David Josiah Brewer

“ It is a good defense to an action to set aside a patent that the title has passed to a bona fide purchaser, for value, without notice. And, generally speaking, equity will not simply consider the question whether the title has been fraudulently obtained from the government, but also will protect the rights and interests of innocent parties. ”

“ The government is subjected to the same rules respecting the burden of proof, the quantity and character of evidence, the presumptions of law and fact, that attend the prosecution of a like action by an individual. ”

“ Forty years intervened between the time of the alleged fraud and the commencement of this suit. Six, at least of the fourteen preemptors, were then dead. One of the living was shown to be quite old, and to have failed in health and memory. Only four were called as witnesses: two by the government and two by the defendant. The evidence of the former tended to sustain the allegations of fraud, and that of the latter supported the denial of the defendant. At such a lapse of time it is not strange that the memory of all the witnesses should be of doubtful reliability. ”