Joseph P. Bradley

“ The common law allows nothing to the possessor in good or bad faith for expenditures made upon land from which he is evicted by superior title; but equity, in cases within its jurisdiction, allows the possessor in good faith both for repairs and improvements; but where the possessor (being a trustee) has been guilty of actual fraud, it makes him no allowance for improvements, but allows him compensation for necessary repairs. ”

“ First, That no one ought to enrich himself at the expense of another,-a rule which the law applies in the very case of the relations between the owner and possessor, even in bad faith.
Second, That a third person cannot impose upon the owner of the soil, without his authority and against his will, expenses which he would not have made himself, and which exceed his means, and for the payment of which, if forced to it, he would have to sell an estate that he would prefer to keep. ”

“ But the French jurisconsults, who have given special attention to this subject, agree that when the owner of the land compels the unlawful possessor to account for the fruits of his improvements, the latter is entitled to interest on their value,-on the principle that it would be unjust to charge him for the fruits of his own improvements without allowing him interest on their cost, provided it does not exceed the amount of such fruits,-not, indeed, as interest properly so called, but as an equivalent pro tanto to the fruits received, in the account to be rendered thereof. ”

“ Suppose the owner would have done the same thing, then let him reimburse the expense, as a condition of receiving his land; but only to the amount that it is benefited. If he is poor, and cannot pay without selling his home, you should be satisfied in being permitted to remove what you can of your improvements, leaving the estate in as good condition as if they had not been made. But it has been decided that if the owner can pay what the possessor can get for them, if removed, he should have that privilege. ”

“ The railroad has been rescued from destruction and repaired by the defendants. These repairs were necessary in order to restore the property to its condition and quality as a railroad,-the thing which the mortgage contemplated, and which the complainants seek to possess under and by virtue of the mortgage. So far as the improvements may be regarded as necessary repairs, there is no question that the defendants would be entitled to compensation for their expenses in making the same. ”

“ The amount of said fund should be fixed by the court, and should be paid to the special master making said sale before adjudicating the property as sold to any bidder.
In view of the dispositions thus to be made in the decree, the defendants will not be concerned or interested in the accounts and transactions of the receiver; but any net earnings of the railroad, or proceeds of property, which shall have come into his hands as such receiver, after paying his expenses and compensation, will go to the benefit of the bondholders ”

“ We have no great difficulty in considering the parties as holding the relation of rightful owners on one side, and ejected possessors on the other. Both claim under the same title,-the mortgage; and and question between them was, whether the derivative title of the defendants was a valid one or not. The complainants, if not the owners, represent the owners, namely, the railroad company, which is conceded to be utterly insolvent and practically out of existence. ”

“ In all the cases which we have examined, the rents, or fruits, have been deducted from the cost of the improvements, or vice versa, and judgment given for the balance, without any calculation of interest on either side, except where the possessor, in exoneration of the estate, has paid money which was a lien thereon. ”

“ These may be recovered and enjoyed by the owner, though the improvements erected thereon be demolished. But a railroad is not land: it is a peculiar species of property, of a compound character, consisting of roadway, embankment, superstructure, and equipment. ”

“ It is for the use by the defendants of these very improvements that the complainants are seeking, in this suit, for an account of fruits and profits of the estate.
There is a series of cases, however, in which it is held by the Supreme Court of Louisiana that a person without title, going into possession of the public lands of the United States, cannot set up a claim for improvements against the government or its grantees. ”

“ So far as the parties are concerned, therefore, the laws above quoted may be regarded as applicable to them.
But, in regard to the subject-matter, it seems almost impossible to apply them literally. It is not like the case of lands, either in the country or the town. ”