180. The power of the Secretary of the Treasury and the necessary proceedings to establish claims under the ninth article of the treaty between the United States and Spain of 1819, (Pub. Trs., 714,) considered at length.

Florida Claims, 6 Op., 533, Cushing, (1854)

181. The extraordinary expenses of a party, incurred in living at St. Mary's, whither he retired after the destruction of his property in Florida, are matters too remotely consequential to be the proper subject of damages under article 9 of the treaty of 1819 between the United States and Spain. (Pub. Trs., 715.)

Case of a Spanish claimant, 6 Op., 530, Cushing, (1854)

182. Under the treaty with Spain of 1819, (Pub. Trs., 716,) and the act of 1829, (4 Stat., 359; R. S., § 5280,) the apprehension and delivery of a seaman, who is alleged to be a deserter from a Spanish ship, is a judicial duty, and the State Department cannot change what a judge has done.

Manuel Castro's case, 9 Op., 96 Black, (1857.)

183. The annual installments of interest due to the United States under the convention with Spain of 1834, (Pub. Trs., 718,) may, by vir tue of the act of 1862, (12 Stat., 345; R. S., § 3588,) be paid in Treasury notes, if the Spanish government chooses to offer them in payment, there being no express provision in the convention that the money shall be paid in coin.

Interest on Spanish indemnity, 13 Op., 85, Hoar, (1869.)

184. Article 15 of the treaty of 1795, between the United States and Spain, (Pub. Trs., 704,) provides that neutral bottoms shall make neutral goods, but contains no stipulation that enemy bottoms shall communicate hostile character to the cargo. The latter is not to be implied from the insertion of the former rule.

The Nereide, 9 Cranch, 35. 185. Under the treaty with Spain of 1795, (Pub. Trs., 704,) stipulating that free ships shall make free goods, the want of such a sea-letter or passport, or such certificates as are described in article 17, is not a substantive ground of condemnation. It only authorizes capture and sending in for adjudication, and the proprietary interest in the ship may be proved by other equivalent testimony. The Pizarro, 2 Wheaton, 2.

186. The term "subjects," in article 15, when applied to persons owing allegiance to Spain, must be construed in the same sense as the term "citizens" or "inhabitants" when applied to persons owing allegiance to the United States, and extends to all persons domiciled in the Spanish dominions.

187. The capture of a Spanish vessel and cargo, made by a privateer commissioned by the province of Carthagena while it had an organized government and was at war with Spain, cannot be interfered with by the courts of the United States. The treaty with Spain of 1795, article 9, (Pub. Trs., 706) applies to only two cases, piracy and captures in violation of our neutrality, and this is neither of those cases. The Nuestra Señora de la Caridad, 4 Wheaton, 497.

188. Article 17 of the treaty with Spain of 1795, (Pub. Trs., 709,) so far as it purports to give any effect to passports, is imperfect and inoperative, in consequence of the omission to annex the form of passport to the treaty.

The Amiable Isabella, 6 Wheaton, 1.

189. By the treaty with Spain of 1795, (Pub. Trs., 704,) free ships make free goods; but the form of the passport by which the freedom of the ship was to have been conclusively established never having been annexed to the treaty, the proprietary interest of the ship is to be proved according to the ordinary rules of the prize-court, and if thus shown to be Spanish, will protect the cargo on board, to whomsoever the latter may belong.

Ib.

[NOTE. The form of passport referred to in article 17 of the treaty of 1795, is not annexed either to the original treaty signed by the negotiators, or to the copy bearing the ratification of the King of Spain on file in the Department of State. It is remarkable, however, that to the Spanish version, appearing in vol. 2, p. 429, of "Coleccion de los Tratados de Paz," &c., published at Madrid in 1800, two forms of passports in Spanish are annexed-one for ships navigating European seas, and the other for those navigating American seas. These forms are found in 6 Wheaton, 97. No explanation has been discovered of these facts. It is stated, however, in a letter from Jacob Wagner to Mr. Monroe, dated November 3, 1814, that a form was agreed on.]

190. Articles 6 and 14 of the treaty with Spain of 1795, (Pub. Trs., 704,) prohibit a citizen of the United States from taking a commission to cruise against Spanish vessels and property in a privateer, but not in a public armed vessel of a belligerent nation.

The Santissima Trinidad, 7 Wheaton, 283.

191. Under the treaty with Spain of 1819, (Pub. Trs., 712,) the commissioner had power to decide conclusively upon the amount and validity of claims, but not upon the conflicting rights of parties to the sums awarded by them.

Comegys vs. Vasse, 1 Peters, 193.

192. The treaty with Spain, (Pub. Trs., 712,) ceding Florida to the United States, is the law of the land, and admits the inhabitants of Flor ida to the enjoyment of the privileges, rights, and immunities of citizens of the United States. They do not participate, however, in political power until Florida shall become a State.

American Insurance Company vs. Canter, 1 Peters, 511, [54]

193. All the laws in force in Florida while a province of Spain, excepting those of a political character, which concerned the relations between the people and their sovereign, remained in force until altered by the Government of the United States.

Ib., [544] 194. Article 8 of the treaty with Spain of 1819, (Pub. Trs., 712,) taken in connection with article 2, and with the explanatory declaration made by the King of Spain when he ratified the treaty, (Pub. Trs., 717,) does not provide for grants made by the Spanish authorities between the rivers Iberville and Perdido.

Foster vs. Neilson, 2 Peters, 253.

195. Though a treaty is the law of the land, and its provisions must be regarded by courts as equivalent to an act of the legislature when it operates directly on a subject, yet, if it be merely a stipulation for future legislation by Congress, it addresses itself to the polit ical and not to the judicial department, and the latter must await the action of the former.

196. The eighth article of the said treaty with Spain does not proprio vigore confirm grants; it was reserved for Congress to act and execute it

197. By article 8 of the treaty with Spain of 1819 (Pub. Trs., 714) the lands theretofore completely granted by the King were excepted out of the grant to the United States. The original of that treaty in the Spanish language not corresponding precisely with the original in English, the language of the former is to be taken as expressing the intent of the grantor as to the lands granted and reserved. The words "in possession of the lands," in article 8, do not require actual occupancy; they are satisfied by that constructive possession, which is attributed by the law to legal ownership. United States vs. Arredondo, 6 Peters, 091, [741, 742.]

198. Under article 8 of the treaty with Spain of 1819 (Pub. Trs., 714) the title to lands which had been granted by the King of Spain was confirmed by force of the instrument itself.

United States vs. Perckeman, 7 Peters, 31.

199. The validity of concessions of lands, conditional as well as abso lute, made by the authorities of Spain in East Florida, is expressly recognized in the treaty of cession. (Pub. Trs., 712.) United States vs. Clarke, 9 Peters, 168.

200. A treaty of cession is a deed or grant by one sovereign to another, which transfers nothing to which he had no right of property, and only such right as he owned and could convey to the grantee. By the treaty with Spain of 1819 (Pub. Trs., 712) the United States acquired no lands in Florida to which any person had lawfully obtained such a right by a perfect or inchoate title, that this court could consider it as properly under the second article, or which had, according to the stipulations of the eighth, been granted by the lawful authorities of the King; which words, grants, or concessions were to be construed in their broadest sense, so as to comprehend all lawful acts which operated to transfer a right of property, perfect or imperfect.

Mitchell vs. United States, 9 Peters, 734.

201. Results of former adjudications upon Spanish grants, as governed by the treaty with Spain of 1819 (Pub. Trs., 732,) stated.

Ib.

202. The practice and usage of the government officers of Spain in relation to title-papers of grants made by Spanish authority in East Florida may be proved by parol.

The originals being kept in a public office, and certified copies furnished to grantees, these copies are evidence.

United States vs. Wiggins, 14 Peters, 334. 203. An official certificate of the secretary of the Spanish government of East Florida is evidence of the title-papers, the original of which were kept in the public archives.

United States vs. Rodman, 15 Peters, 130. 204. An official certificate of the secretary of the Spanish government of East Florida is evidence of the genuineness of a copy of a grant.

United States vs. Delespine, 15 Peters, 226.

205. Under article 9 of the treaty with Spain of 1819, (Pub. Trs., 714,) providing for the restoration of property rescued from pirates and robbers on the high seas, it is necessary to show (1) that what is claimed falls within the description of vessel or merchandise; (2) that it has been rescued on the high seas from pirates and robbers; (3) that the asserted proprietors are the true proprietors, and have established their title by competent proof.

United States vs. The Amistad, 15 Peters, 518.

206. That Spain had power to make grants, founded on any consideration, and subject to any restrictions within her discretion, is a settled question. If the act was binding on that government, so it is on this, as the successor of Spain. All the grants of land made by the lawful authorities of the King of Spain before the 24th of January, 1818, were by the treaty ratified and confirmed to the owners of the lands. Such is the construction given to the eighth article by this court in Arredondo's case, 6 Peters, 706, and in Percheman's case, 7 Peters, 51; that is, imperfect titles were equally binding on this government after the cession, as they had been on the Spanish government before.

United States vs. Heirs of Clarke and Atkinson, 16 Peters, 231, 212.

207. The original of a grant of land by the Spanish governor of East Florida not being found in the proper depository, a copy certi fied by the secretary of the Spanish government was held admissible.

United States vs. Acosta, 1 Howard, 24.

208. It is the settled doctrine of the judicial department of the Government that the treaty with Spain of 1819 (Pub. Trs., 714) ceded no territory west of the Perdido River.

Pollard's Lessee vs. Files, 2 Howard, 591, [602]

209. It cannot be admitted that the King of Spain could, by treaty or otherwise, impart to the United States any of his royal preroga tives; and much less can it be admitted that they have capacity to receive or power to exercise them. Every nation acquiring territory, by treaty or otherwise, must hold it subject to the constitution and laws of its own government, and not according to those of the government ceding it.

Pollard's Lessee vs. Hagan, 3 Howard, 25. 210. The United States have never claimed any part of the territory included in the States of Mississippi or Alabama under any treaty with Spain, although she claimed at different periods a considerable portion of the territory in both of those States. By the treaty between the United States and Spain, signed at San Lorenzo el Real, on the 27th of October, 1795, (Pub. Trs., 704.) the high contracting parties declare and agree that the line between the United States and East and West Florida shall be designated by a line beginning on the Mississippi River at the northernmost part of the thirty-first degree of north latitude. which from thence shall be drawn due east from the middle of the Chattahoochee River, &c. This treaty declares and agrees that the line which was described in the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States as their southern boundary shall be the line which divides their territory from East and West