James Moore Wayne

“ It is very well understood to be a part of the laws of nations, that each nation may designate, upon its own terms, the ports and places within its territory for foreign commerce, and that any attempt to introduce foreign goods elsewhere, within its jurisdiction, is a violation of its sovereignty. ”

“ Or that the mere fact of a territory having been ceded by one sovereignty to another, opens it to a free commercial intercourse with all the world, as a matter of course, until the new possessor has legislated some terms upon which that may be done. There is no such commercial liberty known among nations, and the attempt to introduce it in this instance is resisted by all of those considerations which have made foreign commerce between nations conventional. 'The treaty that gives the right of commerce, is the measure and rule of that right.' Vattel, c. ”

“ The power, then, of the United States to acquire new territory does not depend upon any specific grant in the Constitution to do so, but flows from its sovereignty over foreign commerce, war, treaties, and imposts. ”

“ No. 1, 1st session, 30th Congress, 1847, pp. 567, 583. No one can doubt that these orders of the President, and the action of our army and navy commander in California, in conformity with them, was according to the law of arms and the right of conquest, or that they were operative until the ratification and exchange of a treaty of peace. Such would be the case upon general principles in respect to war and peace between nations. In this instance it is recognized by the treaty itself. ”

“ It coincides with the views which we have expressed in respect to the legal liability of the plaintiffs for the duties paid by them, and the authority of the defendant to receive them as collector of the port of San Francisco.
From these circumstances the law will not imply an assumpsit upon the part of the defendant to repay the money received by him from them for duties; the plaintiffs knew, when they paid him, that the defendant received them for the United States. The plaintiffs have no claim for damages against the defendant in justice or equity. ”

“ In order to indemnify for the expenses of war out of his enemies' goods and lands, and while the conqueror continues in possession of the lands, he is sovereign over them, and of all within them; and may either admit the vanquished to the rights of subjects, or banish them as enemies from the country, for the sovereignty thus acquired is absolute. ”

“ The sovereignty may be in full force; but the actual possession of the domain may not be enjoyed in such way as to put the power of collecting imports, &c., in force,-thus Louisiana was acquired by cession, under treaty with France of 30th April, 1803, and until the act of Congress of 24th February, 1804, took effect, no duties were taken on foreign goods imported into Louisiana. ”

“ If any master of a vessel shall be detected in landing, or attempting to land, anywhere in California, any goods or merchandise, without permit from a collector, he shall be fined for every such offence in the sum of five hundred dollars, and the goods or merchandise so landed, or attempted to be landed, and the boat or boats through which such landing is effected or attempted, shall be seized, forfeited, and sold by the nearest collector. ”

“ Among this last class are the powers of making offensive or defensive war, of concluding treaties and alliances, of controlling the immigration of foreigners, and of regulating commerce. By the laws of war, the sovereign acquires the right to spoil, plunder, and destroy the goods of his enemy, and possess his lands. ”

“ Yet, before the Revolution, a commercial combination regulated the importations between America and Great Britain. If any man was suspected of an infraction of the non-importation agreement, his conduct was strictly watched, and if his guilt was discovered he was published and held up to the world as an enemy to his country. Gales & Seaton's History of Debates in Congress, vol. ”

“ But where the country is acquired by the right of occupancy and discovery, and peopled by the subjects of the sovereign who makes the discovery, the colonists carry with them such laws of their sovereign as may be applicable to their condition, Dwarr. ”

“ Const. 1318. It would be without any government at all, if it were not under the dominion and jurisdiction of the United States. American Insurance Company v. Canter, 1 Pet. S.C.. R. 511, 542; id. 516. ”

“ The error of those propositions of the plaintiffs is proved by inspection of the following statutes:
Act of July 30, 1846, 9 Statutes at Large, 42, c. 74; Act of July 20, 1790, 1 Statutes at Large, 135, c. 30, for imposing duties of tonnage on ships and vessels; and of January 14, 1817; 3 Ib. 345, c. 3, supplementary to an act to regulate the collection of duties on imports and tonnage. Act of March 2, 1799: 'An act to regulate the collection of duties on imports and tonnage.' 1 Statutes at Large, 639, c. ”