Winter et al. v. United States.
from the royal domain, so as to vest a right of property in the grantee, and thus bring it within the purview of the treaty of Paris of the 30th April, 1803. It is almost superfluous to add, that the whole case must turn upon this solitary point, for however meritorious the claim may be, and however strong the considerations which may favorably recommend it to the political departments of the government, it is not competent for the judiciary, either to grant land, give an equivalent, or confirm a claim that is destitute of identity. Indeed, the act of the 26th May, 1824, confers the special and limited authority under which this court must act in these cases; and by reference to that law it will be seen that the locality of a claim must be ascertained to give the court jurisdiction. 4 Stat. 52.
Now this concession on the face of it is utterly indefinite, and does not appropriate any specific lands to the grantees; and hence it is material to inquire whether an actual survey of such a concession as this was necessary to vest a right to the property in the grantee? The district attorney maintains the affirmative; aud in my opinion he has successfully sustained that position, by referring to royal orders; to regulations of different governor-generals of the province of Louisiana, running through a period of nearly fifty years; to regulations in Florida, on the same subject; and lastly, to various adjudications of the supreme court of the United States.
It is perfectly obvious, that among civilized nations, where individual ownership of the soil is recognized as a right, some mode of designating every man's land must necessarily be adopted. Indeed, without any regulations at all upon that subject in Louisiana and Florida, the survey of lands would have followed as a natural consequence upon making grants; for without surveys, the confusion in land titles, and the disputes and litigation that must have ensued, would have been intolerable evils which no government would allow. In point of fact the survey of grants of land was common in the Province of Louisiana as early as 1754, because the sixth and seventh clauses of the royal order of that year, of date the 15th October, expressly require surveys to be made. 2 Land Laws, 52.
The most solemn and imposing regulations, however, upon
