Henry Billings Brown

“ The government having thus exhausted its power with reference to the land in dispute by granting all its title as sovereign proprietor to the pueblos, it is difficult to see upon what principle it is called upon to make or confirm another grant to a different person. Nothing can be plainer from the language of the private land claim act than that lands 'that shall have been disposed of by the United States' should be excepted from the decree of confirmation (sec. 8) ; that no claim shall be allowed which shall interfere with or overthrow any just or unextinguished Indian title (sec. 13) ”

“ A patent assumes that a patentor has certain rights to convey, and that, if those rights have already been conveyed with the knowledge of the grantor, a second patent carries with it a suspicion of a want of good faith. ”

“ We have only to consider whether the government can properly be called upon to confirm that which it has already confirmed to another party. The court of private land claims seems to have assumed that the grant by Congress to the pueblos was absolutely void by reason of the fact that, the petitioners having a complete and perfect title, the United States had nothing to convey. This may be entirely true, but it is not perceived how the petitioners' title can be aided by the government devesting itself for a second time of a title which it had already released. ”