Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 8.djvu/266

 254 TREATY WITH SPAIN. 1819. John Quincy With this intention, the President of the United States has furnished £d3“"° **2)** . with their full powers J omv Qumcv ADAMS, Secretary of State of the nQ"° D° ms' said United States- and his Catholic Majesty has appomted the most gouators. e excellent Lord Don Lurs Da 0N1s, Gonzales, Lopez y_Vara, Lord of the town of Rayaces, perpetual Regidor of the Corporation of the City of Salamanca, Knight Grand-Cross of the Royal American Order of Isabella the Catholic, decorated with the Lys of La Vendee, Knight Pensioner of the Royal and distinguished Spanish Order of Charles the Third, Member of the Supreme Assembly of the said Royal Order, of the Council of his Catholic Majesty; his Secretary, with Exercise of Decrees, and his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near the United States of America. _ Full powers And the said Plenipotentiaries, after having exchanged their powers, °X°h°”8°d· have agreed upon and concluded the following articles: ARTICLE 1. Firm and in- There shall be a firm and inviolable peace and sincere friendship “<g¤‘Pl° la‘;‘L9° between the United States and their citizens, and his Catholic Majesty, °" "°" lp' his successors and subjects, without exception of persons or places. ARTICLE 2. His Catholic His Catholic Majesty cedcs to the United States, in full property and M¤i¤TY_5°d°¤ sovereignty, all the territories which belong to him, situated to the east- °h° F °" °" ward of the Mississippi, known by the name of East and West Florida. What thirrigs The adjacent islands dependent on said provinces, all public lots and ¤;:i¤¤l*}d° m squares, vacant lands, public edifices, fortifications, barracks, and other ' °°"‘°"‘ buildings, which are not private property, archives and documents, which relate directly to the property and sovereignty of said provinces, are included in this article. The satd archives and documents shall be left in possession of the commissaries or officers of the United States, duly authorized to receive them. ARTICLE 3. The boundary line between the two countries, west of the Mississippi, shall begin on the Gulph of Mexico, at the mouth of the river Sabine, »¥he object of the treaty_ with Spain, which ceded Florida to the United States, dated 22d May, 1819, was to invest the commisstoners with full power and authority to receive, examine, and decide upon the amount and vulidity_of asserted claims upon Spain. for damages and iniiuries. Their decision, within the scope of this uuthortty, ts conclusive an final and is not re-exammab e. The parties must abide by it, as the decree of u competent trrbunal of exclusive junsdncuon. A rejected c aim cannot be brought again under review, in any judicial trtbunul._ But it does not naturally follow that this authority extends to adjust ell conflicting rights of differetit citizens to the fund so awarded. The commissioners are to look to the original claim for damages und injuries uvainst Spain itself; and it is wholly immaterial who rs rho legség equitable owner of the claim, providedthe is an American citizen. Comegys et al. 1:. Vases, eters,. After the validity and amount of the claim has been ascertained by the award of the commissioners, the rights of the c atmant to the fund, which has passed into his hands and those of others, are left to the ordinary course of judicial proceedings in the established courts of justice. Ibid. The trea y with Spam recognised an existing right in the aggrieved parties to compensation; and did not, in the most. remote degree, turn upon the notion of donation or ratuity. It was demanded by our government as matter of right, and as such was granted by Spain. Eid. 217. The right to compensation from Spain, held under abandonment made to underwriters, and accepted by them, for damages and tnjunes. which were to be sarxsfied under the treaty, by the United States · rzhassed to the assignee of the bankrupt, who held such rights by the provisions of the bankrupt law oi e United States, passed April 4, 1800. Ibid. The king of Spnirt was the grantor in the Florida treaty ; the treaty was his deed; the exception was made bly him; and rts nature and effect depended on his intention, expressed by his words, in reference to the t ing granted, and the thing reserved and excepted in the grant. The Spanish version was in his words, an expressed his intention; and althoutrh the American version showed the intention to be different, the supreme court cannot adopt xt as a ru e to decide what was granted, what excepted, and what reserved. United States v.Arredon o etal., 6 Peters, 741. Even in cases of conquest, it is very unusual for the conqueror to do more than to displace the soverei n and assume dominion over thecounuéy. 'I‘he modern usage of nations, which has become law, wot5d be violated; that sense of justice an of right, which is acknowledved and felt by the whole civilized world, would be outraged r tf private property should he generally conhscated, and private rights annulled, on p. change m the sovereignty of the country by the F loridojreaty. The people change their alle iance, their relation to their ancient sovercngn ts dissolved; but thetr relations to each other, and their rights of