Rufus Wheeler Peckham

“ There has not been cited a single case where any doubt has been thrown upon the right of a state, in the absence of a treaty, to declare an alien capable of inheriting or taking property and holding the same within its borders. The treaties have always been for the purpose of enabling an alien to take even though the particular state may not have expressly permitted it. But no case has arisen where it was asserted or claimed that a state in the absence of a treaty might not itself permit an alien to take property within its limits. ”

“ The question of the extent of the power of the United States to provide by treaty for the inheriting, by aliens, of real estate, in spite of the statutes of the state in which the land may be, does not arise in this case, and we express no opinion thereon.
The claim which the plaintiff in error founds upon the section of the Federal Constitution is too plainly without foundation to require further argument. ”

“ Questions have arisen as to the rights of aliens to hold property in a state under treaties between this government and foreign nations which distinctly provide for that right, and it has been said that in such case the right of aliens was governed by the treaty, and if that were in opposition to the law of the particular state where the property was situated, in such case the state law was suspended during the treaty or the term provided for therein. ”