Borough v. Kennedy

Citations

• 229 Pa. 251
• 78 A. 133
• 1910 Pa. LEXIS 580

Syllabus

<p>Pleading — Practice, C. P. — Amendment—Cause of action — Ejectment ■ — Adverse possession.</p> <p>1. A plaintiff may amend bis declaration at any time during the trial as lie pleases, provided only that he does not introduce a new cause of action.</p> <p>2. A cause of action is the particular matter for which suit is brought.</p> <p>3. In ejectment the cause of action is the possession of land by one to the exclusion of another entitled to the possession of it.</p> <p>4. In an action of ejectment where a borough seeks to recover a small piece of land, which is averred to be a part of an established highway, and the defendants set up a title in fee simple under certain acts of assembly, the borough will not be permitted in rebuttal under the original pleadings to show title by adverse possession for the statutory period; but it will be permitted to amend its statement and abstract of title by adding thereto an averment of adverse possession, so as to introduce evidence of title acquired by such possession. Such an amendment does not introduce a new cause of action.</p> <p>Canals — Roads and highways — Title—Exclusive occupancy by state.</p> <p>5. Where the commonwealth enters upon land and occupies it for purposes necessarily incident to the permanent operation of a canal, a title absolute and in perpetuity is vested in the commonwealth and is exclusive in character, so that there can be no joint occupancy of the land by another with the commonwealth, so as to vest in such other any title whatever. If the land so appropriated is the bed of a highway, it is freed from the incumbrance of the highway, and the borough in which it lies has no standing to maintain an ejectment for it against the successors to the absolute title of the commonwealth.</p>