Richards v. City Lumber Co.

Citations

• 101 Miss. 678
• 57 So. 977

Syllabus

<p>1. Master and Servant. Actions. Proof. Variance. Statutes. Retroactive operation. Constitutional law. Vested rights. Laws 1910, Oh. 135.</p> <p>A plaintiff cannot predicate his recovery on grounds not alleged in his declaration and it is not error for the court to refuse an instruction which does this.</p> <p>2. Laws 1910, Cm 135. Retroactive operation.</p> <p>Chapter 135, Laws 1910, providing that “in all actions hereafter brought” for personal injuries, contributory negligence shall not bar a recovery, is not retroactive.</p> <p>3. Same.</p> <p>The rule is fundamental, in the construction of statutes, that they will be construed to have a prospective operation, unless the contrary intention is manifested by the clearest and most positive expression; such a construction should be placed upon a statute in order to preserve, if possible, its constitutionality.</p> <p>4. Constitutional Law. Vested rights.</p> <p>The legislature has no power to take away vested rights in order to create a cause of action out of an 'existing transaction for which there was at the time of its occurrence no remedy; nor can it destroy a valid defense to an action existing before the enactment of the statute.</p>