Robert Cooper Grier

“ The defendant has paid a large and valuable consideration without any notice of the plaintiff's claim, has made his proofs, has had the decision of the Land Office in his favor. He has obtained an advantage of which a court of equity will not deprive him under the circumstances. ”

“ When he issues the scrip, it then becomes a 'chose in action,' capable of being dealt with as property by courts of justice, but not till then. The question, as to who may be considered as the present proprietor of these surrendered and satisfied warrants, must be decided by him in the first instance by the rules, customs, and practice of the Land Office. Before the act of Congress, this right was too subtle (being no more than the remote expectation of a gift) to be dealt with by courts, and the act of Congress has not conferred on them the distribution of their bounty. ”

“ Whether, after the Land Office have issued the scrip to a claimant, another person alleging fraud or misrepresentation, and claiming himself to be the 'proprietor' intended by the act, might not obtain the interference of the courts, to obtain a transfer of the scrip to himself, is a question not presented in this case. ”