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Memoir of the Life of the Honorable William Blowers Bliss - Page 34 |
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memoir such as this no extended reference to these valuable decisions can be given. One of the best, and most important decisions of Mr. Justice Bliss was in the well known case of Scots vs. Henderson in 1843, reported in Thompson 3, Nova Scotia, p. (36, in which he differed from Chief Justice Halliburton. The question before the Court was the right of the Crown to grant land where another was in possession without first taking proceedings to expel the intruder. It is of great length—too long to give in full, but as a good specimen of his style I have made the following extract:"The law, he says, has carefully guarded the possession of the Crown, and nothing can change, or limit that possession or interfere with or prevent the plenary exercise of its rights resulting there from till the law itself is in this respect changed— that has been done by the Statute already mentioned (21 Jac. I Cap. 14) which has broken in upon the common law principles, and recognised an adverse possession against the Crown after twenty years, and in all cases which fall within the operation of the Statute, that is where the adverse possession has continued for twenty years, the Crown cannot grant, until it has filed proceedings against the intruder. In all other cases, the Common law principle that the possession of the Crown cannot be disturbed by an intruder remains in full force, and consequently its right to grant, notwithstanding the possession of the intruder, cannot I think be impugned." He then adds in conclusion "I have thus gone at large into the consideration of this question from its importance to the Country, and because I find an opinion widely different from my own is still entertained by two of the Bench. My respect for them with whose views I am unfortunately unable to agree has made it the more proper for me to examine the subject with attention, and to seek out every authority which I could find that had any bearing on this point. This I have done to the best of my power. It has impressed me with a very strong conviction the grounds of which I have just given that when the Crown has |
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