PROPERTY. The right and interest which a man has in lands and chattels to the exclusion of others. Morrison v. Semple, 6 Binn. (Pa.) 98; Soulard v. U. S., 4 Pet. (U. S.) 511, 7 L. Ed. 938 ; Jackson v. Housel, 17 Johns. (N. Y.) 283; 11 East 290, 518.
The sole and despotic dominion which one man claims and exercises over the ex ternal things of the world in total exclu sion of the right of any other individual in the universe. 2 Bla. Corn. 2. The right to pgssess, use, enjoy, and dispose of a thing. Babcock v. Buffalo, 1 Sheld. 317, affirmed 56 N. Y. 268; which is in itself valuable ; Jones v. Vanzandt, 4 McLean 603, Fed. Cas. No. 7, 503. The free use and enjoyment by a per son of all his acquisitions, without any con trol or diminution, save only by the law of the land. Stevens v. State, 2 Ark. 291, 35 Am. Dec. 72; People v. Barondess, 61 Hun 571, 16 N. Y. Supp. 436. The right of a per son 'over a, thing (in rem) indefinite in point of user. Austin's Lectures.
Literally taken the word is nomen gener alissimum, but is not always so used. As ordinarily used it means the thing possessed, but it may include the right to use and en joy it. The more comprehensive meaning is presumed to have been intended by the use of such a word in a constitution; Wells Fargo & Co. v. Jersey City, 207 Fed. 871.
That which is peculiar or proper to any person ; that which belongs exclusively to one; the first meaning of the word from which it is derived-proprius-is one's own. Drone, Copyr. 6.
A vested right of action is property in the same sense that tangible things are property ; Pritchard v. Norton, 106 U. S. 132, 1 Sup. Ct. 102, 27 L. Ed. 104. It is a thing owned, that to which a person has or may have a legal title ; Springfield F. & M. Co. v. Allen, 43 N. Y. 389, 3 Am. Rep. 711. See Barclay v. Plant, 50 Ala. 509 ; Primm v. Belleville, 59 Ill. 142 ; 11 East 290.
In the treaty by, which Louisiana was ac quired, property comprehends every species of title, inchoate or complete, legal or equi table, and embraces rights which lie in con tract, executory as well as executed; Bryan v. Kennett, 113 U. S. 179, 5 Sup: Ct. 407, 28 L. Ed. 908.
Property, in the strict legal sense, is an aggregate of rights which are guaranteed and protected by the government, and, in the ordinary sense, indicates the thing it self, rather than the rights attached to it; Fulton Light, Heat & Power Co. v. State, 65 Misc. Rep. 263, 121 N. Y. Supp. 536, affirmed id., 138 App. Div. 931, 123 N. Y. Supp. 1117.
The term "property" embraces every spe cies of valuable right and interest, including real and personal property, easements, fran chises, and hereditaments; Caro v. R. Co., 46 N. Y. Super. Ct. 138; it includes money ; Washington Co. v. Weld Co., 12 Colo. 152, 20 Pac. 273; credits ; Dillingham v. Ins. Co., 120 Tenn. 302, 108 S. W. 1148, 16 L, R. A. (N. S.) 220 ; a chose in action ; Cincinnati v. Hafer, 49 Ohio St. 60, 30 N. E. 197; a mining claim; Sullivan v. Min. Co., 143 U. S. 431, 12 Sup. Ct. 555, 36 L. Ed. 214 ; a debt ; Knebelkamp v. Fogg, 55 Ill. App. 563 ; Fontana v. Tel. Co., 83 Fed, 824; a ferry franchise; Conway v. Taylor, 1 Black (U. S.) 603,1.7 L. Ed. 191; Carroll v. Campbell, 110 Mo. 557, 19 S. W. 809; the reciprocal rights of the wife to the society, protection, and support of her husband, and his right to her society and services in his household may be regarded as the property of the re spective parties; Jaynes v. Jaynes, 39 Hun (N. Y.) 40; Warren v. Warren, 89 Mich. 123, 50 N. W. 842, 14 L. R. A. 545.
The following have been held to be prop erty : 'A certificate of membership in the Board of Trade ; Jones v. Fisher, 116 Ill. 68, 4 N. E. 255 ; a common law action; Dunlap v. R. Co., 50 Mich. 470, 15 N. W. 555; the right to recover damages from a common carrier for breach of contract; Justis v. R. Co., 12 Cal. App. 639, 108 Pac. 328; the office of a professor of a chartered university who can be removed only for cause ; Coro. v. Phillips, 1 Del. Co. Rep. (Pa.) 41; a man's right to his calling; Butchers' Union S. H. & L. S. L. Co. v. Slaughter-House Co., 111 U. S. 746, 4 Sup. Ct. 652, 28 L. Ed. 585; Peo ple v. Rosenberg, 59 Misc. 342, 112 N. Y. Supp. 316; the right to labor; Jones v. Les lie, 61 Wash. 107, 112 Pac. 81, Ann. Cas. 1912B, 1158 ; the right to labor or to prac tice a profession ; Gleason v. Thaw, 185 Fed. 345, 107 C. C. A. 463, 34 L. R. A. (N. S.) 894; the privilege and capacity to exercise the rights common to every man; Munden v. Harris, 153 Mo. App. 652, 134 S. W. 1076; that dominion or indefinite right which one may lawfully exercise over particular ob jects, and, generally, to the exclusion of all others; Riguey v. Chicago, 102 Ill. 64; a liq uor tax certificate; Bachmann-Bechtel B. Co. v. Gehl, 154 App. Div. 849, 139 N. Y. Supp. 807; quotations from Stock Ex changes; Hunt v. Cotton Exch., 205 U. S.