Roger B. Taney

“ The rules by which the board is directed to govern itself in deciding the cases that come before it, and the manner in which it was constituted and organized, show the purposes for which it was created. ”

“ It was established for the purpose of deciding what claims were entitled to share in the indemnity promised by the treaty; and they of course awarded the amount to such person, as appeared from the papers before them, to be the rightful claimant. But there is nothing in the frame of the law establishing this board, or in the manner of constituting and organizing it, that would lead us to infer that larger powers were intended to be given than those conferred upon the commissioners under the Spanish treaty. ”

“ If such an account had been produced by the plaintiff, it would decide the controversy in his favour. He does indeed produce an account settled between the parties, with mutual acquitances, in June, 1818. But it is not such an account as the witness describes. Neither of the sums with which Dabadie was debited in the account of 1810, for his share of the cargo, and for insurance, appear in any way in this account of 1818. The acquittances therefore then executed do not apply to them. They apply only to claims which the parties may have had against one another ”