EJECTMENT AND EVICTION. Eject ment in law is a mixed action, as it is resorted to in order to recover the possession of land and damages for the wrongful with holding of it, though the damages are nominaL Originally, it was a possessory action — that is adapted to the recovery of the possession of land. It ultimately became a convenient means of testing the title by a series of fictions. The supposition was (and this was the substance of the fiction) that a lease for a certain num ber of years had been made to a tenant, °John Doe,' who had entered into possession and had been ejected by a person supposed to represent the party to be finally made defendant. This person was called °a casual ejector,' and was usually represented as °Richard Roe.* An action was then brought, substantially under the following title: °Doe, as tenant of Ed wards (claiming the land), against Ro' A written notice was thereupon sent in the name of Roe by Edwards' attorney to the opposing claimant (Jones), who is the person in pos session. By this notice Jones was advised to defend the action, otherwise Roe would permit judgment to be taken against him, and the possession would be lost. Jones, on making application to be made defendant, was allowed to defend on condition that he would admit the validity of the fictitious portion of these pro ceedings, so that the matter was narrowed down to a trial of the merits of the case. The action was now deemed to be between Ed wards and Jones, although Doe still remained plaintiff on the records of the court. It was a rule in this action that the plaintiff can only recover upon a legal title, as distinguished from a title in a court of equity. He can suc ceed upon the strength of his own title, and of its validity, and not upon the weakness of that of his adversary. He must also have a right of entry. Where that does not exist another form • of action must be resorted to. This method of procedure was defective in one par ticular. Any number of successive actions of
ejectment could be brought by the plaintiff, although he had been defeated. The only check upon actions of this kind was a resort to a court of equity for an injunction to pre vent harassing litigation. In England the fic titious portion of the proceeding was abolished by the Common Law Procedure Act of 1852, and the action placed upon satisfactory grounds. In New York and some other States the same result had been accomplished as early as 1830. In 1875 the law in England was modi fied to the extent of making an action for the recovery of land similar to other actions, all of which were simplified to conform to a unified plan. This legislation was copied by many States of the Union, but in many jurisdictions the ancient forms survive. In general, it may be stated that an ejectment action may be brought by any person having a legal right to possession, whatever he the character of his interest in it against any person or persons who wrongfully hold it against one having an estate therein. Title must be proven by the plaintiff. Substan tial damages to the plaintiff are now allowed in most jurisdictions. Consult Blackstone, 'Com mentaries on the Laws of England' ; Stephen,
Eviction.-- Depriving a person of his lands or tenements. Technically, the dispossession must be by judgment of law; if otherwise it is an ouster. Eviction may be total or partial. Total eviction takes place when the possessor is entirely deprived of his rights in the prem, ises. Partial eviction takes place when the pos.essor is deprived of only a portion of them, as if a third person comes in and ejects him from a portion of his land, or establishes a right to some easement over it, by an older title • than that under which he holds. See DISPOSSESS.