after making the above statement of facts, delivered the opinion of the court.

The findings of fact of the judgment appealed from are accepted.

The issue deals in the first place with the legacy of a sum of money recoverable only when the condition imposed by the testator has been fulfilled.

Said condition was not made dependent on the circumstance of the minor’s reaching a certain age, but by the testator’s will, expressed in his testament, it was made to depend on the day when the legatee should be able to perform all the acts of civil life, and inasmuch as said capacity was attained upon his reaching the age of twenty-one years, pursuant to General Order No. 219, of December 18, 1899, it is evident that the condition imposed was fulfilled and the legatee could then have demanded the sum of money constituting the legacy, but as he died while still a minor, his mother, Ruperta Concepción Aguilar, becomes his heir, as provided in the will.

To the aforesaid General Order No. 219 no retroactive effect is attached when the right invoked, according thereto, originates in acts occuring subsequently to the day when it took effect, and in the case at issue it is evident that the right to the legacy claimed by the mother of the deceased minor originated only at the moment when the latter became of age, inasmuch as it is the only act which determines the fulfillment of the obligation voluntarily contracted by the instituted heir upon accepting purely and simply the inheritance from his father, Rafael Vázquez y Vazquez, and hence it follows tliat there has been no violation of article 3 of the Civil Code nor of rule 1 of the temporary provisions of said Code. '

The counter-claim filed by the defendant undoubtedly con*21tains the legal defect of not having been properly presented, as it fails to comply with the requirements prescribed by article 523 of the Law of Civil Procedure, for which reason it was excepted to by the plaintiff.

From the certificate issued by the Treasurer of Porto Rico with reference to the property listed for assessment by Concepción Aguilar, it does not appear that she had reported in her favor, for purposes of taxation, the credit of six hundred pesos, Mexican currency, which she claims, for which reason said credit is not recoverable by an action at law or suit before any court or courts of the Island until it has been properly listed and the taxes thereon paid, as provided by article 301 of the Political Code of Porto Rico.

The parties plaintiff and defendant not having lost their case on all points, the court should give an equitable decision in the matter of costs, according to rule 63 of General Order No. 118, series of 1899.

, In view of the afore-mentioned legal texts and those cifed by the parties hereto, it is adjudged that partly affirming and partly reversing the judgment appealed from, according as it agrees or disagrees with the above findings, we should adjudge and do adjudge that Edgardo Vázquez Aguilar pay Ruperta Concepción Aguilar a sum equivalent in United States currency to the eight thousand pesos, Mexican money, object of the legacy claimed, with legal interest thereon from the day the action was brought; and we dismiss said action as to the portion thereof which relates to the recovery of the credit of six hundred pesos, Mexican currency, as also the counter-claim filed by the defendant, reserving to both parties their respective rights in the premises, which they may exercise in the proper manner, the costs of both the trial and appeal not to be specially imposed upon the parties.

The record of the District Court of Humacao is ordered to be returned to said court, together with a certificate of this decision, for proper action.

Dissenting Opinion of

The above-named justices concur in the following opinion:

They accept the findings of fact of the judgment appealed from, and those relating to the proceedings on appeal had in this court, and accept the first, second, third and fourth conclusions of law contained in the foregoing opinion.

In order to construe section 301 of the Political Code as has been done by the Humacao court and a majority of this Supreme Court, it would be necessary that the mere presentation before the courts of the document constituting the evidence of indebtedness should carry with it, unavoidably, an order for its immediate payment; but such is not the case within the order of procedure, because every document of indebtedness presented is subject to the contingencies of the discussion on the issue raised, to the statement of the debtor and to the evidence produced, until judgment is rendered in favor of the creditor and the moment arrives for the recovery thereof by compulsory process.

The presentation of the document and complaint has no-signification other than an appearance in court, without thereby prejudicing the pertinency of the claim therein brought forward.

Having in mind these reasons, no doubt it was that in the provision here analyzed the verb “to recover” is used instead of “to claim,” which would be the adequate and proper one had the purpose been to preclude the exercise before the court of the proper civil action, which, indeed, might *25on occasions result in irreparable injury to the party, and in serious detriment to the revenues of the Treasury.

No injustice can be attributed to the laws, so long as there is good reason to preserve them from such a charge, and this good reason is found in an interpretation which does not cause any harm to the interests of the Treasury of Porto Eico, nor impair the rights of parties who are forced to resort to judicial proceedings in order to enforce them.

To be consistent with the interpretation given to aforesaid section 301 in the foregoing opinion, all the proceedings had should be declared null and void, with costs against the trial court, because it does not seem fair and equitable that a suit should be conducted through all the formalities, with the attending costs to the plaintiff, and then inform the latter, in a judgment, that he has no right to resort to. judicial proceedings to recover the amount of the document presented.

In view of the provisions of rule 63 of General Order No. 118, series of 1899, we adjuge that, reversing the judgment appealed from, we should condemn and do condemn Edgardo Vázquez Aguilar to pay Euperta Concepción Aguilar a sum equivalent, in United States currency, to the eight thousand pesos, Mexican money, object of the legacy claimed, and in the same manner the deposit of ;six hundred Mexican pesos, or the equivalent thereof in United States currency, likewise demanded in the complaint, together with the legal interest thereon from the day the action was instituted; and we declare that the counter-claim presented does not lie; it being understood that the six hundred pesos of the deposit, or the equivalent thereof in United States currency, cannot be recovered by compulsory process until all the provisions of section 301 of the Political Code shall have been complied with, the costs of these proceedings to be imposed upon the defendant.