David Josiah Brewer

“ By the action of the supreme court of the state the judgment of the court of civil appeals became the judgment of the highest court in the state to which the case could be taken, and hence the writ of error properly ran to that court. ”

“ The purpose of the act was to enable the claimant to acquire a patent as better evidence of title, with a more accurate description of boundaries. The surveyor is not named as an agent of the state. On the contrary, an official act, that of survey, was authorized to be made at the instance of the claimant, but a mere surveyor is not, by virtue of his office, empowered to change boundaries. Those were given in the original Mexican grant, and his function was simply to resurvey, making the description more definite and certain. ”

“ It will be perceived that § 2 does not name the individual to act for the state, but only designates certain officials, any one of whom may make the survey, and imposes a duty upon the claimant of causing the survey to be made. It does not prescribe the time within which the survey must be made. ”