John Marshall

“ These titles are to be valid to the same extent as if the territories had not been ceded. What is that extent? A grant made by a governor, if authorized to grant lands in his province, is prima facie evidence that his power is not exceeded. The connection between the crown and the governor, justifies the presumption that he act according to his orders. Should he disobey them, his hopes are blasted, and he exposes himself to punishment. His orders are known to himself and to those from whom they proceed, but may not be known to the world. ”

“ If not all the extracts from the laws of the Indies, at least by far the greater part of them, which we find in White's Compilation, relating to rewards, contemplate services peculiar to the individual, not those which are of a general character. We do not think, therefore, that an application to superior authority for a distribution of lands among the militia who have served during a period of dangerous insurrection, is necessarily to be be ascribed to the consciousness of wanting power to give a reward in lands to an individual whose invention is deemed meritorious. ”

“ So far then as respects East Florida, the term 'lawful authorities' designates the governor as certainly as if he had been expressly named in the eighth article of the treaty. He is the officer who was empowered by his sovereign to make grants of lands in that province, and in ceding the province to the United States, his sovereign has stipulated that grants made by him shall be as valid as if the province had remained under his dominion. ”

“ They were of course known to the duke of Allegon, and, we must presume, to his master. Yet an excess of authority is not even suggested. No doubt seems to be entertained of the validity of those which had been completed by the grant of a full title, or those still incomplete, the conditions of which have been performed. The inquiry respects those persons only, who had totally neglected the conditions contained in their grants. Their titles alone seem to be doubted even by the duke of Allegon. ”

“ It has been already stated that the acts of an officer, to whom a public duty is assigned by his king, within the sphere of that duty, are, prima facie, taken to be within his power. This point was fully considered and clearly stated by this court in the case of Arredondo, and the principles on which the opinion rests are believed to be too deeply founded in law and reason ever to be successfully assailed. ”

“ Florida contained an immense quantity of vacant land which the United States desired to sell. Numerous tracts, in various parts of this territory, to an amount not ascertained, had been granted by its former sovereigns, and confirmed by treaty. To avoid any conflict between these titles and those which might be acquired under the United States, it was necessary to ascertain their validity, and the location of the lands. For this purpose boards of commissioners were appointed, with extensive powers, and great progress was made in the adjustment of claims. ”

“ That it is not, is most apparent. The grant immediately proceeds to recite that Clarke is an inhabitant of Fernandina, which would of itself defeat his application if depending on the order in favour of 'foreigners who of their free will present themselves to swear allegiance to the sovereign' of the grantor. It then proceeds to state the real motive for which it is made. It is that he has constructed a machine of great value. It is for this, and not for his being willing to swear allegiance to the king of Spain, that he solicits the grant. ”

“ The counsel for the United States contend, that the grant made to the petitioner, by the governor of East Florida, is void, because he had no power to make it.
The royal order of the 29th of October 1790, which is recited in the grant of the 6th of April 1816, most certainly does not authorize that grant. It was avowedly made for the purpose of inviting foreigners into the province, and Clarke was an inhabitant. It limited the quantity of land to be granted to a fixed number of acres for the workers that each family may have ”

“ Grants to a whole class of individuals, a distribution of lands among the body of the colonial militia, and a battalion of a different province, might be expected to belong rather to the general system of distribution than to that branch of it which authorizes rewards to individuals for particular special services, and might be expected to proceed directly from the crown, or to have its express sanction. ”

“ This opinion was laid before governor Coppinger, and approved by him. It recognises the right to grant as 'a remuneration for services, or other considerations deemed by the government sufficient for the purpose;' and speaks of concessions to foreigners or natives, for large or small portions of land as equally valid. The right they give to a complete title, depends on the conduct of the proprietor, on his compliance or non compliance with the conditions, not on the quantity conceded. ”

“ The increased motives for making them have been stated in argument, and their influence cannot be denied. But admitting the charge to be will founded, admitting that the Spanish government was more liberal in its concessions after contemplating the cession than before, ought this circumstance to affect bona fide titles to which the United States made no objection. ”

“ The object of Spain, as of all the European powers who made settlements in America, was to derive strength and revenue from her colonies. To accomplish this, grants of lands to individuals became indispensable. ”

“ In April 1829, George J. F. Clarke, the defendant in error, filed his petition in the court of the United States, for the eastern district of Florida, praying that court to decree a confirmation of his title to sixteen thousand acres of land, granted to him on the 6th day of April 1816, by Don Jose Coppinger, then acting governor of the province of East Florida. ”

“ He adopts a more rigid practice than had been observed by his predecessors; but these rules appear to emanate from his own judgment, and to be intended to apply only to new settlers, who come to establish themselves in the province.
Don Nicholas Ganido, the agent of the duke of Allegon, to whom all or nearly all the uncultivated land of East Florida, had been granted by the king, addressed a letter to the governor, in February 1819, soliciting official information respecting the validity of titles which had emanated from him or his predecessors. ”

“ The assignments of extensive portions of territory, which have been made for the establishment of factories, to persons who did not then comply, nor have not since presented themselves to establish their mechanical works, ought also to be considered without any right or value, and said lands declared perfectly free, that they may revert into the class of public lands,' &c. ”

“ Two others, one for five, and the other for three thousand acres, were surveyed elsewhere. The judge confirmed the title of the petitioner to the three surveys.
The grant conveyed to Clarke the land described in the instrument, and no other. A permit to survey other lands, can be considered only as a new order of survey, depending for its validity on the power of the person who made it. On the 25th of January 1819, governor Coppinger did not possess this power. The treaty of February 1819, had declared that all grants (concessions) made after the 24th of January 1818, should be null and void. ”

“ It was to separate private property from the public domain, for the double purpose of doing justice to individuals, and enabling congress safely to sell the vacant lands in their newly acquired territories. To accomplish this object, it was necessary that all claims, of every description, should be brought before the commissioners, and that their powers of inquiry should extend to all. ”