Plested v. Abbey

Citations

• 228 U.S. 42
• 33 S. Ct. 503
• 57 L. Ed. 724
• 1913 U.S. LEXIS 2350
• 48 Ct. Cl. 503

Syllabus

<p>Subordinate officers of the'Land Department 'are under the control, and their acts are subject to the review, of their official superiors— 'the Commissioner of the General Land Office and ultimately the ■ Secretary of the Interior.</p> <p>Until the legal title to public land passes, from the Government, inquiry as to all equitable rights comes within the cognizapee of the Land Department. Brown v. HitchGocIc, 173 U. S; 433, 476.</p> <p>Congress has placed the Land Department under' the' supervision and control of the Secretary of the Interior, a special tribunal with large administrative and quasi-judicial functions, and subordinate officials should not be called upon to put the'court in possession of their views and defend their, ihstructions from the Commissioner and convert the contest before the Land Department into one before the court. Litchfield v. Register, 9 Wall. 575.</p>