A state government or the federal government may, for a variety of purposes, be the owner of property. Although neither has all the attributes of complete sovereignty, yet each is a public corporation, and, as such, recognized in law as capable of acquiring, possessing, and disposing of property as an individual. (1) It may hold such property as a public asset, the proceeds of which, like public moneys realized from any other source, are to be used for the public welfare, but as to which the government is not charged with any specific duty. Thus the federal government owns the public lands, to be disposed of by direct appropriation, or to be sold and the proceeds turned into the public treasury as the government may see fit; but appropriation of public lands has been made to various states to be held and disposed of by the states in aid of education, or of the construction of public works, or for like purposes. (2) A sovereign government may also, and necessarily must, in carrying out its functions, own property for public use. Thus a state government will own a capitol building, and various other buildings for asylums, penitentiaries, and the like purposes; while a municipal corporation, which is in reality a branch or division of the state government, may own a city hall, or school buildings, or municipal works operated for the public benefit, such as waterworks, lighting plants, street railways, and the like. And the federal government owns public buildings in the city of Washington, federal buildings in various cities, forts, arsenals, and navy-yards, military supplies of various kinds, and a variety of other property which enables the government to carry on its functions. (3) Property may be charged with a public use, the title being in the federal or state government, while the benefit inures directly to the people. For example, the public may have or acquire the right to use land for streets or highways, parks, landing places for vessels and similar purposes, and the title to the property thus acquired, or the easement in it in behalf of the public, may be said to be in the government, although the use is not necessary in the discharge of any of its essential functions.

A manifest distinction must not be overlooked, between the property which is subject to the exercise of the sovereign power of the government, that is, as it may be said, within the jurisdiction of the government, and the property which belongs to the government. All private property within the territorial limits, over which the government exercises sovereignty, is within the jurisdiction of the government; but property belonging to the government is, to that extent, excluded from private ownership. Thus when the United States, by treaty with Spain, acquired Porto Rico and the Philippines, the primary result was to give the government of the United States jurisdiction over that territory, as it had already jurisdiction within the former limits of the United States, but the private owner-ship of property within the acquired territory was not thereby affected. Lands which were already subject to private ownership remained subject to such ownership and did not become the public property of the United States. But the public property of Spain within the limits covered by the treaty became the public property of the United States ; and land within those limits, not belonging to any person, became a part of the public domain of the United States. Public buildings, forts, public records, and other property already devoted to use in discharging the functions of government became public property of the United States for like purposes, and the property devoted to the general uses of the people, such as public grounds, highways, and streets, passed to the United States to be held in trust for the people.

The nature of state ownership of property and the power which states may exercise with reference to such property is not within the scope of constitutional law. The right to own and control public property is incident to the existence of government and is implied in the creation of the federal and state governments. No special provisions authorizing such ownership and control are found in the state constitutions nor in the federal constitution. It is only with reference to the acquisition of private property for public use that any specific provision is made; and even without such provision the power of the government to acquire property by purchase for public purposes is assumed and often exercised.

Under a fictitious theory of the English law that all title to real property was originally derived from the crown - but in reality as the result of a wise public policy in accordance with which there must be some ownership of all real property - land is said to escheat to the state when the owner dies intestate and no one is found entitled to take it by descent. In like manner some kinds of personal property, such as abandoned vessels and stray cattle, are taken possession of by the public authorities; or the proceeds of such property is required to be paid into the public treasury, subject to be reclaimed within a limited time by the owner, and in the absence of such claim on the part of the owner becomes the property of the state or some division thereof.