William Johnson

“ And here it is obvious, that he is to be regarded either as an officer of that Government, or as its private agent. In the one capacity or the other, his conduct can only be controlled by the power that created him; since, whatever doubts have from time to time been suggested, as to the supremacy of the United States, in its legislative, judicial, or executive powers, no one has ever contested its supreme right to dispose of its own property in its own way. ”

“ But when the exercise of that power is extended to officers commissioned by the United States, it is immaterial under what law that authority be asserted, the controlling power of this Court may be asserted on the subject, under the description of an exemption claimed by the officer over whom it is exercised.
It is not easy to conceive on what legal ground a State tribunal can, in any instance, exercise the power of issuing a mandamus to the register of a land office. The United States have not thought proper to delegate that power to their own Courts. ”

“ The United States officer, the defendant, can have no inducement to contest a jurisdiction that has given judgment in his favour: and the plaintiff in error must sustain its jurisdiction, or relinquish all claim to the relief sought for through its agency. And thus this Court, with its eyes open to the defect in the jurisdiction of the Court below, is called upon to take cognizance of the merits of the question, both parties being thus equally interested, in sustaining the jurisdiction asserted by that Court. ”