Suwa

Plaintiff was given judgment for the possession of certain agricultural land and the defendant appeals.

On January 25, 1917, the defendant executed and delivered to the plaintiff a lease of said land for a term of three years, commencing the first day of February, 1920, and ending the' thirty-first day of January, 1923. On the same day the defendant executed and delivered to I. Murayama a lease of the same land for a term of three years, commencing on the first day of February, 1917, and ending on the thirty-first day of January, 1920. By separate answer and by proof offered at the trial the defendant sought to show that Suwa and Murayama are aliens, being subjects of the emperor of Japan; that prior to the execution of the two leases Murayama desired to acquire the land for a term of six1 years; that the defendant then informed Murayama that a lease for six years would be invalid under the alien land law of 1913; that thereupon it was agreed between them that the two leases should be executed, one to Murayama for a term of three years and the other to Suwa for three years after the termination of the first lease; that the two leases were executed and delivered pursuant to this…