State v. Stone Cattle & Pasture Co.

Citations

• 66 Tex. 363
• 17 S.W. 735
• 1886 Tex. LEXIS 526

Syllabus

<p>1. Venue—Acts of 1883, chapters 88 and 104, construed—Fraud—Limitation— Possession—Notice—The state instituted suit to recover of defendant, certain lands alleged to have been purchased under chapter 88 of the acts of 1883, and in violation of section 6. The petition averred that defendant, though prohibited by the act from purchasing more than one section in any one county, had fraudulently acquired title to more than one section in each of several counties, but in the names of various persons, thus concealing the fraud. It appeared in the petition that the suit was brought more than one yeár after the sales were made. Held:</p> <p>(1) The venue for suits of this character is regulated by art. 1198, R. S. Chapter 104 of the laws of 1883, has reference only to suits for land fraudulently purchased under the acts of 1879 and 1881.</p> <p>(2) The fact that defendant entered upon possession immediately after the purchase, was not notice of the fraud, but a circumstance to be considered in determining whether proper diligence was used to discover the fraud within a year after it was perpetrated.</p> <p>(3) In the act of 1883 it was intended by the phrase, “ the fraud may be shown and the scales cancelled,” to authorize a suit in a court of competent jurisdiction to cancel the sales on the ground of fraud. The limitation of one year must be construed as a limitation upon the commencement of suits, and not as prescribing a period within which the suits must be ended.</p> <p>(4) The provision that suit shall be brought “ within one year from the date of sale,” means no more and no less than if the provision were for suit within one year from the date of the accrual of the cause of action.</p>