regulating immigration as a part of the commerce of this country with foreign nations, we see nothing in the statute by which it has here exercised that power, forbidden by any other part of the Constitution.

The judgment of the Circuit Court in all the cases is

MR. JUSTICE GRAY delivered the opinion of the court.

This was an indictment, found in the District Court of the United States for the District of Maryland, and remitted to the Circuit Court under Rev. Stat. § 1039, alleging that Henry Jones, late of that district, on September 14, 1889, "at Navassa Island, a place which then and there was under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, and out of the jurisdiction of any particular State or district of the United States, the same being, at the time of the committing of the offences in the manner and form as hereinafter stated by the persons hereinafter named, an island situated in the Caribbean Sea, and named Navassa Island, and which was then and there recognized and considered by the United States as containing a deposit of guano, within the meaning and terms of the laws of the United States relating to such islands, and which was then and there recognized and considered by the United States as appertaining to the United States, and which was also then and there in the possession of the United States, under the laws of the United States then and there in force relating to such islands," murdered one Thomas N. Foster, by giving him three mortal blows with an axe, of which he there died on the same day; and that other persons named aided and abetted in the murder. The indictment, after charging the murder in usual form, alleged that the District of Maryland was the District of the United States into which the defendant was afterwards first brought from the Island of Navassa.

[The opinion contains a statement of the legislation by Congress (now embodied in R. S. §§ 5570-5578) relating to the discovery and occupation by citizens of the United States of guano islands not within the lawful jurisdiction of any other government, which provides for the extension by the President of the jurisdiction of the

United States over islands so occupied. Documents are set out which were relied on as showing that Navassa Island had been recognized and considered by the United States as appurtenant to it and in its possession within the provisions of such legislation, and it was claimed that the Federal court had jurisdiction to try Jones for the act committed on that island under R. S. § 5339, providing for the punishment of murder committed "within any fort, arsenal, dockyard, magazine, or in any other place or district of country under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States."]

By the law of nations, recognized by all civilized States, dominion of new territory may be acquired by discovery and occupation, as well as by cession or conquest; and when citizens, or subjects of one nation, in its name, and by its authority or with its assent, take and hold actual, continuous, and useful possession (although only for the purpose of carrying on a particular business, such as catching and curing fish, or working mines) of territory unoccupied by any other government or its citizens, the nation to which they belong may exercise such jurisdiction and for such period as it sees fit over territory so acquired. This principle affords ample warrant for the legislation of Congress concerning guano islands. Vattel, lib. 1, c. 18; Wheaton on International Law (8th ed.), §§ 161, 165, 176, note 104; Halleck on International Law, c. 6, §§ 7, 15; 1 Phillimore on International Law (3d ed.), §§ 227, 229, 230, 232, 242; 1 Calvo Droit International (4th ed.), §§ 266, 277, 300; Whiton v. Albany Ins. Co., 109 Mass. 24, 31.

Who is the sovereign, de jure or de facto, of a territory is not a judicial, but a political question, the determination of which by the legislative and executive departments of any government conclusively binds the judges, as well as all other officers, citizens, and subjects of that government. This principle has always been upheld by this. court, and has been affirmed under a great variety of circumstances. Gelston v. Hoyt, 3 Wheat. 246, 324; United States v. Palmer, 3 Wheat. 610; The Divina Pastora, 4 Wheat. 52; Foster v. Neilson, 2 Pet. 253, 307, 309; Keane v. McDonough, 8 Pet. 308; Garcia v. Lee, 12 Pet. 511, 520; Williams v. Suffolk Ins. Co., 13 Pet. 415; United States v. Yorba, 1 Wall. 412, 423; United States v. Lynde, 11 Wall. 632, 638. It is equally well settled in England. The Pelican, Edw. Adm. appx. D; Taylor v. Barclay, 2 Sim. 213; Emperor of Austria v. Day, 3 De G., F. & J. 217, 221, 233; Republic of Peru v. Peruvian Guano Co., 36 Ch. D. 489, 497; Republic of Peru v. Dreyfus, 38 Ch. D. 348, 356, 359.

In Williams v. Suffolk Ins. Co., in an action on a policy of insurance, the following question arose in the Circuit Court, and was brought up by a certificate of division of opinion between the judges thereof:

"Whether, inasmuch as the American government has insisted and does still insist, through its regular executive authority, that the

Falkland Islands do not constitute any part of the dominions within the sovereignty of the government of Buenos Ayres, and that the seal fishery at those islands is a trade free and lawful to the citizens of the United States, and beyond the competency of the Buenos Ayrean government to regulate, prohibit, or punish; it is competent for the Circuit Court in this cause to inquire into and ascertain by other evidence the title of said government of Buenos Ayres to the sovereignty of the said Falkland Islands, and, if such evidence satisfies the court, to decide against the doctrines and claims set up and supported by the American government on this subject; or whether the action of the American government on this subject is binding and conclusive on this court as to whom the sovereignty of those islands belongs." 13 Pet. 417.

This court held that the action of the executive department, on the question to whom the sovereignty of those islands belonged, was binding and conclusive upon the courts of the United States, saying: "Can there be any doubt that when the executive branch of the government, which is charged with our foreign relations, shall in its correspondence with a foreign nation assume a fact in regard to the sovereignty of any island or country, it is conclusive on the judicial department? And in this view it is not material to inquire, nor is it the province of the court to determine, whether the executive be right or wrong. It is enough to know, that in the exercise of his constitutional functions he has decided the question. Having done this under the responsibilities which belong to him, it is obligatory on the people and government of the Union." "In the present case, as the executive in his message, and in his correspondence with the government of Buenos Ayres, has denied the jurisdiction which it has assumed to exercise over the Falkland Islands, the fact must be taken and acted on by this court as thus asserted and maintained." 13 Pet. 420.

All courts of justice are bound to take judicial notice of the territorial extent of the jurisdiction exercised by the government whose laws they administer, or of its recognition or denial of the sovereignty of a foreign power, as appearing from the public acts of the legislature and executive, although those acts are not formally put in evidence, nor in accord with the pleadings. United States v. Reynes, 9 How. 127; Kennett v. Chambers, 14 How. 38; Hoyt v. Russell, 117 U. S. 401, 404; Coffee v. Grover, 123 U. S. 1; State v. Dunwell, 3 R. I. 127; State v. Wagner, 61 Maine, 178; Taylor v. Barclay, and Emperor of Austria v. Day, above cited; 1 Greenl. Ev. § 6.

In United States v. Reynes, upon the question whether a Spanish grant of land in Louisiana was protected, either by the treaty of retrocession from Spain to France, or by the treaty of Paris, by which the Territory of Louisiana was ceded to the United States, this court held: "The treaties above mentioned, the public acts and proclama

tions of the Spanish and French governments, and those of their publicly recognized agents, in carrying into effect those treaties, though not made exhibits in this cause, are historical and notorious facts, of which the court can take regular judicial notice, and reference to which is implied in the investigation before us." 9 How. 147, 148.

In Kennett v. Chambers, a bill to compel specific performance of a contract made in the United States in September, 1836, by which a general in the Texan army agreed to convey lands in Texas, in consideration of money paid him to aid in raising and equipping troops against Mexico, was dismissed on demurrer, because the independence of Texas, though previously declared by that State, had not then been acknowledged by the government of the United States; and the court established this conclusion by referring to messages of the President of the United States to the Senate, a letter from the President to the Governor of Tennessee, and a note from the Secretary of State to the Mexican Minister, none of which were stated in the record before the court. 14 How. 47, 48.

So in Coffee v. Grover, upon writ of error to the Supreme Court of Florida, in a case involving a title to land, claimed under conflicting grants from the State of Florida and the State of Georgia, and depending upon a disputed boundary between those States, this court ascertained the true boundary by consulting public documents, some of which had not been given in evidence at the trial, nor referred to in the opinion of the court below. 123 U. S. 11 et seq.

In Taylor v. Barclay, a bill in equity, based on an agreement which it alleged had been made in 1825 by agents of "the government of the Federal Republic of Central America, which was a sovereign and independent State, recognized and treated as such by His Majesty the King of these Realms," was dismissed on demurrer by ViceChancellor Shadwell, who said: "I have had communication with. the Foreign Office, and I am authorized to state that the Federal Republic of Central America has not been recognized as an independent government by the government of this country." "Inasmuch as I conceive it is the duty of the judge in every court to take notice of public matters which affect the government of this country, I conceive that, notwithstanding there is this averment in the bill, I am bound to take the fact as it really exists, not as it is averred to be." "Nothing is taken to be true, except that which is properly pleaded; and I am of opinion that, when you plead that which is historically false, and which the judges are bound to take notice of as being false, it cannot be said you have properly pleaded, merely because it is averred, in plain terms; and that I must take it just as if there was no such averment on the record." 2 Sim. 220, 221, 223.

That case is in harmony with decisions made in the time of Lord Coke, and in which he took part, that against an allegation of a public act of Parliament, of which the judges ought to take notice, the other party cannot plead nul tiel record, but, if the act be misrecited,

ought to demur in law upon it. The Prince's Case, 8 Rep. 14 a, 28 a; Woolsey's Case, Godb. 178.

In the ascertainment of any facts of which they are bound to take judicial notice, as in the decision of matters of law which it is their office to know, the judges may refresh their memory and inform their conscience from such sources as they deem most trustworthy. Gresley Eq. Ev. pt. 3, c. 1; Fremont v. United States, 17 How. 542, 557; Brown v. Piper, 91 U. S. 37, 42; State v. Wagner, 61 Maine, 178. Upon the question of the existence of a public statute, or of the date when it took effect, they may consult the original roll or other official records. Spring v. Eve, 2 Mod. 240; 1 Hale's Hist. Com. Law (5th ed.), 19-21; Gardner v. Collector, 6 Wall. 419; South Ottawa v. Perkins, 94 U. S. 260, 267-269, 277; Post v. Supervisors, 105 U. S. 667. As to international affairs, such as the recognition of a foreign government, or of the diplomatic character of a person claiming to be its representative, they may inquire of the Foreign Office or the Department of State. Taylor v. Barclay, above quoted; The Charkieh, L. R. 4 Ad. & Ec. 59, 74, 86; Ex parte Hitz, 111 U.S. 766; In re Baiz, 135 U. S. 403.

In the case at bar, the indictment alleges that the Island of Navassa, on which the murder is charged to have been committed, was at the time under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, and out of the jurisdiction of any particular State or district of the United States, and recognized and considered by the United States as containing a deposit of guano within the meaning and terms of the laws of the United States relating to such islands, and recognized and considered by the United States as appertaining to the United States and in the possession of the United States under those laws.

These allegations, indeed, if inconsistent with facts of which the court is bound to take judicial notice, could not be treated as conclusively supporting the verdict and judgment. But, on full consideration of the matter, we are of opinion that those facts are quite in accord with the allegations of the indictment.

The power, conferred on the President of the United States by section 1 of the act of Congress of 1856, to determine that a guano island shall be considered as appertaining to the United States, being a strictly executive power, affecting foreign relations, and the manner in which his determination shall be made known not having been prescribed by statute, there can be no doubt that it may be declared through the Department of State, whose acts in this regard are in legal contemplation the acts of the President. Wolsey v. Chapman, 101 U. S. 755, 770; Runkle v. United States, 122 U. S. 543, 557; 11 Opinions of Attorneys General, 397, 399.

[The action of the State Department is then set out as showing the assertion by the United States of exclusive jurisdiction over the island, and the conviction in the lower court is affirmed.]