Wallach et al. v. Van Riswick

Syllabus

Wallach et al. v. Van Riswick. 1. The act of July 17,1862 (12 Stat. 689), is an act for the confiscation of enemies’ property, and it provides for the seizure and condemnation of all their estate. When it has been carried into effect by appropriate proceedings in any given case, the offender has no longer any interest or ownership in the thing forfeited which he can convey, or any power over it which he can exercise in favor of another. 2. The joint resolution of even date with that act was designed only to qualify, and not defeat it. The provision therein, that “ no proceedings shall work a forfeiture beyond the life of the offender,” obviously means that they shall not affect the ownership of the land after the termination of his natural life; and that, after his death, it shall pass and be owned as if it had not been forfeited. It was intended for the exclusive benefit of his heirs, and to enable them to take the inheritance after his death. 3. The maxim, that a fee cannot be in abeyance, is not of universal application ; nor has it any weight in an inquiry as to the intent and effect of said act and joint resolution. 4. The amnesty proclamation of the President of the United States of Dec. 25, 1868, did not give back property which had been sold under the Confiscation Act, or any interest in it, either in possession or expectancy. 5. Day v. Micou, 18 Wall. 156, and Bigelow v. Forrest, 9 id. 339, cited and explained. Appeal from the Supreme Court of the District of Columbi