Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/139/569
Timestamp: 2019-08-23 08:08:22
Document Index: 592500900

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art. 2', 'Art 3', 'Art. 4', 'Art. 5', 'Art. 6', 'Art. 7', 'Art. 8', 'Art. 9', 'Art. 10', 'Art. 11', 'Art. 8', 'Art. 9', 'Art. 10', 'Art. 11', 'Art. 12', 'Art. 13', 'Art. 14']

INTERSTATE LAND CO. v. MAXWELL LAND GRANT CO. | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute
139 U.S. 569 (11 S.Ct. 656, 35 L.Ed. 278)
'Petition and grants to Jose Manuel Royuela and John Charles Beales for the years one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two and thirty-three. To his excellency the governor of the state of Coahuila and Texas—Sir: The citizen Jos e Manuel Royuela, a native of Saltillo and there married, and John Charles Beales, a native of England, settled in Mexico, and there married to a Mexican subject, having children, with all due respect represent to your excellency that, being very desirous of augmenting the population, wealth, and power of the Mexican nation, and at the same time of affording to a certain number of virtuous and industrious families the means of acquiring an honorable subsistence by cultivating a tract of land in the ancient province of Texas, and being, moreover, acquainted in full with the law of colonization passed by the honorable legislature of this state on the twenty-fourth of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five, by which 'empresarios' or colonizing contractors are allowed to undertake to colonize under the conditions and stipulations by said law prescribed, and being anxious to from an establishment that may be useful to a new colony and at the same time beneficial to the state on account of the advantages to accrue thereout, we pray your excellency to accept us as such 'empresarios' or colonizing contractors, and to permit us to introduce into this state, within the time that may be stipulated, two hundred Catholic families, of moral and industrious habits, and for the object your excellency will be pleased to grant us the tract of land included within the following limits, viz.: Beginning at a land-mark set up on a spot whereat the thirty-second degree of north latitude is crossed by the meridian of the hundred and second degree of longitude west from London, said spot being at the south-west corner of the grant petitioned for by Col. Reuben Ross; from thence proceeding west along the parallel of the thirty-second degree of latitude as far as the eastern boundary of New Mexico; from thence running north on the boundary line between the provinces of Coahuila and Texas and New Mexico as far as twenty leagues of the river Arkansas; from thence east to the meridian of the hundred and second degree of longitude, which is the western boundary of the grant petitioned for by said Col. Reuben Ross, and from thence proceeding south as far as the place of beginning. Your petitioners, as 'empresarios,' pray for this grant on the same conditions that it was formerly given to the late Stephen Julian Wilson, whose term of six years is about to expire, on the twenty-sixth of May in this year, without the conditions of the grant having been fulfilled in consequence of the grantee. Besides the conditions which are required by the colonization law of the state, the empresarios and their settlersagr ee to observe the constitution of the Mexican nation, and the private constitution of this state, as well as the general and local laws that have been or shall be hereafter promulgated. They further bind themselves to comply with the conditions on which this petition is granted, and to take up arms in defense of the rights of the nation against the savage Indians or any other enemies that may attack the country, or in any manner to alter its form of government or to disturb the public tranquillity; and, finally, to prevent the inhabitants of the United States of North America from trading with the said Indians, and providing them with arms and ammunition in exchange for horses and mules. Wherefore we pray your excellency to be pleased to grant this respectful petition, which we shall consider as a favor conferred on us. Dated at Saltillo, the thirteenth of March, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-tow. Signed JOS E MANUEL ROYUELA. JOHN CHARLES BEALES.
'Conditions of the grant: Terms on which the supreme government of the state accepts the proposal of the citizens Jos e Manuel Royuela and John Charles Beales for colonizing certain land with two hundred foreign families, such as are not excepted by the law of the sixtl of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirty: Article 1. The government accepts the proposal made in the foregoing petition, as far as it is conformable with the law of colonization passed by the honorable congress of the state on the twenty-fourth of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five, and consequently assigns to the petitioners the tract of land included within the following limits, that they may establish thereon the proposed colony: It shall begin at a land-mark which shall be set up on the spot where the parallel of the thirty-second degree of north latitude crosses the meridian of the hundred and second degree of longitude west from London, said spot being at the south-west corner of the grant petitioned for by Col. Reuben Ross. From thence it shall proceed along the parallel of the thirty-second degree of latitude as far as the eastern limit of New Mexico. From thence it shall ascend north on the boundary line between the provinces of Coahuila and Texas and New Mexico as far as twenty leagues of the river Arkansas. From thence it shall run east to the meridian of the hundred and second degree of longitude, which is the western boundary of the grant petitioned for by the said Col. Reuben Ross; and from thence it shall proceed south as far as the place of beginning. Art. 2. Though the houndaries of the tract set forth in the preceding clause are those assigned to Stephen Julian Wilson in a grant passed by this government on the twenty-seventh of May, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-six, yet this circumstance has not been considered an impediment to the entering into the present contract, inasmuch as the time allotted to the said Wilson for the completion of said enterprise will (expire) in the month of May of this present year without his having to this day performed the same or any part whatsoever; but if, however, in the short time that has to elapse any number of the families of that empresario should present themselves, then in that case the present grant shall, with due respect to the part or parts performed by the first grantee thereof, be null and void to all intents and purposes. Art 3. In consideration of the grant hereinbefore specified the empresarios or contracting parties agree to introduce and settle, on their own account, two hundred foreign families, conforming themselves as well to the general law of the republic as to the laws of the state in this behalf provided. Art. 4. All lands whatsoever held under legal titles that may be included within the limits designated in article first shall be respected by the colonists who shall hold under this contract, and it shall be obligatory on the part of the empresarios to see the observance of this clause. Art. 5. The state retais t o itself the right of property over all the surplus lands which shall remain of this grant after laying off those which belong to the empresarios and their settlers according to the laws in that behalf provided. Art. 6. In conformity with article 8 of the law on colonization hereinbefore referred to, the empresarios are bound to introduce the stipulated number of two hundred families within the term of six years, which shall be computed from the date hereof, under the penalty of being debarred from all the privileges and advantages afforded by the said law. Art. 7. It shall be obligatory on the empresarios not to introduce or suffer to remain in the colony men guilty of atrocious crimes or of bad conduct; as also to endeavor that no person whatsoever shall carry on traffic in arms and ammunition with the barbarous tribes of Indians in exchange for horses and mules. Art. 8. Whenever there shall be a sufficient number of men, the national militia shall be duly organized and regulated according to the laws of the state in that respect provided. Art. 9. The colony shall be regulated by the person whom thin government shall appoint to allot the respective settlements or possessions, and he shall duly observe the laws on colonization in force throughout the state, the general law of the eighteenth of August, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, and likewise the instructions to commissioners which have been appointed by the honorable congress, taking care to afford protection within the limits of the colony to such persons only as shall be approved of by the said empresarios. Art. 10. All official communications, instruments, and other public documents emanating from the colony, must be written in the Spanish language. Art. 11. In reference to all matters not provide for or expressed in these articles, the empresarios or the new settlers holding under them shall abide and the laws of this state. And his excellency the governor of the state, as also the citizens Jos e Manuel Royuela and John Charles Beales, having agreed in the articles of this contract to grant and bound respectively to the observance and performance thereof, afterwards signed the same before me, the undersigned secretary of this government. And having been directed to give the empresarios this certified copy of all the documents relating to the grant, that they may serve them as security and as formal title (or as a title in form) thereto, the original will, according to law, remain filed and recorded in the secretary's office under my eharge. Dated city of Leona Vicario, the fourteenth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two. Signed JOS E MARIA DE LETONA. JOHN CHARLES BEALES. JOS E MANUEL ROYUELA. SANTIAGO DEL VALLE, Secretary. The foregoing is copied from the original documents filed and recorded in the secretary's office under my charge, whence it was ordered taken by his excellency the governor. City of Leona Vicario, the fourteenth of March, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two. Signed SANTIAGO DEL VELLA, Secretary.' The bill in this case was filed January 20, 1888. After some introductory matters, it set out with much particularity the various proceedings had in the matter of the grant to Beaubien and Miranda, both under the Mexican law and subsequent to the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, by which the territory was acquired by the United States, up to and including the acquisition of the grant by the defendant, substantially as they are detailed in the Maxwell Land Grant Case, 121 U. S. 325, 7 Sup. St. Rep. 1015; and averred that that grant, being an alleged empresario grant, was absolutely void, because at the date it was made there was no law of Mexico in existence under which there was any authority for it. It then set out, with equal precision, the various proceedings had in relation to the alleged empresario grant to Beales and Royuela, and the various mesne conveyances by which the plaintiff became possessed of it. The amended bill avrre d that the Mexican government, by sundry and divers official acts, (which are set forth and described,) recognized that Beales and Royuela, by virtue of their empresario contract, had the title in fee to the lands in question. It then averred that the plaintiff and its tenants were in the exclusive possession of the premises in dispute, and that the defendant had never been in possession of them. One of the official acts of the Mexican government referred to was said to be the following order made by the president of the Republic of Mexico, dated Mexico, July 12, 1836, addressed to Beales: 'His excellency the president ad interim has been advised of the judicious and circumspect course which you may have taken in employing your influence to allay the disturbances which have broken out and to sustain order and the obedience due to the general government, and in correcting public opinion through the medium of the newspapers in the United States of the north, and his excellency, being satisfied with this and the like proceedings on your part, which are such as belong to a good citizen, has directed me to return you thanks, as an acknowledgment for the same, and to require that you will continue in the most effectual manner in your power your good offices in defense of the just cause of the nation, and to maintain and impress a spirit of order and peace upon the inhabitants of the colonial district placed under your charge, and also upon all other persons who may be interested in the benefits which will ensue from a like course of conduct. In consideration of which services afforded to this nation in its present struggle, an order has been issued by this department, at the instance of the general in chief, to the army of operation to afford protection to the colonial establishments of yourself and Senor Edgerton, who has concurred in the course of proceedings which you have taken; and his excellency cooperates in the recommendation in his favor as well as yours, in the manner indicated by this communication.' The amended bill then continued as follows: 'And the plaintiff further avers that the said Mexican government, in pursuance of said order, did at all times maintain and protect the possession and title of the said Royuela and Beales to the said lands, and continued so to do until the successful revolution of Texas (one of the grantors) rendered it utterly impossible to afford further protection. And the plaintiff further avers and alleges that, in addition to having taken actual possession of the lands embraced in said grant and having sectionized a large part thereof, the said Beales, in further performance of the condition of said grant, had introduced a portion of the families, as required by its terms, and would have introduced all the families of the class described therein, and would have performed all the conditions of the said grant had he not been wholly prevented from such performance by the said revolution of Texas, which resulted in its independence of Mexican authority.' Attached to the bill as exhibits, and made part of it, are copies of the records of the proceedings in the matter of both of the claims in question; and in the consideration of the questions involved herein it will be necessary to refer to some of them somewhat more in detail.
But, furthermore, the proposition of the petitioners was accepted, and the assignment was made 'as far as it is was conformable with the laws of colonization passed by the honorable congress of the state on the 24th of March, 1825.' To ascertain with precision the meaning of the contract, its terms must be read in the light of that act. It is found in Rockwell's Spanish and Mexican Law, p. 641, and consists of 48 articles. The articles bearing particularly upon the question under consideration are as follows: 'Art. 8. The projects for new settlements, in which one or more persons offer to bring at their expense one hundred or more families, shall be presented to the government, and if found conformable with this law they will be admitted; and the government will immediately designate to the contractors the land where they are to establish themselves, and the term of six years, within which they must present the number of families they contracted for, under the penalty of losing the rights and privileges offered in their favor in proportion to the number of families which they fail to introduce, and the contract totally annulled if they do not bring at least one hundred families. Art. 9. Contracts made by the contractors or undertakers, empresarios, with families brought at their expense, are guarantied by this law, so far as they are conformable with its provisions. Art. 10. In the distribution of lands, a preference shall be given to the military entitled to them, by the diplomas issued by the supreme executive power, and the Mexican citizens who are not military, among whom there shall be no other distinction than that founded on their individual merit or services performed for the country, or, in equal circumstances, a residence in the place where the land may be situated. The quantity of land which may be granted is designated in the following articles. Art. 11. A square of land, which on one side has one league or five thousad v aras, or, what is the same thing, a superficie of twenty-five million varas, shall be called a 'sitio,' and this shall be the unity for counting one, two, or more sitios; and also the unity for counting one, two, or more labors shall be one million square varas, or one thousand on each side, which shall compose a labor. The vara for this measurement shall be three geometrical feet. Art. 12. Taking the above unity as a basis, and observing the distinction which must be made between grazing land, or that which is proper for raising stock, and farming land, without the facility of irrigation, this law grants to the contractor or contractors for the establishment of a new settlement, for each hundred families which he may introduce and establish in the state, five sitios of grazing land, and five labors at least, the one-half of which shall be without the facility of irrigation; but they can only receive this premium for eight hundred families, although a greater number should be introduced, and no fraction whatever less than one hundred shall entitle them to any premium, not even proportionally. Art. 13. Should any contractor or contractors, in virtue of the number of families which he may have introduced, acquire in conformity with the last article more than eleven square leagues of land, it shall nevertheless be granted, but subject to the condition of alienating the excess, within twelve years, and if it is not done the respective political authority shall do it by selling it at public sale, delivering the proceeds to the owners after deducting the costs of sale. Art. 14. To each family comprehended in a contract whose sole occupation is cultivation of land one labor shall be given; should he also be a stock-raiser, grazing land shall be added to complete a sitio; and should his only occupation be raising of stock, he shall only receive a superficie of grazing land equal to twenty-four million square varas.'
RUSSELL et al. v. MAXWELL LANDGRANT CO.
JOEL PARKER WHITNEY v. UNITED STATES, Eloisa Bergere,