Opinion of the Court.

It is certainly for the interest of the State that this jurisdiction of the court should be maintained, and that causes of apprehended litigation respecting real property, necessarily affecting its use and enjoyment, should be removed; for so long as they remain they will prevent improvement and consequent benefit to the public. It is a matter of every-day observation that many lots of land in our cities remain unimproved because of conflicting claims to them. The rightful owner of a parcel in this condition hesitates to place valuable improvements upon it, and others are unwilling to purchase it, much less to erect buildings upon it, with the certainty of litigation and possible loss of the whole. And what is true of lots in cities, the ownership of which is in dispute, is equally true of large tracts of land in the country. The property in this case, to quiet the title to which the present suit is brought, is described in the bill as unoccupied, wild, and uncultivated land. Few persons would be willing to take possession of such land, enclose, cultivate and improve it, in the face of a disputed claim to its ownership. The cost of such improvements would probably exceed the value of the property. An action for ejectment for it would not lie, as it has no occupant; and if, as contended by the defendant, no relief can be had in equity because the party claiming ownership is not in possession, the land must continue in its unimproved condition. It is manifestly for the interest of the community that conflicting claims to property thus situated should be settled, so that it may be subjected to use and improvement. To meet cases of this character, statutes, like the one of Nebraska, have been passed by several States, and they accomplish a most useful purpose. And there is no good reason why the right to relief against an admitted obstruction to the cultivation, use, and improvement of lands thus situated in the States should not be enforced by the federal courts, when the controversy to which it may give rise is between citizens of different States.

In Clark v. Smith, 13 Pet. 195, a doctrine is declared, with reference to the legislation of Kentucky as to the removal of clouds upon titles to land, which seems to us to be applicable here, and to be decisive of this point. A law of

Opinion of the Court.

that State, regulating proceedings in the courts of chancery, provided:

"That any person having both the legal title to and possession of land may institute a suit against any other person setting up a claim thereto, and if the complainant shall be able to establish his title to such land, the defendant shall be decreed to release his claim thereto and pay the complainant his costs, unless the defendant shall by answer disclaim all title to such lands, and offer to give such release to the complainant."

Under that act, the complainant Clark filed a bill in the Circuit Court of the United States to compel the defendant to release the title claimed by him to certain lands, under patents from the State of Kentucky, obtained years after the registration of the survey of the ancestor of the complainant and patent to him. The Circuit Court heard the evidence of the parties as to their respective claims, and was of opinion that the complainant had established a legal title to the premises under a valid grant from the commonwealth, and was in possession at the commencement of the suit, and that the defendant had not shown any right or title, either in law or in equity, to the land or any part of it; but being divided in opinion on the question of the jurisdiction of the court to compel the defendant to execute a conveyance, the bill was dismissed. Or the case coming here, the decree below was reversed. In giving its decision this court referred to the unsettled condition of titles in Kentucky, and observed that,

"Conflicts of title were unfortunately so numerous that no one knew from whom to buy or take lands with safety, nor could improvements be made, without great hazard, by those in possession who had conflicting claims hanging over them, and which might thus continue for half a century; the writ of right being limited to fifty years in some cases, that is, where it was brought upon the seizin of an ancestor or predecessor, and to thirty years if on the demandant's own seizin. During all which time the party in possession had no power to litigate, much less to settle the title at law, though he might be harassed by many actions of ejectment and his peace and property destroyed, although always suc

Opinion of the Court.

This evil it was

cessful, by no means an uncommon occurrence. the object and policy of the legislature to cure, not so much by prescribing a mode of proceeding as by conferring a right on him who had the better title and the possession to draw to him the outstanding inferior claims." And again: "Kentucky has the undoubted power to regulate and protect individual rights to her soil and to declare what should form a cloud on titles; and, having so declared, the courts of the United States, by removing such clouds, are only applying an old process to a new equity created by the legislature, having its origin in the peculiar condition of the country." "The State legislatures," the court added, "certainly have no authority to prescribe the forms and modes of proceeding in the courts of the United States, but having created a right and at the same time prescribed the remedy to enforce it, if the remedy prescribed is substantially consistent with the ordinary modes of proceeding on the chancery side of the federal courts, no reason exists why it should not be pursued in the same form as in the State court; on the contrary, propriety and convenience suggest that the practice should not materially differ where titles to lands are the subjects of investigation. And such is the constant course of the federal courts."

The opinion concludes with the observation:

"That when investigating and decreeing on titles in this country we must deal with them in practice as we find them, and accommodate our modes of proceeding, in a considerable degree, to the nature of the case and the character of the equities involved in the controversy, so as to give effect to State legislation and State policy; not departing, however, from what legitimately belongs to the practice of a court of chancery."

That case differs from the one at bar in that the complainant was in possession of the premises at the commencement of the suit, and the law of Kentucky gave the right to the relief claimed only to persons having both the legal title and the possession. But the law did not require that such possession should have been disturbed by legal proceedings and that the title of the plaintiff should be sustained in them by judgments in his favor, before the court could entertain jurisdiction of the

Opinion of the Court.

case and grant the relief prayed; and therefore no such disturbance of his possession and adjudication sustaining his title were held to be essential to the maintenance of the suit. If the jurisdiction to grant the relief prayed remained unaffected when the legislature had thus dispensed with previous legal proceedings affecting the possession of the plaintiff, it would seem to follow that the jurisdiction would remain unimpaired if possession itself, as a condition of the institution of the suit, was also dispensed with.

The truth is that the jurisdiction to relieve the holders of real property from vexatious claims to it casting a cloud upon their title, and thus disturbing them in its peaceable use and enjoyment, is inherent in a court of equity; and though conditions to its exercise have at different times been prescribed by that court, both in England and in this country, they may at any time be changed or dispensed with by the legislature without impairing the general authority of the court. Pomeroy's Equity Jurisprudence, § 1398. The equitable rights of parties in Nebraska claiming the legal title to real property are simply enlarged by its statute, not changed in character. And the language used by this court, speaking by Mr. Justice Bradley, in the Broderick Will Case, 21 Wall. 520, is appropriate here: "Whilst it is true that alterations in the jurisdiction of the State courts cannot affect the equitable jurisdiction of the Circuit Courts of the United States, so long as the equitable rights themselves remain, yet an enlargement of equitable rights may be administered by the Circuit Courts as well as by the courts of the State." And it may be affirmed of this case, what was said as probably true of that one, that it is "a case in which an enlargement of equitable rights is effected, although presented in the form of a remedial proceeding." "Indeed," as the court there observed, "much of equitable jurisdiction consists of better and more effective remedies for attaining the rights of parties."

No adequate relief to the owners of real property against the adverse claims of parties not in possession can be given by a court of law. If the holders of such claims do not seek to enforce them, the party in possession, or entitled to the pos

Opinion of the Court.

session-the actual owner of the fee-is helpless in the matter, unless he can resort to a court of equity.

It does not follow that by allowing in the federal courts a suit for relief under the statute of Nebraska, controversies properly cognizable in a court of law will be drawn into a court of equity. There can be no controversy at law respecting the title to or right of possession of real property when neither of the parties is in possession. An action at law, whether in the ancient form of ejectment or in the form now commonly used, will lie only against a party in possession. Should suit be brought in the federal court, under the Nebraska statute, against a party in possession, there would be force in the objection that a legal controversy was withdrawn from a court of law; but that is not this case, nor is it of such cases we are speaking. Undoubtedly, as a foundation for the relief sought, the plaintiff must show that he has a legal title to the premises, and generally that title will be exhibited by conveyances or instruments of record, the construction and effect of which will properly rest with the court. Such, also, will generally be the case with the adverse estates or interests claimed by others. This was the character of the proofs establishing the title of the complainant in Clark v. Smith, already cited. But should proofs of a different character be produced, the controversy would still be one upon which a court of law could not act. It is not an objection to the jurisdiction of equity that legal questions are presented for consideration which might also arise in a court of law. If the controversy be one in which a court of equity only can afford the relief prayed for, its jurisdiction is unaffected by the character of the questions involved.

In the present case the plaintiff claims under a purchaser at a tax sale by the State, to whom deeds by the treasurer of the county in which the property is situated were executed. By the law of Nebraska the fee of real property, and not merely a term of years, may be sold for unpaid taxes. A certain time is allowed to the owner to redeem the property from such a sale, but if redemption is not made within the period designated, a deed is executed by the treasurer of the county to the purchaser, and such deed vests in him the right,