Cal. N. R.R. v. Gould

Citations

• 21 Cal. 254

Syllabus

<p>The Act of Congress of August, 1852, which gives to railroad and other companies, on complying with certain conditions, a right of way over the public lands, does not confer upon the companies availing themselves of its provisions the right to enter upon premises in the actual occupancy of a settler without compensating him for the damage done to his possession.</p> <p>The purpose of the Act of Congress was merely to give a right to enter upon the public lands, assuming them to be vacant, and its effect is to relinquish to the companies complying with its requirements any claim for compensation that might belong to the United States, as proprietor, under any proceeding, by virtue of a State law, to appropriate the land for public use.</p> <p>A settler upon the public lands in this State, having no other title than that of occupancy, cannot, consistently with the policy of the General Government and of the State in reference to such lands, be treated by the Courts as a naked wrong-doer. As against persons claiming a simple privilege like that conferred upon railroad companies by the Act of Congress of August, 1852, he has an equitable right to his possession and improvements which the Courts will protect.</p>