US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

In matters which require an executive officer of the United States to exercise judgment or consideration, or which are dependent upon his discretion, no rule will issue for a mandamus to control his action.

Whether the island in the Mississippi River opposite St. Louis known as Arsenal Island shall be surveyed and brought into the market is a matter within executive discretion and judgment.

This was an application to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia for a mandamus to require the Secretary of the Interior to cause a survey to be made of an island in the Mississippi opposite St. Louis. Mandamus being refused, a writ of error was sued out. The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.