Gilmer v. Lime Point

Citations

• 19 Cal. 47

Syllabus

<p>Proceedings taken under the Act of 1859 (Stat. 1859, 26) for the condemnation of land at Lime Point in this State, for a United States Port, are those of a special inquisition, and though taken by the District Court or Judge, are to be construed not by the general rules applicable to Courts of general jurisdiction, but as the acts of a Court sitting under a limited, special, statutory authority.</p> <p>The United States can acquire title to the land under the Act of 1859 only by pursuing the provisions of the act.</p> <p>The Act of 1859 does not give the United States any unqualified right to cause the forced sale or to condemn the land, but only a right qualified by the existence of the particular fact recited in the act, to wit: the disagreement between the United States and the owners as to the price. If there be no disagreement as to the price, and if, as defendants contend, the Government has contracted to purchase at a sum agreed upon, these proceedings to condemn the land must fall.</p> <p>Statutes like this Act of 1859 are in derogation of general right and of common law modes of procedure, and must be strictly construed.</p>