Douglas v. Bergland

185 N.W. 819, 216 Mich. 380, 20 A.L.R. 197, 1921 Mich. LEXIS 474
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 21, 1921
DocketDocket No. 54
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 185 N.W. 819 (Douglas v. Bergland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Douglas v. Bergland, 185 N.W. 819, 216 Mich. 380, 20 A.L.R. 197, 1921 Mich. LEXIS 474 (Mich. 1921).

Opinion

Fellows, J.

(after stating the facts). There can be no serious question as to defendant’s right as riparian owner to the beneficial use of the subaqueous land adjoining his premises so long as he does not interfere with the public rights in this navigable lake. Rice v. Ruddiman, 10 Mich. 125. We do not understand plaintiff’s counsel to controvert this proposition. [383]*383He bases plaintiff’s right to recover here upon his right to fish in the navigable waters of the State, upon his rights as an invitee, and upon his rights as a licensee and discusses these rights at length. We shall take them up in their order.

1. Lake Gogebic is a navigable lake; it has been stocked with fish which are there found in abundance. There can be no question of plaintiff’s right to .fish in its waters. But that is not the precise question here involved. Plaintiff is not a riparian owner on this lake so far as this record discloses. 'In order to exercise his right to fish he must pass over the premises of a riparian owner, either those of defendant, the railroad company, or some one else. The question here is: Was plaintiff a trespasser in going across and upon premises of defendant for the purpose of exercising the right of fishing? Plaintiff’s counsel insists that this question must be answered in the negative on the authority of Marsh v. Colby, 39 Mich. 626. There is language used in that opinion which gives color to counsel’s contention. This has prompted us to examine the record and briefs in that case to see if the question of trespass to the fast land of plaintiff was there involved. We find it was not. The testimony only showed that defendant’ went over plaintiff’s subaqueous land in a boat and plaintiff’s counsel in that case conceded that defendant entered the lake from the land of one Arnold, another riparian owner; so that the question of trespass to fast land was not involved. In Beach v. Hayner, 207 Mich. 93, we expressly recognized the right to fish in the navigable waters of the State when lawfully upon them. And in Giddings v. Rogalewski, 192 Mich. 319, we held (quoting from the syllabus) :

“The right of the State, under its police power, to enforce the fish and game laws upon the lands of a [384]*384private owner does not take away the owner’s right to- maintain trespass against those who invade his close without permission for the purpose of fishing.
"Every unauthorized intrusion upon private lands is a trespass for which the owner has a right of action, and is entitled to at least nominal damages.”

Plaintiff being lawfully on the lake no doubt would have the right to row his boat over the subaqueous lands of defendant and fish there, but he would not have the right to appropriate defendant’s boat for that purpose if he found it tied to defendant’s dock, nor could he without license from defendant use his dock or railways of logs for that purpose. Plaintiff’s right to fish in the water of Lake Gogebic did not carry with it the right to trespass upon the fast land of defendant or to appropriate his property in the exercise of such right.

2. Was plaintiff an invitee? The testimony shows that plaintiff, his wife and others, fished off these railways. On one occasion defendant pointed out to plaintiff’s wife where he thought she could catch a fish. We think this testimony established license at most and did not establish that plaintiff was an invitee. In Benson v. Traction Co., 77 Md. 535 (26 Atl. 973, 20 L. R. A. 714), the principal of the training school, Mr. Saville, had written to the president of the defendant for permission to the graduating class to visit its power house. The permission was granted and some 30 or more of the scholars and teachers went to the power house and were shown through the plant. Part of the time they were accompanied by a guide, but in his temporary absence plaintiff fell into a vat of hot water used by defendant in its business and received serious injuries. It was insisted on behalf of plaintiff that under the circumstances he was an invitee and defendant’s duty towards him was measured by the standard of such [385]*385relation. The court declined to accept this view, held that he was a licensee, and after reviewing the authorities said:

“And so in this ease we are compelled to say, that there is nothing in the declaration supplemented with the request of Mr. Saville, and the assent of the appellee, to justify the conclusion that the appellant was in any manner invited or induced by any act of the appellee to visit its powerhouse, but he went there solely for his own personal benefit and pleasure, and he must accept the consequences, unfortunate though they be.”

We are persuaded that at most plaintiff can claim no greater rights than those of a licensee.

3. This brings us to the crucial question in the case: Has the defendant been guilty of failure of any duty he owed plaintiff as licensee? The theory advanced by plaintiff’s counsel to sustain this judgment is that if we assume plaintiff was a licensee, still defendant owed him the duty not to so change the character of the premises as to render them dangerous without notice to him and to the public generally, and that defendant’s agents by undermining the rollway in the work of tearing it down and getting out the logs had changed its condition from a place of safety to one of danger, and for such action the defendant is liable, and counsel relies most strongly on Morrison v. Carpenter, 179 Mich. 207 (Ann. Cas. 1915D, 319), to sustain such contention. But that case involved a way, a path, and the text-writers and courts generally, including this court, have recognized that a different rule applies to the license to use a way or a path which has been openly and notoriously held out to the public for use from a license to go upon premises generally. In 29 Cyc. p. 449, it is said:

“The rule is well settled that an owner of premises [386]*386owes to a licensee no duty as to the condition of such premises, unless imposed by statute, save that he should not knowingly let him run upon a hidden peril, or wantonly or wilfully cause him harm. The licensee enters upon the premises at his own risk and enjoys the license subject to its concomitant perils. There is a class of cases, however, which stand on a ground peculiar to themselves. They are where defendant by his conduct has induced the public to use a way in the ' belief that it is a street or public way which all have a right to use, and where they suppose they will be safe. The liability in such a case is coextensive with the implied invitation.”

And in 20 R. C. L. p. 64, it is said:

“While an invitation to go upon premises will not be implied, ordinarily, from the fact that the owner of occupant has acquiesced in or tolerated trespass thereon, many decisions have recognized an exception in case of a way across lands or structures thereon. If the owner or occupant has permitted persons generally to use or establish a way under such circumstances as to induce a belief that it is public in character, he owes to persons availing themselves thereof the duty due to those who come upon premises by invitation.”

Mr. Justice Stone, who wrote the opinion in the Morrison Case,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
185 N.W. 819, 216 Mich. 380, 20 A.L.R. 197, 1921 Mich. LEXIS 474, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/douglas-v-bergland-mich-1921.