Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1898-10-13
LAND COURTS COOP WORK,
Synopsis of Annual Report Just
FIIed-Important Supreme
Court Rulings.

-fE~~t-- >f~%- = <~f><~ - = - - E~t~r
SANTA FE, Oct. 12.-Matt G. Rey-
nolds U. 5. attorney. has submitted to
the attorney general his annual report
showing the transaction of the U. s.
court Of private land claims for The
year ending October 9th. During this
period three terms of court have heen
held at Santa Fe. a large number Of
cases hare been finally disposed Of and
very marked progress has been made
toward completion Of the trial of
causes on the court
The court has, during the past year,
decided 6fty seven cases, involving
fifty.two grants. Among the cases dis
posed Of is the Vigil and St. vrain or
Las Animas grant, in Colorado, with
an area Of 1905, 6,346 acres. This case
was dismissed by the court for want of
Jurisdiction the court holding the
grant 10 be one the right to which has
hitherto been lawfully acted upon and
del ided by congress.
The total area claimed in Twenty-Five
grants disposed of is $3.50. .69l. or this
amount there have been rejected claims
to the amount of 5,540,204 acres. and
confirmed 400 acres. The percentage
of confirmation has thus been little
over one-tenth Of one per cent. "The
great disparity between the amount
claimed and the amount confirmed is
to very large extent says Mr.. Rey-
nolds, "ascribable to the extravaganza
of many of the claims presented The
importance of the decision of the
supreme court OIL cases heretofore ap-
pealed from the court of private land
claims, as applicable to the cases re-
naming for trial, was pointed out in
my last annual report. The principles
announced in the cases Of Sandoval VS..
Udited States. and more recently in
the case of Hayes VS.. United States,
have been applied by the court to the
cases since that time coming for trial,
and the small area confirmed, as above
set forth, is also in part ascribable to
the far reaching effect of these and
other decisions hy the court Of last
resort on appeals from the court of
private land claims"
The report adds; In the Jose Garcia
case, rejected in toto by the court, a
most important principle as affecting
other cases yet for trial was announced.
In this case the proof rendered to sup
port this grant consisted of recitals in
certain adjacent grants as to s'the grant
OF Jose Garcia" In considering the ef-
feet Of this proof the court holds that.
the claimants must prove not only that
their predecessors in interest had a
grant. but also the character Of the
grant; that until this is done, the court
cannot know whether it is of the class
of titles cognizabie under the act of
March 3, 1891, and that until such proof
Is furnished confirmation cannot be.
secured. In this case the coult fully
recognizes the contention which the
government has insisted upon from the
very inception of this litigation, that
the jurisdiction of the court is a limited
one, and that until claimants, by full
legal proof, bring themselves clearly
within the jurisdictional limits imposed
by law, there can be no confirmation.
In other words, the court has no power
to presume grant or itsi9character;
claimants must prove first, that they
have grant, and second, that they
have one of the character confded to
the court of private land claims by the
act of March 3. 1891.
Recapitulating, there are yet pending
In the New Mexico district, either for
trial, under advissment, for survey, on .
appeal, on motion for rehearing, or be-
cause confirmation is not yet final,
eighty-five cases involving an aggre-
gate area of 7.185 056 acres. 1t is be-
lleved that this represents a total vol
ume of business that will engage the