Opinion of the court. defendant went from Baltimore to New York, taking with him his son, who subsequently became captain of the boat, and two shipcarpenters, and a square to measure her draught of water. Whilst there every opportunity was given him to examine the boat with his carpenters, and a most thorough and careful examination was made by them. On two occasions they measured the draught of the boat, and they witnessed her speed by accompanying her on one of her trips. The owner went with them to the boat on their arrival in New York, and told them to look for themselves, and to go anywhere they pleased about her. If, under these circumstances, the defendant did not learn everything about her, and ascertain her true draught, it was his own fault, and it would be against the plainest principles of justice to allow him to set up, in impeachment of the validity of his contract, loose statements respecting the draught before its execution, even though they were false in point of fact. In Attwood v. Small,* a case which received great consideration in the House of Lords, the defendant had sold to the complainants, constituting a company of numerous persons, certain freehold and leasehold property, including mines and ironworks, and had made certain statements respecting the capabilities of the property. The purchasers, not relying upon these statements, deputed some of their directors, together with experienced agents, to ascertain the correctness of his statements. These persons examined the property and works and the accounts kept by the defendant, receiving from him and his agents every facility and aid for that purpose, and they reported that the defendant's statements were correct. Upon a bill filed to rescind the contract, on the ground of fraud, the House of Lords decided that the contract could not be rescinded, reversing, in that respect, the decree of the Court of Exchequer, not merely because there was no proof of fraud, but because the purchasers did not rely upon the vendor's statements, but tested their accuracy; and, after having knowledge, or the means of knowl * 6 Clark & Finnelly, 282. Opinion of the court. edge, declared that they were satisfied of their correctness, holding that if a purchaser, choosing to judge for himself, did not avail himself of the knowledge, or means of knowledge, open to him or to his agents, he could not be heard to say he was deceived by the vendor's representations, the doctrine of caveat emptor applying in such case, and the knowledge of his own agents being as binding as his own knowledge. The doctrine, substantially as we have stated it, is laid down in numerous adjudications. Where the means of information are at hand and equally open to both parties, and no concealment is made or attempted, the language of the cases is, that the misrepresentation furnishes no ground for a court of equity to refuse to enforce the contract of the parties. The neglect of the purchaser to avail himself, in all such cases, of the means of information, whether attributable to his indolence or credulity, takes from him all just claim for relief. We have thus far assumed that the evidence in the case before us discloses false representations on the part of the vendor, but justice to him requires us to say that the evidence is insufficient to warrant this conclusion. The vendor stated to the purchaser that he was not a steamboat man, meaning evidently, from the context, that he was not familiar with the particulars in regard to which the purchaser desired information, and referred him to the statements of the captain, at the same time inviting him and his party to examine the boat in every particular. The measurement made by one of his carpenters showed that the boat drew four feet and six inches of water at midships whilst lying unloaded at the dock. The measurement by the other carpenter showed that the boat then drew, forward and aft, three feet and six inches, and both of these measurements were reported to the defendant, and the latter was accompanied by the declaration that the boat drew too much water for his purpose. The captain of the boat also took the defendant on to the dock, by which the boat was lying, and pointed out to him that she was coppered three feet and Statement of the case. nine inches from the keel, and that she then showed only three inches out of water, and, of course, that she then drew, forward and aft, unloaded, three feet and six inches. The purchase was thus made by the defendant, with his eyes open, after every opportunity had been afforded him for the inspection of the vessel. DECREE AFFIRMED. ALEXANDER V. ROULET. Prefects in California, however appointed or elected, had no power, after the conquest of the country by the United States, to make grants of the common or unappropriated lands of the pueblos within their jurisdiction. And titles derived from them cannot, unless assisted by legislation, be regarded as valid. ERROR to the Circuit Court for the District of California. Alexander brought ejectment against Roulet and others in the court below to recover a piece of land in San Francisco, California. The title was thus: The conquest of California was complete, as decided by this court,* July 7th, 1846. On the 12th of January, 1850, Horace Hawes, at that time, by virtue of an appointment from the then military governor of the then Territory of California, and an election by the people of the district, acting as the prefect of the district embracing the then pueblo, now city of San Francisco, granted to Edward Carpenter the premises in controversy. The title of Carpenter, thus acquired, became vested in the plaintiff. The premises were within the limits of the said pueblo, now city of San Francisco. The court gave judgment for the defendant, holding, among other things, that although each prefect of California, while the same was part of the Mexican territory, had power to make grants of the common and unappropriated lands of the pueblos within their jurisdiction, yet that * Stearns v. United States, 6 Wallace, 590. Opinion of the court. from and after the conquest and acquisition of the country by the United States they ceased to have such power, and, consequently, that the grant of Prefect Hawes was void. On error here, among the questions raised were these: 1. Whether, while California was still part of the Mexican territory, prefects there had power to make grants of the common or unappropriated lands of pueblos within their jurisdiction. 2. Assuming that they had the power while the region was under Mexican rule, whether prefects elected by the people as well as appointed by military governors of the United States, after the cessiou and conquest, had the same power. Messrs. W. Irvine and S. Heydenfelt, for the plaintiff in error; Mr. Hall McAllister, contra. Mr. Justice DAVIS delivered the opinion of the court. It has been repeatedly decided by this court that a recovery cannot be had in an action of ejectment in the Federal courts except on a legal title, and the inquiry is, whether the plaintiff in this case is clothed with such a title. This title rests on the authority of Horace Hawes, acting as prefect of the district, embracing the then pueblo of San Francisco, under the appointment of the military governor of California and an election by the people of the district, to grant a part of the common lands of the pueblo. It is not necessary for the purposes of this suit to decide whether prefects of California, while the same was a part of the Mexican territory, were authorized to make grants of the common or unappropriated lands of the pueblos within their jurisdiction, because in this case the grant was after the conquest and acquisition of the country by the United States, and if the prefect had such authority before that event it clearly ceased with the changed relations of the people. By the conquest of the country, Mexican rule was displaced and with it the authority of Mexican officials to alienate the public domain, and as a necessary consequence of this conquest, the Constitution of the United States, which Opinion of the court. gives to Congress the disposition of the public lands, was extended over the territory of California. Until Congress provided a government for the country it was in charge of military governors, who, with the aid of subordinate officers, exercised municipal authority; but the power to grant land or confirm titles was never vested in these military governors,* nor in any person appointed by them. It is contended, however, that Hawes's election by the people of the pueblo to the office of prefect on the retirement of the Mexican officials, gave him all the power a Mexican prefect would have had if the country had not been conquered. Is this position maintainable? Pueblos or towns, by the laws of Mexico, were entitled to a certain quantity of lands adjoining them, which were held in trust for the benefit of their inhabitants. The nature and extent of these pueblo rights have been the subject of a great deal of controversy since the acquisition of California, and came before this court for consideration in the case of Townsend v. Greeley. Mr. Justice Field, in delivering the opinion of the court in that case, says: "It may be difficult to state with precision the exact nature of the right or title which the pueblos held in these lands. It was not an indefeasible estate; ownership of the lands in the pueblos could not in strictness be affirmed. It amounted in truth to little more than a restricted or qualified right to alienate portions of the land to its inhabitants for building or cultivation and to use the remainder for commons, for pasture-lands, or as a source of revenue or for other public purposes. This right of disposition and use was in all particulars subject to the control of the government of the country." Manifestly, if this right of disposition and use were subject to Mexican control while Mexican rule prevailed, it was equally subject to the control of our government when this rule was changed. It must be conceded that these pueblos had an equitable right to have their common lands confirmed to them, but they did not hold them as a private individual * Mumford v. Wardell, 6 Wallace, 435. † 5 Wallace, 836. |