed in France. In November following, the owners of the property brought suit in the civil court of Nimes, France, to annul the contract. On February 18, 1880,-the day after the return of De Fleurian to Porto Rico,-although the contract of sale was not of record in Porto Rico, De Fleurian mortgaged the plantation to one Labastide, to secure the payment of 36,811 pesos. ”

“ It being, then, competent, under the Spanish law, for the vendors of property, after parting with title, to conduct in their own names, for the benefit of their vendees, a litigation having for its object ultimate relief such as was sought in the action so instituted by the Laporte heirs in 1887, we are of opinion that there is no merit in the contention upon which plaintiffs in error rely in assailing the sufficiency of the defense set up in the third paragraph of the answer. ”

“ In addition to a general denial, they pleaded title by adverse possession of twenty years, and that plainiffs' right to recover was barred by reason of certain judgments obtained by the predecessors in title of defendants, in actions prosecuted by them in the courts of France and in the courts of Porto Rico during the Spanish regime, and by reason of a judgment of dismissal entered in favor of predecessors in title of defendants, and against the plaintiffs, in a suit in equity, brought by the latter in the trial court below, in the year 1904, to quiet the title to the premises in controversy. ”

“ As above mentioned, the litigation in France was commenced by the Laportes before the sale to Forgas and Gallart, and continued after such sale, terminating in May, 1886. The action against De Fleurian and Labastide in the Porto Rican courts, referred to in the excerpt just made, was commenced on May 9, 1887, and the final judgment of the trial court, relied upon as res judicata, was entered therein on October 26, 1889. ”

“ In July, 1906, plaintiffs in error commenced this action in the district court of the United States for the district of Porto Rico, to recover, from the defendants in error, the possession of certain described real estate, and damages from April 12, 1904, for unlawfully withholding possession thereof. ”

“ The defense in question covers twenty-six pages of the printed record, the judgment of the court of first instance embracing seventeen, and that of the supreme court of Porto Rico seven pages. The judgments establish the following, among other, facts: The real estate, the subject of controversy, was a sugar plantation known by the name of Serrano. The plantation was owned in 1879 and prior thereto by David Laporte and others, and Clemente De Fleurian, through whom plaintiffs claim title, was the manager of the plantation. ”