United States v. Santa Fe

Citations

• 165 U.S. 675
• 17 S. Ct. 472
• 41 L. Ed. 874
• 1897 U.S. LEXIS 2005

Syllabus

<p>The Spanish law did not, proprio vigore, confer upon every Spanish villa or town, a grant of four square leagues of land, to .be measured from the . centre of the plaza of such town.</p> <p>Although, under that law, all towns were not, on their organization, entitled by operation of law, to four square leagues, yet, at a time subsequent to the organization of Santa Eé, Spanish officials adopted the • theory that the normal'quantity which might be designated as the limits of new pueblos, to be thereafter created, was four square leagues.</p> <p>The rights of Santa Eé depend upon Spanish law as it existed prior to the adoption of that theory.</p> <p>An inchoate claijn, which could not have been asserted as an absolute right against the government of either Spain or Mexico, and which was subject to the uncontrolled discretion of Congress, is clearly not within the purview of the act of March 3', 1891, c. 589, creating the Court of Private Land Claims; but the duty of protecting such imperfect rights of property rests upon the political department of the government. ■</p>