Julie Soulard, Widow and Others, Appellants v. the United States John Smith, Appellant v. the United States
| Decision Date | 01 January 1830 |
| Citation | 7 L.Ed. 938,4 Pet. 511,29 U.S. 511 |
| Parties | JULIE SOULARD, WIDOW, AND OTHERS, APPELLANTS v. THE UNITED STATES. JOHN T. SMITH, APPELLANT v. THE UNITED STATES |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
THESE cases came before the court, on appeals from the district court of the United States for the district of Missouri.
In the district court of Missouri, the appellants, under the act of congress of the 26th of May 1824, instituted proceedings to try the validity of their claims to certain lands in Missouri; the titles to which they claimed to derive under the former Spanish government.
The district court gave a decree against the claimants.
The cases were argued by Mr Benton, for the appellants, and by Mr Wirt, for the United States.
The facts of the cases and the arguments of the counsel are not reported, as the court held the causes under advisement.
The court have held the two cases of Soulard and John T. Smith against the United States under advisement. After bestowing upon them the most deliberate attention, we are unable to form a judgment which would be satisfactory to ourselves, or which ought to satisfy the public.
In the treaty by which Louisiana was acquired, the United States stipulated that the inhabitants of the ceded territory should be protected in the free enjoyment of their property. The United States, as a just nation, regard this stipulation as the avowal of a principle which would have been held equally sacred, though it had not been inserted in the contract.
The term 'property,' as applied to lands, comprehends every species of title inchoate or complete. It is supposed to embrace those rights which lie in contract; those which are executory; as well as those which are executed. In this respect the relation of the inhabitants to their government is not changed. The new government takes the place of that which has passed away.
In the full confidence that this is the sentiment by which the government of the United States is animated, and which has been infused into its legislation, the court have sought sedulously for that information which would enable it to discern the actual rights of the parties; and to distinguish between claims founded on legitimate contracts with those authorised to make them on the part of the crown, or its immediate agents, and such as were entirely dependent on the mere pleasure of those who might be in power; such as might be rejected without giving just cause of imputation against the faith...
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