Joseph P. Bradley

“ The commissioners construed these provisions of the treaty as invalidating grants made prior to the date named, if the surveys were not completed until after that date. This construction was opposed by the claimants who were affected by it, and a different view, perhaps, might well have been taken. But, be that as it may, the act of 1860, under which the present proceedings were instituted, made the date of cession to the United States, or the time of transferring possession, the point from which to test the validity of grants. ”

“ The petition states that on the eighth day of October, 1817, the king of Spain, by Don Jose Masot, governor of West Florida, granted to Cerilo de Morant, then a subject of Spain, a certain tract of land containing 1,600 arpents, situated north-west of Pensacola, in West Florida, about 12 1/2 miles, bounded north wardly by lands previously granted to Don Emanuel Genzales and by public lands, eastwardly and westwardly by public lands, and southwardly by lands granted to Desiderio Quina ”

“ It requires only a momentary examination of that section to determine that the purview of it here referred to is the proviso, which declares, in substance, that in no case shall the commissioners embrace in classes 1 and 2 (namely, those which in their opinion ought to be confirmed) any claim previously presented to a board of commissioners, or other public officers acting under authority of congress, and rejected as being fraudulent, or that had been rejected twice by previous boards. ”