ascertain the same.

Spain and France, it is agreed that all such cases shall be referred to the final decision of Commissioners, to be appointed in the following manner. His Catholic Majesty shall name one Commissioner, and the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of their Senate, shall appoint another, and the said two Commissioners shall agree on the choice of a third, or if they cannot agree so, they shall each proposs one person, and of the two names so proposed, one shall be drawn by lot in the presence of the two original Commissioners, and the person whose name shall be so drawn shall be the Commissioners to third Commissioner; and the three Commissioners so appointed shall be sworn impartially to examine and decide the claims in question, according to the merits of the several cases, and to justice, equity, and the laws of nations. The said Commissioners shall meet and sit at Philadelphia; and in the case of the death, sickness, or necessary absence of any such Commissioner, his place shall be supplied in the same manner as he was first appointed, and the new Commissioner shall take the same oaths, and do the same duties. They shall receive all complaints and applications authorized by this article, during eighteen months from the day on which they shall assemble. They shall have power to examine all such persons as come before them on oath or affirmation, touching the complaints in question, and also to receive in evidence all written testimony, authenticated in such manner as they shall think proper to require or admit. The award of the said Commissioners, or any two of them, shall be final and conclusive, both as to the justice of the claim and the amount of the sum to be paid to the claimants; and His Catholic Majesty undertakes to cause the same to be paid in specie, without deduction, at such times and places, and under such conditions as shall be awarded by the said Commissioners.

ARTICLE XXII.

The two high contracting parties, hopping that the good correspondence and friendship which happily reigns between them will be further increased by this treaty, and that it will contribute to augment their prosperity and opulence, will in future give to their mutual commerce all the extension and favor which the advantage of both countries may require.

Spain permits citizens of United States to deposit goods at New Orleans.

And in consequence of the stipulations contained in the IV article, His Catholic Majesty will permit the citizens of the United States, for the space of three years from this time, to deposit their merchandize and effects in the port of New Orleans, and to export them from thence without paying any other duty than a fair price for the hire of the stores; and His Majesty promises either to continue this permission, if he finds during that time that it is not prejudicial to the interests of Spain, or if he should not agree to continue it there, he will assign to them on another part of the banks of the Mississippi an equivalent establishment.

ARTICLE XXIII.

The present treaty shall not be in force untill ratified by the coutracting parties, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in six months from this time, or sooner if possible.

In witness whereof we, the underwritten Plenipotentiaries of His Catholic Majesty and of the United States of America, have signed this

present treaty of friendship, limits, and navigation, and have thereunto affixed our seals respectively.

Done at San Lorenzo el Real, this seven and twenty day of. October, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five.

THOMAS PINCKNEY.

[L. S.]

EL PRINCIPE DE LA PAZ. [L. S.

SPAIN, 1802.

CONVENTION BETWEEN HIS CATHOLIC MAJESTY AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, FOR THE INDEMNIFICATION OF THOSE WHO HAVE SUSTAINED LOSSES, DAMAGES, OR INJURIES IN CONSEQUENCES OF THE EXCESSES OF INDIVIDUALS OF EITHER NATION DURING THE LATE WAR, CONTRARY TO THE EXISTING TREATY OR THE LAWS OF NATIONS. CONCLUDED AUGUST 11, 1802; RATIFIED BY THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 9, 1804, AND BY THE KING OF SPAIN JULY 9, 1818; RATIFICATIONS EXCHANGED DECEMBER 21, 1818; PROCLAIMED DECEMBER 22, 1818.*

The parties wish

amicably.

His Catholic Majesty and the Government of the United States of America, wishing amicably to adjust the claims which have to adinst claims arisen from the excesses committed during the late war, by individuals of either nation, contrary to the laws of nations or the treaty existing between the two countries, His Catholic Majesty has given, for this purpose, full powers to His Excellency Dr Pedro Cevallos, Councellor of State, Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber in employment, first Secretary of State and Universal Despatch, and Superintendent General of the Posts and Post-Offices in Spain and the Indies; and the Government of the United States of America to Charles Pinckney, a citizen of the said States, and their Minister Plenipotentiary near His Catholic Majesty; who have agreed as follows:

Five commission

1st. A Board of Commissioners shall be formed, composed of five Commissioners, two of whom shall be appointed by His Catholic ers to be appointed. Majesty, two others by the Government of the United States, and the fifth by common consent; and in case they should not be able to agree on a person for the fifth Commissioner, each party shall name one, and leave the decision to lot; and hereafter, in case of the death, sickness, or necessary absence of any of those already appointed, they shall proceed in the same manner to the appointment of persons to replace them.

Commissioners to take an oath.

2d. The appointment of the Commissioners being thus made, each one of them shall take an oath to examine, discuss, and decide on the claims, which they are to judge, according to the laws of nations and the existing treaty, and with the impartiality jus tice may dictate. 3rd. The Commissioners shall meet and hold their sessions in Madrid, Commissioners to Where, within the term of eighteen months (to be reckoned from the day on which they may assemble) they shall receive all claims which, in consequence of this convention, may be made, as well by the subjects of His Catholic Majesty as by citizens of the United States of America, who may have a right to demand compensa

meet at Madrid.

This convention was annulled by the tenth article of the treaty with Spain of February 22, 1819, post.

tion for the losses, damages, or injuries sustained by them, in consequence of the excesses committed by Spanish subjects or American citizens. 4th. The Commissioners are authorized, by the said contracting parties, to hear and examine, on oath, every question relative to the said demands, and to receive as worthy of credit all testimony the authenticity of which cannot reasonably be doubted.

Commissioners may examine every question on oath.

5th. From the decisions of the Commissioners there shall be no appeal; and the agreement of three of them shall give full force and No appeal from the effect to their decisions, as well with respect to the justice Commissioners. of the claims as to the amount of the indemnification which may be adjudged to the claimants; the said contracting parties obliging themselves to satisfy the said awards in specie, without deduction, at the times and places pointed out, and under the conditions which may be expressed by the Board of Commissioners.

Awards.

of foreign cruisere.

6th. It not having been possible for the said Plenipotentiaries to agree upon a mode by which the above mentioned Board of Com- Rights founded on missioners should arbitrate the claims originating from the claims from excesses excesses of foreign cruizers, agents, Consuls, or tribunals, in their respective territories, which might be imputable to their two Governments, they have expressly agreed that each Government shall reserve (as it does by this convention) to itself, its subjects or citizens respectively, all the rights which they now have, and under which they may hereafter bring forward their claims, at such times as may be most convenient to them.

Convention effect

7th. The present convention shall have no force or effect until it be ratified by the contracting parties, and the ratifi- ive on exchange of cations shall be exchanged as soon as possible.

ratifications.

In faith whereof we, the underwritten Plenipotentiaries, have signed this convention, and have affixed thereto our respective seals. Done at Madrid this 11th day of August, 1802.

PEDRO CEVALLOS.
CHARLES PINCKNEY.

[L. S.

L. S.

SPAIN, 1819.

TREATY OF AMITY, SETTLEMENT, AND LIMITS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND HIS CATHOLIC MAJESTY. CONCLUDED FEBRUARY 22, 1819; RATIFICATIONS EXCHANGED FEBRUARY 22, 1821; PROCLAIMED FEBRUARY 22, 1821.(a.) ALSO, RATIFICATION OF THE SAME BY THE KING OF SPAIN, OCTOBER 24, 1820.

The United States of America and His Catholic Majesty, desiring to consolidate, on a permanent basis, the friendship and good correspondence which happily prevails between the two consolidate parties, have determined to settle and terminate all their

Mutual desire to friend

ship, &c.

(a) See "An act for carrying into execution the treaty between the United States and Spain, concluded at Washington on the twenty-second day of February, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen," approved March 3, 1821, in Statutes at Large, vol. 3, p. 637.

The decisions of the Supreme Court, in cases arising under this treaty, have been: By the treaty of St. Ildefonso, made on the first of October, 1800, Spain ceded Louisiana to France; and France, by the treaty of Paris, signed the 30th of April, 1803, ceded it to the United States. Under this treaty the United States claimed the countries between the Iberville and the Perdido. Spain contended that her cession to France comprehended only that territory, which, at the time of the cession, was denominated Louisiana, consisting of the island of New Orleans, and the country which had been

9

differences and pretensions, by a treaty, which shall designate, with precision, the limits of their respective bordering territories in North America

Negotiatora:

VTCLO With this intention the President of the United States has furnished with their full powers John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State of the said. United States, and His Catholic Majesty has ap pointed the Most Excellent Lord Don Luis De Onis, Gonzales, Lopez y Vara, Lord of the town of Rayaces, Perpetual Regidor of the Corporation of the city of Salamanca, Kuiglit, Grand Gross of the Royal American Or der of Isabella the Catholic, decorated with the Lys of La Vendée, Knight. Pensioner of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles the Third, Member of the Supremo Assembly of the said Royal Order of the Council of His Catholic Majesty; His Secretary, with Exercise of Decrees, and His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister, Plenipotentiary near the United States of America;

And the said Plenipotentiaries, after having exchanged their powers, have agreed upon and concluded the following articles:

¡. There, shall be a firm and inviolable peace, and sincere friendship Firth and inviolable between the United States and their citizens and His peace and friendship Catholic Majesty, his successors and subjects, without exception of persons or places.

originally ceded to her by France west of the Mississippi, The land claimed by the plaintiffs in error, under a grant from the Crown of Spain, made after the treaty of St. Ildefonso, lies within the disputed territory; and this case presents the question, to whom did the country between the Iberville and -Perdido belong after the treaty of St. Ildefonso? Had France and Spain agreed upon the boundaries of the retroceded territory before Louisiana was acquired by the United States, that agreement would undoubtedly have ascertained its limits. But the declarations of France, 'nrade after parting with the province, cannot be admitted as conclusive. In questions of this character, political considerations have too much influence over the conduct of nations, to permit their declarations to decide the course of an independent government, in a matter vitally interesting to itself. (Foster et al. v. Neilson, 2 Peters, 303.)

If a Spanish grantee had obtained possession of the land in dispute, so as to be the defendant, would a court of the United States maintain his title under a Spanish grant, made subsequent to the acquisition of Louisiana, singly on the principle that the Spanish construction of the treaty of St. Ildefonso was right, and the Americau construction wrong? Such a decision would subvert those principles which govern the relations between the legislative and judicial départments, and mark the limits of each. (Ibid., 309.) OZDO

The sound construction of the 8th, article of the treaty between the United S States and Spain, of the 22d of February, 1819, will not enable the court to apply its provisfons to the case of the plaintiff. (Ibid., 314.)

The article does not declare that all the grants made by His Catholic Majesty before the 24th of January, 1818, shall be valid to the same extent as if the ceded territories had remained under his dominion. It does not say that those grants are hereby confirmed. Had such been its language, it would have acted directly on the subject, and it would have repealed those acts of Congress which were repugnant to it; but its language is that those grants shall be ratified and confirmed to the persons in possession; &c. By whom shall they be ratified and confirined? This seems to be the language of contract; and if it is, the ratification and confirmation which are promised must be the act of the legislature. Until snch acts shall be passed, the court is not at liberty to disregard the existing laws on the subject. (Ibid.)

By the treaty by which Louisiana was acquired, the United States stipulated that the inhabitants of the ceded territories should be protected in the free enjoyment of their property. The United States, as a just nation, regard this stipulation as the avowal of a principle which would have been hell equally sacred, although it had not been inserted in the treaty. (Soulard et al. e. The United States, 4 Peters, 511.)

The term i property, as applied to laids, comprehends every species of title, inchoate or complete. It is supposed to embrace those rights which lie in contract those which are executory, as well as those which are executed." In this respect, the relation of the

I

His Catholic Ma

¡dtroa 26 obrtieÍ AÌ‚99102 ¿ARTICLE HA 9ɗd tozluted modtuoz od}ło biod # 94T 8oz durcż odt of sistitel to fallstsq bedt zd,99ɑodt bus J His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States, in full property and sovereignty, all the territories which belong to him, situated illabatida to the eastward of the Mississippi, known by the name of story goes the FloriEast and West Florida, The adjacent islands dependentsil dod),25 on, said provinces, all public lots and squares, vacant landsca public edifices, fortifications, barracks, and other buildings, gols which are not private property, archives and documents, which relate directly to the property and sovereignty of said provinces, are included in this article. The said archives and documents shall be left in pos session of the commissaries or oflicers of the United States, duly au thorized to receive them got sit or gommos od Houfe 2lund 97ilɔsqe ARTICLE III.

Boundary

riods. He sodromat bins glen of gorge zothing guidettãos dgid owi odT The boundary line between the two countries, west of the Mississippi, shall begin on the Gulph of Mexico, at the mouth of the zi 3d il river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, along the western: bus 1891 bank of that river, to the 32d degree of datitude; thence; by a line dne north, to the degree of latitude where it strikes the Bio Roxo of Nachit toches, or Red River; then following the course of the Rio Roxo west! ward, to the degree of longitude 100 west from London and 23 from Washington; then, crossing the said Red River, and running (thence, by a line due north, to the river Arkansas; thence, following the course inhabitants of Louisiana to their government is not changeit. The new government takes the place of that which has passed away. (Ibid.)'

1

The stipulations of the treaty ceding Lonisiana to the United States, affording that protection or security to claims under the French or Spanish government to which the act of Congress refers, are in the first, second, and third articles. They extended to all property, until Louisiana became a member of the Union; info which the inhabitants were to be incorporated as soon as possible, "and admitted to all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States." The perfect inviolability and security of property is among these rights. (Delassns. The United States, 9 Peters, 117.)

The right of property is protected and secured by the treaty, and no principle is better settled in this country than that an fuchoate title to lands is property. This right would have been sacred, independent of the treaty. The sovereign who acquires an inhabited country, acquires full dominion over it; but this dominion is never supposed to divest the vested rights of individuals to property. The language of the treaty ceding Louisiana excludes any idea of interfering with private property. (Ibid.)

After the acquisition of Florida by the United States, in virtue of the treaty with Spain of 22d of February, 1819, various acts of Congress were passed for the adjustment of private land-claims within the ceded territory. The tribunals authorized to decide on them were not authorized to settle any which exceeded à league square - on those exceeding that quantity they were directed to report, especially, their opinión for the future action of Congress. The lands embraced in the larger daims were defined by surveys, and plats retained. These were reserved from sale, and remained unsettled until some resolution should be adopted for a final adjudication of them, which was done by the passage of the law of the 22d May, 1828. By the sixth section it was provided that all claims to land within the Territory of Florida, embraced by the treaty, which shall not be finally decided and settled under the provisions of the same law, containing a greater quantity of land than the commissiouers were authorized to decide, and above the amount confirmed by the act, and which have not been reported as antedated or forged, shall be received and adjudicated By the judges of the superior court of the district in which the land lies, upon the petition of the claimant, according to the forms, rules and regulations, conditions, restrictions, and regulations prescribed to the district judge, and to the claimants, by the act of 26th 26th May, 1894 » By a proviso, all clainis annulled by the treaty, and all claims not presented to the commissioners, &c., according to the acts of Congress, were excluded. *''(United States e. Arredondo et al., 6 Peters, 706.)

The validity of concessions of land, by the anthorities of Spain in East Florin, is expressly recognized in the Florida treaty, and in the several acts of Congress. (Ibid.) The eighth article allows the owners of land the same time for fulfilling the conditions of their grants from the date of the treaty, as is allowed in the grant from the to ogove et alte noi9¬5 154T