MR. JUSTICE BRADLEY delivered the opinion of the court.
In 1859, Alfred Bent and his two sisters, Estefana and Teresina, with their husbands, filed a bill in chancery in the District Court of the Territory of New Mexico for the County of Taos, against Charles Beaubien, Guadalupe Miranda, Lucien B. Maxwell, and José Pley, claiming and alleging that Charles Bent, deceased, the father of Alfred and his sisters, at the time of his death, was jointly interested with said Beaubien and Miranda, to the extent of one-third part, in a certain specified tract of land in said territory, amounting to two millions of acres, which had been granted to said Beaubien and Miranda by the New Mexican government in 1841, and stood in their names; and that as to said third part they were trustees for said Charles up to the time of his death, and from thenceforward trustees for the said Alfred and his sisters as heirs-at-law of said Charles. The bill further stated that Maxwell and Pley pretended to have become interested in said land; and
After this decree was made, certain negotiations took place between Maxwell (who had acquired the principal interest in the property) and the complainants, looking to a settlement of the controversy, and a purchase by Maxwell of the complainants' interest. Whether these negotiations were concluded in Alfred Bent's lifetime, or not until after his death, subsequently became a matter of controversy between the parties. He was accidentally killed on the 15th of December, 1865, leaving a widow, Guadalupe Bent (who afterwards married George W. Thompson), and three infant children, Charles, Julian, and Alberto, his heirs-at-law.
The commissioners for making partition never reported; and the next proceeding in the cause, so far as appears by the record, was an order made in April, 1866, making the infant children and heirs of Alfred parties complainant, and continuing the cause. A few days afterwards, in the same term, the following order was entered in the cause: —
"By agreement of the parties, the continuance of this cause, made on a former day of this term of this court, is set aside; and, on motion of solicitors for the complainants, Guadalupe Bent is hereby appointed guardian ad litem and commissioner in chancery for the minors of Alfred Bent in this cause, with full power to execute deeds or carry into execution all sales or transfers made of her [their?] interests in and to the real estate therein described to Lucien B. Maxwell, one of the defendants in said cause, and that this cause stand continued until the next term of this court."
On the third day of May, 1866, Guadalupe Bent, as guardian ad litem of Charles, Julian, and Alberto, and commissioner under the foregoing order, executed a deed of conveyance in
In September Term, 1866, another decree (probably intended as a substitute for the order made in April) was made in the said cause, in the words following, to wit: —
"Whereas an interlocutory decree was rendered at a former term of this court in the above cause, decreeing one-fourth of the land mentioned in the petition herein to the complainants in this cause, and appointing commissioners to divide and set apart the portion so decreed; and whereas said interlocutory decree was never carried into effect; and whereas, since the time of the rendition of said decree, a mutual agreement has been made between the parties to this cause, settling and determining all the equities in the same:
"It is, therefore, hereby ordered, adjudged, and decreed, by the mutual consent and agreement of the said complainants as well as of the said defendants in this cause, that the interlocutory decree above mentioned, together with all orders made under and by virtue of the same, be set aside; and, by the mutual consent and agreement of the said parties, it is hereby further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the said Lucien B. Maxwell, one of the defendants in this cause, pay to the said complainants the sum of $18,000, to be divided among them per stirpes; that is, to the said Aloys Scheurick and Teresina Bent, his wife, one-third part, and to Alexander Hicklin and Estefana Bent, his wife, another third part, and to Charles Bent, Julian Bent, and Alberto Silas Bent, the children and heirs of Alfred Bent, deceased, the remaining third part, to be equally divided among the said last named, and to be paid into the hands of Guadalupe Bent, widow of the [said] Alfred Bent, deceased, and guardian ad litem for said children, for the purposes of the said division.
"And, upon the further consent and agreement of the said parties, it is hereby further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the said Alexander Hicklin and Estefana Bent, his wife, the said Aloys Scheurick and Teresina Bent, his wife, and the said Guadalupe Bent, guardian ad litem for Charles Bent, Julian Bent, and Alberto Silas Bent, children and minor heirs of the said Alfred Bent, deceased, within ten days from the date of this decree, make, execute, and deliver to the said Lucien B. Maxwell good and sufficient
This last decree seems to have been the termination of proceedings in the cause. No further conveyances were executed, and nothing else was done to carry the decree into effect.
On the first day of August, 1870, nearly four years after the entry of the last decree, the proceedings were instituted which are now brought here on this appeal. On that day, the present appellees, The Maxwell Land-Grant and Railway Company (to whom by mesne conveyances a large portion of the land had, in the mean time, been assigned), together with Lucien B. Maxwell and his wife, filed in the same court a bill against Guadalupe Thompson, administratrix of Alfred Bent's estate, her husband, George Thompson, and the said infant children and heirs of Alfred Bent, in which bill, after setting forth the grant to Beaubien and Miranda, and the derivative title of the complainants in the land, and the substance of the proceedings which had taken place in the previous suit, the complainants proceeded to state at large the terms of the compromise agreement which had been made, and which had resulted in the final decree made in that suit. They alleged that this compromise was agreed upon in the lifetime of Alfred Bent, though not carried out until after his death, and that its terms were that Lucien B. Maxwell should pay to the complainants in the original suit $18,000, or $6,000 apiece; and that, in consideration thereof, Alfred Bent and his two sisters should release and discharge the premises and every part thereof; and the said Maxwell and wife, from the said trust or equitable claim, and, in confirmation thereof, should convey to Maxwell all their right, title, and interest in and to the premises. The bill further alleged that the said $18,000 was duly paid (the sum
It is manifest that the object of this bill, especially after being amended, was to set aside the decree made in the original cause, and to substitute therefor a new decree supposed to be more advantageous to the complainants, upon the same matters
The defendants, after the appointment of a guardian ad litem for the infants, answered the bill. Guadalupe Thompson and her husband denied that an agreement for a compromise was ever made by Alfred Bent in his lifetime; but they substantially admitted the other facts stated in the bill; alleging, however, that Guadalupe, although she executed the deed of May, 1866, in good faith, was wholly ignorant of the rights of her children. The guardian ad litem for the infants simply referred their rights to the court.
Upon these pleadings the parties took proofs; and, without going into the details thereof, it is sufficient to say, that, in our judgment, the complainants entirely failed to substantiate the main fact relied upon by them, namely; that the agreement for a compromise was concluded with Alfred Bent in his lifetime. The effect of the evidence appears to be, that, although negotiations were commenced before his death, no agreement was concluded until after that event, when it was concluded by his brother-in-law, Scheurick, and was acquiesced in by the other parties, including the widow of Alfred, acting in behalf of her children.
Upon the case as thus made, the court, in September Term, 1873, made a decree to the following effect; namely, —
First, That the decree of Sept. 10, 1866, was erroneous, and should be reversed, in so far as it set aside the provisions of the interlocutory decree of May 29, 1865, determining Charles Bent's interest in the land, and the right of his children to succeed thereto, and directing Guadalupe Bent, the widow of Alfred, as guardian ad litem for his minor children, to make a deed of conveyance of all their right, title, and interest in the said land.
Secondly, The court found and declared, that, after the death of Alfred Bent, and pending the original suit, an agreement by way of compromise was made by the adult parties thereto, for settlement of the same, and that the terms thereof were considered advantageous to the infants, and were accepted by the court on their behalf, as evinced by the decree attempting
The defendants appealed from this decree to the Supreme Court of the Territory, where it was affirmed; and from thence it was appealed to this court, and the question before us is as to the validity of these proceedings in the last suit.
If the bill is to be regarded as a bill of review (and in its ultimate aspect, at least, it seems impossible to regard it otherwise), the proceedings are clearly objectionable, on the following grounds: —
First, The decree sought to be set aside and reversed was a consent decree. It is a general rule that against such a decree a bill of review will not lie. Webb v. Webb, 3 Swanst. 658; 2 Smith Ch. Pr. 50; 2 Dan. Ch. Pr. 1629 (3d Am. ed.).
Secondly, The bill is filed by and on behalf of an assignee of the original defendant, namely, The Maxwell Land-Grant and Railway Company; whilst another rule, relating to bills of review is, that none but parties and privies can have a bill of review. It does not lie for assignees. Gilbert. For. Rom. 186, 2 Smith Ch. Pr. 49; 2 Dan. Ch. Pr. 1627. The fact that Lucien B. Maxwell and his wife are joined as complainants does not obviate the difficulty.
Thirdly, The bill seeks a reversal and modification of the decree upon an alleged matter of fact not appearing upon the record; namely, that the compromise agreement was made with Alfred Bent in his lifetime, without alleging any newly discovered evidence unknown to the parties before the decree. We decided, in the case of Buffington v. Harvey, supra, p. 99 (what was well settled before), that the only questions open in a bill of review (except when filed on the ground of newly discovered evidence) are such as arise upon the face of the record, without reference to the evidence in the cause. Whiting v. Bank of the United States, 13 Pet. 6; Putnam v. Day, 22 Wall. 60.
We do not think that the peculiarity of the case, however, takes it out of the ordinary rules that apply to a bill of review. A decree for carrying out a settlement and compromise of a suit is certainly not, of itself, erroneous. When made by consent, it is presumed to be made in view of the existing facts, and that these were in the knowledge of the parties. In the absence of fraud in obtaining it, such a decree cannot be impeached.
We have looked into the laws of New Mexico, to see whether there is any thing peculiar in the modes of proceeding there which would sustain the bill in its present form; but we have failed to find any thing of the kind. In civil cases, those laws adopt the civil-law mode of practice, subject to the regulation of the Supreme Court of the Territory. Compiled Laws, pp. 195, 196. That court has made separate regulations for
Tested, therefore, by any law of procedure which may be invoked in its support, the bill in this case, considered as a bill of review, seeking to reverse, modify, and reconstruct the decree of September, 1866, cannot be sustained. Nevertheless, the general purpose which it evidently had in view — the quieting of the title to the land in question — is one towards which a court of equity is always liberally disposed, as tending to promote the peace of society and the security of property. And if, instead of seeking to reverse the decree of September, 1866 (which, for like reasons of public policy, as applicable to the security of judgments that have passed into rem adjudicatam, is not allowable), the bill had sought to carry that decree more effectually into execution, it would have been free from legal objections, and equally conducive to the object in view. Bills for the purpose named are well known in equity proceedings. Lord Redesdale says: —
"Sometimes, from the neglect of parties, or some other cause, it becomes impossible to carry a decree into execution without the further decree of the court. This happens, generally, in cases where parties having neglected to proceed upon the decree, their rights under it become so embarrassed by a variety of subsequent events that it is necessary to have the decree of the court to settle and ascertain them. Sometimes such a bill is exhibited by a person who was not a party to the original decree, but claims a similar interest, or is unable to obtain the determination of his own right till the decree is carried into execution. Or it may be brought by or against a person claiming as assignee of a party to the decree. The court
It seems to us that the remedy here described by such high authority is applicable to the case at bar. The decree of September, 1866, has never been carried into effect by any act done since it was made. It directed that Maxwell should pay the money stipulated for by the compromise, and that the defendant should execute deeds of conveyance. But the parties seem to have assumed that their previous acts performed in May, 1866, were a sufficient compliance with the directions of the decree. Yet the decree does not take notice of this fact.
Now, in order to execute this decree, or to determine whether it has or has not been substantially executed, and to determine and declare the effect of such execution upon the rights of all concerned, and thus remove any cloud from the title arising from the imperfection of the proceedings, it was perfectly competent for the parties to file a bill conceived and constructed to that end. The bill in this case, as originally filed, before it was converted by amendment into a bill of review, and abating the allegations of error in the original decree, approximated to the character of such a bill as might have been sustained. The proofs show a case which, in our judgment, supports the conclusions of the decree, to the effect that the terms of compromise made by the adult parties to the suit (including the mother and guardian of the infant heirs of Alfred Bent) were advantageous to the said infants, and were so considered and accepted by the court in their behalf. But, so far as the present decree undertook to reverse and modify the decree of September, 1866, we think it is clearly erroneous. Still, although we feel obliged to reverse the present decree, we do not think that the bill should be absolutely dismissed. And, as the whole question between the parties has been fully litigated on the proofs, it would be unreasonable to require that these should be taken over again.
So ordered.
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