Ray v. West. Penna. N. Gas Co.

Citations

• 138 Pa. 576
• 20 A. 1065
• 1891 Pa. LEXIS 1136

Syllabus

<p>[To be reported.]</p> <p>(a) An oil- and gas-lease contained a stipulation that the lessee should complete a well within a certain time, or thereafter pay to the lessor certain sums, semi-annually, until such completion; and provided that the lessee’s failure to complete said well, or to make such payments, as stipulated, should render the lease null and void and of no effect between the parties:</p> <p>1. The forfeiture clause being- inserted in the interest of the lessor, he had the option, upon a default by the lessee, either to declare the forfeiture or to affirm the continuance of the contract; and when he adopted the latter alternative, the lessee could not set up a forfeiture as a defence to an action in affirmance of the lease: Galey v. Kellerman, 123 Pa. -192; Wills v. Natural Gas Co., 130 Pa. 222.</p> <p>2. When the lessor, being entitled so to do by the terms of such a lease, remains in possession of the land subject to the rights of the lessee, and the lessee has never taken any possession, a formal re-entry by the lessor, for condition broken, is not requisite to effect a forfeiture; his occupancy, however, at and after the breach, will not operate as an assertion of a forfeiture, against his will.</p> <p>3. The doctrine declared in Wills v. Natural Gas Co., 130 Pa. 222, as applied to a lease made prior to the decision of that case, is not a change in the law impairing the obligation of such contract, within the meaning of article I., § 10 of the constitution of the United States, even though such lease was taken by the lessee in reliance upon the doctrine of K'en-rick v. Smick, 7 W. & S. 41, now rejected.</p> <p>4. To bring a case within said provision of the federal constitution, it must be the constitution, or a statute, or some enactment that has the force of law, either of the state or of some municipality exercising legislative power delegated by the state, which impairs the obligation of a contract: Williams v. Bruffy, 96 U. S. 178-183.</p> <p