Eaton v. Langley

42 L.R.A. 474, 47 S.W. 123, 65 Ark. 448, 1898 Ark. LEXIS 104
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJuly 9, 1898
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 42 L.R.A. 474 (Eaton v. Langley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eaton v. Langley, 42 L.R.A. 474, 47 S.W. 123, 65 Ark. 448, 1898 Ark. LEXIS 104 (Ark. 1898).

Opinions

Battle, J.

P. A. Eaton alleged in his complaint that he Avas the owner of five thousand cross-ties, of the value of $750; that they Avere in the possession of H. Gr. Langley; that he was 'entitled to the immediate possession of the same; and asked for the possession thereof, or, if that could not be obtained, their value. After" filing Avith the clerk of the circuit court the affidavit required in such cases, he sued out an order for the delivery of the cross-ties to himself; also a summons for Langley. He caused the summons to be served upon the defendant,, but directed the sheriff to return the order of delivery without service, Avhich aaus done.

The defendant answered the complaint by denying the allegations therein and alleging that he was the owner of the ties.

The issues in the action were tried by the judge and jury. Epon the evidence adduced, the jury found a special verdict, and the judge filed his conclusions of fact, both of which are stated by the judge as follows:

“From the evidence in this case the court finds as follows: (1) That the ties in controversy were cut by the defendant from the east half of section thirty-five, township seventeen north, range three east. (2) That the plaintiff was the owner of said land and the timber fthereon at the time the ties in controversy were cut. (3) That said ties were cut without authority from the plaintiff or any one representing him, and that in so cutting the said timber the defendant was a trespasser. (4) That the defendant in cutting said timber was acting under a Iona fide belief that he was the owner of the said timber, and had a right to cut it, and that he was an innocent and not a wilful trespasser therein.
“And from the answers of the jury to the special interrogatories the court finds: (5) That, at the time this action was begun, the defendant had 3,500 cross-ties, which he had made from said land while the plaintiff was the owner thereof, under the foregoing circumstances. (6) That said ties, at the beginning of this action, were of the value of 12¿ cents eaelN (7) That the timber from which the same were made, while standing, was of the value of 2 cents per tie.”"''

Upon these findings of facts the court rendered a judgment as follows: “It is therefore ordered, considered and adjudged by the court that the plaintiff have and recover of and from the defendant the sum of seventy dollars and all costs of this cause, and that, further, in case the sums of money above mentioned, together with the said costs, are not paid within ten days from this date, the plaintiff shall have and recover of the defendant the possession of the 3,500 cross-ties situated on the east half of section thirty-five in township seventeen north, range three east, and for which writ of delivery in this case may issue.”

After filing a motion for a new tidal, which was overruled, and a bill of exceptions, the plaintiff appealed.

In an attempt to sustain the judgment of the circuit court, appellee insists that this is not an action of replevin or detinue, “but is in the nature of an action of trover or trespass under the common law.” But the name of it is immaterial. The code abolished all forms of action. Let its name be what it may, it is unquestionably an action to recover tbe possession of specific personal property. In such actions the statute provides that the “judgment for the plaintiff may be for the delivery of the property, or for the value thereof, in case a delivery cannot be had, and damages for the detention.” Sand. & H. Dig., § 6398. The right to this judgment is in no wise affected by the issue or failure to issue an order of delivery, which is only necessary to enable the plaintiff (upon the execution of the proper bond) to obtain the immediate possession of the property at the beginning or during the progress of the suit, or force the defendant to give bond for its retention, and for no other purpose. Sand. & H. Dig., § 6383, et seq.

The cross-ties in controversy are the product of the timber of appellant and the labor of the appellee. The latter, honestly believing,that he was the owner of the timber, converted it into the cross-ties. The material used in making each tie, as it was in the tree, was worth two cents-,•'and, as it is, is worth twelve and a half cents. Under these circumstances, is appellant the owner of the ties, and entitled to their possession?-'

As a general rule, an owner cannot be deprived of his property without his consent or operation of law. “If unauthorized persons have bestowed expense or labor upon it, that fact cannot constitute a bar to his reclaiming it, so long as identification is not impracticable. But there must be a limit to this right.” Mr. Justice Blackstone lays down the rule very broadly that if a thing is changed into a different species, as by making wine out of another's grapes, oil from his olives, or bread from his wheat, the product belongs to the new operator, who is only to make satisfaction to the former proprietor for the materials converted. 2 Bl. Com. 404. Many authorities have followed this rule, while others have held that, in the case of a wilful appropriation, no extent of conversion can give to the wilful trespasser a title to the px’operty, so long as the original ma-' terials can be tx'aced in the impx’oved article. Weatherbee v. Green, 22 Mich. 311.

In McKinnis v. Railway, 44 Ark. 210, and Stotts v. Brookfield, 55 Ark. 307, it was held that the owner of timber which had been taken and converted by a wilful trespasser into cross-ties may recover the ties or their value in an action of replevin against tbe trespasser. In tbe latter case tbe court said: “While it is difficult to draw from the authorities a rule by which we may detennine with certainty what change in the original property converted will destroy its identity, so that replevin will not lie for its recovery, it is settled that the conversion of timber into cross-ties is not such a change, whether the change has been wrought by a wilful or an innocent wrongdoer.” But there was no occasion for saying what was said as to innocent wrongdoers. In that case the defendant entered upon the land of plaintiff, and, without his authority or consent, knowing' at the time his claim of ownership of the same, cut timber therefrom, and converted it into the cross-ties in controversy. Upon that fact the judgment of the court was based. In neither of these cases- was any rule laid down by which the identity of the property can be ascertained.

The authorities generally agree in holding that when a party has taken the property of another in good faith, and, in reliance upon a supposed right, without intention to commit wrong, converted it into another form, and increased its value by the expenditure of money and labor, the owner is precluded from following and reclaiming the property in its new form, if the transformation _ it has undergone has converted it into an article substantially different. But they have not agreed ujzon any rule by which it can in all cases be ascertained whether this transíoi’mationjzas or. has not taken place. “If grain .bo taken and made into malt, or money taken and made into a cup, or timber taken and made into a house, it is held in the old English law that the property is so altered as to change the title.

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Bluebook (online)
42 L.R.A. 474, 47 S.W. 123, 65 Ark. 448, 1898 Ark. LEXIS 104, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eaton-v-langley-ark-1898.