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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 adjust 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 D: Pedro Cevallos, Councellor of State, Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber in employment, first Secretary of State and Universal Despatch, and Superintend ent 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.

Commissioners to

3rd. The Commissioners shall meet and hold their sessions in Madrid, where, within the term of eighteen months (to be reckoned meet at Madrid. 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

*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 consequenceof the excesses committed by Spanish subjects on 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.

Awards.

Rights founded on

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. 6th. It not having been possible for the said Plenipotentiaries to agree upon a mode by which the above mentioned Board of Commissioners 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.

of foreign cruisere.

7th. The present convention shall have no force or effect Convention effect. until it be ratified by the contracting parties, and the ratifi-ive on ex huge 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.

[L. S.]

PEDRO CEVALLOS.
CHARLES PINCKNEY. [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 comidate 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

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

Negotiators.

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, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal American Order 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 Supreme 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:

Firm and inviolable

ARTICLE I.

There shall be a firm and inviolable peace and sincere friendship 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 plaintiff's 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, made 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 American construction wrong? Such a decision would subvert those principles which govern the relations between the legislative and judicial departments, and mark the limits of each. (Ibid., 309.)

The sound construction of the 8th article of the treaty between the United States and Spain, of the 22d of February, 1819, will not enable the court to apply its provisions 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 confirmed? 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 such 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 held equally sacred, although it had not been inserted in the treaty. (Soulard et al. v. The United States, 4 Peters, 511.)

The term property, as applied to lands, 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

ARTICLE II.

das.

His Catholic Ma

Things included in

cession.

His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States, in full property and sovereignty, all the territories which belong to him, situated to the eastward of the Mississippi, known by the name of jesty cedes the FloriEast and West Florida. The adjacent islands dependent on said provinces, all public lots and squares, vacant lands, public edifices, fortifications, barracks, and other buildings, 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 possession of the commissaries or oflicers of the United States, duly authorized to receive them.

ARTICLE III.

Boundary.

The boundary line between the two countries, west of the Mississippi, shall begin on the Gulph of Mexico, at the mouth of the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, along the western bank of that river, to the 32d degree of latitude; thence, by a line due north, to the degree of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo of Nachitoches, or Red River; then following the course of the Rio Roxo westward, 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 changed. The new government takes the place of that which has passed away. (Ibid.)

The stipulations of the treaty ceding Louisiana 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; into 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. (Delassus ". 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 inchoate 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 a league square; on those exceeding that quantity they were directed to report, especially, their opinion for the future action of Congress. The lands embraced in the larger claims 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 commissioners 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 May, 1824." By a proviso, all claims annulled by the treaty, and all claims not presented to the commissioners, &c., according to the acts of Congress, were excluded." (United States t. Arredondo et al., 6 Peters, 706.)

The validity of concessions of land by the authorities of Spain in East Florida, 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

of the southern bank of the Arkansas, to its source, in latitude 42 north; and thence, by that parallel of latitude, to the South Sea. The whole being as laid down in Melish's map of the United States, published at Philadelphia, improved to the first of January, 1818. But if the source of the Arkansas River shall be found to fall north or south of latitude 42, then the line shall run from the said source due south or north, as the case may be, till it meets the said parallel of latitude 42, and thence, along the said parallel, to the South Sea: All the islands in the Sabine, and the said Red and Arkansas Rivers, throughout the course thus described, to belong to the United States; but the use of the waters, and the navigation of the Sabine to the sea, and of the said rivers Roxo and Arkansas, throughout the extent of the said boundary, on their respective banks, shall be common to the respective inhabitants of both nations.

The two high contracting parties agree to cede and renounce all their rights, claims, and pretensions, to the territories described by the said line, that is to say: The United States hereby cede to His Catholic Majesty, and renounce forever, all their rights, claims, and pretensions, to the territories lying west and south of the above-described line; and, in like manner, His Catholic Majesty cedes to the said United States all his rights, claims, and pretensions to any territories east and north of the said line, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, renounces all claim to the said territories forever.

date of the instrument. And the act of the 8th of May, 1822, requires every person claiming title to lands under any patent, grant, concession, or order of survey dated previous to the 24th of January, 1818, to file his claim before the commissioners appointed in pursuance of that act. All the subsequent acts on the subject observe the same language; and the titles under these concessions have been uniformly confirmed when the tract did not exceed a league square. (Ibid.)

A claim to lands in East Florida, the title to which was derived from grants by the Creek and Seminole Indians, ratified by the local authorities of Spain before the cession of Florida by Spain to the United States was confirmed. It was objected to the title claimed in this case, which had been presented to the superior court of Middle Florida, under the provisions of the acts of Congress for the settlement of land-claims in Florida, that the grantees did not acquire, under the Indian grants, a legal title to the land: Held, That the acts of Congress submit these claims to the adjudication of this court as a court of equity; and those acts, as often and uniformly construed in its repeated decisions, confer the same jurisdiction over imperfect, inchoate, and inceptive titles, as legal and perfect ones, and require the court to decide by the same rules on all claims submitted to it, whether legal or equitable. (Mitchell et al. v. The United States, 9 Peters, 711.)

Under the Florida treaty, grants of land made before the 24th January, 1818, by His Catholic Majesty, or by his lawful authorities, stand ratified and confirmed to the same extent that the same grants would be valid, if Florida had remained under the dominion of Spain; and the owners of conditional grants, who have been prevented from fulfilling all the conditions of their grants, have time by the treaty extended to them to complete such conditions. That time, as was declared by the Supreme Court in Arredondo's case, 6 Peters, 478, began to run in regard to individual rights from the ratification of the treaty; and the treaty declares, if the conditions are not complied with, within the terms limited in the grant, that the grants shall be null and void. (United States v. Kingsley, 12 Peters, 476.)

The treaty with Spain by which Florida was ceded to the United States, is the law of the land, and admits the inhabitants of Florida to the enjoyment of the privileges, rights, and immunities of the citizens of the United States. They do not, however, participate in political power; they do not share in the government until Florida shall become a State. In the mean time Florida continues to be a Territory of the United States, governed by virtue of that clause in the Constitution which empowers "Congress to make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States." (American Ins. Co. v. Three Hundred and Fifty-six Bales of Cotton, 1 Peters, 542.)

The object of the treaty with Spain, which ceded Florida to the United States, dated 224 February, 1819, was to invest the commissioners with full power and authority to receive, examine, and decide upon the amount and validity of asserted claims upon Spain, for damages and injuries. Their decision, within the scope of this authority, is

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