I/,Z 43D CONGRESS, I HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. { REPORT 2d Session. No. 134. THE:I LAW OF CLAIMS AGAINST GOVERNMENTS, INCLUDING THE MODE OF ADJUSTING THEM AND THE PROCEDURE ADOPTED IN THEIR INVESTIGATION. PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WASHINGTON: GOVERNMEENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1875. The head-lines on and after page 24 should be "TIIE LAw OF CLAIMS." PREFACE. There were two principal objects in preparing the following pages: first, to show that the whole business of examining claims by committees of Congress should be abandoned, and appropriate tribunals created for that purpose, having judicial powers, with all the machinery now exercised by the commissioners of claims for ascertaining the truth; and, second' to state some principles of law which seemed necessary to secure justice for honest claimants and to protect the Government against demands nhich find no sanction in sound precedent or public law. Some of the reasons in favor of withdrawing from Congress the consideration of claims were presented in a speech in the House of Representatives June 3, 1874, (Congressional Record, vol. 2, part 5, (vol. 6,) p. 4511,) and still more appear in the following pages. Since that time the writer has found a valuable discussion of the subject at the second session of the Thirtieth Congress, which is well worthy of attentive perusal. (Globe, vol. 20, pp. 3S, 139, 141, 159, 163, 172, 178, 188, 198, 203, 302, 303, 307, 378, 492, 513.) A report made at the same Congress on the same subject is also very instructive. (See House Report 441, vol. 2, first session 29th Congres3; House Report 498, vol. 3, first session 3}th Congress; House Report 937, vol. 4, second session 27th Congress; House Report 295, vol. 1, first session 28th Congress; House Report 442, vol. 2, first session 30th Congress; House Report 10, vol. 1, first session 39th Congress.) Some of the earlier debates in Congress are equally deserving attention. (Annals of Congress, 14th Congress, second session, 1816-'17, pp. 245, 299, 382, 426, 462, 1028, 1035, 1040, 1051, 1211.) Some of the reforms which are believed to be just, salutary, and desirable are indicated in the following pages. The vast increase of population and business in the United States is such that it is believed there should be a tribunal of claims, the members of which should be selected from the best talent of the country, and have a tenure of office like that of the judges of the courts, with power to make awards to be reported to Congress for payment. Their opinions on questions of law should be subject to revision by the Supreme Court. This tribunal should have all the powers now exercised IV PREFACE. by the commissioners of claims, and their conclusions of law and fact on every claim should be printed. Their awards, when not taken to the Supreme Court for review, should be final. Either this tribunal or a bureau of claims in the Department of Justice would seem to be necessary to secure the rights of honest claimants and protection to the Government. The following pages were not designed as a full statement of the law of claims or the procedure applicable to them. The right to relief and a mode of procedure to attain it in the many classes of claims which have hitherto appealed to Congress, because in many, if not most of them, there was no other tribunal having jurisdiction, should be recognized, and provision made by law for securing justice to every claimant having a meritorious claim. The future cannot fail to give rise to claims which will always require a tribunal such as is suggested. The Court of Claims has a jurisdiction well defined, and its continued existence is a necessity. Its jurisdiction may be properly enlarged. That portion of the following pages which relates to the law of claims in the United States is a revision and enlargement of House Report No. 262, made by the Committee on WVar-Claims Mairch 26, 1874, at the first session of the Forty-third Congress. That report was reprinted entire in " The Forum Law Review " for April, 1874, pp. 213-291, then published at Baltimore, (now New York,) and the substance of it in an elementary form was published in the (Philadelphia) American Law Register for May, June, and July, 1874, and February, 1875, (vols. 13 and 14, N. S.) The secretary of legation of the Japanese embassy procured copies of the report and forwarded to the international-law adviser of the Japanese government, who was formerly a citizen of the United States. Many claims were presented to and urged upon that government, growing out of a rebellion there. It is believed the revised work now presented may be found useful as furnishing a reference to authorities on some questions of international and constitutional law. There are some references in the following pages to the justice and necessity of fixing a limitation on thepresentation of claims, not only in the courts, but in the Departments of Government, and in all tribunals having jurisdiction of them. (See pp. 13, 18, 238, 242, 318, 324.) This is more fully discussed in sundry reports made to the House of Representatives during the Forty-third Congress by the Committee on War-Claims, to which reference can be had; and the reports of other committees in this and preceding Congresses doubtless present the sub ject in a more forcible light. The experience of all time has shown the necessity for applying a lim PREFACE. V itation on the prosecution of actions in courts. The common law raises a presumption of the payment of claims after a given time. (House Rep. Com. War-Claims No. 784, 1 sess. 43 Cong., p. 17.) There is greater necessity for applying a limitation in favor of the Government in many, if not most cases, than between individual citizens. The officers of Government who may be cognizant of facts necessary to protect it from unjust claims are too frequently changed, and thus go out of position where duty or interest so strongly requires them to watch its interests, or where opportunity may exist for doing so. It is even possible for some, by employment or otherwise, to become adversely interested. Even officers do not always exercise the same vigilance for the public interest that private citizens do for theirs. These and other considerations no less weighty render this subject worthy of consideration. (See Index, " Fraudulent Claims.") In'the examination of war-claims, there is one important principle of law which is liable to be overlooked-that which relates to the measure of damages. War generally furnishes the occasion for demanding exorbitant prices for property sold to, or used by, the Government. The presence of an army often makes such demands for some kinds of property, that holders of it take advantage of the situation to extort enormousprices. When the Government takes propertyin time of war, under circumstances which require "just compensation" to be made, the measure of damages is not the fictitious prices so often asked, but only 1" a fair price, without regard to the enhanced value resulting from the presence of" an army. (Seepost 236 —House Rep. No. 497, 1 sess. 43d Cong., Com. War-Claims; House Rep. No. 748, 1 sess. 43d Cong.; Halleck Int. Law 460, sec. 17.) During the rebellion, on the theater of war, in localities alternately occupied by the contending armies, property was so insecure that it could be scarcely said to have any real value. A practice has grown up, to some extent, which is often injurious to claimants and prejudicial to the Government. Officers in the Departments, and even the courts, when rejecting claims upon the ground that no law authorizes payment, sometimes take occasion to say that a remedy may be sought in Congress. (House Rep. No. 673, part 2, 1 sess. 43d Cong., Com. War-Claims; 8 Wallace, 275.) It is no part of the duty of these officers, or courts, to advise claimants as to the means by which they may obtain relief in opposition to the established law, nor is it within the sphere of their appropriate duties to make recommendations to Congress. The Constitution devolves on the President the duty of recommending to Congress such measures as justice and the public interest require. Congress can with no more propriety disregard law, settled on correct principle, than courts, or officers ifn the Departmenus. Unauthor VI PREFACE. ized suggestions to appeal to Congress for relief often involve claimants in expense and disappointment. The following pages are perhaps the first attempt by a report in Congress to discuss at considerable length some of the subjects therein considered, and they are submitted in the hope that they may be of some value. CONTENTS. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF WAR-CLAIMS -.................... ——. 1- 21 THE LAW OF CLAIMS ON FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS. —-. —---- 23-201 Hawaiian Islands, 26; Belgium, 29-31; Switzerland, 32-69; Austria., 69, 70; Turkey, 70-73; France, 74-97; Ecuador, 98-101; Netherlands, 102; United States of Colombia, 102-114; Liberia, 115-117; Central America, 118; Venezuela, 119, 120; Sweden and Norway, 121-123; German Enlpire, 123, 124; Italy, 124-191; Great Britain, 191-193; Portugal, 194; Argentine Republic, 195-198; Denmark, 199-201. LAW OF CLAIMS IN THE UNITED STATES......................... 203-313 Introductory.....................................:.............. 204 CHAPTER I. Of war-Rebellion-The classes of war-claims-General principles.-. —-—.. 205-232 CHAPTER II. Of property taken, used, damaged, or destroyed in the States proclaimed in rebellion.......................................................... 232-265 CHAPTER III. Of damages done by the enemy............................................. 266-274 CHAPTER IV. Property destroyed or damaged in battle by the Government forces, or wantonly, or unauthorized by its own troops..-................ 274-276 CHAPTER V. Temporary occupation of, injuries to, and destruction of property caused by actual and necessary Government military operations to repel a threatened attack of, or in advancing to meet, an enemy in flagrant war.... 276-281 CHAPTER VI. Property which may be useful to the enemy seized and destroyed or damaged to prevent it from falling into their hands........................... 281-297 CHAPTER VII. Claims in the Departments of the Government.-.............. 297-313 CHAPTER VIII. The Court of Claims....................................................... 313-321 CHAPTER IX. The Commissioners of Claims. ——... —................... —-.... —--—....... 321-355 CHAPTER X. Mixed commissions under treaties.......................................... 355-369 Addenda.................................................................. 370-374 Table of cases cited..................................... 37 43D CONGRESS,? HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. REPORT 2d Session. No. 134. ALIEN CLAIMS. FEBRUARY 10, 1875.-Ordered to be printed and recommitted to the Committee on WarClaims. Mr. LAWRENCI, froin the Committee on War-Claims, submitted the following REPORT: [To accompany bill H. R. 3916.] The Committee on War-Claims, to whom was referred the bill (. R. 3916) to provide for the adjudication of the claims of aliens, hare considered the same, and report: The bill, in the form in which the committee have agreed upon. the same, is as follows: A BILL to provide for the adjudication of the claims of aliens. Be it enaoted by the Senate and IHou.se of Representatires of the Unlited States of Ailerica it Congress assembled, That the claims of subjects or citizens of a foreign state against the United States may be referred to the Court of Claims by the Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the foreign government presenting them; and the Court of Claims shall then have jurisdiction to hear and determine the same in accordance with the principles of international law, or in pursuance of any treaty stipulation or agreement between the United States and suchl foreign state. Clains may be prosecuted in the name of the claimant by petition, in the nature of a petition of right. All cases shall proceed a(ccording to the rules amid practice of the Court of Claims. Either party shall have the right of appeal from the final jutdgment of said court. Judgnments, if against the United States for damages in imoney, shall be satisfied in like manner ab other judgments of said court, unless otherwise provided by treaty or other stipulation between the United States and the government presenting the claim. The committee have agreed to recommend the passage of this bill in this form. There are many reasons which night be urged in support of the bill. rPhe President, in his annual message.of December, 1873, said to Congress: I recommnend legislation to create a special court, to consist of three judges, w5lo shall be empowered to hear and determine all clainis of aliens upon the United States arisingr out of acts committe(l against their persons or property during the insurrection. Thei recent reference utl(ler the treaty of Washington was coufimled to claims of British suljects arising during the period named in the treaty; but it is understood that there are other Briti-h clailms of a similar na:ture arising after the 9th of April, 1865, and it is knovwn thaet other claims of a like nature arec advanced by citizens or subjects of other powvers. It is desirable to have these claims also examinedl and disposed of. There are many reasons why some court should have jurisdiction of alien clilins. Almnost from the foundation of the Government mixed 2 ALLEN CLAIMS. commissions have been created, by diplomatic arrangements, to make awards on the claims of our citizens against other nations, and those of subjects of other powers against this nation. The result shows a necessity for a permanent court. The rapidly increasilg l)opulation and commerce of the United States, and the multiplied means of and necessity for intercourse with foreign nations, must necessarily add to the number and magnitude of claimns and questions arising on iltternational law. While the awards of these commissions have been valuable in many respects, they have not resulted in giving to the world a well defined and authoritative system or uniform rules of international law. Their decisions have sometimes been contradictory in principle. A court regularly clothed with jurisdiction to pass upon questions of international law and of all claims of aliens would secure a degree of learning and uniformity scarcely attainablle by temporary coamnissions composed of different persons selected for an occasion. Heretofore the awards of these commissions have been final. If a court shall be given juri.sdiction, froln whose decision an appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, the great learning and ability of that court will aid in securing a settled system of international law which will not reach it in any other mode. A court will also be more economical than the plan of a mixed commission.' 1TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Wash7ington, D. C., February 14, 1874. SIR: Referring to your letter of the 19th ultino, I transmit herewith an amended statement of the expenses of the several commissions held during the last ten years, showing the total expenditures to the close of the last fiscal year, the detailed items of expenditure, the annual expenditure, and the salaries of the principal officers. I anm, very respectfully, F. A. SAWYER, Assistant Secretary, Hon. WM. LAWRENCE, House of Rq2resentatiives. It P;., m Annual expenditures E C for the fiscal year Salaries. ending — Salaries and expenses of the United States and Spanish Ciaims Comnmission from July 1, 1871, to June 30, 1873. Salary of advocate................ 2, 780 55! June 30, 1872 12, 647 35 Advocate...*$5, 000 Salary of secretary, ($5 per diem). 3, 860 0 June 30,1873 16, 451 19 Secretay. 8t5 Salary of counsel.................. 3, 043 5 0....... ounsel....*5, 000 Salary of arbitrator................ 10, 810 44...................... Arbitrator.. *5, 000 Salaries of messenger and porters.. 1, 300 00................... Messenger.. *300 Copying and translating........... 715 25 Contingent expenses, including freight, postage, stationery, &c.. 6, 588 80 _ $'29,098 541 29,098 54 Commission for the settlement of claims of the United Stctes against the United States of Colomnbia,from September 18, 1865, to October 10, 1866. Salary of Thomas Biddle, commissioner.. —-............ —-- 2, 500 00 Jnne 30,1865 12, 953 42. Commiss'uer. l2, 500 Salary of Charles W. Davis, sec'y.. 10, 453 42 June 30, 1867 1, 000 001 Secretas y...,2, 000 Salary of G. Dean, counsel........ 1, 000 40 2 13' ~13, 952 42 13, 953 42Expenses of carryingq into effect the convention with the republic of Venezuela, from October 26, 1867, to October 6, 1868. Salary of J. W. Macado, umpire.., StO 00 June 30, 1869 4, 193 42 Commiss'ner. 2, 500 Salary of D. M1. Talmage, commissioner........................... 2, 693 42....................... mpire.... ~1, 500 - 4, 193 42.............. 4,193 421 = I l_ I~~~~~ ALIEN CLAIMS. 3 The whole subject of the necessity and value of giving this jurisdiction to some court has been fully considered by the learned and able _.~.' iAnnual expenditures i for the fiscal year end- Salaries. ingCompensation of cornnmissioner, and contingent expenses of the connis- sion, to adjust clai.ms of citizens of o United States against Net Gran- ada and Costa Jhica,from Noerember 7, 1865, to Janeuary 30, 186T7. Allowance to John Lewis, heir-atlaw of Moses Lewis, killed at Panama........................., 406 1 J e 30, 1866 I5, 406 1; Allowance bv commissioners... 1, 586 G June 30, 1867 3, OaS 6j Umpire... ~$i00 Moiety paid by the United States I as compensation to ullniire to New Giranata..1, 00 00-. $9. 494 81.............. 8,494 8t2 Commni.ssion on the part of the.aIited States to carry into effect the treaety, &c., between the United States an'd Hudson Bay and Puiget Sound Agricultural Company. Salary of counsel from January 1, 1865, to November 30, 1869, and expenses -—............... 19 178 21.. June 30, 1865 7, 570 00. Conmiss'ner *5, 000 Salary of clerk (same date) and e-:penses..-.. —---. —.... —-.. 12, 656 00 June 30,1866 9, 87-2 70 Counsel... t2, 500 Witness and other fees............. 10, 979 6:3 June 30,1867 20, 333 00 Clerk..... t2, 500 Messengers and porters -.. —.-.. 3, 247 00 June 30, 1868 18, 667 18 Copyingr 793 40 June 30, 1869 9, 45-2 79 Contingent expenses............... 20,109 27 { June 30, 1870 8, 526 20 - 66, 963 511 Amount for which no vouchers have been rendered, and with which the parties stand charged..-............ 7, 458 36 Total amount expended.-.............. 74, 421 87,.. —.. —.. — 74, 421 8 Salaries and expenses of the Mixed i Comrnmission on Anmerican and Briitsh claims, from April 17, 1871, to June 30, 1873. Salary and expenses of E. R. Hoar, commissioner.......6...000.. June 30 1871 20, 000 00 2commiss'ers +6, 000 Salary and expenses of G. H. Williams, commissioner-.............. 6, 000 00 June 30, 1872 56, 493 13 commiss'er'sexp's. Expenses of Samuel Nelson, commissioner......................... 1, 440 00 June 30, 1873 197, 179 81 Agt.&couns'l l0,000 Salary and expenses of R. S. Hale, agent and consul................ 6, 083 23 1 commiss'r. t10, 000 Salary and expenses of James S. Frazer, commissioner. from July Secretary... +3, 000 29, 1871, to June 30, 1873........... 20, 117 87 Salary of T. C. Cox, secretary, from October 1, 1871, to June 30, 1873.- - 5, 032 61 Contingent expenses, including messengers, furniture, refreshments, stationery, clerk-hire, printing, newspapers, carpets, telegraphing, labor, &c..-..........-.......132, 631 84 Legal services, witness fees, and of stenographer................. 4, 312 60 - 181 618, 151 Amountforwhich no vouchers have been rendered, and with which the parties stand charged..-...........92, 054 791 Total amount expended......273, 672 94..............'273, 672 9l41 ]....... 4 ALIEN CLAIMS. Secretary of State, whose enlightened labors have added so much luster to our diplomatic history. His conclusions on this subject are submitted herewith.2, Annual expenditures He q, for the fiscal year Salaries. ~ endingExpenses of American and Mexican Commission, from July 1, 1869, to June 30, 1873. Salary of George H. Gaither, secre- Commiss'ner;$4, 500 tary.......................... $1, 801 76! Julle 30, 1870 j$20, 981 03 Umpire..... t3, 000 Salary of R. Coyle, secretary. 9, 193 74, June 30, 1871 27, 048 65 Agent...... t4, 000 Pay of clerks, messengers, and I Secretary... t2, 500 porters...-...- —..... —---—.. 22, 448 90 June30. 1872 28, 381 45 Asst.toagent t3, 000 Contingent expenses, rent, fuel, 2 clerks.-. 111,400 stationery, &c -...1......... 19, 938 69 June 30,1873 20, 212 20 2 translators 11, 500 - 53, 383 09 1 messenger. t600 Amount for which no vouchers have 1 asat mess. t300 been rendered, and with which L the parties stand charged................ 43, 240 241! Total amount expended...... 96, 623 331........ 96, 623 33 ________________________ II * Per annum. It Per diem. + In full for services. Q Moiety paid by United States. *In full for services aDdfexpenses. i Per annum.; Each, for salary and expenses. I1 Each, per anmunl. 2They are as follows: DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 27, 1874. SIR: Referring to ny previous letters respecting the " bill to establish a court of alien claims," I have now the honor to inclose a memorandum, showing the several amendments to the bill (H. R. 17:39) which have been proposed or suggested by such gentlemen as I have had tinme to consult'upon it; and the views of this Department in respect of their suggestions. I also take advantage of this opportunity to present for your consideration sundry reasons (1) why it is desirable that Congress should pass an act for disposing of " alien war-claims;" (2) why the provisions of the bill introduced by you, amended by such suggestions as are adopted by the Department of State, should be enacted; (3) why, should it be enacted, the-results will be favorable to the United States; and (4) why we may hope that such results will be accepted by other interested powers. I.-Reasons X why a law should be enacted for disposing of alien wair-claimns. Duringo and after the late war many clainis were presented by representatives of foreign powers, for injuries alleged to have been suffered by citizens or subjects of such powers, arising out of acts cornmmitted against their persons or property during the war. Especially were such claims presented on behalf of citizens or subjects of Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy. No recognition has been made of any possible liability for the claims advanced by the representatives of France, Germany, or Italy. But by the treaty known as the treaty of Washington it was agreed that the British claims arising out of such acts commnitted between April 1:3, 1861, and April 9, 1865, should be submitted to arbitration. The result of this arbitration is thus described in the last annual message of the President: " It was awarded that the Government of the United States should pay to the government of Her Britannic Majesty, within twelve months from the date of the award, the sum of $1,929,819 in gold. The commission disallowed all other claims of British subjects against the United States. The armsount of the claims presented by the British governmleit, but disallowed or dismissed, is understood to be about $93,000,000." These proceedings practically worked a preference of this class of British claims over all others It left aunrecognized, and without means provided for adjudicating upon, first the claims of other governments, (as France, Germany, and Italy,) and, second, British claims later than April 9, 1865. It cannot be doubted that the United States rightfully exercised acts of war afte r the 9th of April, 1865. That was the date of Lee's surrender. A state of war continued after that time which rendered necessary mnany or all of the acts which are complained of, and those acts, when siftedl, will probably prove to constitute as little fulndation for clainms against the United States as the acts committed within the date named in the treaty of Washington. The l\owers whose subjects haNve had their claims deferred to those of British sub ALIEN CLAIMS. 5 It cannot be doubted that such a court would be a great agency for jects, as well as Great Britain herself, on behalf of British subjects whose claims arose after April 9, 185, stand ready to ask us to decide upon the validity of their claims. What answer can the Departnerit of State make to such a request? This bill proposes to furnish an answer. If passed, it will enable us to say, "It is true that British claimants between April, 1SM1, and April, 1865, had a commission to establish such claims as might be found valid. The United States had then no court in which such claims could be examined. Now, we offer to all such claimants a court of law, and invite them to submit their claims to judicial investigation. We thus avoid a nuinber of simultaneous mixed commissions, with possible conflicting decisions, and we render substantial justice to all who shall prove substantial injuries." II.-Reasons for the provisions of the p7roposed act. In the intercourse of nations it is an admitted principle of comity that where the local courts afford a remnedy, and where there is no reason to distr lst the firmniess and sense of equity of those courts, a claim wili not be urged diplomatically until the local remedies shall be exhausted, unless good and satisfactory reasons can be shown for not pursuing the remedy to the highest court of appeal. The proposed bill aims to give such complete remedies to the foreign claimants, that substantially nothing will be left for diplomatic discussion. In order to secure such compl-.teness, it has been thought essential to confer upon claimants the right of appeal, to the Supreme Court, from the court of alien claims, in case of adverse decisions. This has made it necessary to make the tenure of the j ldges "during good behavior." No other court is recognized by the Constitution as entitled to be " vested" with " the judicial power of the United States," in such a way as to confer upon the Supreme Court " appellate jurisdiction " from its decisions. In order, therefore, to secure the right of appeal, the bill proposes to create a permanent court. It has been suggested that jurisdiction should be conferred upon this court over claims of citizens of the United States as well as of aliens for torts committed by the United States. Should the House think best to so widen its jurisdiction, the Departmnent of State would not feel disposed to question the wisdom of the act. It has also been suggested that jurisdiction over this class of cases might be conferred upon existing tribunals. If the jurisdiction should be conferred upon the United States district or circuit courts, it would greatly increase the expense to the United States, and would make it almost impossible for one person to supervise all the proceedings in defense. I need not say to so intelligent a lawyer as yourself how advantageous, how absolutely necessary, in fact, it will be to the United States to put their defense against these claims under one guidance. This advantage would be lost should claimants be allowed to sue in circuit or district courts. And, further, the crowded state of the calendars of those courts in the large towns, where probably most of the suits would be conducted, would prolong the proceedings beyond what would be desirable. It has also been suggested that the present Southern Claims Commission should be empowered to hear and determine upon this class of claims. Bat this comxnission is not a court from which appeals can be taken to the Supreme Court; and although greatly respected here, where its members are best known, it could not be expected to command abroad the weight and confidence which won ld induce foreign governments to accept its decisions as final. The Court of Claims has also been mentioned as a body justly entitled, by its high character for learning and for patient investigation, to be clothed with the power of deciding these claims. Although the Court of Claims is not so well known abroad as at home, and although foreign governments might, therefore, feel more disposed to question its decisions than would' be just, yet this objection might, perhaps, be overlooked if the state of the calendar of that court promised an early settlement of these claims. But, unfortunately, such is not the case. I annex a statement of the condition of the calendar of that court, prepared by the examiner of claims of this Department, which shows that the court is already overburdened with business, and would not be able to perform the great additional labor of deciding these claims. There seems, therefore, to be no escape from the necessity of creating a court for the purpose and endowing it with the necessary powers. The proposed bill recognizes the fact that this court is to be the creature of a diplomatic necessity; that it is to take the place of diplomatic action: and that its results may be set up hereafter, diplomatically, as a bar against claims of foreign governments, advanced on behalf of their citizens or subjects. It therefore proposes to have the proceedings conducted with the knowledge of, and in some respects under, the supervision of the Secretary of State. In order to prevent purely speculative or fictitious claims from being advanced, it equires claimants to print, at their own expense, all documents and evidence put into he case by them; but, lest a bona-fide claimant should suffer from this necessity, it ALIEN CLAIMS. good in preserving a'good understanding between nations and in securing the relations of peace. will, as amended, authorize such claimant to recover, with an award for his claim, the expenses he may have been put to for such printing. It guards against surprises on either side, by requiring claimants to furnish to the Government a full statement of the claim, with the names of all the witnesses relied upon to establish it, and by obliging the Government to set forth in its answer all the grounds of law and fact upon which it relies for its defense. It guards against perjury by provisions for the punishment of the perjurer, and for the disallowance of the claim sought to be maintained by such evidence. It provides for an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. And, in order that such appeal may not unreasonably prolong the term of the court below, it provides that such appeal shall be heard uplon the original papers, including the arguments, and that final judgment shall be rendered in the Supremle Court without a remitter; and, in order that claimants may not be vexed by appeals that ought not to he taken, it re1quires the written assent of the Attorneyc-General to an appeal by the United States. It is believed that such a system would work out justice and give satisfaction to all concerned. III. —ealcsol.s' why a farorable resnlt vmlay be looked for. It may be assumed that the claimlls which it is pro)osed to adjust throough the instruimentality of the proposed act are similar ill all respects to those which were adjusted through the instrumieltality of the British and A:umerican Mixed Claims Commission under the treaty of WVashington.l In view, also, of the intimate commercial and social relations between Great Britain and the Untited States which existed at the outbreak of the wTar, and of the lmanitude of the British-Amlerican commerce as comp:ared with tlhe commerce of an y other ination with the United States, it may be asurned that that conimmission passed upon a large majority of the claims of aliens growinDg out of the war. It may also be assumed that the rules of proof which it is proposed to adopt will deter persons fromn presenting purely speculative claimrs. Assuming these facts, let us examnine the results of the American-British Mixed Comnmission. Four lIunrdred and seventy-eighllt cases against the llited States were pirt sented and tried, and judgment entered within two years from the organization of the commission; of these,'259 included claims for property taken by the United States forces, 181 for property destroyed by tile United States forces; 7 for property destroyed by the rebels, 100 for alleged unlawful arrests or ilmprisonllents, 76 for unlawful capIt ne (,I ndemnuation of vessels, 3 for unlawfully warning off vessels, and 34 for other matters. All the expenses of printingr in these cases were borne by thle two governments jointly-5 per cent. retained from the award being applied toward re-imblursing them. Under the proposed court, this expense will be imuch reduced, but no percentage is deducted. The aggregate amount of the claiims presented was about $96,000,000. The amount allowed was a little less than $2,000,000, the exact sunm being, as already stated, $1,929,819. There is no reason to suppose that, in the cases which remain, there would be a larger proportion of valid claims. But whether the prop;Yrtion would b)e greater or less, it is evident that the opportnnities for a judicial examination into the facts and merits in each cas(awould be greater in a court such as it is proposed to establish than in a mixed commission, composed of commissioners traine(l und(ler different systems of 1aw, and accustolmed to different modes of investigating facts. IV. Reasonis Xwhy the jllgnenetts of such a court 1would probab1y be accgqted by other goverimeits. It might be enonloh under this head to say that there is a probability-, amounting almost to a certaillty, that thle judgments of the proposed court as revised by the Supreme Court will be in entire harmony with the recognizedt principles of international law, anil will therefor( Inot be qnustionllel. I blliove that suclh woull 1be the case. The bill proposes to give the right of appeal to all who feel themselves aggrieved by the decision of tile court below. No claimant who did not exercise that right could properly claim the assistance of his governumient in a diplomatic prosecutionl of his claim. And I am persuaded that such is the respect in which the Suprelme Court is helt throullghout the civilized world, that ino (overnment would feel disposed to question its decision. It appears from the report of the Navy Dcpartlmenlt th at the total number of vessels captured and sent to the courts for adljnudication between the dates naimedl in the treaty ALIEN CLAIMS. 7 It is manifestly just that there should be some tribunal clothed with the power to hear the claims of aliens against our Government. The committee have concluded that the Court of Claims can properly be clothed with the jurisdiction of alien claims arising not only during the rebellion but at any time hereafter, and the foregoing bill proposes to give this jurisdiction. of Washington was eleven hufidred and forty-nine; and that three hundred and fiftyfive vessels were bnrned, sunk, or otherwise injured. In the proceedings before the late British-American Mixed Commission, seventy-six memorials were filed, advancing claims ragainst the United States for vessels and cargoes captured, detained, or warned away from blockaded ports. Awards against the United States were made in the case of eleven vessels. The injuries complained of in the cases of the Boyne and the Mhonmooutl were received in consequence of being illegitlly warned off the coast. This was an injury for which our courts afforded no remedy; consequently the cases were never brought before our courts. The injuries inl the case of the Talbal Cain and the Labuan were caused by an illegal detention in a port of the United States, for which, also, our laws afforded no remedy. The Madeira was a coliision case, and was never before the Snpreme Court. The York was burned on the coast of North Carolina, consequently no proceedings could be taken in rent a-gainst the vessel and cargo. The Circassian, the Hiawatha, the Science, the Sir Williamn Peel, the Springbok, and the Volant were decided adversely to the United States, in whole or in part, after a hearing and decision in the Supreme Court. In the case of the Circassian there was a dissenting op)iion by the late Mr. Justice Nelson. The mixed coiimmissioni, by a imajority vote, sustainedl the conclusions of the dissenting justice. In the case of the Hiawatha, there were dissenting opinions by Chief-Justice Taney and Justices Nelson, Catron, and Clifford. The mixed commission, by a majority vote, agreed in the results reached by the dissenting justices. The Science and the Peel were ordered by the Supreme Court to be restored, as not being subject to capture. The mixed commission, by a majority vote, decided that there was no probable cause to justify the seizure, and awarded damages in addition to restitution. In the cases of the Springbok and the Volant, the commission sustained the decision of the Supreme Court on all the main issues, but rendered in each a trifling award against the United States on collateral issues. Thus, out of 449 captures sent to the courts for adjudication, the adjudications have been shaken in but six cases-two of which decisions were rendered by a divided court, two of which were sustained by the mixed commission in principle, and reversed only on the question of fact as to the probable cause; and two of which were sustained in principle, and reversed only on unimportant collateral points. Such a record fully justifies the langunge used by the late Lord Paluerston, in the House of Commons, during the war: "We have no reason to mistrust the equity and independence of the tribunals of the United States, which have to try questions such as those now under discussion." It also authorizes the expression of a confident opinion that foreign powers, whose subjects or citizens may be claimants before the court which your bill proposes to establish, will acquiesce in the decisions which that court may make. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, HAMILTON FISH. Hon. WMl. LA.LtwE,_NcE, Chairtman of Coewlittee on WJar —Claims, House of Representatives. And see article in the (Boston) American Ltaw Review, July, 1857, vol. 1, pp. 655637. At the first session of the Forty-third Congress a bill was introduced into the House by Mr. Lawrence, as follows: A BILL to establish a Court of Alien and'War Claims. a Be it enacted by the Senate and tfouse of Rlpresentatires of the United States of America in Congress assenmbled, That, for the purpose of providing a tribunal to hear and determine the claims of citizens of the United States and aliens against the United States for compensation for alleged torts suffered through the acts of persons for whose doings it may be asserted that the United States should be held lesponsible, there shall be aThe commissioners of claims have no jurisdiction over alien claims of any kind. The Court of Claims has no jurisdiction of torts. 8 ALIEN CLAIMS. Under its provisions there may be an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, whose final decisions will make valuable rules of international law. The usage heretofore prevailing in this Government has been to organize special tribunals to pass upon claims of aliens. These have been found expensive, and the long delay required by diplomatic arrangements to secure the organization of such tribunals, folestablished in the city of Washington a court to be called " The Court of Alien and War Claims," to consist of three judges, with power to hear and determine all claims on the part of citizens of the United States, who during the rebellion were not citizens of any Statea proclaimed in rebellion, and who remained loyal to the Government of the United States, or corporations under the authority of and located in any State not proclaimed in rebellion, or citizens or subjects or corporations of any foreign power, upon the United States, arising out of acts committed against the persons or property.of such citizens or subjects during a period of recognized war between the United States and a belligerent not the sovereign of the claimant or claimants, which may be brought before it, as hereinafter provided. The said court shall consist of a chief-j ustice and of two associate justices, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and to hold office (lduring good behavior. Any two of the justices of the court hereby established shall constitute a quorum, and may hold a court for the transaction of business. The compensation of the members of the said court shall be as follows: For the chief-justice, for the termn during which the court is occupied in the transaction of business, including adjournments, at the rate of thousand dollars a year; and for the associate justices for such period, at the rate of thousand dollars a year. The compensation shall cease when such term ceases, as hereinafter provided, and shall be revived whenever said court shall be again continued by order of the President, and shall then, and in each case, be convened for such time as said court may be occupied in determining the matters for which' it may be convened. SEC. 2. That the first meeting of the said court shall be held on the first Monday of December next, (which shall be the commencement of the first term,) for the purpose of hearing and determining all claims which may be brought before it on the part of said corporations, citizens of the United States, or citizens or subjects of any foreign power, against the United States, arising out of acts committed against the persons or properties of such claimants during the period which intervened between the commencement and the close of the late rebellion, except such claims as are barred by the provisions of the treaty of the eighth of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, between Her Britannic Majesty and the United States. It shall be lawful to present said claims, which are to be submitted to the adjudication of said court, up to and including the thirty-first day of December, which will be in the year eighteen hundred and seventyfive, but not later; all claims so presented must be adjudicated and determined by the said court before the first day of January, which will be in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, and the close and determination of such adjudications, and the final adjournment of the court, shall be regarded as the close of the first term. Thereafter the said court may be again convened at the pleasure of the President, as there may be occasion for its services. It shall, in term time, have authority to establish rules and regulations for its government not inconsistent with the provisions of this act; to perform such acts as may be necessary to carry into effect the powers hereby conferred upon it; to administer oaths; to punish for contempt in the manner prescribed by law; to appoint commissioners to take testimony to be used in evidence; to prescribe the fees they shall receive for their services; to issue commissions for the taking of such testimony; and to issue snbplenas for witnesses, either before the court or before such commlissioners, which shall have the same force and effect as if issued from a circuit or district court of the United States, and compliance therewith shall be compelled under such rules and orders as the court hereby created may establish. Said court may have a seal, with such device as it mlay' order. It may on its orgauization appoint the following officers, who shall serve during the pleasure of the courtr but not later thani its dissolution when the business for which it is organized shall lee completed; narmely, a reporter, with a compensation at the rate of thousand dollars a year; one stenographer, with a compensation at the rate of thousand dollars a year; a bailiff, with a compensation at the rate of thousand dollars a year; and such other officers as Congress may make appropriations for. Said court nmay, when again convened by the President, make new appointments to such offices, for the term for which it may be convened, and with like compensation. SEC 3. That upon the organization of said court, and whenever the same shall be convened by the President as hereinbefore provided, the court shall appoint a clerk of Provision is made for allowing clainms for military supplies by act March 3, 1871, to loyal citizens of rebel States. but not in favor of such citizens in loyal States. (See House Ex. Doc. No. 121, 1st sess. 43d Cong.) Alien clainms are not within the jurisdiction of the Commissioners of Claims. ALIEN CLAIMS. 9 lowed by the further delay necessary to secure a final adjudication, has not only long postponed but often defeated the ends of justice. These tribunals have rarely ever given written opinions; at any considerable length, announcing the principles on which their decisions have been based; they have, therefore, furnished no settled principles of international law, and are rarely ever quoted or looked to as authorsaid court, who shall receive a compensation at the rate of thousand dollars a year for the timue for which he shall serve, and who shall, for such period, have the custody of the seal and rccords of the court, and shall be authorized to administer oaths and affidavits. The said clerk shall disburse, under the directions of the court, the contingent fund which may at any time be appropriated for the use of the court; but he shall, in each case, first give bond in such an amount and in such form as may be approved by the court, and his accounts shall be settled by the proper accounting officers of the Treasury in the same way as those of clerks of courts of the United States are or may be settled. An assistant clerk may also be appointed by the court for a like term, if necessary, with a compensation at the rate of thousand dollars per annum. SEC. 4. That, on or before the organization of the said court, an agent for the United States to represent the Government before the said court, until its business shall be transacted, shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. And as often as the said court shall be convened by the President, an agent shall in like manner be appointed. He shall receive a compensation at the rate of thousand dollars a year. With the consent of the Secretary of State, he may employ an assistant, with a compensation at the rate of thousand dollars a year. It shall be the duty of the agent to prepare all cases on the part of the GoverInlent for hearing before said court. and to argue the same orally or in writing, as may be ordered by the court; to cause testimony to be taken when necessary in order to protect the interests of the United States; to prepare forms, file interrogatories, and superintend the taking of testimony in the manner prescribed by said court; and, generally, to render such services as may be required of him from time to time in the discharge of the duties of his said office. Neither such agent nor such assistant agent shall receive any fee or compensation for services rendered in said court, except the salary herein-before provided. SEC. 5. That, as soon as possible after the passage of this act, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to give notice thereof to all foreign governments who have presented, or shall hereafter present, on behalf of their corporations, citizens, or subjects, claims against the United States arising out of acts committed against their persons or property during the late rebellion, and to invite each to appoint an agent to present such claims to said court. And whenever and so often as the President shall hereafter convene the said court, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to give a similar notice and invitation to each government which may, at the time of such notice and invitation, have diplomatically presented, on behalf of its subjects or citizens, claims. against the United States of the character for the settlement of which the said court is created. All claimants whose governments are not represented before said court, and who are not themselves represented by an attorney or attorneys qualified to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, must, on filing their petitions, notify the clerk of the court, in writing, of some address in the city of Washingtou where orders and notices in the cause may be served upon them. SEC. 6. No claim which might have been heard and determined in a district or circuit court of the United States, or in the Court of Claims, shall be heard and determined by the court hereby created, unless it shall appear that such claim was heard and determined in such district or circuit court, or in such Court of Claims, and either that no appeal lay by law to the Supreme Court, or that on an appeal to the Supreme Court and hearing therein the claimant avers that there has been a miscarriage of justice, or that the claimant shall satisfy the court that there was good and sufficient reason why no appeal was taken to the Supreme Court. And all cases shall be heard and determined according to the rules and canons of international law, as accepted inll practice by the civilized powers. Proceedings by claimants in said courts shall be commenced by a memorial presented on behalf of the claimant by the agent of the government of which the cla.imant is a citizen or subject, or, if there be no agent of such government, presented with the assent of the principal diplomatic representative of such government at Washington. The memorial shall set forth a full statement of the claim, with references to dates and places, with the names and residences of the witnesses who are relied upon to establish the claim, and with a reference to any action which may have been had on the claim either in Congress or in any Department. It shall also specify by name each and every person interested in the claim, either directly or indirectly, and shall state when, and upon what consideration, such person became so interested; and it shall declare 1o ALIEN CLAIMS. ity. They n11- sometimes lack that training in international law and other experience which could be secured by a court devoted for life to such inquiries. Other nations, almost without exception, have given to all aliens, including our own citizens, the right to go into their courts, and have an a(ljudication of their claims upon such nations. This is shown by the following extract from a note to the report No. 262, inade by this committee March 26, 1874, to wit: In Fichera r. U. S., 9 Court Claims R., decided in 1873, Nott, J., said: "The only question presented by this case is whether, under tile Italian law, an American citizen may maintain an action against the government of Italy. As we have before found, the perfected justice of the civil law made the grovernment, in matters of ordinary obligation, subject to the suit of the citizen, in the ordinary tribunals of the country. NVe have found this right to be preserved under modern codes in Prussia, Hanover, and Bavaria, (Brovwn's Case, 5 C. Cls. R., p. 571;) in the republic of Switzerland, (Lobsiger's Case, id., p. 6t~7;) in Holland, the Netherlands, the Hanseatic Provaffirmatively that no other person is interested therein, either directly or indirectly. Such memorial shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of the claimant or party in interest. The memorial, and all other papers offered on behalf of the claimant, shall be printed by hinm for the use of the court and the other party, in such form as the court may by rule require. SEC. 7. That the United States shall be allowed( such time as the court may direct, not more than six nor less than two months, to answer each petiti3n, in which shall be set up fully and specifically all matters of law and fact which are relied on. The answer shall not be required to be undter oath. The answer, and all other papers offered by the JUnited States, shall be printed by the Government for the use of the court and the other party in such form as the court may order; and the same regulation shall apply to any subsequent pleadings which the court may permit either party to file. SEc. 8. That evidence shall be taken at the expense of the party offering it on such notice by each party to the other, and in such manner as the court shall direct; except that the court may, if the interests of justice require it, order any witness whose deposition is offered in evidence to appear personally for examination, and also may, on the motion of the United States, make an order in any case pending in said court, directing that the claimant or claimants in such case, or any one or more of them, shall appear upon reasonable notice, either before the court, or before any commissioner thereof, and be examined, on oath or affirmation, touching any or all matters pertaining to said claimn. If any claimant, after such order shall have been made, and due and reasonable notice thereof shall have been served according to the rules of the court and the requirements of the order, shall, without just excuse, fail to appear, or shall refuse to testify or answer fully as to all matters within his knowledge material to the issue, or if it shall appear that any claimant has corruptly practiced, or attempted to practice, fraud against the United States touching his claimn, or any part thereof, the said court is hereby empowered to find specifically that the claimant has so failed to appear, or has so refused to testify or answer fully, or has so practiced, or attempted to practice, fraud, and thereupon the said court shall give judgment in favor of the United States, and the claimant shall thereupon be forever barred from prosecuting his claimn in said court. SEc. 9. That no evidence shall be received on either side on the} trial of the main -questions, in any case pending in said court, which is taken ex parte, without notice to the other party in such manner as lmay be required by the rules of said court. In taking any testimony to be used in support of any claim before said court, opportunity shall be given to the United States to file interrogatories, or by attorney to examine witnesses, under such regulations as said court shall prescribe, and like opportunity shall be afforded the claimant in cases where testimony is taken on behalf of the United States under like regulations. If any person shall knowingly or willfully swear falsely before said court, or in proceedings therein, or before any person or persons commissioned by them, or authorized by law to administer oaths or takeo testimony in a case pending before said court at the time of taking such oath or affirmation, or in a case thereafter to be submitted to said court, such person shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and on conviction thereof shall be subjected to the same pains, penalties, and disabilities which now are, or hereafter shall be, prescribed for willful and corrupt perjury. All evidence shall be printed at the expense of the party at whose request it is taken. SEC. 10. That the said court shall have power to call upon any of the Departments for any information or papers it may deem necessary, and shall have the use of all recorded and printed reports made by committees of each House when deemed to be ALIEN CLAIMS. 11 inces, and the Free City of' Hamburg, (Brown's Case, 6 C. Cls. R., p. 193;) in France, (Dauphin's Case, id., ). 221;) in Spain, (Afolina's Case, id., p. 269;) and in Belgium, (De G-iies's Case, 7 C. Cls. R., p. 517.) It was also shown in Brown.'s Case, (5 C. Cls. R., p. 571,) by a distinguished historical writer who was examine(l as a witness, Mr. Frederick Kapp, that this liability of a government under the civil law is not a device of modern civilization, but has been d(eemned inherent in the system, and has been so long established that, to use the phrase of the common law, the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. Therefore, it is to be expected that in Italy, the seat and fountain of the civil law, this same liability of government is to be found existing. The " Civil Code of the Kingdom of Italy " of 1866 recognizes, rather than establishes, the fundamental principle of liability; but it expressly provides (article 10) that, " in suits pending before the judicial authority between private persons and the public adlinistration, the proceedings shall always take place formally at the regular session." It is also provided, by the third article of the same code, that " the alien is admitted to enjoy all the civil rights granted to citizens." These provisions establish the right of an Italian citizen to maintain his actionl in this court, within the meaning of the Act July 27, 186H, (15 Stat., p. 243, % 2,) which prohibits the suljcct of a foreign govnecessary in the prosecution of the duties prescribed by this act; but the head of no Department shall be required to answer any call for information or papers if, in his opinion, it would be injurious to the public interests. SEc. 11. That, within thirty days after entry of final judgment in any case pending in said court, either party may a)ppeal therefrom to the Supremle Court of the iUnited States; but the agent of tle United States shall not in any case give notice of appeal, except under written instructions froum the Attorney-Gelleral. It shall be the duty of the party aplealing to cause to be printe(l, foir the use of the justices of the Supreme Court, all the pap(rs in the case, includin(g the inlelmorials, the answers, the evidence, the arguments, all interlocutory motions and orders, the judgmlnent, the opinions of the judges, (if any are given,) and the record or jullgment-roll. The appeal shall be entered at the first term of the Stprenme Court Iteld in Washinton after the entry of final judgment in the court below, wvithin ten days after the opening of the term. If not entered within that time, the judgmoent of the court below shall stand. If entered within that time, the case shall be heard upon the printed papers without further argument, unless the Supreme Court, shall order an. argunment, and shall give notice thereof to the Secretary of State. Final judgilmet may be relndered by thle Supreme Court in all such appealed cases; and in each case the clerk of that court shall give notice thereof to the Secretary of State. SEC. 12. That at the close of their labors at the first term of the court as hereinbefore provided, and at the close of any terni for which the court may be hereafter convened, the said judges shall transmit to the Secretary of State, under their hands and seals, a statement showing in detail the decisions and awards made by them, with the nationality of each claimant, and the amlount awarded to each; also, showing in like detail, and with like statements, the claims which were presented for allowance, and which were not allowed; also, showing, in like detail, and with like statements, the cases in which appeals may have been taken to the Supreme Court of the United States. They shall also deposit in the Departmeint of State the original records and other papers of the court (including all original papers on file and the seal of the court) clhriug the period for which it may have been in session, which shall thereafter constitute a part of the archives of that Department. And it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State in each case, as soon thereafter as may be, to transmit to Congress a copy of the said statement, and to notify each government whose citizens or subljects may have presented claims for adjudication by said court, of the judgmnents umade in favor of or against such citizens or subjects. And it shall also be the duty of the Secretary of State to give similar notice to Congress and to foreign governments of judgments rendered by the Supreme Court of the United States oil appeals taken froum the judguments of the court established by this act. And the result of the proceedings of the said courts are to be regarded as a full, perfect, anld ftinal settlement of all claims of aliens which were, or which might have been, presented before the court established by this act. SEC. 1:3. That whenever and as often as s;idl court may be convened, the Secretary of State shall provide proper rooms and accommodations for the transaction of its business. SEC. 14. Said court shall have jurisdiction of and power to hear and determine all claeims and righlts of action against the United States which shall be presented to the Secretary of State, by p)etition, in thle niature of a petition of right, anl which shall be by him referred to said court, and all claims and rilghts of action which shall be referred to said court by the President of the United States or by either House of Congress. And the provisions of this act shall, so far as applicable, govern the proceedings on such claims and rights of action. Sec. 15. Tha.t this lact shall take efftect upon its passage. 12 ALIEN CLAIMS. ernment from maintaining a suit for captured property, unless "the right to prosecute claims against such governmuent in its courts is reciprocal, and extends to citizens of the United States." In England aliens have a remedy by " petition of right," regulated by act 23 and 24 Victoria, July 3, 1860. (U. S. v. O'Keefe, 11 Wallace, 179; Carlisle v. U. S., 16 Wallace, 148. See Whiting's War-Powers of the President, 51; The Venus, 8 Cranch; The Hoop, 1 Robinson, 196; The Army Warwick, Sprague, J.) See Whiting's " War-Claims," affixed to 43d ed. of" War-Powers," p. 333, ed. of 1871; Perrin r. U. S., 4 Court Claims 547." 3 In addition to the reasons in favor of a court of alien claims, it may be stated that it is provided by act of Congress as to the Court of Claims, that"The jurisdiction of the said court shall niot extend to any claim against the Government not pending therein on December one, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, growing out of, or dependent on, any treaty stipulation entered into with foreign nations or with the Indian tribes." In Brown vs. The United States, decided in the Court of Claims 5May 22, 1871, Nott, J., said: " Our popular orators and writers have impressed upon the public mind the belief that in this republic of ours private rights receive unequalled protection from the Government; an(l some have actually pointed to the establishment of this court as a sublime spectacle to be seen nowhere else on earth. The action. of a former Congress, however, in requiring (act 27 July, 1868, 15 Stat. L., p. 213) that aliens should not maintain certain suits here unless their own governments accorded a corresponding right to citizens of the United States, has revealed the fact that the legal redress given to a citizen of the United States against the United States is less than he can have against almost any government in Christendom. The laws of other nations have been produced and proved in this court, and the mortifying fact isjudicially established that the Government of the United States holds itself; of nearly all governments, the least amenable to the law. " First in this high civilization that protects the individual and assures his rights stands the great empire of the German states.' The state,' says a lawyer, also distinguished as a writer, who was examined as a witness in this court,' represented in its pecuniary capacity as the representative of money and property affairs, is called the.iscus. For the purpose of maintaining suits against the government, the fiscus stands in the place of the government; for the purpose of compelling the payment of demands against the state, the fiscus is substituted for the state itself. I know of no restriction of the rights of the subjects of Prussia to maintain any suit against the fiscus; foreigners as well as subjects, any man, can sue the fiscus: the power to maintain a suit a(rainst the fiscus is a matter of absolute right. Suits in relation to state property, in which the fiscus is either plaintiff or defendant, are treated and decided like suits among private parties, and all the consequences of defaults and executions take place against the fiscus. The fiscus is brought into court by the service of summons and complaint upon the fiscal attorney.'T'he fiscal attorney has to answer just like any other party and bring his proof. Judgment rendered against the fiscus may be satisfied and discharged in the usual way, by execution.' Brown's Case, (5 C. Cls. R., p. 271.) " In Hanover and Bavaria the redress is substantially the same. Muller's Case, (6 id., p. -.) In the republic of Switzerland the'federal tribunal takes cognizance of suits between the confederation on the one side and corporations or individuals on the other when these corporations or private citizens are complainants and the object of litigation is of the value of at least 3,000 francs.' Law 5th Jlune, 1849; (Lobsiger's Case, 5 id., p. 687.) In Holland, the Netherlands, the Hanseatic Provinces, the free city of Hamburg, and probably in all countries which have inherited the perfected justice of the civil law, the government is in legal liability thus subject to the citizen. Even in France, under the late empire, there was a less circumscribed means of redress, a more certain judicial remedy, a more effective method of enforcing the judgment recovered, than has been given to the American citizen, notwithstanding the pledge of the Constitution. Of all the governments of Europe, it is believed that Russia alone does not hold the state amenable in matters of property to the law. Of all the countries whose laws have been examined in this court, Spain only resembles the United States in fettering the judicial proceedings of her courts by restrictions and leaving the execution of their decrees dependent upon the legislative will. Yet, even in Spain. we know historically, back in the time of Ferdinandt and Isabella, that the son of Columbus' did not succeed to his father's dignities till he had obtained a judgment in his favor against the Crown, from the council qf the Indias, alt act,' adds Prescott,' highly honorable to that tribunal, and showing that the independence of the courts of justice, the greatest buliwark of civil liberty, was well maintained under King Ferdinand.' (Ferd. and Isabella, 3d vol., p. 245.) The records of this court also show that, within the present century, an American citizen recovered a judgment against Spain, iu a Spanish tribunal, to the very large amount of $373,879.88, and that he elected to retain Spain as his debtor when ALIEN CLAIMIS. 13 Much valuable information has been obtained since the last session of Congress through the State Department at the instance of a member of the committee from foreign governments in relation to the mode of adjudicating claims under their authority.4 the decree was about to be transferred to, and assumed by, the United States, and that his choice was judicious, for though thus transferred and assumed, the debt has never been paid. Meade's Case, (2 C. Cls. R., p. 225)." The jurisdiction of the Court of Claims is also limited to actions ex contracts. The jurisdiction of this and, to some extent, other courts is also limited or regulated both as to contracts and torts and as to aliens and citizens by act of March 3, 1863, 12 Stat., 755; act of May 11, 1866. 14 Stat., 46; act July 4, 1864, chap. 240, 13 Stat., 381; joist resolution June 18, 1866, No. 50, 14 Stat., 360; joint resolution July 28, 1866, No. 99, 14 Stat., 370; act February 21, 1867, chap. 57, 14 Stat., 397; joint resolution March 2, 1867, No. 50, 14 Stat., 572; act July 27, 1868, 15 Stat., 243, sec. 2; Planters' Bank vs. Union Bank, 16 Wallace, 483. 4 The whole subject of claims against the Government is one of great difficulty. There can be but little difficulty as to the payment of salaries and claims arising on express written contract. The proper Departments of the Government are authorized to audit and allow these generally; and in cases of doubt, as to claims arising on contracts, &c., the Court of Claims has jurisdiction, subject to a six years' statute of limitations. But there are claims in great numbers and of immense magnitude, as the journals of Congress show, growing out of the rebellion, out of contracts, and in various forms, for the consideration of which there is no tribunal but Congress. The many fraudulent claims presented to Congress, and sometimes paid under special acts, show that the relief in this form is exceedingly slow and unsatisfactory. One great danger to the Treasury is, that claims are presented long after they arose, and when the Government has no means of meeting and refuting the plausible evidence often furnished in support of them, but which might be shown to be false or susceptible of explanation if earlier presented. The President, in his annual message of Decemlter, 1873, said: " There is a still more fruitful source of expenditure, which I will point out later in this message. I refer to the easy method of manufacturing claims for losses incurred in suppressing the late rebellion. * * * * " Your careful attention is invited to the subject of claims against the Government, and to the facilities afforded by existing laws for their prosecution. Each of the Departments of State, Treasury, and War have demands for niany millions of dollars upon their files, and they are rapidly accumulating. To these may be added those now pending before Congress, the Court of Claims, and the southern claims coimmission, (Commissioners of Claims,) making in the aggregate an immense sum. Most of these grow out of the rebellion, and are intended to indemnnify persons on both sides for their losses durinlg the war; and not a few of them are fabricated and supported by false testimony. PIojects are on foot, it is believed, to induce Congress to provide for new classes of claims, and to revive old ones through the repeal or modification of the statute of limitations, by which they are now barred. I presume these schemes, if proposed, will be received with little favor by Congress, and I recommend that persons having claims against the United States cognizable by any tribunal or departme nt thereof, be required to presenlt them at an early day, and that legislation be directed, as far as practicable, to the defeat of unfounded and ujljust demands upon the Government; and I would suggest, as a means of preventing fraud, that witnesses be called upon to appear in person to testify before those tribunals having said claims before them for adjudication. Probably the largest sailng to the National Treasury can be secured by timely legislation on these subjects, of any of the economic measures that twill be proposed." This subject has been somewhat discussed elsewhere. (Congressional Record, Fortythird Congress, first session, June 3, 1874, vol. 6, p. 4514; 20th vol. American Law Register, p. 189; note by Judge Redfield on decision of Court of Claims in Brown's case.) Case of Charles J. Davis, administrator of John Davis, a claim for $58,000, passed twice at different times by both Houses of Congress, then referred to the Court of Claims, which developed the fact, by decision made January 18, 1875, that the claim had already been paid. (Davis' speech in Senate May 1:3, 1874; Congressional Record, vol. 5, p. 3832; House Report No. 91, Committee on War-Claims, first session Fortythird Congress, February 9, 1874.) Among the measures which are believed to be reforms in the matter of claims iutroduced, recommended, or acted on during the Forty-third Congress, are the following: I. A bill relating to the Colnmmissioners of Ciaims,anll for other purposes. (See Congressional Record, vol. 6, p. 4514, June 3, 1874.) This bill passed the House. If to this could be addeld a provision by which the Commissioners of Claims should be converted into a colurt, with power to report their conclusions to Congress, it would add to their 14 ALIEN CLAIMS. It is deemed of so much importance that it is hereto appended and made a part of this report. independence, and tend to secure justice. The nmachinery which these commissioners have, by which they send agents into the locality where claims arose, enables them to defeat many unjust claims. It seenis remarkable that for so rmany years claims have been examined by committees of Congress and acted on with no counsel to represent the interests of the Governmrent, and no officer clothed with the duty to procure evidence. If committees must examine claims, they should act as judges, and should never be approached with personal solicitations, or hear private communications. Whatever is heard or said should be to the whole committee. Claims often involve great questions of law. Claimants very generally present able arguments on the law and the facts. Members of committees are not generally all lawyers; and if they were, they are often not so well qualified to judge of facts as other persons. But if they had the time and the qualifications to investigate both law and faict, they should not be required to examine arguments of claimants with a view to see if they could be answeree(d. This involves the danger of acquiring a habit of taking sides against claimants. The judge should never become the lawyer on either side. Irn courts the State is always represented by counsel. If a similar usage is not applied before committees, the Government is almost certain to stffer for want of as full a presentation of the proper view cot the law and falcts which may exist against as well as in favor of claims. The Commlissioners of Claims should be converted into a court, with proper counsel for the Governlment. The bill above referred to would, it is believed, effect a reform in the nlode of investigating claims. The following is the bill as it passed the House, with amendments proposedl in the Senate: [H. Pt. 1565, 43d Congress, 2d Session.] IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. JUNE 17, 1874.-Read twice and referred to the Committee on Claims. JANUARY'21, 18$75.-Reported with amendments, viz: Strike out the parts within brackets [ ] and insert the parts printed in italics. ANB ACT relating to the Commissioners of Claims, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United St(ates of America in Congress assembled, That the time within which petitions for the allowance of claims may be presented to the Commissioners of Claims be, and hereby is, extended to the [fourth day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-five] first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventy-six; and that all claims within the jurisdiction of the Commissioners of Claims which shall not be filed in their office on or before the [fourth day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-five] first day of Jan nary, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, shall be, and hereby are, forever barred, and the commissioners shall not examine the same. SEc. 2. That every petition or memorial, filed after the passage of this act, for the allowance of a claim, shall contain a statement, by items, of the several amounts claimed on account of the matters set forth in such petition or memorial; and all petitions or memorials already filed which do not contain such statement shall, if the commissioners so order, be amended to fnrnish the sanme within such timne and under such rules as shall be prescribed by the Commissioners; and the aggregate amount so claimed shall not thereafter be increased for any cause. Every such petition or memorial, or the amendment thereof, shall also contain an explicit statement of any payments already made by or in behalf of the United States on account of property taken, furnished, or used by the forces of the United States during the late rebellion, and a declaration that the said petition or memorial, or the amendment thereof, embraces every just item and cause of claim against the United States for property so taken, furnished, or used. SEC. 3. That in [lieu of] addition to the three agents now provided by law, the said commissioners shall be authorized to employ [five] two agents to investigate and report upon claims; and all the said agents shall have power to administer oaths and take depositions[; and, in addition to the clerks now authorized by law, the said commissioners may employ each one clerk, at a salary not exceeding one thousand eight hundred dollars per annum]. SEC. 4. That whenever the commissioners are satisfied [that a claim is fraudulent in whole or in part, or] that the claimant is attempting to procure, by fraud, false evidence, or conclusion, or by the willful concealment of payment or other material fact, the allowance of a claim, in whole or in part, it shall be their duty to disallow the entire claim. SEC. 5. That every person who knowingly and willfully swears falsely in any oath or affidavit which is or may be authorized by law, or in any oath taken or affidavit made, to be used as evidence in any court, "or before either House of Congress, or any com ALIEN CLAIMS. 15 This confirms the statement already made, that foreign governments mittee or officer thereof," or before any officer or person acting under the authority of the Constitution or law, shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by fine not more than two thousand dollars, or imprisoned at hard labor not more than five years, or both, in the discretion of the court. AnJ( in every case where such oath or affidavit is subscribed by the person making the same, proof of such fact shall be sufficient evidence of the official authority of the person before whom the same purports to be made or taken to administer and certify said oath or affidavit. All offenses heretofore committed may be prosecuted or punished in the same manner as if this act had not passed. SEC. 6. That every person who procures, or endeavors to procure, or counsels or advises, another to commit perjury, shall be punishable as if guilty of perjury. [SEC. 7. That the Commissioners of Claims shall receive, examine, and consider the justice and validity of such claims, growing out of the late war of the rebellion, as may be referred to them by either House of Congress; and said commissioners shall make report of their proceedings, and of each claim considered by them, with the evidence in relation thereto, and their conclusions of law and fact thereon, at the commencement of each session of Congress, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall lay the same before said House.] [SEC. 8. That the President of the United States be, and is hereby, authorized to nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint, in addition to the Commissioners of Claims now authorized, two Commissioners of Claims, who shall continue in office until the tenth day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, with like power and duties and compensation as the Commissioners of Claims now in office. Any two commissioners, with the approval of the president of the board of commissioners, shall be competent to make a report, and the president of the board shall assign to the commissioners the claims, to be by them examined, considered, and reported on.] SEC. [9] 7. That the provisions of an act to prevent and punish frauds upon the lGovernment of the United States, approved March second, eighteen hundred and sixtythree, are extended and made applicable to a time of peace, and to persons who shall make or cause to be made, or presented to the Commissioners of Claims, or to either House of Congress, any claim upon or against the Government of the United States,,or any Department or officer thereof, or any evidence in support thereof; and if any person shall fraudulently withdraw or abstract from the files of said commissioners, or from the files of either House of Congress, or of any committee thereof, any document or evidence, every person so offendcling shall suffer the penalties and be liable to punishment as in said act provided. SEC. [10] 8. That every petition presented to either House of Congress for the payment of claims [may] shall be verified by oath or affidavit. Passed the House of Representatives June 16, 1874. Attest: EDWARD McPHERSON, Clerk. II. The bill to provide for the adjudication of the claims of aliens. The Committee on War-Claims have decided to report this bill to the House, with a recommendation that it do pass. III. A bill as follows: [H. R. 3862. 43d Congress, 2d session.] "IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. " DECEMBER 8, 1874. "Read twice, referred to the Committee on War-Claims, and ordered to be printed. "Mr. LAWRENCE, on leave, introduced the following bill: "A BILL to limit the time for the allowance of claims. "Be it enacted by the Senate and Houtse of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That after the first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventyfive, no claim against the United States shall be presented to, audited, allowed, or paid, by any Department or officer of the United States, unless the same shall have been filed in the proper Department, or with the proper officer, within six years after the claimant had the legal capacity and right to so file or present such claim. Nothing herein shall limit the time for filing any claim where by existing law the time is fixed for filing such claims." The Committee on War-Claims have decided to recommend the House to pass this bill. 16 ALIEN CLAIMS. give to our citizens the right to go into their courts to have an adjudication of their claims Against such governments. IV. A bill which passed the House as follows: " [H. R. 3478. 43d Congress, 1st session.] "IN THIE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. " MAY 25, 1874. " Read twice, referred to the Committee on Revision of the Laws of the United States and ordered to be printed. " Mr. LAWRENCE, o011 leave, introduced the following bill: "A BILL in relation to parties in the Court of Claims. "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatires of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases pending in the Court of Claims, where a new or additional party or parties may be necessary to a complete determination of the case,. or necessary to protect the interests of the United States, the court shall have power to order any such person or corporation to be made a party or parties, and to issue process to the marshal of any district or Territory in which such corporation may be located, or such person reside, or be found; and it shall be the duty of such marshal to serve and return the same as other process. And if any such person or corporation be a non-resident of the United States, service may be made by publication of notice in such manner as the court may order." V. A joint resolution, as follows: "[H. Res. 1,1, 43d Congress, 2d session.] " IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESE:NTATIVES.-December 21, 1874.-Read twice, referred to the Committee on War-Claims, and ordered to be printed. " Mr. Lawrence, on leave, introduced the following joint resolution: "JOINT RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to the Constitution.'IResolved by the Senate and House of Representatiies of the United States of America in Congress assembled, (two-thirds of each House conrcurring therein,) That the following article is hereby proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States shall be valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the Constitution, to wit: "ARTICLE -. No claim against the United States shall be paid unless presented in pursuance of law by the claimant within ten years after having the legal right and capacity to do so, or within such less period as may be prescribed by law. A claim rejected by any authorized officer, or reported on adversely by a committee of either House of Congress, shall not be re-examined or paid unless within six years after such rejection or adverse report." The following, explanatory of this subject, is from the Chicago Daily Tribune, December 28, 1874: LIMITATION OF CLAIMS. LETTER FROM THE HON. ~WILLIAM3 LAWRENCE. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C., December 25. To the Editor of the Chicago Tribune: I notice an article in the Tribune of the 23d instant, on " The limitation of claims,7" in which you refer to a proposition I submitted in the House to amend the Constitution so that no claim against the United States shall be paid unless presented by the claimant, in pursuance of law, within ten years after having the legal right and capacity to do so. You do me the honor to say, "' The proposition is a good one; " but you say you " fail to see the necessity for a constitutional amendment," because a law of Congress would serve the practical end to be attained, and that "Congress itself will be bound thereby." You forcibly point out the difficulty of procuring an amendment of the Constitution, the delay, and the fact that "it is doubtful whether such an amendment would not be opposed by the democratic party and the Southern States as an effort to undermine their pet schemes for the future." This, I believe, would be the case to a considerable extent; and yet if public attention could be aroused to the necessity of an amendment, I believe it could be secured. I hope, therefore, you will permit me briefly to call attention to the necessity of it. You say the whole object can be accomplished by law. I have introduced a bill, and have been directed by the Committee on War-Claims to report it to the House and recommend its passage, which provides: "That, after the 1st day of July, 1875, no claim against the United States shall be presented to, audited, allowed or paid, by any Department or officer of the United States, unless the same shall have been filed in the proper Department or with the ALIEN CLAIMS. 17 We cannot hope to preserve the entire good will and respect of forproper officer within six years after the claimant had the legal capacity and right to so file or present such claim." Your theory is, that a limitation in the presentation of claims to Congress can be provided by law, and that " Congress itself can be bound thereby." The Constitution, Art. I of amendments, provides that " Congress shall make no lawrespecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." It is now generally conceded that, where there is a right to petition, there is a correspondiug duty to hear and act on the petition. A practice has prevailed, from the foundation of the Government, to petition Congress for the payment of claims. Can the right of the citizen thus to petition, or the duty of Congress to hear and act on such petition, be prohibited or abridged by law?' The language of the Constitution cited would certainly seem to prohibit allny such law. The only theory on which such a law could be passed would be, that the investigation of claims is a judicial duty-not legislative; that Congress may by law limit the time within which there may be a judicial investigation in courts; and that hence the right to ask of Congress the performance of a duty not legislative in its character may be denied and its exercise prohibited by law. I had the privilege of discissing this question somewhat in a speech in the House, June 3, 1874, in which I said: " The Constitution provides that'the judicial power shall extend to controversies to which the United States shall be a party.' "At the time this was adopted, the' petition of right' was a recognized common-law mode of reaching the courts of England with claims against the Government. It is fair to presume the Constitution was designed to give an equivalent remedy. "It has been urged with much force that the Government is composed of three co-ordinate branches, the legislative, judiciary, and executive, to each one of which aredelegated certain powers and duties. It is the duty of the legislative department tos provide the means or remedies by which the right of parties may be determined, but not to pass upon or dcetermine such rights. This latter power is exclusively vested in the judiciary. It is therefore not within the power of the legislative body to pass any act of a judicial nature. Jones rs. Perry, 10 Yergrer, 59; Holden rs. Jarvis, 11 Massa — chusetts, 400; Picquet's Appeal, 5 Pickering, 65; Lewis vs. WVebb, 3 Greenleaf, 326; Ex parte to Bedford, Jurist and Law Magazine for October, 1833, page 301, 4 New Hampshire, 572; Lane vs. Dorman, 3 Scammon, 235; Davenport vs. Wood, 11 Illinois, 551." But the practice of investigating claims, and ascertaining their amount, by commit — tees of Congress, has been so long exercised that it may be regarded as too late now to call it in question. This view was taken in a speech in the House on the 21st instant, in which it was said: " There are two classes of powers; those which are conferred by express provisions of the Constitution and those which are incidental. No man doubts but each House of the British Parliament has power to punish for contempt. It is a power long exercised, declared by all writers on the British constitution, and denied by no one. When our Constitution confers upon Congress, as it does in the very first section of the first article, all legislative powers therein granted, there is given to Congress the incidental power to ascertain every fact necessary to enable it to legislate intelligently on every subject within its constitutional jurisdiction. Among the powers necessary to accomplish this purpose is the power to summon witnesses and to compel them to testify. That power has been exercised from the foundation of the Government up to this time,. and it has never been doubted or denied." Congress clearly has the power to appropriate money to pay claims; and whatevertheory might be presented as to the duty of Congress to examine and ascertain their amount, Congress will continue to do so, especially with the democratic party and the Southern States, so largely interested in claims, fully represented in Congress. A law would, therefore, be utterly ineffectual, so far as Congress is concerned. This may be shown by an example. Congress established a Court of Claims to get rid of the evils of examining claims in Congress. These evils are numerous. I quote again from my speech of June 3, 1874, as follows: " The act of March 3, 1863, amending the act establishing the Court of Claims sought to avoid all these evils by providing (12 Statutes, 765, sec. 2) as follows: "'That all petitions and bills praying or providing for the satisfaction of private claims against the Government, founded upon any law of Congress, or upon any regulation of an Executive Department, or upon any contract, express or implied, with the Government of the United States, shall, unless otherwise ordered by resolution of the House in which the same are presented or introduced, be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives, with all the accompanying documents, to the court aforesaid.' " But this in practice has failed for two reasons. The jurisdiction only extends to, 18 ALIEN CLAIMS. eign nations whose citizens have just claims on our Government, if we three classes of claims; and as to this it has been a failure, because the provision' unless otherwise ordered' has totally defeated its object. It is always'ordered' that claims when presented shall go to committees." I respectfully submit, therefore, that your proposition that a sufficient remedy may be provided by law, and that "Congress itself would be bound thereby," is not correct. Each Congress would have the right to repeal any such law. That there is a great and urgent necessity for some means to protect the Government against enormous and fraudulent claims, especially those arising in the Southern States, and growing out of the war, would seem to be certain. Without this there will be no end of them. I might illustrate this by many examples. The celebrated " Fisher claim " is one. In 1812, the Florida Indians, or our troops, or both, committed some depredations on Fisher's corn-fields, in that State. He made a claim originally for $8,000. Congress has already paid on it $66,803.33, and yet there is a demand in this Congress for $66,848 more; and on the 27th of March last the Committee on Military Affairs in the House reported in favor of paying $16,848. There are now pending before the Committee on War-Claims of the House more than 1,300 claims, demanding over $20,000,000, besides other claims in the Senate to an enormous amount. Those who were rebels during the war can now prove loyalty that cannot now be met by proof of the truth. Claims can and will be multiplied indefinitely, and hundreds of millions will not satisfy them, if the democratic party comes into power. The recent "Sugg Fort claim," which was hurried through the Commissary Department and the Treasury Department, and which is now, on investigation, reported a fraud, is sufficient to show that claims which have been kept a dozen years and now come to the front, when the evidence against them is lost or inaccessible, are entitled to but little favor, if any. One claimant can exert more power and influence than half the population of a State. The claimant is vigilant, and so are his friends and his lobby. They can enlist powerful influences, political, personal, social, news papers, and otherwise. There are no such influences, or but few, and rarely ever so active and vigilant, on behalf of the Treasury and the people. Now, if the Tribune will give the power of its great influence to aid in the good work of doing justice to honest claimants, and of cutting off those fraudulent claims which dare not come forth while memories are fresh to defeat them, I believe it will be a public service rightly performed. Respectfully, &c., WM. LAWRENCE. VI. The Committee on War-Claims adopted the following: " ROOM OF COMMITTEE ON WAR-CLAIMS, "HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C., January 9, 1874. "The following resolution, adopted by the Committee on War-Claims of the House of Representatives of the Forty-third Congress, is published for the information of all concerned: "Resolved, That the claimant in each claim which now is, or may be hereafter, referred to this committee, other than those from the Commissioners of Claims, shall be and is required to furnish, with the papers relating to the claim, information on the following points: " 1st. Whether the claim, or any part of it, has been presented to any Department or officer of the Government. " 2d. If so, when, and what Department or officer, and what action has been taken thereon. "3d. Whether the claim, or any part of it, has been presented to either House of Congress, or to any committee of either House of Congress. "4th. If so, when, and what action has been taken on the same. "The above information to be furnished by affidavit of the claimant or his attorney. "A true copy. "HENRY H. SMITH, Clerk." It might be salutary to require all this by law in all cases and in all Departments of the Government. And as to claims presented more than two years after they arose, or other fixed period, the claimant should be required, on presenting his claim, to give notice in a prescribed form of the filing thereof in one or more leading newspapers in the capital of the State or Territory where he resides, stating the office or tribunal having jurisdiction to consider it. This would often elicit information which would secure justice. The Commissioners of Claims say the publication of the claims filed before them has in many cases enabled them to procure very valuable evidence. [From the Washington Chronicle, Monday, December 21, 1874.] PRIVATE CLAIMS BEFORE CONGRESS. We call attention to an article printed in the Chronicle this morning from the pen,of an able and experienced member of Congress, on the subject of the proper disposi ALIEN CLAIMS. 19 refuse or delay to make provision for them. Nor indeed can we hope tion of private claims pending before the two Houses, which is well worth careful perusal on the part of his fellow-members. It was not our purpose, in the article to which our honorable friend refers, to censure the members generally for inattention to this branch of their public duty. No doubt it now receives an equitable share of the time of the hard-workingr members, of whom the writer is known to be one of the most indefatigable. It is to be regretted that all do not, perhaps cannot, work with the same degree of effectiveness. The capable and industrious ought not, certainly, to be condemned on account of the incapacity or indolence of others of their associates. And it is a truth, that the most capable Senators and Representatives of experience will heartily indorse, that a committee of Congress is, in many respects, an unfit and unsafe place for the adjudication of such causes. Unfit, because the members of committees will not all attend and give their attention to the business. The whole work, consequently, devolves on a few persons, who cannot carefully examine all the cases of this description sent to them for investigation. And the small part which is reported cannot, as the writer shows, secure the deliberate consideration of the House and Senate, so that the bulk of the work performed by the committees is not finally acted on by the Congress to which it is submitted, and must be abandoned by the claimants, or continue to be presented from Congress to Congress, constantly accumulating in magnitude. It is an unfit place, because an adverse decision does not necessarily terminate the application of the claimant for redress. He is almost certain to attribute his defeat to the stupidity or inattention of committeemen, rather than the badness of his cause. And if not broken down in his finances, he is almost certain to return in person or by agent, or through the interposition of his Representative or Senator, year after year, with the hope of better luck. Hence, it has become a sort of axiom at the national capital that, no claim presented to Congress can ever be effectually disposed of except by its payment; while an adverse decision by a court, after a full hearing, would end it forever. A committee of Congress is an unfit tribunal because the testimony submitted is nearly always ex parte, and in favor of the applicants for relief, no one being interested who has facilities for taking testimony in favor of the Government. This, being well known to Senators and Representatives, has induced a habit with many of systematically voting against all private claims, however just they may appear on their face and well supported by evidence, believing that the Government side has not been fully represented. It would, therefore, be far better for honest and meritorious claimants, as well as for the Government, to have theim all referred to a court properly constituted, which appears to the committees of Congress to possess intrinsic merits. To the Editor of the Washington Chronicle: In the Chronicle of the 18th instant you discuss with much force and justice the subject of " private claims before Congress." You allude to the fact that these are very numerous, often fraudulent in character or amount, or both, and that the general impression that this is so, " no doubt often results in the greatest injustice to honest" claimants. You say also, " it is the duty of Senators and Representatives to either take time to examine them, [claims,] carefully winnowing the chaff from the grain, and provide, with reasonable promptness, for the payment of those found to be just, or to provide a judicial tribunal for their adjudication." I think it fortunate that attention has been called to the subject from a source which is entitled to and will command respect. I wish to correct one inference which might, by possibility, be drawn fromn your article; that is, that members or committees of Congress have been negligent in exanlining and disposing of just claims, or have done less than they might. If this were even so, it is by no means a chief source of the great evil and wrong of justice, long delayed. By the rules of the House of Representatives Fridays are " private-bill days;" that is, these days are set apart for the consideration of private bills as the regular business of those " unfortunate" days. Experience has shown that the demands upon the time of Congress are so numerous, pressing, and great, that it is not practicable to devote more time to private bills than the rules now prescribe. It is often found, indeed, that the general business of Congress requires that Friday be devoted to that, as was the case last Friday in the House. The private bills include not only claims for money, but for land, and relief in various forms, as for pensions, &c. There are now on the private calendar of the House one hundred and seventy-six private bills, many of them clainms for money, nearly all of which came over from the last session. 20 ALIEN CLAIMS. to preserve our own self-respect in case of a denial of justice to any During the last session of Congress Mr. Speaker Blaine said, from the chair, that the private calendar had received more attention during that session than during any preceding session since he had been in Congress. After the first of January next, there are only seven Fridays during this session, requiring about twenty-five bills to be disposed of for each day, or one for every twelve minutes, allowing the sessions to be five hours each, to clear the calendar. It is not very probable that Congress could dispose of much more than this even if the committees were to crowd the calendar with a hundred or five hundred more bills. The comfiittees of Congress can act on and report more private bills than Congress can act on, and this has always been so. This inability of Congress to act on all claims and private bills is the real and chief source of the delay, and consequent injustice done to honest claimants. And as the country increases in population, wealth, and business, this evil is to become greater, for the general public business will require still more of the time of Congress. Even if Congress should continue in session as nearly all the time as might be practicable, (as I believe it should during the whole year,) the private claims and bills could never receive the requisite time and attention. This must be apparent from the number and character of the claims and the amounts involved. Those before the Committees of Claims, both of the Senate and House, are very numerous. There are now before the Committee of War-Claims of the House about thirteen hundred claims, involving, as estimated by the clerk of the committee, about $20,000,000. This number does not fully represent the claimants, for one claim, or bill, frequently includes the claims of numerous persons. The committees have not been negligent in the work assigned to them. The Committee of War-Claims at the last session of Congress reported on one hundred and thirteen claims, and, besides, examined many on which reports could have been made if Congress could have acted on them. Many of the claims were argued at much length by able counsel, consuming much of the time of the committee. The reports made have settled principles which, if adhered to, are decisive of the questions involved in a majority of the claims now pending. The committee reported seven general bills, one covering appropriations for one thousand and eighty-six claims, reported allowed by the Commissioners of Claims, -reaching, in the aggregate, $575,000. These claims required a general examination to an extent sufficient to test their correctness. One of the general bills reported by the committee required much consideration, as it proposed to confer jurisdiction on the Commissioners of Clains to examine and report on claims which might be referred to them by either House of Congress. (See Congressional Record, vol. 2, part 5, [vol. 6,] p. 4511, June 3, 1874.) The committee during the last session of Congress performed more labor in relation to claims than the whole work of any one of the highest State courts in a year in many of the States. I refer more especially to this committee because I am more familiar with its work than of any other. But other committees, having other classes of claims and private bills, did an immense amount of work-all that could be done. There are grave difficulties in the way of examining and allowing claims by committees of Congress. There are still graver objections to adopting this mode as the general plan of passing on claims. But it is not the purpose of this article to discuss these now. They have been considered somewhat elsewhere. (Congressional Record, vol. 6, p. 4511.) Your article says it is the duty of Congress either to examine claims, " or to provide a judicial tribunal for their adjudication." The act of Congress of March 3, 1871, created the Commissioners of Claims to examine and report on certain claims for stores and supplies furnished or taken for Union military forces during the rebellion in the insurrectionary States. The bill (HI. R. No. 1565) already referred to, reported by the Committee on WarClaims, giving the Commissioners jurisdiction of claims which might be referred by either House of Congress, passed the House, and is now before the Committee on Claims of the Senate. If this bill should pass, and become a law, it would remedy the whole evil to which you have so well and so properly called attention. It would require but little labor to examine claims in Congress sufficiently to see if they had such merit as to require a full examination by the Commissioners. These Commissioners are clothed with the best means yet devised to thoroughly ascertain the true merits of claims. If this bill shall pass it will relieve the whole difficulty. I would regard it as an improvement that this tribunal should be created into a court, with all its present powers. The Government will always need such a tribunal. It would be well if claims before the Departments could be referred to it also. ALIEN CLAIMS. 21 citizen or alien, however humble. The committee therefore recommend the passage of the bill. Now, if you can examine this subject and give the aid of the Chronicle in the direction of the needed reform, you will contribute much to secure justice for honest claimants, and protect the Government from fraudulent claims. If this reform is secured there will be a tribunal, accessible at all times, where claimants can be heard, and justice done without denial or delay. W. L. VII. The following bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives and is now pending: [H. R. 4569. 43d Congress,'2d Session.] "IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. "FEBRUARY 6. 1875. "Read twice, referred to the Committee on War-Claims, and ordered to be printed. "Mr. LAWRENCE, by unanimous consent, introduced the following bill: "A BILL to prevent abuses in the prosecution of claims against the Government. "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That no account or claim against the United States exceeding one hundred dollars, which shall not have been presented to the proper officer authorized to receive, audit, and examine the same, or which, having been so presented, has not been paid within two years after the same accrued, shall be audited, examined, or paid until the claimant, his agent, or attorney, shall have given public notice, in a newspaper in general circulation in the locality where the account or claim accrued, of the presentation thereof, with the title of the officer authorized to examine the same, in such form and with such other particulars as may be prescribed by the head of the Department in which the same may be presented; and no such account or claim shall be paid until at least four months after the same has been examined and the balance duly certified. "SEC. 2. That no account or claim against the United States shall be received, audited, or examined by any officer thereof until the claimant, his agent, or attorney, shall present therewith an affidavit stating that said account or claim is just and is justly due or owing to the claimant from the United States; that there is no set-off against the same, and that no payment has been made thereon except as thereon credited, and showing whether such account or claim, or any part thereof, has ever previously been presented to any Department or officer of the Government, or to either House of Congress, and, if so, when, and what action has been taken thereon; and that the same has never been otherwise or at any other time so presented. Said affidavit shall only be made by the agent or attorney when, for some reason shown by affidavit satisfactory to the officer charged with the duty to receive, audit, or examine such account or claim, it is not practicable that it should be made by the claimant personally. " SEC. 3. That it shall be unlawful for any Senator, Representative, or Delegate in Congress, or other officer, clerk, or employd of the Government, or any clerk or employ6 in any Department or Bureau, or in any Office authorized by law, or the clerk of any committee of either House of Congress, or of any joint committee of the two Houses, otherwise than in the performance of a duty authorized or required by act of Congress, either while in office or within four years thereafter, to counsel, advise, advocate, or urge the payment or allowance of any account or claim or other action or proceeding in favor thereof against the United States, either before or to any member or committee of either House of Congress, or any joint committee of the two Houses, or any officer of the Government. But nothing herein shall apply to pension-claims, or -deny to any such Senator, Representative, officer, or clerk the right to give testimony in writing as to any account or claim, or to give an opinion in writing on the request of the head of any Department in which any such account or claim maybe pending, or to any member of any committee in the performance of any duty as such; nor to any account or claim held by any such Senator, Representative, Delegate, officer, or clerk in his own right. Every person who shall offend against or violate any provision of this section shall be deemed guilty of a crime, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined in any sum not exceeding two thousand dollars, or imprisoned at hard labor, for a term not exceeding five years, or both, at the discretion of the court. And if any officer authorized by law to receive, examine, or certify the amount of any account or claim shall so certify or recommend or advise payment thereof, without a careful examination thereof, and of all evidence filed or presented in sunport thereof, he shall in like mnanner be liable to fine and imprisonment as aforesaid." THE LAW OF CLAIMS ON FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS. THE MODE OF ADJUSTING CLAIMS AGAINST FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS, AND THE PROCEDURE ADOPTED IN THEIR INVESTIGATION. DOCUMENTS TRANSMITTED BY HON. HAMILTON FISH, SEC. RETARY OF STATE, TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON WAR-CLAIMS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN THE YEAR 1874. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 21, 1874. SIR: Referring to your letter of the 5th of June last, requesting that the diplomatic officers of the United States might be instructed to obtain certain information in regard to the adjustment of war-claims by the governments to which they are accredited, I have now the honor to inclose, herewith, for your information, a copy of a dispatch of the 21st ultimo, No. 281, and of its accompaniment, upon the subject, from Mr. Peirce, minister resident of the United States to the Hawaiian Islands. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, JOHN L. CADWALADER, Acting Secretary. Hon. WILLIAM LAWRENCE, Bellefontaine, Ohio. Inclosure. rIr. Peirce to Mr. Fish, August 21, 1874, No. 281, with an accompaniment. [Inclosure.] No. 281.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Honolulu. August 21, 1874. SIR: In reply to the inquiries propounded by the honorable J. C. B. Davis, Acting Secretary of State, in his circular of date June 23, 1874, in regard to the course pursued by the Hawaiian government in relation to the adjustment of claims presented against it, whether held by its own subjects or by aliens, and as to the mode of procedure adopted in the investigation of such claims, I have to inform you that the subject-matter was fully presented by me in a note addressed to the minister of foreign affairs ad interim, of date July 29, and inclosing a copy of the schedule of inquiries referred to by Mr. Davis. The minister requested the Hawaiian attorney-general to reply to the schedule of inquiries. A copy of his answers the former has this moment sent to me, and I herewith inclose the same as received, the immediate departure of the mail for San Francisco not permitting a copy to be taken by the legation. With great respect, your obedient servant, HENRY A. PEIRCE. Hon. HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. 26 ALIEN CLAIMS. [Inclosure.] Copy of His Haiwaiian Majesty's attorney-general's reply to Mr. Davis's schedule of inquiries, dated A ugust 20, 1874; signtedl 2. t. Stanley. tIONOLULU, August 20, 1874. SIR: The schedule of inquiries which I have the honor to receive at your hands has received careful consideration, and I beg to submit my replies thereto. First. Claims against the government may be investigated, determined, and, if allowed, their payment directed and provided for by the legislature. Heretofore such claims have been instituted in the courts of the kingdom by tile consent of the government. Second. No mode of procedure is pointed out by the rules of the legislative assembly; but should a claim against the government be presented to the legislature it would be referred to either the finance or judiciary committee, and evidence would be procured by the committee sending for persons, books and papers, as authorized by the rules of the assembly. Third. No provision is made for the examination and determination of claims by the executive department. In the enforcement of claims by the executive department, suit is brought in the courts of the kingdom and evidence procured by subpoena, depositions, and letters rogatory. There is no mode of procedure established for the investigation of claims by or before executive officers. Fourth. The government cannot be sued without its consent, and it is expressly provided that no suit can be instituted against the government unless by permission of the king in privy council. The privilege of maintaining an action against the government, i. e., with its consent, extends to aliens. Fifth. The.status of aliens before the courts of this kingdom is the same as subjects, and all aliens can maintain an action in such courts against citizens or subjects. Sixth. In the adjudication of claims, the same rule applies to the government as to individuals in regard to evidence, whether in law or equity side of the court; and the government has no privilege in relation to evidence in its behalf, and the same means are used in procuring evidence as noted in third reply. Seventh. In common-law actions,'the plaintiff or defendant of record, or the real plaintiff or defendant in interest, is not allowed to testify in his own behalf. In bringing an action before the courts of this kingdom by non-resident aliens, it is necessary that full power be given the attorney, the same to be acknowledged of before an Hawaiian consul or a notary public; if before a notary, then to be authenticated by a consul for Hawaii. Very respectfully submitted by your excellency's obedient servant, R. H. STANLEY, d ttornley- Gen era l. His Excellency WILLrIAr L. GREEN, His Haiwaiian Majesty's Minister of Foreign Affairs ad interim, 4'c. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 12, 1874. SIR: Referring to your letter of the 5th of June last, requesting that the diplomatic representatives of the United States be instructed to procure information respecting the mode of adjustment, &c., of the claims of private persons against the governments to which they are accredited, I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of fhe instructions and schedule of inquiries addressed to the several ministers of the United States, and copies of all correspondence, together with the original printed papers and books which have been received from them by the D)epartment in answer to those instructions, except a dispatch from Mr. Peirce. the minister of the United States at Honolulu, of the 21st of August; 1874, (No. 281,) a colpy of which was sent to you with the letter of this Department of the 21st of September last. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, HAMILTON FISH. Hon. WVILLIAM LAWRENCE, Chairman of the Committee on War- Claims, hIouse of Representatives. ALIEN CLAIMS. 27 List of accompaniments. 1. Mr. Davis to United States ministers, June 23, 1874. 2. Mr. Jones to Mr. Fish, July 18, 1874, (two inclosures.) 3. Mr. Rublee to Mr. Fish, No. 177. August 1, 1874, (five illclosures.) 4. Mr. Delaplaine to Mr. Fish, No. 773, August 3, 1874, (six inclosures.) 5. Mr. Boker to Mir. Fish, No. 210, August 11, 1874, (two inclosures.) 6. Mr. Hoffman to Mr. Fish, No. 1018, August 13, 1874, (thirteen inclosures.) 7. Mr. Wing to Mr. Fish, No. 410, August 13, 1874, (three inclosures.) S. Mr. Gorham to Mr. Fish, No. 149, August 20, 1874, (one inclosure.) 9. Mr. Scruggs to Mr. Fish, No. 56, August 27, 1874, (three inclosures.) 10. Mr. Turner to Mr. Fish, No. 147, September 11, 1874, (three inclosures.) 11. Mr. Williamson to Mr. Fish, No. 235, September 12, 1874, (one inclosure.) 12. Mr. Russell to Mr. Fish, No. 18, September 21, 1874, (three inclosures.) 13. Mr. Andrews to Mr. Fish, No. 241, September 26, 1874, (four inclosures.) 14. Mr. Davis to Mr. Fish, No. 18, September 28, 1874, (two inclosures.) 15. Mr. Marsh to Mr. Fish, No. 521, October 7, 1874, (two inclosures.) 16. General Schenck to Mr. Fish, No. 624, October 17, 1874, (four inclosures.) DEPARTMIENT OF STATE, Washington, June 23, 1874. SIR: For the purpose of facilitating the adjustment and determination of claims presented against the Government of the United States, whether held by its own citizens or by the subjects or citizens of foreign governments, and with a view of establishing, as far as may be practicable, a general and uniform system and mode of procedure for the investigation and determination of these classes of claims, the Department is desirous of obtaining exact and trustworthy information in regard to the course pursued by the government of - in relation to the adjustment of claims of a similar character against that government, and the mode of' procedure adopted in the investigation and determination of such claims. It is, therefore, desired that you will, at your earliest convenience,. avail yourself of such opportunities as your position may afford to procure this information, and that you will also, with as little delay as the nature of the required service will allow, transmit the result of your inquires to the Department. Accompanying this instruction is a list of inquiries, numbered from 1 to 7, inclusive, pointing more directly to the particular information sought and the specific points upon which it is most desired. While it is supposed these may aid you in your researches, it is not intended either to limit your inquiries to these particular questions nor to confine you to the manner thus indicated in obtaining the desired information. It is especially desirable that the information be derived from the most trustworthy and authentic sources, and that when it is based upon 28 ALIEN CLAIMS. legislative enactments or public and general regulations by the executive departments, copies of such laws and published regulations should, as far as practicable, accompany your report. I am, sir, your obedient servant, J. C. B. DAVIS, Acting Secretary. Inclosure. Schedule of inquiries. [Inclosure.] SCHEDULE OF INQUIRIES. 1st. Are claims against the government investigated, determined, and, if allowed, their payment directed and provided for by the legislative branch of the Government? 2d. If the legislative authority does entertain such claims, what is the mode of procedure, by committee or otherwise, and what means, if any, are provided for procuring evidence on behalf of the government? 3d. What provision, if any, is made for the examination and determination of claims by the executive department? What is the mode of procedure in the investigation of claims by or before executive officers, and what means are provided for procuring evidence on behalf of the government? 4th. Is there any provision of law allowing a citizen or subject to sue the Government in the regularly-established courts, or in any special tribunal, and does the privilege of maintaining an action against the Government (if it exists) extend to aliens? 5th. What is the status of aliens before the regularly-established courts of the country? Can they maintain an action in such courts against a citizen or subject, and, if so, does the privilege extend to all aliens, or is it confined to resident aliens only? 6th. If different systems of adjudication exist as regards different classes of claims, what is the system with reference to each class, and what the mode of procedure, and the privileges of the Government in relation to evidence in its behalf and the means of procuring such evidence? 7th. Add any other information, general or special, of which you may be possessed bearing on the subject. Mr. Jones to Mr. Fish. LONDON, July 18, 1874. SIR: Just as I was leaving Brussels I received yours of the 23d June, requesting information for the purpose of facilitating the adjustment and determination of claims, &c. I gave Mr. Jottrand, pere, a memorandum of what I required, and he now sends me the inclosed. Mr. J. is a lawyer of forty years' practice at Brussels; has a son in congress, and was himself a member of the first congress. I inclose his note to me, by which it will be seen that I shall have to pay him 150 francs. I must apologize for sending the document in its present form, but am constantly on the go, and have deemed it better to send it now than to retain it until my return, which I trust will be satisfactory. Your obedient servant, J. R. JONES. Hon. HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State. [Inclosure No. 1.1 JULY 14, 1874. MY DEAR Mr. JONES: As I intend to start before long, in some journeying to enjoy my holidays in the next recess of business in the courts of law, and everywhere generally, I have lost no time in satisfying to your demand. Here is my paper on the in ALIEN CLAIMS. 29 quiries wanted by you; and I hope you will find them satisfactory for the use you have to make of them. I dare recommend to you the mending of my broken English, when used for your purpose. The question of my fees is very difficult to be solved by me. I would not charge you like an ordinary client; that is to say, I must take in consideration the kind services you have obliged me with, and owe to make a compensation for them. If you would find fault in my charging you with 150 francs for fees, pray tell it me frankly, and I will settle the matter according to your best judgment, after your and my return to home in October next. Faithfully, your friend, L. JOTTRAND, PERE. [Inclosure No. 2.] First. Are claims against the Belgian government investigated, determined, and, if allowed, their payment directed and provided for by the legislative branch of the government? Claims against the Belgian government must be directed to the king, at Brussels, by a request on stamped paper, of the size called grand papier in the law; the cost of each sheet being 1 franc 20 centimes. The language to be used is commonly the Frenchalbeit, according to article 23, of the Belgian constitution, both the Dutch (Flemish) and German may be used also, at will. The object of the claim, its cause or origin, the facts and circumstances whereon established must be exposed; and the documents pertaining to the matter annexed, with an inventory index or succinct description of them at the foot of the request; the whole to be deposited at the royal palace or sent thither by post, duly franked, under the plain subscription, Au Roi a Bruxelles. On receiving such request, the King taking or not taking knowledge of it, as the case may be, the chief secretary of the King's cabinet causes a summary examination of the matter to be made by a clerk, in order to know the ministerial department to which the matter may be related-foreign'affairs, interior, justice, public works, finances, or war-the request is sent from the King's cabinet to the competent department in the six. The claimant is made aware of it by a cabinet dispatch; and from that time he must apply for his claim directly to that department under address of the minister, or by calling on him or the chief clerk intrusted with the matter. The department investigates the case, determines on it; and, the claim being found just and allowable, the minister orders the payment on the special chapter of his department's budget which the matter is related to, and causes a bond for payment to be delivered. This bond, called a mandat de paienment, is submitted to the Belgian court of public accounts, la cour des comptes, at Brussels, which verities of the chapter of the budget designed is the one properly charged with the expense whereof question; and, if so found, puts on the mantdat d visa authorizing payment; and this takes place then at the treasury public (the national bank at Brussels or anywhere at its delegates in the provinces) on show of the paper. If no chapter of the said ministerial department's budget, in run for the year, can be charged with the expense; or if that chapter is already exhausted by previous payments, or if the court of public accounts does not agree with the minister on the question that such or such chapter is the proper one to be charged with the payment, the ministerial department would propose, in the next budget, an allocation for the payment. But the legislative authority may then debate the question, " Is the payment to be allowed, yea or nay e " The competent minister would, of course, sustain his proposition, the claimant at leisure to petition to the legislative power, in the house of representatives and in the senate, successively, in order to make his rights evident. The said claimant could get representatives or senators to his party, the public press being called, too, in the discussion. The matter then publicly debated, in both houses of representatives and senators, like all matters in the budget, would succeed or not, in the sense of the claim. If succeeding, the payment would take place in the way as aforesaid; if not, the claim would drop and be set aside. But in such case yet, like in case of rejection of the claim by the minister at the beginning, the claimant would be admitted to bring the matter in the regular courts of law, by a suit for his rights against the government; because he could not be debarred in his claim otherwise than by sentence of regular justice, the legislative authority, no more than the ministerial or governmental one, being competent to decide definitely in matters of civil obligations between particulars and government any more than between particulars and particulars, as such. Indeed the Belgian constitution provides, in its article 92, " Contestations having for their objects civil rights, are exclusively under the competence of the courts of law." If a claim against the government, on a question of mitie or tline, is procved good in 3 0) ALIEN CLAIMS. the couits of law, it must be settled by the public budget of the proper ministerial department; and nobody in the legislative nor administrative authorities has power to the contrary. Second. If the legislative authority does entertain such claims, what is the mode of procedure, by committee or otherwise, and what means, if any, are provided for pro-.curing evidence on behalf of the government? From what has been said hereabove, it follows that no claims of particulars in matter of obligations can be brought directly before the legislature; and, consequently, no procedure, by committee or otherwise, can be kept. In case of discussion in the legislature, between the ministers and the houses, about matters to be brought or not in the budget, and related to particular interests which a minister admits to be claimable on his department, and the legislature would not allow, the debate takes place on the documents only procured by the party interested, and which the minister himself has admitted as doing sufficiently. The debaters in both the legislative houses do object only from these documents. No further evidence is offered; no investigation by innd upon this act, sincerely believe(l to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I inlvoke the conisiderate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Alniiaghty God." See the siulject fully discussed in Whiting's War-Powers and the authorities quoted. Ulliess the tllheory of the Collstitutioll is correct, and but for the XIII and XIV Amendments, the Govetnllmlnt would be, bound to make compensation for slaves. But their liberarioll was not a taking for public use; it was the destruction of a private right, if so it can be called, to prevent it from giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Chief-Justice McKean, in delivering the unanimnous opinion of the court, staid: The transaction, it must be remembered, happened flagrante bello; and many things are lawful in that season which would not be permitted in time of peace. The seizure of the property in ques,iol, can, indeed, only be justified under this distinction; for otherwise it woul(l clearly have been a trespass; which, from the very nature of the termi, tralasgressio, inlporis to go beyond wvhat is right. (5 Bac. Abr., 150.) It is f rule, however, that it is better to sufffer a private mischief than a public inconvenience; and thle rigihts of necessity form a par't of our law. Of this principle, there are many striking illustrations. If a road be out of repair, a passenger may lawfilly go through a private illclosure. (2 Blaclk. Cornm., 36.) So, if a man is assaulted, lie nma ly throughll another's close. (5 Bac. Abr., 173.) Ill time of xwar, bulwarks limay be built on priv;te groulnd. (Dyr,5 Brook. Trespass, 213; 5 Bac. Abr., 175.) And the reason assigned is particularly applicable to the present case, because it is for the public safety. (20 Fti7. Jbr., trespass, B'a sec. 4, fo. 476.) Thus, also, every man may, of commiiion right,.justity the goiiog of his servants or horses, upon the banks of navigable rivers, for towing barges, &.c., to whomsoever thle right of the soil belongs, (1 Ld. Rlaynond, 725.) The pu)rsuit of foxes through another's ground is allowed, because the dlestruction of such animals is for the public good. (92 Buls. 62; Cro. 1 I, 321.) And as the safety of the people is a law above all others, it is lawful to part affrayeors in the house of another mran. (Ieyl., 46; 5 Bac. zlbr., 177; 20 Via. Abr., fo. 407, sec. 14.) HoIses may be razedl to preventr, the spreading, of fire, because for the public good. (Dyer, 36; Reed, L. and E., 312; see Puff:, lib. 2, c. sec. 8; Hutch Mor. Philos., lib. 2, c. 16.) We find, indeed, a mulemorable ilistance of folly recorded in the third volume of Clarendon's History, where it is mentioned that the lord mayor of London, in lM;66, when that city was on fire, would niot give directions for, or consent to, the pulling down forty wooden houses, or to the removing of the furniture, &c., belomlging to the lawyers of the temple, then on the circuit, for fear he should be answerable for a trespass; and in consequence of this conduct half that great city was burned. We are clearly of opinion that Congress might lawfully direct the removal of any articles that were necessary to the maintenance of the Continental Army or useful to the enemy and in danger of falling inito their hands, tor they were vested with the powers of peace and war, to which this was a natural and necessary incident. And having done it lawfully, there is nothing in the circumstances of the case which we think entitles the appellant to a compensation for the consequent loss. This case is especially valuable. It was decided by one of the ablest courts of that period. It gives construction to what is a public use. 162 Respublica vs. Sparhawk, 1 Dallas, 362. ALIEN CLAIMS 291 It shows when a taking is referable to the law of necessity andl when by the lawT of ptblic usec It draws the line between these two law"s. In view of that construction, the fifth amendment to the Constitution was afterward a(lol)tedl, andl with a knowledge that thle destruction of private property for tlle purpose indicated was not a taking for public use, the Constitution made lno provision for such case. It was made in view of the known rule of' international law on the subject, andl of the impossibility of making payment, and of the fact that no nation had ever done so.163'131n Senate Rep. 412, 3d sess. 42d Cong., it is said: "The war of the Revolution was fought before we had any constitutional prohibition against taking private property for public uste without compensation. The troops for that war wrere furiiished by the several States. Congress did not assume the oblicgation of meaking compensation for property taken by the military authority; but it clearly recognized the p)rinciple that compensation should be made. Accordingly, in 1784, a resolution was adopted from which the following is an extract: "'That it be referred to the several 8tates, at their own expense, to grant such relief to their citizens, whlo may have been inllured as aforesaid, as they may think requisite, and if it shall hereafter appear reasonable that the United States should make any allowance to any particular State, which may be burdened much beyond others, that the allowance ought to be determined by Conglress.' " In accor(lance with that resolution, when, in 118, Mary Brower and otherspetitioned for compensation to be nlade to them for property burned and destroyed on Long Island by the American Army on the advance of the British forces in August, 1776, the Cornmnittee on Revolutionary Claims of the House denied the prayer, not upon the ground that compensation shoould not be made, but upon the express ground that the sufferers oughllt to have appealed to the State of New York for such compensation." (American State Papers, Clairls, 608.) It is proper to notice this and to say: 1. There was of course no national constitutional prohibition against taking private property. But the principles of Magna Charta Nwere in force here as fully as if adopted in the Constitution. In Perhanm;s. The Justices, 9 Georgia R., 349, the court, referring to the provision of Magna Charta, that no person should be deprived of property " but by the law of the land and by judgment of his peers," said: "This great rule of right and liberty was the law of this State at the adoption of the Constitution. It is not therefore necessary to go to the Federal Constitution for it. It camle to us with the conilu{na law; it is part and parcel of our social polity; it is inherent in ours as well as every other free government. At common law the legislature call comipel the use of private property, but not arbitrarily. It treats with the citizen as owner for the purchase, and while he cannot withhold it upon offer of compensation, they cannot seize it without such tender." The authorities.are collected on page 350. And see 2 Story, Constituttution, (fourth edition,) sections 1784, 1790. Story says the fifth amendmrent of our Constitution "is an affirmalace of a great doctrine established by the common law." 2. The Senate report 412, above referred to, treats of the claim of J. Milton Best. This was for compensation for his house, destroyed at Paducah, Ky., March, 1864, by Union military authorities, "in anticipation of another attack" froml. the relels"destroyed by order of a commanding officer to save his imperiled army." It was destroyed to lrevent it fronm falling into the hands of the enemy to be used by them. (Senate report No. 69, Forty-first Congress, second session.) The Senate report No. 134, above referred to, asserts that the Continental Congress by resolution of LJune 3] 1784, "clearly recognized the principle that compensation should be made for property taken by the military authority." That is, for property taken as was that of J. Milton Best, and under similar circumstances. It is said this " principle" is found in the resolution of 1784. But it is clear the resolution asserts no such " principle" as law. The journals of the Continental Congress show the ftllowing proceedings: In Continental Congress June 3, 1784, the following proceedings were had: "On the report of a committee consisting of Mr. Spaight, Mr. Gerry, Mr. Lee, Mr. Beatty, and Mr. Sherman, to whom was referred a report of a committee, on a report of the superintendent of finance, dated the 5th of November, 1783, in answer to questions proposed by the commissioner for settling the accounts of the State of Pennsylvania with the United States," it was "Resolved, That the commissioners make reasonable allowance for the use of stores, and 292 ALIEN CLAIMS. Another case will illustrate this law of " overruling necessity" 1 where property had been destroyed to arrest the progress of a fire, and it was claimed to be a takiiig for "' the public use," within the meaning of the constitution of New York.164 The court says: But I apprehend that the assumption of the plaintiff, that this was a case of the exercise of the right of eminent donain, will prove a fallacy. I have arrived at this conclusion after a patient examination of' all the authorities, and after adverting to the usual indicia that distinguish such a grant fromr the powers that are frequently granted to municipal corporations. The destruction of this property was authorized by the law of overruling necessity; it was the exercise of a natural right belonging to every individual; not conferred by law, but tacitly excepted from all human codes. The best elemientary writers lay down the principle, and adjudications upon adjudications have for centuries sustained, sanctioned, and upheld it. that in a case of actual necessity, to prevent the spreading of a fire, the ravages of a pestilence, or any other great public calamity, the private property of any individual may be lawfiully destroyed for the relief, protection, or safety of the mnany without subjecting the actors to personal responsibility for the daniages which the owner has sustained. (See 2 Kent's Coin., 4th ed., 338; 15 Vin., tit. Necessity, p. 8; Malevener vs. Spink, 1 Dyer, 36, b; 17 Wendell, 297; 18 id., 129; 20 id.. 144; 25 id., 162, 163, 174; Respublica vs. Sparhawk, 1 Dallas, 357.) The latter case goes very fully into the discussion of the nature and extent of the natural right arising from pressing and inevitable necessity; and the great fire which occurred in London in 1666 is referred to, when the lord mayor of London refused to destroy about forty wooden houses, and also certain tenements occupied by lawyers, in consequence of which the fire spread and threatened the destruction of the whole city. other buildings hired for the use of the United States by persons having authority to contract for the same; but that rent be not allowed for buildings which, bein abandoned by the owners, -were occupied by the troops of the United States. That such compensation as the conmmissioner may think reasonable be made for wood, forage, or other property of individuals taken by order of any proper officer, or applied to, or used for the benefit of the Army of the United States, upon producing to him satisfactory evidence thereof, by the testimony of one or more disinterested witnesses.'" That, according to the laws and usages of nations, a State is not obliged to make compensation for damages done to its citizens by an enemy, or wantonly and unauthorized by its own troops; yet humanity requires that some relief should be granted to persons who, by such losses, are reduced to indigence and want; and, as the circulnstances of such sufferers are best known to the State to which they belong, it is the opinion of the committee that it be referred to the several States (at their own expense) to grant such relief to their citizens, who have been injured as aforesaid, as they may think requisite; and if it shall hereafter appear reasonable that the United States should make any allowance to any particular States who may be burdened Imuch beyond others, that the allowance ought to be determined by Congress; but that no allowance be made by the commissioners for settling accounts for any charges of that kind against the United States." (See Journals of Congress, vol. 4, from 1782 to 1788, page 443.) No w, from these proceedings of Congress it will be seen that the only principle of law asserted is that "a State is not obliged to make compensation for damage done to its citizens by an enem c, or wantonly and unauthorized by its own troops." 3. The Senate report asserts that "in accordacLce with that resolution " (of the Congress of 1784,) the Congress of 1818 denied the clairl of Mary Brower, (similar to that of J. Milton Best,) " not upon the ground that compensation should not be made, but upon the express ground that the sufferers ought to have appealed to the State of New York for such compensation.," The report of the committee of the House on the case of Mary Brower is in American State Papers, Claims, 608, November 30, 1818. It asserts that " Congress have not made any general provision assuming to compensate and pay for claimsof this description which may have originated in the revolutionary war." It refers to the resolution of the Congress of 1784, and says the claimants " ought, if they did not, to have made application to the State of New York." But the resolution of 1784 expressly refers to no such case as Mary Brower's. And if it did, it only suggested that the States make compensation not as a legal duty, but because " humanity requires some relief should be granted to persons who, by such losses, are reduced to indigence and want." The States never did make such compensation. Their usage settled the lawv against such claims. 161 Russell vs. The Mayor, &c., of New York, 2 Denio, 473. ALIEN CLAIMS. 293 There are some unauthoritative dicta, and perhaps a single decided case, aIpparently in confllet with these views.165 The Judge-Advocate-General held(, in the case of a claim for the value of certain buildings, with their contents, burned by Union troopls in VWest Virginia, a loyal State, inl January, 1863, by way of a ruse to de16 House Rep. No. 43, 42d Cong, 3d sess.; 1:3 Wend.,.372; Vattel, ch. xv, p. 403; Whiting, War-Powers, 15. In Grant vs. lUnited States, 1 N. & H., Court., Claimis, 41, it was held that "the taking of private property for destruction by a military officer [in a state of war, to prevent it fronl falling into the hands of the enemy] is an exercise of the right of eminelt domain." That "there is no discrimination to be made between property taken to be used and property taken to be destroyed," and that a right of action agaiunst the Goverllment as upon an implied contract, arises in favor of the party whose property is destroyed. So far as this holds that military officers by right of commnon military law exercised a power of emitnent domain, it is contrad(icted in the same case, which declares that "emineilt domain is a cirl righlt, and it is contradicted by many reliable authorities. If the seizure was in thct a military necessity in a state of war, the officer was not liable. Buron vs. Denman, 2 Exchequer, 189; Mitchell vs. Harrlony, 13 Howard, 134. Itf it was not a necessity, the act was unauthorized and the Government is not liable. (Am. State Papers, Claims, 55; 13 Howard, 115; Res. Cont. Cong., June 3; 178a, Journal, vol. 4, p. 443; Gilbbons vs. U. S., 8 Wallace, 269 ) So far as it holds the Government liable it is contradicted by the authorities already cited. It is i)ratltically overruled in the same court by the learned Chief-Justice Casey, alld the court in WVigins rs. United States, 1 Court Claims, 18'2. The case of Grant vs. United States goes the extreme length of declaring that a seizure for destrletion is a taking fotr " public ise." If this be so, why is not property destroyed in a battle taken for the public use? Where is the difference in principle'? Yet no writer, can be found to declare that destruction by battle is a taking for public use. Senator Davis, of Kentucky, a conceded strict constructionist, declared that property so destroyed, even by the Union military forces, was not taken for plublic use. (In Senate. January 4, 1871; Globe, vol. 82, p. 297.) The case of Grant vs. United States is in principle overruled by tile able opillion of the learned Chief-Justice of the Court of C[laims, who, in Perrin vs. United States, 4 Court of Clailms, 546, said of a claim for compensation for property destroyed in the bombardment of Greytown: "The claimant's case must necessarily rest upon the assumiption that the bombardment and destruction of Greytowin was illegal, and not justified by the law of nations." (Gibbons vs. U. S., 8 Wallace, 269, overrules Grant's case.) If the destruction was legal, the act was not wrong; and if not wrong, no action would lie for it. Ain action is only given to redress a urong. No action lies for doing what is mright. And it is renmarkable that no lawyer has. ever since brought a suit in that court on any one of the imany cases since of a similar character. Congress by act of July 4, 1864, prohibited the Court of Claims from taking jurisdiction of " any claim against the United States growing out of the destruction, or approprliation of, or damage to property by the Arlmy or Navy engaged in the suppression of the rebellion, from the co lmmencement to the close thereof." It is to be presumed Congress would not deny any claim justified by the laws of nations. In Mitchell vs. Harmony, 13 Howard, 134, the court said, not as authority, but on a mere obiter dictlnt, that"There are, without doubt, occasions in which private property may lawfully be taken possession of or destroyed to prevent it from falling into the hands of the public elemy; and also, where a military officer charged with a particular duty may impress private property into the public service or take it for public use. Inquestionably in such cases the Government is bound to make full compensation to the owner." (13 How., 134; and see numerous authorities cited infra.) UIJited States v. Russell, 13 Wallace. 627. In this case there was a military impressment, and the court cited, with approval, the case of Mitchell v. Harmony. But this was a seizure not on the theater of war, and where the laws of peace were prevailing. Unquestionably, by the law of nations, where the private property of citizens is by common international military authority imnpressed into the public service, it is, by vir'ttue of the same laiw, generally to be paid for independently of any constitutional provision; but this is not at all so when property is lawfully taken to prevent it front falling into the hands of an enemy. That is an exercise of the lawt of overruling necessit.y, as has beenl shown. In Russell v. The Mayor, &c., 2 Denio, 484, it was said by one of the judges that-'A vessel may in time of mwar be taken from the owner, when the interests of the public demand it, or it may be destroyed to p1-event, its falling into the halds of an enlemy, and thereby increase its power of aggression or resistance, and the owner 294 ALIEN CLAIMS. ceive and divert the enemy, a legitimate act of ordinary warfare, that the loss incurred was one of those accidents of war for which the Gov ernment does not become liable to individuals.'66 The opinions of elementary writers have not been entirely uniform. Grotius seems to assert that the government is not liable to make compensation, by saying: This also may be constituted by the civil law, that no action may be brought against snch a city for damages by war, in order to make every man more careful to defend his OwVr. 167 Vattel admits the law of overruling necessity by saying: But there are other damages caused by inevitable necessity; as, for instance, the destruction caused by the artillery in retaking a town from the enemy. These are merely accidents. They are misfortunes, which chance deals out to the proprietors on whom they happen to fall. 68 But he differs with Grotius, by saying: Of the damages done by the state or the sovereign, some are done deliberately and by way of precaution, as when a field, a house, or a garden belonging to a private person is taken for the purpose of erecting on the spot a town, a rampart, or any other piece of fortification, or when his standing corn or store-houses are destroyed to prevent their being of use to the enemy. Such damages are to be made good to the individual, who should bear only his quota of the loss. In the edition of 1872 there is a note to this, as follows: It is legal to take possession of these for the benefit of the community, and no action lies, that is, no claim for compensation, nor is any recoverable, unless given by act of Parliament. (4 Term. R., 382.) And he says: No action-claim for damages-lies against the state for misfortunes of this nature for losses which she has occasioned, not uwillfully, but through necessity, and by mere accident, in the exertion of her rights. The principle here stated applies to the necessary destruction of property to prevent it from falling into an enemy's hands, when his approach is imminent. Notwithstanding anything elsewhere said, the right to compensation finds no sanction by the usage of the Government. During the revolutionary war property was often destroyed to prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemy. It was determined by the courts iu Pennsylvania that in such cases there was no claim for redress. Congress never made provision for paying any such claims.l69 The States made no such compensation. During the war of 1812 with Great Britain property was destroyed by the military authorities of the United States to prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemy. But no general provision was made by act of Congress for paying for such loss. Congress did, by act of April 9, 1816, provide for paying for horses killed while in service, and for payingAny person who * sustained damage by the destruction of his or her house or building by the enemy while the saine was occupied as a military deposite under the authority of an officer or agent of the United States.170 would be entitled upon this principle of the Constitution to be paid a just coumpensation. In these cases private property is taken for public use. The right of entineint domain is here asserted." This is merely obiter, and the same remarks apply as to the cases above noticed. (See note 88, ante; see Clark v. Mayor, 13 Barbour, N. Y. S. C. R., 35.) 166 See Opinions of Judge-Advocate-General, vol. 26, p. 242. See Digest of Opinions of Judge-Advocate-General florn September, 1862, to July, 1868, (3d ed.,) p. 93. 167 Book 3, ch. xx, sec. 8. 168 CIh. xv, p. 402. 169 See American State Papers, class ix, vol. 1, Claims, passim. 170 3 Stat. at L., p. 263, sec. 9; 3 Stat. at L., p. 397, sec. 1. ALIEN CLAIMS. 295 So the act of 3 March, 1849, (ch. 129, sec. 2,) and March 3,1863, (cli. 78, sec. 5,) provided compensation for the loss or destruction of property in the service by impressment or contract. (Scott's Digest Military Laws, 1874, p. 11, see. 115,116.) And the a:ct of June 25, 1864, (13 Stat. at L., p. 182,) secures compensation to any officer, noncommissioned officer, or private, during the rebellion, who surrendered horses to the enemy by order of superior officer. But this was, by act of March 8, 1817, limited toHouses or buildings occupied as a place of deposit for military or naval stores, or as barracks for military forces of the United States.'71 But it was said by a committee of Congress that, so far as this related to houses destroyed by the enemy, it was enacted by Congress asA law originating in its benignity and aimed gratuitously for the benefit of a suffering portion of the commllunity.T7 They declared itA law originating in the benign and charitable disposition of the Government. The original act barred all claims not exhibited within two years from its date, and Congress refused to extend the time. But claims for compensation for property destroyed to prevent it from filling into the hands of the enemy are so rare as to show them entirely exceptional."'3 171 See Reports of Court of Claims to Congress, vol. 1, 1857-'58; Rep. No. 96, 1st. sess. 35th Cong., sec. 15, 1857; House Rep. 746, 1st sess. 43d Cong., June 22, 1874, p. 2; note Frederick City Claim. In the case of Joseph Loranger vs. The United States, Judge Blackford, delivering the opinion of the Court of Claims, used the following language: "We consider the law to be that, if the Governiment, by its authorized agents, takes possession of a private building and make use of it as a military depot or as barracks, and the enemy, in consequence of such possession and use, destroy the buildiing while it is so used, the Government would be liable to the owner for the value of the building. There would be reason for saying in such case that the Government had given a character to the property which, by the usage of civilized warfare, would justify the enemy in destroying it." (See Report No. 96, 1st session 35th Congress, December 15, 1857, Reports Court of Claims, vol. 1, 1857-'58. See, also, sec. 9 of the act of April 9, 1816, 3 Stats. at Large, 263; also, act of March 3, 1817, 3 Stats. at Large, 397.) 172 American State Papers, class ix, vol. 1, Claims, 590. See letter No. 150 of Secretary of War to House of Representatives, February 20, 1818, in Ex. Doc. vol. 4, for 1817-'18, 1st sess. 15th Congress. 17" William H. Washington was paid for a house blown up in August, 1814, by or(ler of our military officers. (6 Stat. at L., 151; American State Papers, Claims, 446.) Bat this was a case which came within the principle of the act of April 9, 1816. Tile Government placed stores in the house and blew up the house to destroy the stores, to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy. On February 5, 1817, a report was made to the House of Representatives recornmending the payment of a precisely similar claimm for dana:ges done at Valley Forge, il 1777, but Congress did not give the relief. (Claims, vol. 1, p. 522.) So a rope-walk, destroyed September, 1814, at Baltimore, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemy, was paid for, but this is clearly exceptional. (Amn. St. Papers, Claims, 444; 6 Stat. at L., p. 150.) A report made February 14, 1816, states a liberal view, lby saying "' that indemnity is due to all those whose losses have arisen from the acts of oar own Government, or those acting under its authority, while losses prodnced by the conduct of the enemy are to be classed among the unavoidable calamnities of war, and do not entitle the sufferers to indemnification by the Government." (Claims, vol. 1, 462; Sumner's speech, 71 Globe, 301, January 12, 1869.) But a very different rule of latw was subsequently stated by a committee, December 11, 1820, (Claims, vol. -, 752,) as to property taken at New Orleans. The report says:' There have been thousands of instances during the late war * w where the loss to the owners can be traced, directly or indirectly, to the acts of the Government. * * i There are no k-eowe rules or established usa(res of the Government which would seem to authorize an allowance in a case thus involved in obscurity." Mr. Sumner, in an elaborate and masterly speech in the Sena'te, January 12, 18S9, (71 Globe, 300,) gives a summary, thus: "After the battle of New Orleans, the question was presented repeatedly. In one 296 ALIEN CLAIMS. The usage of the Government during and since the rebellion is a clear denial of all liability in this class of cases. No general provision has been made for paying them. This undoubtedly would have been done if there had been any admitted liability. Ont the contrary, Congress, while providing for the payment of quartermaster's and commissary supplies taken in the loyal States, by the act of July 4, 1864, has made a provision applicable everywhere: That the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims shall not extend to or include any claim against the Uni ted( States growing out of the destruction or appropriation of or damage to property by the Armloy or Navy, or any part of the Army or Navy engaged in the suppression of the rebellion, fiom the coummencement to the close thereof. Even where provision has been made for special reasons in exceptional cases, the policy of this has generally been denied by the executive branch of the Government, and the broad rule of international law contained in the act of 1864 has been re-asserted by the President.174 Where compensation has been made it has been for exceptional relasons.175 The rule of law as stated is that recognized by the executive branch of the Government. The President, in his message of February 12, case a claim for'a quantity of fencing,' used as fuel by troops of General Jackson, was paid by Congress; so also was a dlaimn for dalnages to a plantation' upon which publlic works for the defense of the country were erected;' also a claim for' aL elegantt and well-furnished house,' which afforded shelter to the British army, and was, therefore fired on with hot shot; also a claim for danimage to a house and plantation on which a battery was erected by our troops." (American State Papers, Claimus, p. 521.) "There was also another case where Congress seems to have acted on a different principle. On the landing of the enemy near New Orleans, the levee was cut, in order to annoy him. As a consequence the plantation of the claimant was inundated, and suffered danlmages estimated at $19,250. But the claim was rejected on the ground that'the injury was done in the necessary operations of war.' " (Ibid., p. 835.) 174 See veto mnessages of June 1, 1872N; Senate Ex. Doc. 8, 2d sess. 42d Cong., act for relief of J. Milton Best; June 7, 1H72, Senate Ex. Doc. 86, 2d sess. 42d Cong., act for relief of Tholtmas B. Wallace; January 31, 1873, Senate Ex. Doc. 33, 3d sess. 42(1 Cong., act for relief of East Tennessee University; February 12, 1873, Senate Ex. Doc. 4'2, 3d sess. 42d Congt., bill for relief for destruction of Manchester, Ky., Salt-Works. On the 27th November, 1864, General Sheridan issued an order, which was executed, to destroy all "forage and subsistence, burn all barns, mills, and their contents, and dri-ve oft all stock in Loudoun County, Va." (See Senate Report No. 80, second session Forty-secoind Congress, Court of Claims.) The stock was used by the Army, in part, and the residue driven into Pennsylvania and sold, and the proceeds paid into thle Treasury. Much of the property so used or destroyed belonged to men whose loyalty had never been questioned, many of them members of the Society of Friends. The Senate committee reported in favor of paying not only for pro)erty of loyal citizens so destroyed, but for cattle and supplies so used and sold. Congress, by act of Janluary'23, 1873, authorized payment to "loyal citizens of Loudoun County, Va., for their live-stock partly slaughtered and used and partly sold, and the proceeds paid into the Treasury." (17 Stat., 713.) The House refused to pass any bill to pay for property destroyed. 175 Clailm of Josiah 0. Armes.-Act of January 31, 1867, provides for payiug $9,500' il consequence of the burnlinig of his buildings at Annlllalllndale, Fairfax County, Va., by United States troops." (See 14 Stat., page 617; see, also, Senate Report No. 112, second session Thirty-ninth Congress; also, vol. 62, pages 758, 759, seconid session Thirty-ninth Congress.) The report shows that the house was burned "to prevent its beihg used by the enemy as a strongholl." For House proceedinrs andl debaltes in Thirty-eighth Congress, see Globe, vol. 50, pages 313, 758, 759; vol. 51, pages 1286, 2388. For Senate proceedings and debates, see Globe, vol. 54, pag(e 547; vol. 55, pages 1273, 1274, 1275, 1388. For Senate proceedings and( debates in Thirty-ninth Congress, see vol. 56, pages 7, 134, 147, 162; vol. 60, page 3873. For House proceedings and debates, see Globe, vol. 56, page 148; vol. 60, page 3907; vol. 61. pages 414,755, 758, 759, 760, 761. But thlis case is exceptional, and seemsl to have been a reward made in consideration thalt "Armes was of service to our troops in giving information of the movement and situation of tile rebels," alld that his wifet " caine ill one dark night at the risk of her life"' to give information to the Union military authorities. ALIEN CLAIMS. 297 1873, says, in relation to the Kentucky salt-works destroyed by order of General Craft, commanding Union military forces: I understand him to say, in effect, that the salt-works were captured from the rebels, that it was impracticable to hold them, and that they were demolished so as to be of no further use to the enemy. I cannot agree that the owners of property destroyed under such circumstances are entitled to compensation therefor from the United States. Whatever other view may be taken of the subject, it is incontrovertible that these salt-works were destroyed by the Union Army while engaged in regular military operations, and that the sole object of their destruction was to weaken, cripple, or defeat the armies of the so-called southern confederacy. I am greatly apprehensive that the allowance of this claim could and would be construed into the recognition of a principle binding the United States to pay for all property which their military forces destroyed in the late war for the Union. No liability by the Government to pay for property destroyed by the Union forces in conducting a battle or siege has yet been claimed; but the precedent proposed by this bill leads directly and strongly in that direction; for it is difficult upon any ground of reason or justice to distinguish between a case of that kind and the one under consideration. Had General Craft and his command destroyed the salt-works by shelling out the enemy found in their actual occupancy, the case would not have been different in principle from the one presented in this bill. What possible difference can it make in the rights of owners or the obligations of the Government, whether the destruction was in driving the eneniy out, or in keeping them out, of the possession of the salt-works? This bill does not present a case where private property is taken for public use, in any sense of the Constitution. It was not taken from the owners, but from the enemy; and it was not then used by the Government, but destroyed. Its destruction was one of the casualties of war; and though not happening in actual conflict, was perhaps as disastrous to the rebels as would have been a victory in battle. Owners of property destroyed to prevent the spread of a conflagration, as a general rule, are not entitled to compensation therefor, and, for reasons equally strong, the necessary destruction of property found in the hands of the public enemy, ahd constituting a part of their military supplies, does net entitle the owner to indemnity from the Government for damages to him in that way.v76 CHAPTER VII. CLAIMS IN THE DEPARTMENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT. Upon this subject the following information has been transmitted to the House of Representatives: WAR DEPARTMENT, February 6, 1874. The Secretary of War has the honor to transmit to the House of Representatives, for the inforlIlation of the Coiimmittee on War-Claims, 176Veto message February 12, 187:3, Senate Ex. Doe. 42, 3d sess. 42d Congress. Claim of Dr. J. Milt6n Best, of Paducah, Ky. Claim for compensation of his dwelling-house, taken by United States military authority, and destroyed by order of United States officer as a military necessity, March 26, 1862. Forty-first Congress, Senate proceedings and debates, for which see Globe, vol. 82, pp. 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 295, 296, 297,298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319. See Senate Rep. No. 69, 2d sess. 41At Cong. For House proceedings and debates see vol. 84, p. 1934. Senate proceedings and debates for 42d Cong. See Globe, vol. 89, pp. 2252, 2253, (April 8, 1872;) vol. 91, pp. 4156, 4157, (June 1, 1872.) See, also, Senate Rep. No. 9, 2d sess. 42d Cong. For House proceedings and debates see Globe, vol. 91, pp. 3621, 3622, 3623, 3624. See veto message, June 1, 1672, Senate Ex. Doec. 85, 2d sess. 42d Cong. Kentucky salt-works. Claim for indemnuity be reason of destruction of salt-works near Manchester, Ky., by order of Major-General Buell as a military necessity. 298 ALIEN CLAIMS. reports of the Quartermaster-General and Commissary-General of Subsistence, giving their views upon certain classes of claims growing out of the late war. These reports to accompany letter of the 24th ultimo, transmitting to the House a copy of General Orders No. 100, dated April 24, 1863, publishinig "' instructions for the government of armies of the United States in the field." WM1. W. BEIJKNAP, Secretary of War. WAR DEPARTMENT, QUARTERMASTER- GEN ERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, D. C., January 30, 1874. SIn: I have the honor to return herewith the communication of the Committee on War-Claims, House of Representatives, (by its clerk,) requesting "a copy of the report or rules prepared by Dr. Francis Lieber in regard to, or regulating intercourse with, rebel States," which was referred to the Quartermaster-Getneral for any suggestions he may desire to mnake thereon in connection with the subject of claims for quartermaster's stores which originated during the war. For SeniAte proceedings and debates see Globe, vol. 89, pp. 2258, 2259, 2d sess. 42d Cong., (April 8, 1872;) also Globe, vol 93, p. 1288, (February 12, 1873;) Senate Rep. 50, 2d sess. 42(1 Colnr. For House proceedings and debates see Globe, vol. 93, pp. 694, 695, 696, 697, (January 18, 1873.) See veto message, Senate Ex. Doe. 42, 3d sess. 42d Cong. The Committee on War-Claims was organized at the opening of the 43d Congress. There were before the Committee on War-Claims of the House of Representatives fourteen hundred and twenty claimns up to date of February 22, 1875. Some of these claims, however, propose relief to numerous persons. The clerk of the committee has made an estimate of claims, as follows: Amount (estimnated) of claims of the following classes pending before committees of the House of Representatives of the 43d Congress, March 1, 1874: Quartermaster's and commissary stores............................... $4, 600, 000 Tobacco.-........... -................................... 450, 000 Cotton.-...1...... 1, 850, 000 Steamboats, barges, &c., use of and damages 650........................... 60000 Use of railroads and damages to same.-............................ 2, 000, 000 Rents and use of, and damage to, real estate (rebel States). 3, 000,000 Rents and use of, and damage to, real estate (loyal States).-..... 700, 000 Property taken, occupied, and destroyed by the United States as a military necessity in the rebel States.-..... 6, 000, 000 Property taken, occupied, and destroyed by the United States as a military necessity in the loyal States --—................... 3, 000, 000 Property destroyed by enemy on account of military occupation by the United States.-...................... 5, 800, 000 Property captured by enemy while in possession or employ of the IUnited States.-..................... 500, 000 Claims of officers, soldiers, &c., for additional pay, bounty, &c............. 400, 000 28, 950, 000 Many of these are doubtless test claims; that is, they are presented, and, if successful, others of like character will follow when once Congress shall be committed to the payment of any particular class. The claim of J. Milton Best has been before Congress some years. Its success would ALIEN CLAIMS. 299 Claims for quartermaster's stores taken and used during the war in certain States and districts are investigated by the Quartermaster-General, under the law of July 4, 1864. The law makes it his duty to report each case, when certain conditions are satisfied, to the Third Auditor, with a recommendation for settlement. The Quartermaster-General has done this so far as the clerical and other force at his command has permitted. He has always himself held that his action is confined to a report with recommendation, and that if any error appears in his conclusion, his report and recommendation are properly, like all other matters of account or settlement of which he takes official cognizance. snbject to revision and correction by the accounting-officers, viz, the Third Auditor and Second Comptroller of the Treasury. Payment is made, finally, only upon a statement and settlement of the account, approved by these officers. Over 30),000 of these claims have been filed in the QuartermasterGeneral's Office. About 12,000 are still on file, which may be considered as not definitely settled or disposed of. It is not possible foar the Quartermaster-General to definitely and absolutely reject a claim. Under the law, it is his duty to examine it, and, when convinced that it is just secure, on the same principle, the payment of other claims arising at the s:tme place, called " the Paducahl claims," only recently presented, to the amount of $300,000. And claims of like character would arise from very many localities, amounting to very many millions. And the same may be said of other classes of claims. If the ordinary rules of law on these subjects are not adhered to, the war-claims growing out of the rebellion will probably reach $500,000,000, without including pay for emanciphted slaves or debts contracted in aid of rebellion, which are excluded from payment by the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution. In addition to these, there are before the Committee on War-Claims the allowed and rejected claims reported to the House by the commissioners of claims, and referred to the committee, and the claims reported to the House under section 2 of the act of June 16, 1874. But it will be seen the claims from Pennsylvania and Ohio alone for damages dlone by the enemy largely exceed the estimate for all the loyal Sates. The real damages done in all the loyal States by the enemy during the reLellion could not be compnensated, probably, by $50,000,000, or possibly $100,000,000. There are also before the Senate Committees on Claims and Military Affairs over one thousand warclaims, involing over $20,000,000, and also claims of religious and educational institutions in Southern States, not before the House of Representatives. There were before the Committee on War-Claims of the House of Representatives of the Forty-third Congress 1,420 claims up to date of February 22, 1875. Of this number 216 have been reported upon to the House, of which number 148 were reported adversely and 68 favorably. The cases reported favorably covered appropriations specifically of $300,000, most of the cases being referred to the Court of Claims or Commissioners of Claims, where the amount cannot l)e determined. Of the number reported favorably, 33 were claims of officers and soldiers of Union Army; the cases reported adversely covering over $4,000,000. Of the nunmber reported favorably, 21 became laws, of which 11 were for relief of officers and soldiers of Union Army during late war; the amount appropriated being $75,000. At this date (February 25, 1875) Congress has not acted on all the reports of the committee. The conlmittee also examined and considered the third and fourth annual reports of the Commissioners of Claims. The third report of the commissioners embLraced 2,465 cases, of which 1,092 were allowed and 1,373 disallowed. The amount allowed was $643,713.04, and amount disallowed $4,074,174.25. The amount appropriated in the bill reported by the committee was $676,274.03. The fourth report of the commissioners embraced 2,407 cases, of which 1,163 were allowed and 1,244 disallowed. The amount allowed was $740,409.72, and amount disallowed over $1,400,000. The amount appropriated by the bill reported by the committee was $748,296.39, five cases being added by the committee of cases reported allowed in former reports, but suspended for further examination. The bill now pending making appropriations for claims allowed Ind reported, as required by section 2 of the act of June 16, 1874, proposes to pay $112,729.56. 300 ALIEN CLAIMS. and right, to report it with recommendation. Hence, if at any time not so convinced, lie canll only lay it aside and decline to make a, report and recommendation, and the claimant is able and has a right to call it up again upon the production of additional evidence, or upon new argument addressed to the merits of the case. Certain claims, apparently fraudulent, have been reported to the Auditor, with suggestion that the parties be prosecuted under the law relative to attempts to collect ftaudulent claims against the United States. The Quartermaster-General, himself, has no authority to institute criminal proceedings. Such proceedings are for the Department of Justice, -upon request of thle Treasury. The Quartermaster-General has several times advised members of The committee reported adversely four claims, involving nearly $2,500,000, viz: Publishlin, House, Methodist Episcopal Church South, $457,000; invasion of Pennusyl-vania by Lee's army, $553,000; J. and T. Green, $982,201.75; Marie P. Evans, $495,355. There are sundry claims before committees of both Houses of Congress for use and occupation of church, college, and school buildings, for injuries to them, or for destruction thereof. If Congress shall provide for their payment in whole or in part, either in detail or by some general scheme as a gratuity, there will of course be very many more wnhich will doubtless be presented. The claims of this character now before the House Committee on War-Claims are as follows: E''HODIST CHURCHES. Methodist Episcopal Church, Alexandria, Va.......................... —....$11, 000 Methodist Episcopal Church, Charlestown, W. Va........ —. —----.-.... 10, 000 Metliodist Episcopal Church, Decatur, Ala. —.- -..... —..- -—. 12, 000 Methodist Episcopal Church, Huntsville, Ala... —. —-- -—. ——. —------- 13, 354 Methodist Episcopal Church, Harper's Ferry, W. Wa. —-—. —-—. ——. ——. 3, 000 Methodist Episcopal Church, Martinsburgh, W. Wa.. —-—. —-—. —----- 1, 886 Methodist Episcopal Church, Old Town, W. Va..-... 1,200 Book-Agents' Publishing-House, Methodist Episcopal Church South ------- 457, 150 Methodist Episcopal Church Parsonage, Newtown, Va........ 5, 000 EPISCOPAL CHIURCHES. Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Selma, Ala................................ 12, 000 Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Sharpsburghl, Md.-.... 3, 500 Saint George's Episcopal Church, Accomuac, Va.-.. —---. —-. —-. —-. 5, 000 Saint Philip's Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Ga... 5, 000 Saint Mary's Episcopal Church, Fredericksburgh, Va..- -..... 725 CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. Christian Church, Woodsville, Ky................................... —--- 500 Christian Church, Danville, Ky.................................... UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES, &C. Alabama University. -----..................... — -- —................ ----.. —-- --- ---. 250, 000 East; Tennessee University......................................... 18, 500 Jackson College, Tennessee ---—. —-----—.- -----—..11 —---—.-. it, 092 Alleghany College, West Virginia. 8, 000 Madison Female Academy, Richmond, Va...... —.. ——. 10, 300 Male Academy, Athens, Ga. —--............................................ 5, 000 Strawberry Plains High School, Tennessee.-.... -....8..... 8, 650 Seaman's Friend Society, Charleston, S. C2............-.'2, 500 Cypress Lodge F. and A. M., Florence. Ala.. —-....-.-... —. —-—.-..... 15, 000 Columbia Lodge F. and A. M., No. 31, Tennessee...-.......... —...... 11, 000 The following papers are now before the colnmittee: OFFICE POST-QUARTERMASTE R, Atlanta, Georgia, July 14, 1865. GI'EnERAL: I have the honor to state that, in compliance with instructions contained in your communication of the 7th instant, herewith inclosed, I instituted a careful investigation into the amount of danage done to Saint Luke's Church, in this city, its parsonage and fencing, and caused an estimate to be made by Mr. Fratnk Day, an architect of this city, of the necessary expense of repairing the same. I found that the ALIEN CLAIMS. 301 Congress calling upon him on business of their constituents in relation to these claims, that, in his opinion, the preferable method of disposing of them would be to institute commissions to visit the various districts of country, give public notice that they would receive claims between certain dates, and then at proper times hear and examine witnesses, and thus close up and determine the claims before the lapse of time makes it impossible to ascertain the facts for or against the justice of the church, parsonage, and fencing had been entirely destroyed by our forces at the evacuation of this place by General Sherman, and that the probable cost of rebuilding the same, as estimated by the mechanic above named, is as follows: Saint Luke's Church.. —-. ------- --- $2, 500 Parsonage and( out-buildings.-.-.....-................................. 2, 250 Fencing......... —---------—..-.... —-------------------—. —- ----------- 150 And that the earthworks on the lot belonging to Saint Philip's Church could be leveled at a cost of $150. I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, ALONZO CLARK, Captain Fourth Iocwa Cavalry, and A. A. Q. M. Bvt. Brig. Gen. J. L. DONALDSON, Chief Quartermaster Military Division of the Tennessee. [Copy of indorsement.] HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, WVashington, D. C., January 21, 1873. I have not the least doubt this paper contains a fair and truthfill account of the loss to this chni~ch in Atlanta. Bat instead of ap)pealing to the Congress of the United States for idlemnification, I advise the plastor of the church to appeal to the charitable members of the Episcopal Church for aid to rebuild their church and parsonage. W. T. SHERMAN, General. The following is extracted from speech of Hon. Henry G. Davis, of West Virginia, in United States Senate May 13, 1874, on the subject of war-claims. This table is subject to corrections elsewhere noted(: No. of Number claims Amount. a llowed. Amount. presented. Commissary-General-. ---—.... —--—. —------ -. 6, 096 $3, 312, 757 68 1, 406 $317, 448 54 Quartermaster-General, (up to close of fiscal year of 1874) ------------------------------—.... 31 126 21, 319, 180 02 6, 257 2, 741, 961 67 Q artermn aster-General, (since beginning of above fiscal year). —-—. —----------—...... —------- 1, 000 700, 000 00 Commissiomners of Claims................. 22, 298 60, 258, 150 44 5, 254 1, 794, 580 55 Senate of United States. -.... —-. —.......... 104 3, 500, 000 00.- -.. House of Representatives. —.. —-------...- -. 500 16, 300, 000 00.-..... Yet to be presented -—........ - -. —v-a......- -..-. 10, 0 0, 000 00........ Total. ——................... 61,124 115, 390, 088 14 12, 917 4, 853, 990 76 Number Number Amount. rejected. Apmou ending. Commissary-General-.....-.........-... 4, 443 $2, 682, 644 18 247 $19(, 527 44 Quartermlaster-General, (up to close of fiscal year of 1874).-.-......... ---- ------------- 13, 522 9, 048, 044 57 11, 347 7, 822, 829 55 Quartermlaster-General, (since beginning of above fiscal year)......................................... 1, 000 700, 000 00 Commissioners of Claims....-...................... 17, 044 50, 033, 764 12 Senate of United States............................. 104 3, 500, 000 00 House of Representatives..................... 500 16, 300, 600 00 Yet to be presented.00..0...........0.............. -0 -00, 000 00 Total..-..................... 17, 965 11, 73), 688 75 30, 24-2 88, 547, 121 11 But the claims are largely more than stated by Mr. Davis. 302 ALIEN CLAIMS. claim made. This, in his opinion, would secure a speedier settlement than he is able to afford, and would enable the United States to fix a time after which no claim should be entertained by any other authority than that of Congress itself. Other claims against the Quartermaster's Department arise out of the occupation of real estate, lands, and buildings, by the Army. Others are for services not paid for when rendered. In fact, a claim may arise out of any unpaid obligation of the military service through the Quartermaster's Department. Excepting the claims to which the law of July 4, 1864, applies, all claims presented to this Office are examined and, if believed to be just, settled; under the general authority and duty of the Executive to pay the debts of the Government for the War Department, by reference to the Secretary of War with report an(l recommendation, and then by payment either by a disbursing-officer, subject to subsequent revision and settlement by the accountinlg-officers of the Treasury, or, it the claim be for a liability of some standing, generally by reference to the Third Auditor, who examines all the evidence, and the report and action of the Qnartermaster-General, and of the Secretary of War, and submits his report thereon to the Second Comptroller. If that officer approve, a settlement is made, which is transmitted to the War Department for request and requisition, and with these returned to the Treasury, when warrants and drafts are issued, and the debt is finally paid. All these claims for old debts are settled out of the balance of appropriations made during and since the war, which have not yet been carried to the surplus fund. As there are many claims, (see Report of Quartermaster-General, page 225 of Ex. Doc. 1, part 2, House of Representatives, 42d Congress, 2d session,) they are in constant course of settlement, and many drafts are thus made every day upon these appropriations, which are by law to go to the surplus-fiund only when no drafts have been made upon them for two years. If these balances are now, as proposed by House bill 1009, carried to the surplus-fund, the War Department will have no fund out of which to pay any old debt, however just and meritorious, and some provision should be made to do justice ini cases which are not the less just because the debts were not paid when first due. The labor of examining these claims, whether under the law of 1864 or under general laws, is very great, and it occupies a large part of the time of the Quartermaster-General and other officers of the War Department; and also costs a considerable sum, in hire of clerks and agents to make the necessary investigation, and prepare the papers so as to enable the Quartermaster-General and the Secretary of War to act understandingly. If any other tribunal, or means of settling all just claims can be devised, the Quartermaster-General will feel personally relieved from a heavy responsibility and laborious duty, but this is not a reason which would justify him in making any recommendation on the subject. Whatever the law imposes upon him, he is ready to perform to the best of his ability. A copy of General Orders No. 59, Quartermaster-General's Office, series of 1867, publishing the act of July 4, 1864, and the regulations thereunder, is inclosed. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, M. (C. MEIGS, Quartermaster- General United States Army. The Hon. SECRETARY OF WAR, Washington, D. C. ALIEN CLAIMS. 303 OFFICE COMMISSARY-GENERAL OF SUBSISTENCE, t~ashingto~n CGity, February 3. 1874. SIR: I have the honor to return herewith the letter of the 30th of January last, by its clerk, of the House of Representatives Committee on WTar-Claims, asking for a copy of certain rules and regulations concerning intercourse with rebel States during the war of the rebellion, &c., which was referred to the Commissary-General of Subsistence for such suggestions as he may wish to make concerning the general bill referred to in the letter as being considered covering the r.lious classes of claims growing out of the war, and would respectfully suggest simply that, if practicable, in any future bill for the adjustment of claims for provisions or subsistence stores furnished, received, or taken for public use by the United States Army during the war of the rebellion, provision be made for the receipt and examination of such claims from all parts of the country alike, without regard to the place of their origin, whether in a loyal or an insurrectionary State, and that a reasonably early day be fixed, prior to which every such claim must be filed, complete in detail of items and evidence, to entitle it to examination, and any claim not so filed prior to that date to be barred, and, if presented thereafter, returned without examination; and, in any case, claims once examined and decided not to be re-opened. Now, under the 3d section of the act of July 4, 1864, claims of loyal citizens of non-insurrectionary States come before this Office " for subsistence actually furnished to said [United States] Army, and receipted for by the proper officer receiving the same, or which may have been taken by such officer without giving such receipt," while claims " for stores or supplies taken or furnished during the rebellion for the use of the Army of the United States in States proclaimed as in insurrection," come before the commissioners of claims for examination, and by special statutes like claims for subsistence from the State of Tennessee, and from the counties of Jefferson and Berkeley, West Virginia, came before this Office prior to March 3, 1871, the date of the act establishing the commission of claims, and before that commission since, so that claimants fromn Tennessee, and the two West Virginia counties named, have had the benefit of both these acts; while claimants from. the insurrectionary States in general, by the more liberal or less restricted terms of the act under which the commission is authorized than the section governing the action of this Office, may perhaps be considered to have somewhat the advantage over claimants in the loyal States. It is known, too, that the same claimants in not a few instances have presented claims to this Office, and also to the commission of claims, and it is believed for about the same stores. The propriety of the law being general and uniform is therefore suggested. And that justice may be done uniformly to claimants and the Government alike, it is deemed highly desirable, if practicable, that all claims of the character under consideration be submitted to and examined by one jurisdiction or authority. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, A. B. EATON, Commissary- General. Hon. W. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War. 304 ALIEN CLAIMS. So far as any citizen furnished quartermaster's stores or commissary supplies during the rebellion, or so far as these were taken for the Union military forces, ample provision is made by law for their adjudication by application to the War Department.77 The laws and regulations as to claims are as follows: [General Orders No. 59.] QUARTERMIASTER-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, D. C., October 11, 1867. The following joint resolutions and acts of Congress, with rules and regulations established thereon to govern in the submission and examination of claims to be presented to the Quartermaster-General and to the Comnmissary-General of Subsistence, respectively, are published for the information and guidance of officers and'agents of the Qurtermaster's Department. D. H. RUCIKER, Acting Quartermaster- General, Brevet Major- General, U. S. A. CHAPTER 240, FIRST SESSION 38TH CONGRESS. AN ACT to restrict the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims, and to provide for the payment of certain demands for quartermaster's stores and subsistence supplies furnished to the Army of the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims shall not extend to or include anly claim against the United States growing out of the destruction or appropriation of or damage to property by the Army or Navy, or any part of the Army or Navy, engaged in the suppression of the rebellion, from the commencement to the close thereof. SEC. 2. And be it farther enacted, That all claims of loyal citizens in States not in rebellion for quartermaster's stores actua(lly furnished to the Army of the United States, and receipted for by the proper officer receiving the same, or which may have been taken by such officers without giving such receipt, may be submitted to the Quartermaster-General of the United States, accompanied with such proofs as. each claimant can present of the facts in his case; and it shall be the duty of the Quartermaster-General to cause such claim to be examined, and if convinced that it is just, and of the loyalty of the claimnant, and that the stores have been actually received or taken for the use of and used by said Army, then to report each case to the Third Auditor of the Treasury, with a recommendation for settlement. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That all claims of loyal citizens in States not in rebellion for subsistence actually furnished to said Army, and receipted for by the proper officer receiving the same, or which may 177 See House Report No. 262, of Committee on War-,laims, 1st session 43d Congress, March 26, 1874, pp. 25-74; also, report No. 754, June 22, 1854; act of March 3, 1813, ch. 513, sec. 5; art. 42, Revised Army Regulations, August 11, 1861, authorized by act of April 24, 1816, sec. 9, (ch. 69, 3 Stat. at L., 298,) and act May 7, 1822, (3 Stat. at L., 689;) Scott's Digest Military Laws, p. 134, sec. 182; United States vs. Eliason, 16 Peters, 291; United States vs. Freeman, 3 How., 566; Gratiot vs. United States, 4 Howard, 80; Harney vs. United States, 3 Nott & H., 4'2; Opinions Attorneys-General, May 19, 1821, and January 1, 1857; House Ex. Doe. No. 121, 1st session 43d Congress; act July 4, 1864, ch. 240. ALIEN CLAIMS. 305 have been taken by such officer without giving such receipt, may be submitted to the Commissary General of Subsistence, accompanied with such proofs as each claimant may have to offer; and it shall be the duty of the Commissary-General of Subsistence to cause each claim to be examined, and if convinced that it is just, and of the loyalty of the claimiant, andl that the stores have been. received or taken actually for the use of and used by said Army, then to report each case for payment to the Third Auditor of the Treasury, with a recommendation for settlement. Approved July 4, 1864. To extend to the counties of Berkeley and Jefferson, of West Virginia, the provisions of the preceding act, as follows: JOINT RESOLUTION No. 50, FIRST SESSION 39TH CONGRESS. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatires of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions of the act of Congress of July 4, 1864, entitled "An act to restrict the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims, and for other purposes," be, and the same are hereby, construed to extend to the counties of Berkeley and Jefferson, of the State of WVest Virginia. Approved June 18, 1866. To extend the provisions of the act of July 4, 1864, limiting the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims, to the loyal citizens of Tennessee, as follows: JOINT RESOLUTION No. 99, FIRST SESSION 39T1H CONGRESS. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions of the act of the 4th of July, 1864, entitled'" An act to limit the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims," is hereby extended to the loyal citizens of the State of Ten n essee. Approved July 28, 1866. CHAPTER 57, SECOND SESSION 39TH CONGRESS. AN ACT to declare the sense of an act entitled "An act to restrict the jurisdiction of the Court of Clainis, and to provide for the payment of certain (lemands for quartermaster's stores and subsistence supplies furnished to the Army of the ITnited States,' as follows: Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions cf chapter 240 of the acts of the Thirty-eighth Congress, first session, approved July 4, 1864, shall not be construed to authorize the settlement of any claim for supplies or stores taken or furnished for the use of or used by the armies of the United States, nor for the occupation of or injury to real estate, nor for the consumption, appropriation, or destruction of or damage to personal property by the military authorities or troops of the United States, when such claim originated during the war for the suppression of the southern rebellion, in a State, or part of a State, declared in insurrection by the proclamation of the President of the United States, dated July first, 1862, or in a State which, by an ordinance of H. Rep. 134 20 306 ALIEN CLAIMS. secession, attempted to withdraw from the United States Government: Procided, That nothing herein contained shall repeal or modify the effects of anlly act or joint resolution extending the provisions of tihe said act of July 4,1864. to the loyal citizens of the State of Tennessee, or to the State of West Virginia, or any county thereof. Indorsed by the President:' IReceived February 9, 1867." [Note by the State Department: The foregoing act having been presellted to the President of the United States for,his approval, and not having been returned by him to the House of Congress in which it originated within the time prescribed by the Constitution of the United States, has become a law without his approval.] To extend the provision of section two of the act of July 4, 1864, limiting the jurisdiction of the Conrt of Claims to cases of quartermaster's stores furnished to the forces of Major-General Lewis Wallace during the Morgan raid through the States of Indiana and Ohio in the snuliner of 1863, as follows: JOINT RESOLUTION \No. 50, SECOND SESSION 39TH CONGRESS. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions of section two of the above-entitled act be, and they are hereby, extended to cover all cases where quartermaster's stores were actually furnished to the forces under the command of Major-General Lewis Wallace, and duly receipted for by persons acting under his authority, and whose authority shall be proven to the satisfaction of the accounting-officers, during the Morgan raid through the States of Indiana and Ohio, in the summer ot eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and for the purpose of giving such. receipts for property so applied the said persons shall be held to be proper officers of the Government. Approved March 2, 1867. The following rules and regulations, to govern in the submission and examination of claims to be presented to the Quartermaster-Genereneral and to the Commissary-General of Subsistence, respectively, under the act of JTuly 4, 1864, (and the several acts and joint resolutions amen(latory and explanatory thereof, as herein published,) entitled "An act to restrict the jurisdiction of the Court of Claimls, and to provide for the patyment of certain demands for qLuartermaster's stores and subsistence supplies lurnished to the Army of the United States," and the evidence of proofs wihich must accompany them, are hereby established: I-.CLAI.IS TO BE SUBMIITTED TO AND EXAMINED BY THE QUARTERMiASTER-GENERAL. All claims of loyal citizens in States not in rebellion for " quArtermaster's stores" actually.furnished to the Army of the United States, and receipted for by the proper officer receiving the same, or which may have been taken by such officers without giving such receipts. II.-CLAIMS TO BE SUBMITTED TO AND EXAMINED BY THE CO0MISSARY-GENERAL OF SUBSISTENCE. All claims of loyal citizens in States not in rebellion for " subsistence, actually furnished to said Army, and receipted for by the proper officee receiving the same, or which may have been taken by such officers without giving such receipts. ALIEN CLAIMS. 307 III. —PROOFS REQUIRED IN SUPPORT OF THE ABOVE CLASSES OF CLAIMS. 1st. That the claimant is a loyal citizen- of a State not in rebellion. (Claims of citizens of the following States, declared by the President of the United States, by his proclamation of the 1st day of July, 1862, to be in insurrection, will not be considered, viz: Arkansas, Texass, Louisiana, Mississippi, Allabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.) 2d. Citizenship. —The claimnallt will be required to show, by his own affidavit, supported by the certificate of the clerk or recorder of the towxn or conunt of vwhich he claims to be a citizen, that said claimant is a citizen of said townii or county. 3d. Loyalty.-Th e claimant will be required to file with his claim the oath of allegiance to the Government of the United States, as prescribed by the President's nroclamation of the 8th of December, 1863, supplorted by the certificate of a United States officer, civil or Iilitary, that the said claimant was, at the (late his claim originated, and has been ever since, loyal to the United States, or the sworn statement of the same ficts of at least two witnesses, whose loyalty and credibility slhall be vouched for by the certificate of the officers before mentioned. 4th. Claims arising under this act must be presented by the claimant or his autliorized attorney; and, in the latter case, it must be shown by the certificate of tile assessor or collector of his district tlhat he has been duly licensed and authorized to act as a claim-agent. IV.-VALIDITY OF CLAIMS. 1st. When quartermaster's stores or subsistence supplies have been taken by officers and receipted for, all or such receipts or vouchers must be filed; or their absence, in any case, must be fully and satisfactorily explained by proper evidence.178 2d. Whenl such stores or supplies have been taken by officers without giving slch receipts, the claim must set forth the kinds and quantity of stores or supplies, when, where, and by what officer taken, the price or value thereof, and must be supported by the affidavit of the claimant as to the correctness of the claim; that the articles named in the claim were actually delivered to or taken by said officer for the use of the Army; that no receipt or voucher has been received therefor; that no payment has been made or compensation received, in any way or from any source whatever, for the whole or any part of said claim; that it l1as Inot been transferred to any person or persons whomsoever; and that the rates or priices charged are reasonable and just, and do not exceed the market-rate or price of the article at the time and place stated. 3d. In all cases, whether or not receipts have been given for tihe stores or supplies, thle affidavit required by the next preceding paragraIph must be supported by snch additional affidavits, or other proofs, in relation to the facts stated, as may be attainable. The credibility of the claimnantaand of the witnesses must be vouched for by the certificate of an officer of the United States, civil or military. If receipts have beeni given, the affidavit above referred to will be modified, so far as it 178 By "receipts or vouchers" is meant each and every copy of any and all docunmeln tsin w hatever forrm, whether ie ink7 or pencil —givel by or bearing the signature of any officer in the service of the United States (or by any enlisted man in such service, acting nnd(er proper authority) for or relating to the whole or any portion of the stores for which payment is claimed. The attention of tagents and attorneys is particularly called to a strict compliance with this requirement in presenting claims. 308 ALIEN CLAIMS. relates to receipts or vouchers, substantially as follows: That all of the receipts or vouchers given for such stores or suppIllies are hereto annexed. 4th. Proof must be furnished. as far as attainable, that the quartermaster's stores or subsistence supplies mentioned have beell actually used by the Army of the United States. This proof should, whenever practicable, consist of the certificate or affidavit of the officer who took the stores, or who ordered them taken, or who, after such talking, took them in clharge, setting forth the fact of such taking, to what iuse the stores were applied, and whether or not they have been accounted for as required by the Regulations of the Army; and if accounted for, upon what returns, or, if not, the reason for failing to account for the same; or, in case the above proof is not attainable, the certificates of other officers, or the afflidavit of a soldier, or some other credible witnesses, knowinIg the facts, setting forth by whom and for what purpose the property was takeii, and to what use it was applied. 5th. Claims for damages or for losses sustained by thefts or depredations committed by troops, or so much of a charge for stores or supplies as is an element of damages, will not be considered under these acts and joint resolutions. 6th. Powers of attorney, legally executed by claimanits to agents, (bearing properly affixedl and canceled internal-revenue stamps,) ilust accompany clLaims presented by agents. 7th. The general allegation that stores. for which payment is claimed, were taken by the officer in command of a large body of troops, for whose subsistence or use the property was applied(. or by his order, is not sufficielnt to establish a claim under this act. Such officers seldoml, if ever, personally receive stores, (that duty devolving upon subordinate officers,) and though issuing orders authorizing the taking of the property as a military necessity, seldomn have any knowledge whatever of the particular cases affected by the execution of such orders on the part of their slubordinates, except, perhaps, in some few cases arising under peculiar circumstances. Therefore, to facilitate the examination of claims, and to enable the officers deciding them to comply with that clause of the law requiring them, before recommending claims for payment, to be "' convincedtl" that the property was taken in the manner and for the purpose therein set forth, (as distinguished from. thefts and depredationls, by whomsoever committed,) claimants are required to furnish the followillg information (or so mnuch of It as they reasonably m:ay) as a part of their sworn declaration in each case, viz: 1. The name, rank, regiment, and, when known, the post-office address of each officer who took adny portion of the stores. 2. Immediately after each officer's name and designation, state the articles and quantities (with their prices) taken by him, together with the exact date when, and locality where, taken. 3. Name the brigade, division, and( corps with which, or the station or post at which, each officer was serving; the name and official designation of the commissary or acting commissary of subsistence of that btrigacle, station, or post, and that of the officer in immediate command thereof at the time; and add thereto sch attendllant facts and circumstances as transpired at the time in any way bearing upon the case. 4. State the exact locality of claimant's present residence; if in a city, give street and number; if in the country, the nearest post-office. 5. The claims must be legibly written; and particular care should be taken in the " declarations " of claimants, and in the affidavits of witnesses, to correctly state the month and year in which the transaction occurred. ALIEN CLAIMS. 309 8th. Claimants will be required to prove the genuineness of the signatures to the receil)ts filed in support of claims submitted under joint resolution No. 50, of March 2, 1867, and to furnish evidence that the persons executing such receipts were acting under the authority of Major-General Wallace. D. H. RUCKER, _Brevet Major- General and Acting Quartermaster- General. A. B. EATON, Brevet Major-General and Connmmissary-(General of Subsistence. Approved October 10, 1867. U. S. GRANT, &Secretary of WVar ad int. The following forms also have been prescribed: CLAIM, FORM L. WAR DEPARTMENT, QUARTERSMASTER-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, D. C., -, 187-. To SIR: In the claim of ~, a citizen of, it is alleged that were taken from him, onl or about -, by The evidence presented is not sufficient to enable the Quartermaster-General to certify that he is convince(l that the claim is just, and that the stores were actually receive(l or taketi for the use of, and used by, the United States Armny, as required by the act of July 4, 1864, before recoiilnending it to the Third Auditor for settlement. In the absence of receipts, or other official evidence given at the time the stores are alleged to have been taken, there is required the testimony of some officer, soldier, or person emnployed, by the Governmlent, personally cognizant of the alleged a(ppropriation. detailing infull the circumstances attendant thereon, and setting forth, of his own knowledge, the details of the seizure, the quantities and values, and the use to which the property weas applied, and the regiment, conmpany, detachment, or other military body, to the use of which tht stores were appropriated. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, By order of the Quarteriuaster-General, FoRIi No. 13. —(Voucher to Abstract B.) THE UNITED STATES, To -, DR. Place and date. Dolls. Cts. I certify tlhat the above account is correct and just; that the services were rendered as stated; that they were necessary for the public ser 3 10 ALIEN CLAIMS. vice, and are borne on my report of persons, &c., for the month of -—, 18Received, at, the - (- day of -, 18-, of, quartermaster U- nited States Army, the suni of dollars and cents, in full of the above account. (Signed in duplicate.) Indorsed as follows: Form No. 13. Voucher No. -, Abstract B., 18-. -. Dollars, ---— O Paid,18-. Check: No; -. Date, Amount, $ —. Depository. [. To be in duplicate; one copy to be retained by the officer, the other to be forwarded to the Quarterinaster-General with Abstract B. This form is used for payment of services not entered on the receipt-rolls, for rent of buildings, and for other miscellaneous dislbursements. WVhen a man is discharged without being paid, his account will be stated on this form, certified, nand given to him. It may sometimes be used as a voucher to Abstract C.] FoRam No. 9.-(Voucher to Abstract A.) THE UNITED STATES, To, Dr. Place and date Dolls. Cts of purchase. I certify that the above account is correct and just, and that the articles have been accounted for on my property-return for the quarter ending on the — of, 187-. Quartermaster Received, at -, the of, 187-, of - quarternmaster - U. S. Ariny, the sum of dollars and -cents, in full of the above account. (Signed in duplicate,) Indorsed as follows: Form No. 9. Voucher No. -, Abstract A., 187-. Dollars, 6oo. Paid -, 187-. Check: No. - Date:- -. Amount, $. Depository,. To be made in d(uplicate; one copy to be retained by the officer, one to be forwarded to the Quartermaster-General with Abstract A. The authority for making a purchase and a statement of the object and necessity for the same must accompany the voucher. If such authority has already been filed, it should be referred to in all subsequent vouchers for purchases under it. If the purchase is made under a contract, the name of the contractor, and its object, should be given, as per example: Under contract of John Smith, for forage, Nov. 17, 18-. No reference should be ALIEN CLAIMS. 311 made to any agreement not in writing, and not transmitted to the Quartermaster-General's Office for file. The act of July 4, 1864, only applied to " quartermaster's stores " and " subsistence." This did not cover rent, or use and occupations. But these were authlorized to be paid by prior acts. The acts of July 4, 1864, and February 21, 1867, prohibited the executive officers of the Government from paying for stores, supplies, use and, occupation, or rent, in the States proclaimed in insurrection. But the act of February 21, 1867, did not exclude payment where the claim arose on contract. This was decided by the Attorney-General September 2, 1870; vol. 13, Opinions, p. 314. (See House Report No. 262, Committee on WarClaims, 1st session 43d Congress, p. 75.) This opinion of the Attorney-General has a valuable review of tlhe legislation on the subject. Since then the modle of providing for the l)ayment of claims arising' under the act of July 4, 1864, and the amiendatory acts, has been changed, as will be seen from the following: [General Orders No. 58.]; WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, " Washington, June 18, 18-74. The following act of Congress is published for the information and government of all concerned: AN ACT making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following sums be, and the, same are hereby, appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the support of the Army for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, as follows: Then the appropriations follow. SEC. 2. That all balances of appropriations, for whatever account, made for the service of the Department of the Quartermnaster-General and of the Commissary- General of Subsistence prior to July first, eighteen hundred and. seventy-two, which, on the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, shall remain on the bookls of the Treasury, shall be carried to the surplus fund, except such as the Auditor of the Treasuryr whose duty it is to settle accounts against such appropriations, shall certify to the Secretary of the Treasury to be necessary in the settlement of such accounts as have been reported to him for payment by the Quartermaster's and Commissary Deptirtments pending in his office. And the Quartermaster- General, Commvissary-General, and Third Auditor of the Treasury shall c,ontinue to receive, examine, and consider the justice and validity of such claims as shall be brought before them under the act of Julyfourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and the acts cmendatory thereof; and the Secretary of the Treasury shall make report of each claim allowed by them, at the commencement of each session of Congress, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall lay the same before Congress for consideration. Approved June 17, 1874. By order of the Secretary of War: E. D. TOWNSEND, Official: Adjutant-General. Assi tant Adjutant- General. 312 ALIEN CLAIMS. The annual report of the Quartermaster Geneial, dated October 10, 1874, page 26, contains the following: CLAIMS AND ACCOUNTS. By section 2 of the act making appropriations for the support of the Armuy for the year ending 30th June, 1875, the Quartermaster-General is directed to continue to receive and investigate claims for quarterinaster's stores under the act of July 4, 1864, and the acts amendatory tlereof, and to report them as heretofore, in order that the Secretary of the T'reasury may report those recommended for allowance to.tife Speaker of the House of Representatives at the commencement of each session of Congress. The legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act of June 20, ] 874, (Laws, p. 110,) directed all unexpended balances of appropriations, which have remained on the books of the Treasury for more than two fiscal years, to be carried to the surplus fund and covered into the Treasury. The operation of this law concluded the payment by the Treasury of claims and debts of the United States incurred more than two years before the time of proof and acknowledgment. There were in this Office, unsettled, on 1st July, 1873, 11,347 claims under the act of 4th July, 1864, amounting, as claimed, to $7,822,829.55. There were filed during the year 2,606, for $3,144,572.34. Total, 13,953, for $10,967,401.89. Of these, 881, claiming $1,032,484.88, have been rej)orted,recommendingallowanceof$495,234.38, areduction of $537,280.47: 528, claiming the sum of $694,152.19, have been reported unfasorably. Thus 1,409 claims have been dispoised of, amounting, as present(l, to $1,726,637.04, and there remained at the end of the year 12,544 claims, for $9,240,764.85. CLAIMS AND ACCOUNTS CONNECTED WITH THE SERVICE OF TRANSPORTATION OF THE ARMY. Two hundred anfd twelve accounts for transportation, amounting to $613,393.72, were on file on 1st July, 1873. Eight hundred and eightytive accounts, for $767,876.32, and A48 claims, for $897,()}8.80, were filed during the year. Total, 1,545, for $2,278,278.84. Of these 1,310 have been disposed of; their amount is $1,664,952.75. Ninety-five, amlounting to$400,016.19, were rejected. Seventy-five, amoulting to $117,935.41, were suspended. The remainder were either reported for settlement or transferred to other Departments to which they properly pertained. There remained on 30th June, 1874, 235 accounts and claims for transIortation, amounting to $613,326.11. MISCELLANEOUS CLAIMS AND ACCOUNTS. Fourteen thousand and forty-six claims, amounting to $7,475,120.87, were on file at beginning of fiscal year; 12,246 were received during the year, amounting- to $1,745,024.29. Total, 26,292 claims and accounts, for $9,220,145.16. Five thousand and forty claims were approved, for $738,950.73, being a reduction in the amount as presented of $269,916.37; 540, amounting to $271,999.79, were rejected; 53, amounting to $5,703.25, were referred to other Departments to which they pertained; 6,180 accounts were approved, for $442,956.93, being a reduction in the accounts as presented of $4,682.01; 35 accounts were rejected, amounting ALIEN CLAIMS. 313 to $7,935.42; total disposed of, 11,848 accounts and claims, amounting, as presented, to $1,742,147.50. Thirteen thousanid five hulndred and ninety-seven miscellaneous claims and 847 accounts remain on file, amounting to $7,477,997.66. The annual report of the Commlissarv-General of Subsistence, dated October 10, 1874, p. 4, says: Under the third section of the act of July 4, 1861, 310 claimns, amounting to $235,956.85, for subsistence supplies alleged to have been used by the Army or taken by officers for the use of the Ariny, in the late war, in States not in rebellion, were filed in this office for exam!ninl tionl; 73 claims, amuounting to $66,712.93, were examined and recoimmended to the Third Auditor of the Treasury for payment; and 109 claims, amounting to $129,327,49, were examuined and rejected. Under the joint resolution of Congress of July 25, 1866C, and section 3 of the act of March 2, 1867, 175 certificates for communtation of rations to Union soldiers while prisoners of war were received and pai)i to the claimants or their legal heirs. These payments amounted to $5,739.75. And see report of Third Auditor. (CHAPTER VIII. THE COURT OF CLAIMS. The law of Congress organizing the Court of Claims and defining its jurisdiction is, as found in the RPevised Statutes of the United States, as follows: ORGANIZATION AND SESSIONS. Sec. Sec. 1049. Judges. 1055. Clerk's bond. 1050. Seal. 1056. Contingent fund. 1051. Court-roonls, &c., how provided. 1057. Reports to Congress, copies for De1052. Sessions, quorum. partmel)ts, &c. 105:3. Officers of the court. 1058. Members of Congress not to practice 1054. Salaries of clerks, bailiff, and mes- in the court. sengler. SEc. 1049. Thlle Court of Claimls, established by the act of Julges. Februatry twenty-four, eighteen hundred and fifty.five, shall 24 Feb., 1855, c. be continued. It shall consist of a chief-justice and four22, S 1, Vr 10, P. judges, who shall be appointed by the President, by and(l 3 Mar., 18s3, c. with the advice and consent of the Senate, and hold their 9pi76. i 1, 12, offices d(luring good behavior. Each of them shall take an 8 Ta,. 1872, c. oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and 85.' to discharge faithfully the duties of his office, and shall be entitled to receive an annual salary of four thousand five hundred dollars, payable quarterly from the Treasury. SEC. 1050. The Court of Claims shall have a seal, with Seal. such device as it may order. 3 Mar., 1863, c. 92, s. 4, v. 12, p. 766. SEC. 1051. It shall be the duty of the Speaker of the Court-ro oms, House of Representatives to appropriate such rooms in the,l how proiCapitol, at Washington, for the use of the Court of Claims, 24 Feb. 1855, c. as may be necessary for their accomlmoldation, unless it ap- 123, s. 10, v. 10, p. pears to him that such rooms cannot be so appropriated614' without interfering with the business of Congress. In that 314 ALIEN CLAIMS. case. the court shall procure, at the city of WTashington, such rooms as may be necessary for the transaction of their tbusiness. Sessions, quo- SEC. 1052. The Court of Claims shall hold one annual rum. session, at the city of Washington, beginning on the first 24 Feb., 1855, c. Monday in December, and continuing as long as may be 6. 10,. 10, p. necessary for the prompt disposition of the business of the 6 Aug., 1856. c. court. And any two of the judges of said court shall con17]Mar., 1866, c. stitute a, quorum, and may hold a court for the transaction 19,'s. 2, v. 14, p. 9. Of business. 3 Mar., le63, c. 92, s. 13, v. 12, p. 768. Officers of the SEC. 1053. The said court shall appoint a chief clerk, all court. assistant clerk, if deemed necessary, ta bailiff, and a Inessen24Feb., 1855, c. ger. The clerks shall take an oath for the faitllful dis122.. 11, V. 10, P. charge of their duties, and shall be under the direction of 614. 3 Mar., 186:l, c. the court in the performance thereof; and for misconduct 92, s. 4, v. 12, p. 763. or incapacity they may be removed by it from office; but the court shall report such removals, with the cause thereof, to Congress, if in session, or, if not, at the next session. Thle bailiff shall hold his office for a term of four,years, unlless sooner removed by the court for cause. Salaries of SEc(. 1054. The salarv of the clhief clerk shall be three clerks, bailiff, tholsand dollars a year, of the assistant clerk two thousand and messenger. dollars a year, of the bailiff fifteen hundred dollars a year, 24 Feb., 1855, c. and of the messenger eight hlundred and fort, y dollars a p. 614. year, payable quarterly fromr the Treasury. 3 Mar., 1863, c. 92, s. 4, v. 12, p. 765. 7 June, 1870, c. 124, v. 16, p. 148. 12 July, 1870, c. 251, s. 3, v. 16, p. 250. 8 May, 1872, c. 140, s. 1, v. 17, p. 82. Clerk's blond. SEC. 1055. The chief clerk shall give bond to the United 6 Aug., 1856, c States in such amount, in such form, and with such secu81, s. 3, v. 11 P;30. rity as shall be approved by the Secretary of thle Treastury. Contingent fun. SEC. 1056. The said clerk shall ha,ve authority, wvhen he has given bond as provided in the preceding section, to dis81, s. 3, v. i, p. 0 burse, under the direction of the court, the contingent fund which may from time to time be appropriated for its use; and his accounts shall be settled by the proper accounting officers of the Treasury in the same way as the accounts of other disbursing agents of the Government are settled. Report to Con- SEC. 1057. On the first day of every December session of gress, copies for Congress, the clerk of the Court of Claims shall transmit to Departmets,&c. Congress a full and complete statement of all the judgments 25 June, 1868, c. rendered he court the 71, s. 9'n, c. reP. ndered by the court during the previous year, stating the 17 Mar., 18s, c. amounts thereof and the parties in whose favor they were 19, s. 3, v.;4, p. 9. rendered, together with a brief synopsis of the nature of the' claims upon which they were reldered. And at the end of every term of the court he shall transmit a copy of its decisions to the heads of Departments; to the Solicitor, the Conmptrollers, and the Auditors of the Treasury; to the Commissioners of the General Land-Office and of Indian ALIEN CLAIMS. 315 Affairs; to the chiefs of Bureaus, and to other officers charged with the adjustment of claims against the United States. SEC. 1058. 1Members of either House of' Congress shall Members of not prnctice inl tlhe (Court of Clalims. Con-ress not to not practice in the Court of Claims.practice i the court. 3 Mar.. 1863, c. 92. s. 4, v. 12, p. 765. JURISDICTION, POWERS, AND PROCEDURE. Sec. Sec. 1059. Jurisdiction. 1075. Comrnissioner to take testimony. 1060. Private claims in Congress, when 1076. Power to call upon Departments for transllitte(l to Court of Clains. ~ information. 1061. Ju(lgmrent for set-off or counter- 1077. When testimony not to be taken. claim, hlow enforced. 1078. Witnesses not excludced on account 106'2. Decree on account of paymasters, of color. &c. 1079. Parties and persons interested ex1063. Claims referred by Departments. cluded as witnesses. 1064. Procedure in cases transmitted by 1080. Examination of claimant. l)epartments. 1081. Testimony taken where deponent 1065. Jiidgments in cases transmnitted by resides. Departments, how paid. 1082. Witnesses, how compelled to attend 1066. Claims growing out of treaties not before commissioners. cognizable therein. 1083. Cross-examination. 1067. Claimis pending in other courtsinotto 1084. Witnesses, how sworn. be prosecutedl in Court of Claims. 1085. Fees of colmmissioner, by whom paidl. 1068. Aliens. 1086. Claims forfeited for firaud. 1069. Limlitation. 1087. New trial on motion of claimant. 1070. Rules of practice; contempts. 108t. New trial on motion of United 1071. Othlis and acknowledgments. States. 1072. Petition. 1089. Payment ofjudgments. 1073. Petition disinissel if issue found 1090. Interest. aogainst claimant as to allegiance, 1091. Interest on claims. &c. 1092. Payment of juidgrment a full dis1074. Burden of proof and evidence as to charge, &c. loyalty. 1093. Final judgments a bar. SEC. 1059. The Court of Claims shall have jurisdiction to Jurisdiction. hear and deterlnine the following matters: First. All claims founded upon any law of Congress, or Ciaimsfounded uponll any regulation of an Executive Department, or upon otr sctes, or any contract, expressed or implied, with the Government ferred by Conof the United States, tantd all claims which may be referred gress. to it by either House of Congress. 22 Feb., 1855, c. 122, S 1, v. 10, p. 61%. —Nichols vs. U. S..7 5Wall., 129; I)orsheimer vs. U. S. 7 Wall., 166; Bonner vs. U. S., 9 Wall., 156. Second. All set-offs, counter-claims, claims for damages, set-offs and counter-claimo of whether liquidated or ulliquidated, or other denmands what- United States. soever, on the part of thle Governm ent of the United States 3 Mar., 1863. c. against any person making claim against the Government 92,. 3, v. 12, p. 765. —Clyde vs. U. in said court. s., 13 wall., 3U; IU. S., vs. Russell, 13 Wall., 623. Third. Th!e claim of any paymaster, quartermaster, com- Disbursing otmissary of subsistence, or other disbursing officer of theCe'_' United States, or of his admillistrators or executors, for 9 May, 1866. c. relief fro) respon5sibilit-y on ac ount of captureorotherwise, s. 1, v. 14, p. relief from res.ponsibility on account of capture or otherwxise, 44. 316 ALIEN CLAIMS. while in the line of his duty, of Government funds, vouchers, records. or papers in his charge, and for which such officer was and is held responsible. Claims for cap- Fourth. Of all claims for the proceeds of cal)tured or tunred and abal- abandoned property, as provided by the act of Iarch 12, doned property. eighteen hundred and sixty-three, chapter one hundred and 120, s. 3, v. 12, l. twellty, entitled "An act to provide for the collection of 8' 20 Jul. abandoned property and for the prevention of frauds in in-'2 July, 1864, c. 225 ss.:,, v..3, surrectiollary districts within the United States, or by the pp. 375, 376. act of July two, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, chapter 27 July. 1868, c. 276 s.:3, v. 15, p. two hundred and twenty-five, being an act inl addition 2~43. _____ thereto: Provided, That the remedy given in cases of seizure U. S. vs. ANder under the said acts, by preferring claim, in the Court of son, 9 Wall., 56; a Puoh vs. U.S., 13 Claiims, shall be exclusive, precluding the owner of any Wall 633; U. S.g D a v,',Ki63; Ual.s roperty taken by agents oKf the Treasury Departtnent as Wall., 6:36: U. S. abandoned or captured property in virtue or under color of vs. Crussell, 14 wa. usell; law- said acts from suit at common law, or anv other node of son vs. U. S., redress whatever, before any court other than said Court of 16 Wall., 310. Claims. Private claims SEC. 1060. All petitions and bills praying or providing inCogr"ess,when for the satisfaction of private claims against the Governtransmitted t o Court of Claims. ment, founded upon any law of Congress, or upon any regMar, 1863 ulation of an Executive Department, or upon any contract, 3 Mar., 1863, c. 92, s. 2, V. 12, p. expressed or implied, with the Government of the Uiiited 765. States, shall, unless otherwise ordered by resolution of the House in which they are introduced, be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senlate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives, with all the accompanying documents, to the Court of Claims. Judgments for SEC. 1061. Upon the trial of any cause in which anly setc -Claim, lt ell-off, counter-claim, claim for ldamages, or other demand is forced, set up on the part of the Government against any person 3 Mar.,.is83, c. making claim against the Government in said court, the 92, s. 3, v. 1-2, P court shall hear and determine such claim or demand both 765. Al —-en v.- - for and.against the Goverlnmelt and cllinant; land if upon Allen vs. U. S, 17 Wall., 207. t'he whole case it finds that tlhe claiman-tut is indebted to the Government, it shall renl(ler judrgment to that effect, and such judgment shall be fiual, withl the right of appeal. as i, other cases provided for by law. Any transcript of such judgment, filed in the clerk's office of any district or circuit court, shall be entered upon the records thereof, and shall thereby become and be a judgment of such court and be enforcedl as other judgmlents in such courts are enforced. Decree on ac- SEC. 1062. Whenever the Court of Claims ascertains the counts of paymasters, &c. facts of any loss by any paymaster, quartermlaster, corn9 May, 1866, c. missary of subsistence, or other disbursing officer, in the 75. s. 2, v. 14, p. cases hereinbefore provided, to have been without fault 44. or negligence on the part of such officer, it shall make a decree setting forth the amount thereof, and upon such decree the proper accounting officers of the Treasutry shall allow to such officer the amount so decreed, as a credit in the settlement of his accounts. Claimsreferred SEC. 1063. WVhenever any claim is made against any Exly Departments. ecutive Departmnent, involving disputed facts or con tro25.June, ls68, c. verted questions of law, where the amount in controversy 1,8 7, 15! p. 7. exceeds three thousand dollars. or where the decision will ALIEN CLAIMS. 317 affect a class of cases, or furnish a precedent for the future action of alny Executive Department ill the adjustment of a class of cases, without regard to the amount illvolved in the particular case, or where any authority, right, privilege, or exemption is claimed or denied under tile Constitution of the United States, the head of such Department may cause such claim, with all the vouchers, papers, proofs, and documents p)ertaining thereto, to be transmitted to the Court of Claims, and the same shall be there proceeded in as if originally commenced by the voluntary action of the claimanlt; and the Secretary of the Treasury may, upon the certificate of any Auditor or Comptroller of the Treasury, direct any account, matter, or claim of the char:. cter, amounr, or class described in this section; to be transmitted, with all the vouchers, papers, documents, and proofs p)ertaining thereto, to the said court, for trial and adjudication: Provided, That no case shall be referred by alny head of a Departmnent unless it belongs to one of the several classes of cases which, by reason of the sulbject-matter and character, the said court might, under existinl laws, take jurisdiction of on such voluntary action of the claimant. SEC. 1064. All cases transmitted by the head of any De- Procedure in partment, or upon the certificate of any Auditor or Conmp- ted b(y Departtroller, according to the lrovisions of the precediig section~ ments. shall be proceeded in as other cases pending in the Court of 25 June, 1868, Claims, and shall, ill all respects, be subject to the samle 76. 7 v. 15, P. rules and regulatios.le s.. i3 VWall.,:38. SEC. 1065. Thle amount of alny final judgment or decree Judgments in rendered in favor of the claimant, ill any case transmitted ases transmitted by Departto the Court of Claims under the two preceding sections, ments, how paid. shall be paid out of any specific appropriation applicable to 15June, 1868. c. the case, if any such there bee; and where no such appropri-, s. 7,v. 15, p. 76. ation exists, the judgment or decree shall be paid in the salne manner as other judgments of the said court. SEC. 1066. The jurisdiction of the said court shall not Claims crowing extend to any claim against the Government not pending not tcoreizale therein on December one, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, therein. growing out of or depelndent on any treaty stipulation en- 3 iRI.. 1863, C. tered into with foreign nations or with the Indian tribes.'29 s. 9, v. 12, p. Ex parte Atocha, 17 Wall., 439. SEC. 1067. No person shall file or prosecute in the Court Claims pending of Claims, or in the Suplreme Court on appeal therefrom, nOt tot he proseuany claimn for or in respect to which he or any assignee ot' cutlill ourt of his has pending, in any other court any suit or process against any person who, at the time when the cause of action 71,, S. 8,. 15, s. alleged in such suit or process arose, was, in respect thereto, 77. acting or professing to act, mediately or in mediately, under the authority of the United States. SEC. 1-068. Aliens, who are citizens or subjects of any Aliens. government which accords to citizens of the United States 27 July, c. the right to prosecute claims against such government in 276, s. 2, v. 15, p. its courts, shall have the privilege of prosecuting claims243 against the United States in. the Court of Claims, whereof U8 vWl.O'Keefe, 11 Wall., 178; such court, by reason of their subject-matter and charafter, Carlisle vs. U. S., might take jurisdiction. 16 Wall., 147. 318 ALIEN CLAIMS. Limitation. SEC. 1069. Every claim against the United States, cog3 Mar., 1863, G. nizable by the Court of Claims, shall be forever barred un952, s. 10, V. 1,2, P. less the petition setting forth a statement thereof is filed in 767. the court, or trainsmitted to it by the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives as provided by law, within six years after the claim first accrues: Provided, That the claims of married women first accrued during marriage, of persons under the age of twenty-one years first accrued during minority, and of idiots, lunatics, insane persons, and persons beyond the seas at the time the claimn accrued, entitled to thle claim, shall not be barred if the petition be filed in the court or transmitted, as aforesaid, within three years after the disability has ceased; but no other disability than those enumerated shall prevent any claim from being barred, nor shall any of the said disabilities operate cumulatively. Rules of prac- SEC. 1070. The said court shall have power to establish tice; contempts. rules for its government and for the regulation of practice 24 Feb., 1855, c. therein, and it may punish for contempt in the manner pre122, s. 3, v. 10, p. m 6 3. scribed by the common law, nmay appoint commissioners,:9 Mar., 1863, c.l and may exercise such powers as are necessary to carry into 92, s. 4, v. 12, p to ino. 765. effect the powers granted to it by law. Oaths and ac- SEC. 1071. The judges and clerks of said court may adininknowledgments. ister oaths and affirmations, take acknlowledgments of in3 Mar., l1863,. struments in writing, and give certificates of the same. 9'2. s. 4, v. 12, p. 765. Petition. SEC. 1072. The claimant shall, in all cases, fully set forth 24 Feb., 1855, ( in his petition the claim, the action thereon in Congress, or 122, s. 1, v. 10, p. by any of the Departments, if such action has been had; 6L3 ar., 163, c. what persons are owners thereof or interested therein, when 452, s. 12, v. 1i2, p. and upon what consideration such persons became so inter767. ested; that no assignment or transfer of said claim, or of any part thereof or interest thereinl, has been made, except as stated in the petition; that said claimnalt is justly entitled to the amount therein claimed from the United States, after allowing all just credits and offsets; that the claimant, and, where the claim has been assiganed, the original allnd every p)rior owner thereof, it' a citizen, has at all times borne tinle allegiance to the Government of the United States, andl whether a citizen or not, has not ini any way volunlltarilT aided, abetted, or given encouragement to rebellion agaiinst thle said Government, and that he believes the ficts as stated in said petition to be true. And1( the said p)etition shall be veritied by the affidavit of the claimant, his agent, or attorney. Petition dis- SEC. 1073. The said allegations as to true allegiance and iiissed, if issue,ius. it'a inst voluntary aiding, abetting, or giving encouragemetll to reclaimant as to al- bellion,against the Government may be traversed by the le giace. &c. Government, and if on the trial such issues shall be decided 2, s. 12,. 12, c. agailst the claimant, his petition shalll be dislnissed. 767. 1urden of proof SEC. 1074. Whenever it is material in any claim to ascerand evidence as t, loealt.-. fain whether any person did or did not give any aid or com-.Julre, (. c fort to the late rebellion, the claimant asserting the loyalty 7, s. 3,-. 15, p. 75. of any such person to the United States during such rebellion shall be required to prove affirmatively that such person (lid, durig, said rebellion, consistently adhere to the ALIEN CLAIMS. 319 United States, and did give no aid or comfort to persons engaged in such rebellion; and the voluntary residence of any such person in any place where, at any time during such. residence, the rebel force or organization held sway, shall be )rilna-facie evidence that such person did give aid and comtort to said rebellion and to the persons engaged therein. SEC. 1075. The Court of Claims shall have power to ap. Commissioners to take testipoint commissioners to take testimony to be used in the in- ony. vestigation of claims which come before it; to prescribe the 24 Feb., 1855, c. fees which they shall receive for their services, and to issue 122, s. 3, v. 10, p. commissions for the taking of such testimony, whether6. 18 c taken at the instance of the claimant or of the United 92, s. 4, v. 12, p. 765. State. 75. SEC. 1076. The said court shall have power to call upon any Power to call of the Departments for any information or papers it may deem uPent pr iafornecessary, and shall have the use of all recorded and printed mation. reports made by the committees of each House of Congress, 24 Feb., 1855, c_ when deemed necessary in the prosecution of its business. 122, s. 11, V. 10, p. But the head of any Department may refuse and omit to coimply with any call for information or papers when, in his opinion, such comI)liance would be injurious to the public interest. SEC. 1077. When it appears to the court in any case that When testithe facts set forth in the petition of the claimant do not fur- okny 0ot to be nish any ground for relief, it shall not be the duty of the 24 Fe., 1855. c court to authorize the taking of any testimony therein. 122, s. 4, v. 10t p. SEC. 1078. No witness shall be excluded in any suit in Witnesses not excluded on acthe Court of Claims on account of color or. 2 July, 1864, c. 210, s. 3, v. 1:3, p. 351. 2 Mar., 1867, c. 166, s. 2, v. 14, p. 457. 25 June, 1868, c. 71, s. 4, v. 15, p. 75. SEc. 1079. No claimant, nor any person from or throughll Parties and pers o n s inte'rested whomi any such claimant derives his alleged title, claiml, O excluded as witright against the United States, nor any person interested ness.S ill any such title, claim, or right, shall be a comnpetent 25 June. 188,sc. witness in the Court of Clailms in suplorting the samne; antd 7s. 4, v.1, 75.:3 Mar., 186:3, c. 1no testimony givenl by suclh claimnllit or person shall be.9-2,, sv. -, p. used except as plrovided in the next section. 766. SEC. 10So0. The court may, at the iistance of the attorney Ecxamilation of or solicitor appearing in behalf of the United States, make an order in any case pending thereill, directing any claimant 99, s. 8,,: in such case to appear, upon reasonable notice, before anlly 7c. c a25.Tune, 1868, c. commissioner of the court, and bIe examine on oath touch- 71, s. 4, v. 15, p. 75. ing any or all matters pertaining to sai(l claim. Such examinatiou shall be reduced to writing by the said commlnissioner, and be returned to and filed in the court, and may, at the discretion of the attorney or solicitor of the United States appearing in the case, be read and used as evidence on the trial thereof. And if any claimant, after such order is ma(le, and due and reasonable notice thereof is given to hil,, fails to appear, or refuses to testify or answer fully as to all matters within his knowledge material to the issue, the coirt may, ill its discretion, order that the said cause shall not be 320 ALIEN CLAIMS. brought forward for trial until he shall have fully complied with the order of the court in the premises. Testim On y SEC. 1081. The testimony in cases pending before the, token whe eede- Court of Clains shall be taken inl the county where the -24 Feb., 1855s witness resides, when the same call be conveniently done. 24 Feb., 1855, c. 122, s. 3, v. 10, p. 613. Witnesses, how SEC. 1082. The Court of Claims mavisstue subpoenas to tend before collt- require the attendance of witnesses in order to be examined missioners. before any person commissioned to take testimony therein, 24 Feb., 1855, c. and such subpoenas shall have the same force as it issued 6122, 5. 3, v. 10, p. from a district court, and compliance therewith shall be compelled under such rules and orders as the court shall establish. Cross examina- SEC. 1083. In taking testimolny to be used in support of tion. any claim, opportunity shall ble given to the United States 24 Feb., 1855, c. to file interrogatories, or by attorney to examine witrnesses, 613. 10 under such regulations as said court shall prescribe; and like opportunity shall be afforded the claimant, ill cases where testimony is takenl on behalf of the United States, under like regulations. Witnesses, how SEC. 1084. The commissioner taking testimony to be used sworn. in the Court of Clainms shall ad(minister an oath or affirma24 Feb.,1855,c, tion to the witnesses brought before him for examination. 122, s. 3, v. 10, p. 613. Fees of commis- SEC. 1085. When testimony is taken for the claimant, the paid. by wliom fees of the commissioner before whom it is taken, and the 24 Feb., 1855, c. cost of the commission and notice, shall be paid by such 122, s. 3, v. 10, p. claimant; and when it is taken at the instance of the Gov613. ernment, such fees, together with all postage inc urred by the Assistant Attorney-General, shall be paid ollt of the contingent fund provided for the Court of Claims, or other appropriation made by Congress for that purpose. Claims forfeit- SEC. 1086. Any person who corruptly practices or attempts ed fur fraud. to practice any fraud against the United St'ates inl the proof, 3 Mar., 1863, c. statement, establishment, or allowance of any claim, or of 7692. 1. -' Pany part of anlly claim against the United States, shall ipso facto forfeit the same to the Government; and it shall be the duty of the Court of Claims, in such cases, to find specifically that such firaud was plracticed or attempte(l to be l)racticed, and thereupon to give judgment that such claim is forfeited to the Goverlllnment, and that the claimant be forever barred from prosecuting the sanie. New trial on SEC. 1087. When judg1 ent is rendered against any claimmwotion of claml - ant, the court mlay grant a new trial for any reason which, 24 Feb., 1855, c by the rules of comllomon law or chancery inl suits between 122, s. 9, v. 10,. imndividuals, would tfunlish sufficient ground for granting a 614. new trial. New trial on SEC. 10,8S. The Court of Claims, at any time while any motion of United claim is 1)ending before it, or onl appeal fron it, or within States. June, 1868 c two years next after the final disposition of such claim, may, 71, s. 2, v. 15, p. 75. oni motion on behalf of the United States, grant a new trial -Ex t- Rand stay the playment of any judgment therein, upon such Ex parte Rus; sell, 13Wall.,664 evidence, cumulative or otherwise, as shall satisfSy the court exparte,inm atter that any fraud, wrong, or injustice in the premises has been of United States, p 16 Wall., 699. done to the United States; but until an order is made stay. ing the payment of a judrgment, the same shall be payable and paid as now provided by law. ALIEN CLAIMS. 321 SEC. 1089. In all cases of final judgments by the Court of Payin men t of Claims, or, on appeal, by the Supreme Court, where thejudgments. same are affirmed in favor of the claimant, the sum due there- 92,3 Mar., 1863, c. by shall be paid out of any general appropriation made by 766. law for the payment and satisfaction of private claims, on presentation to the Secretary of the Treasury of a copy of said judgment, certified by the clerk of the Court of Claims, and signed by the chief-justice, or, in his absence, by the presiding judge of said court. SEC. 1090. In cases where the judgment appealed from is Interest. in favor of the claimant, and the same is affirmed by the 3 Mar., 1863, c. Supreme Court, interest thereon at the rate of five per cen- 92. v 12, p tum shall be allowed from the date of its presentation to the Secretary of the Treasury for payment as aforesaid, but no interest shall be allowed subsequent to the affirmance, unless presented for payment to the Secretary of the Treasury as aforesaid. SEC. 1091. No interest shall be allowed On any claim up 1,, terest on to the time of the rendition of judgment thereon by the Court of Claims, unless upon a contract expressly stipulat- 92, s. 7, v. 12, p. ing for the payment of interest. 706. SEC. 1092. The payment of the amount due by any judg- Payment of judgment a full ment of the Court of Claims and of any interest thereon al- discharge, &c. lowed by law, as hereinbefore provided, shall be a full dis- 3 ar., 1863, c charge to the United States of all claim and demand touch- 92, s. 7, v. 12, p. 766. ing any of the matters involved in the controversy. SEC. 1093. Any final judgment against the claimant on F in a 1 judgany claim prosecuted as provided in this chapter shall forever bar any further claim or demand against the United 92, s. 7, v. 162, p States arising out of the matters involved in the contro-766. v-ersy. CHAPTER IX. THE COMMIISSIONERS OF CLAIMIS. The following are the acts of Congress under which the commissioners of claims are Organized and their jurisdiction defined. This tribunal is popularly, but erroneously, called the "'Southern Claims Commission." AN ACT making appropriations for the support of the Army for the year ending June thirty, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and for other purposes. SEC. 2. That the President of the United States shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to noaminate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint a board of commissioners, to be designated as commissioners of claims, to consist of three commissioners, who shall be commissioned for two years, and whose duty it shall be to receive, examine, and consider the justice and validity of such claims as shall be brought before them, of those citizens who remained loyal adherents to the cause and the Government of the United States during the war, for stores or supplies taken or furnished during the rebellion for the H. REP. 134-21 S322 ALIEN CLAIMS. use of the Army of the United States, in States proclaimed as in insurrection against the United States, including the use and loss of vessels or boats while employed in the military service of the United States. And the said commissioners in considering said claim shall be satisfied from the testimony of witnesses under oath. or from other sufficient evidence, whichE shall accompany each claim, taken under such rules and regulations as the commissioners may adopt, of the loyalty and adherence of the claimant to the cause and the Government of the United States before and at the time of the takinig or furnishing of the property for which any claimn shall be made, and of the quantity, quality, and value of the property alleged to have been taking or furnished, and the time, place, and material circumstances of the taking or furnishing of the same. And upon satisfactory evidence of the justice and validity of any claim, the commissioners shall report their opinion in writing in elch case, and shall certify the nature, amount, and value of the property taken, furnished, or used as aforesaid. And each claim which shall be considered, aind rejected as Unjust and invalid, shall likewise be reported, with the reasons therefor; and no claimant shall withdraw any mnaterial evidence submitted in support of any claim. SEC. 3. That said commissioners shall each take the oath of office rrovided by law to be taken by all officers of the United States, and sball proceed without delay to discharge their duties under this act. The President of the United States shall designate in his appointment one of said commissioners to be plresidenlt of the board, and shall be authorized to fill any vacancy which may occur, by reason of death or resignation, in said board; and each commissioner shall have authority to administer oaths and affirmations, and to take the depositions of witnesses in all matters pertaining to their duties. The said commissioners shall meet and organize said board and hold their sessions at Washington. Two members of the board shall constitute a quorum. for the transaction of business, and the agreement of two shall decide all questions in controversy. The said commissioners shall have authority to make and publish rules for their procedure, not inconsistent with this act, and shall publish notice of their sessions. They shall keep a journal of their proceedings, to be signed by the president of the board, and a register of all claims brought before the board, showing the date of presentation, number, name, and residence of claimant, subject-matter and amount of claim, and the amount, if any allowed; which records shall be open to the inspection of the President and Attorney-General of the United States, or of such officer as the President may designate. SEC. 4. That said commissioners shall make report of their proceedings, and of each claim considered by them, at the commencement of each session of Congress, to the Speaker of the HIouse of Re)resentatives, who shall lay the same befoie Congress for consideration; and all claims within this act and not presented to said board shall be barred, and shall not be entertained by any department of the Governnent without further authority of Congress. SCE. 5. That the commissioners of claims shall be paid quarterly under this act, at the rate of five thousand dollars per annum each. and they shall have authority to appoint one clerk and one short-hand reporter, to be paid quarterly at the rate of two thousand five hundred dollars per annum each, and one messenger, to be paid at the rate of one thousand two hundred dollars per annum, who shall perform the services required of them respectively, and said board shall be further allowed the necessary actual expenses of office-rent, furniture, fuel, stationery, ALIEN CLAIMS. 323 and printing, to be certified by the president of the board, and to be audited on vouchers, and paid as other judicial expenses are. SEC. 6. That a sufficient appropriation to carry this act into effect is hereby made out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. Approved March 3, 1S71. (See Statutes at Large, vol. 16G page 524.) AN ACT to authorize the commissioners of claims to appoint special commissioncrs to take testimony, and for other purposes. SECTION 1. Be it enacted, &c., That the commissioners of claims shall have authority to appoint special commissioners to take testimony, to be used in cases pending before them, who shall have authority to administer oaths and affirmations, and to take the depositions of witnesses: Provided, The claimants shall pay the fees of such special colmmissioners for taking the depositions of witnesses called by them; but such fees shall in no case exceed ten cents per folio if the claim is less than one thousand dollars. SEc. 2. That any person who shall knowingly and willfully swear falsely before the said commissioners of claims, or either of them, or be. fore any special commissioner appointed by virtue of this act, in any natter or claim pending before said commissioners, shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and on conviction thereof; shall be punished in the same manner prescribed by law in cases of willful and corrupt perjury. SEC. 3. That the commissioners of claims may appoint and employ agents, but not more than three at any time, whose duty it shall be, under the direction and authority of said commissioners, to investigate claims pending before them, to procure evidence, to secure the attendance of witnesses on behalf of the Government, and to examine the same, and to cross-examine the witnesses produced by claimants, and to perform such other duties as may berequiredof them by said commissioners, who may discharge them at any time. The said agents shall be allowed their actual and necessary traveling expenses, the expenses paid out in investigating claims, procuring witnesses, and taking testimony, and six dollars a day while employed in the discharge of their duties; of all which, at the end of each month, they shall make a statement in detail, specifying the amounts by them paid out, to whom paid, when and where and for what purpose, and the number of days employed in their duties, and shall transmit the same, duly certified, to the commnissioners. But no claim where the amount exceeds ten thousand dollars shall be examined, decided, and reported by the commissioners to Congress, except the testimony on behalf of the claimant in such case shall have been taken orally before the commissioners or some one of them personally, or shall have been taken previous to the third (lay -March, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, to be used in the Court of Claims, or before some Departmint of the Government. SEC. 4. That the commissioners may employ three additional clerks at a salary of one thousand two hundred dollars per year; and may employ, at the usual rates, such assistance for the short-hand reporter as may be necessary, from time to time, in reporting, copying, and preparing for Congress the oral testimony taken in cases before the said commissioners. SEC. 5. That all the expenses incurred under the provisions of this 324 ALIEN CLAIMS. act shall be allowed an(l paid in the sanle manner, and out of the same appropriation provided for in the act organizing the said commissioners of claims, being an act entitled "An act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and for otherpurposes," approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-one. SEC. 6. That it shall be the duty of the said commissioners of claims to receive, examine, and consider the justice and validity of such claims as shall be brought before them of those citizens who remained loyal adherents to the cause and Government of the United States during the war, for stores or supplies taken or furnished during the rebellion for the use of the Navy of the United States, in the same manner and with the lile effect as they are now required by law to do in the case of stores or supplies taken or furnished for the use of the Army. Approved May 11, 1872. (See Statutes at Larcge, vol. 17, page 97.) AN ACT to extend for four years the act establishinlg the board of commissioners of claims, and the acts relating thereto. Be it enacted by the Senacte and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled, That the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth sections of the act entitled "An act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and for other purposes," approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-one; and the act entitled "An act to authorize the commissioners of claims to appoint special commissioners to take testimony, and for other purposes," approved May eleventh, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, be and the same are hereby extended and continued in force for four years from the tenth day of March, anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-three. SEC. 2. That the commissioners of claims shall not receive any petition for the allowance of any claim or claims, unless such petition shall be presented to and filed with them on or before the third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-three; and all claims not so presented shall be deemed to be barred forever thereafter. Approved March 3, 1873. (See Statutes at Large, vol. 17, page 577.) These commissioners have made four annual reports, which are given as follows: FIRST GENERAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF CLAIMS. To the honorable the Speaker of the House of Representatives: SIR: The undersigned, commissioners of claims under the act of Congress of March 3, 1871, respectfully report: Upon receiving our commissions we took the oath of office and appointed Charles F. Benjamin clerk, James L. Andam short-hand reporter, and Thomas Phipps messenger. On the 20th of March we published a notice that our sessions for examining claims and hearing the testimony of witnesses would begin on the 10th April, 1871, at our office in Washington. ALIEN CLAIMS. 325 We adopted rules prescribing the form of petitions for the allowance of claims, the necessary averments, and the oath of verification. These and subsequent rules and regulations are annexed to this report. EXTENT OF JURISDICTION. Questions at once arose as to the extent of the jurisdiction conferred by the act of Congress. The words of the act conferring jurisdiction are as follows: " SEC. 2. That the President of the United States shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint a board of commissioners, to be designated as commissioners of claims, to consist of three commissioners, who shall be commissioned for two years, and whose duty it shall be to receive, examine, and consider the justice and validity of such claims as shall be brought before them, of those citizens who remained loyal adherents to the cause and the Government of the United States during the war, for stores or supplies taken or furnished during the rebellion for the use of the Army of the United States in States proclaimed as in insurrection against the United States, including the use and loss of vessels or boats while employed ill the military service of the United States." I. WTho are " citizens " within the meaning of the act? Claims were presented by foreigners not naturalized, but domiciled in this country, and who had resided here during the rebellion. The case of Peter Klaine, a French subject, was of this kind; an(l we refer to the brief of his counsel, Mir. Durant, to showe the grounds upon which such claims were urged. As this commission is created by act of Congress, and its jurisdiction limited by the statute, as it is only to examine and report to Congress, and( has not the authority or functions of a court, its jurisdiction must be kept within the very terms of the statute. The word " citizen," when used to express the relation of the individual to the Government, ordinarily means " one owing paramount allegiance to the state." It is so used in distinction from the word "'inhabitant," which is employed to denote a foreigner domiciled in the country and owing a minor and qualified allegiance. This ordinary meaning should be given to it as used in the statute. Deeming the act intended to apply to matters of municipal legislation, and not to affect rights standing upon international law, we do not follow the decisions cited from the prize courts, which seem in some cases to extend its mlaning. The context, " citizens who remained loyal adherents to the cause and Government of the United States," indicates that those persons are meant of whom "loyalty" could be required " during the war." Loyalty during the war cannot reasonably be interpreted as meaning less than that relation from which the Government might have required military sar-ice. But the Government uniformly directed that foreigners should be discharged fron military service whenever they claimed exemption on that ground. Loyalty was not required of a foreigner. He was deemed to do his vwhole duty if he kept strictly neutral. But neutrality during the war in a citizen of the United States was not loyalty. Itis urced that foreignelrs domiciled and remaining here during the war have no right to reqtiire their own governments to interfere in their behalf to obtain compensation for losses sustained from military operations, and therefore ought to have the same rights and remedies as citizens. But in their cases other considerations arise, such as the law of domicile, the right, though only neutral and not loyal, to demand comn 326 ALIEN CLAIMS. pensation, and other questions growing out of their relations as foreigners. We think Congress intended to reserve exclusively to itself the consideration of the rights of foreigners to compensation. We have, therefore, held that foreigners domiciled here are not " citizens" wvithin the meaning of the act. mWe have also held that where the claimant was an alien when the claim accrued, his naturalization since the war does not remove his disability. II. Loyalty and the proof of it. MIany questions have arisen as to wh at was loyalty, and how it may be proved. We have held1. That the party claiming to be loyal must -p)ore his loyalty. It is a fact to be established by proof, and is not to be presumed. 2. Voluntary residence in an insurrectionary State during the war is prima-facie evidence of disloyalty, and must be rebutted by satisfactory evidence. 3. Claims have come before us of persons who have served in the rebel army. They claim that they were really loyal at heart, but acted under duress —" moral duress;" that they could not get away, and would have been taken by force if they had not gone without force, and therefore they yielded and went into the rebel service, apparently but not really of their free will. WVe have held that such personal service in the rebel army is proof of disloyalty, and that the duress to excuse it must be actual force used against the claimant, or imminent danger of immediate, forcible, and serious injury. The claimant must prove fully and in detail the facts which he claims to have constituted the duress; and opinions and general statements of danger will not suffice. Furnishing a substitute to the rebel army stands upon the same ground as personal service. 4. Voting for the ordinance of secession, holding civil or military office under the confederacy, furnishing aid or supplies to the rebel service, or to persons about to enter it, giving information to aid the rebels in their military operations, and engaging in a business whose object was to supply munitions of war or army supplies to the confederate government, we regard as acts of disloyalty. 5. Neutrality of one residing in an insurrectionary State is not sufficient to establish "' loyal adherence to the cause and Government of the United States." Beyond these we have not had occasion to lay down any general tests of loyalty. The cases vary so greatly that it is difficult to apply any general and absolute rule. Truly loyal persons in the rebellious States, except when within the lines of the Union Army, or in special localities, were obliged to be silent, to say nothing and do nothing for the Union cause. Expulsion from their homes, confiscation of property, imprisonment and death by law or lavless violence, were the penalties that hung over the heads of active and outspoken friends of the Union. Hence the difficulty of proving overt acts of loyalty. On the other hand, we must bear in mind that it is easier and imore profitable to be loyal now than it was during the war, and that much of the proof of disloyalty has perished, or been forgotten in the lapse of time. Hence false evidence of loyalty is more readily manufactured and more easily escapes detection. All examination of the interrogatories to be put to claimants, as to their loyalty, (a copy of which is annexed to this report,) will show the general tenor of our inquiries. Where there has been a doubt or difference of opinion as to the loyalty of the claimant, we have suspended the case for further inquiry. ALIEN CLAIMS. 327 III. Stores and supplies. What is the extent of the term'" stores or supplies," as used in theact e 1. The act of July 4, 1861, by which the Quartermaster-General and the Commissary General of Subsistence were authorized to examine the claims of loyal citizens, in States not in rebellion. uses the terms " claims for quartermaster's stores," and " claims for subsistence." The act of March 3, 1871, uses the words 1" stores or supplies," without any words of restriction. We think it was the intent of Congress not to confine the act to quartermasters' and commissary stores, but to extend it to all stores and supplies for the use of the Army, and thus to include medical and hospital stores, and supplies for the Engineer Department. 2. But stores and supplies taken for the use of the Navy are not included, and a claim of that kind has been rejected for that reason. 3. Claims for rent and the use of real estate have been urged for allowance as quartermasters' supplies. if rent be included in quartermasters' supplies, then claims for rent by loyal citizens in the States not in rebellion should have been allowed under the act of July 4, 1864; but the uniform usage of the Department under thtt act has been to reject them as not being quartermasters~ supplies. The opinions of the Judge-Advoc~ate-General to this effect are abundant and decisive. (See Decisions of the Judge-Advocate-General, in his Bureau; case of'Thomas C. Elliott, vol. 16, p. 51; also vol. 18, p. 506. See Digest of his Opinions, p. 99.) We think this usage must have been well known to Congress, and that the terms were used in the sense of their settled construction. However just claims for rent and the occupation of land may be, if it had been intended to submit them to this board, they would have been named in express words in the act. Clainms of loyal citizeDs at the North and the South must stand on the same basis, and be governed by the same rules of construction. 4. The destruction of or damage to buildings, growing crops, and personal property is not embraced within stores and supplies. Military necessity sometimes requires the destruction of buildings, because they shelter the enemy or obstruct the range of guns; but the buildings do not thereby become supplies. Armies, in marching through a country, cannot be kept within the lines of the highways, but necessarily pass through fields of grass and growing crops, and are often obliged to encamp upon them. The grass and crops are thus trampled down and destroyed; but they are not supplies taken for the use of the Army. When buildings are torn down, if the materials are taken to erect other buildings for the use of the Army, suclh Materials thereby become supplies, and their value, as materialsfor the purpose for which they are used, is paid to the owner. It is a very inadequate compensation to him. But-this rule, whichl allows only for the materials as supplies, and nothing for damage to the buildinog from which they are obtained, has been acted upon uniformly for many years, and is regarded as an established usage not to be departed from. So where fields of grass or growing crops are partly trampled down and destroyed, and partly used for forage or pasturage, the latter is paid for, but the former is not. In such cases we have found great difficulty in determining how much is destroyed and how much taken for Army use. It would have been difficult at the time; how much more so after the lapse of many years. Nothing in the act of March 3, 1871, authorizes us to allow claims for the damage or destruction of property; and in allowing for supplies we 328 ALIEN CLAIMS. follow the long-settled rules of the Quartermaster's Department. By adopting this rule, the claims of loyal citizens North and South are treated alike. In some cases boards of survey, appointed by military commanders according to the usages of war, have allowed for such damage and destruction as well as for forage and other Army use. When their awards have been brought before us as evidence, we have felt restricted by the act from following their allowances in this particular, and have deducted from them what we have believed to be mere damage. 5. Articles taken by the soldiers, without lawful authority or real necessity, we have not allowed. The strictest discipline could not prevent acts of lawless depredation. 7Vhatever was deemed better than their regular rations, pigs, poultry, &c., would be seized and used by the soldiers. The ready excuse was that their supplies had not come up, and they had orders to get their subsistence where they could find it; when, in fact, they were supplied with their regular rations. But where a real necessity existed for the taking of subsistence, and it was used in lieu of regular rations, there compensation should be given. In military operations where rapidity of movement is necessary and the troops unable to carry their supplies with them, they must get their subsistence where they can; in hasty retreats, where disorder exists and provisions are not at band; in times of difficult transportation, when supply-trains fall behind; in such and similar cases the seizure of subsistence is necessary, and we have allowed claims for property so taken. 6. Articles not on the list of commissary supplies we reject, unless furnished to the hospitals for the refreshment and cure of the sick, when we allow for them. IV. The act provides that the commissioners ~ shall be satisfied from the testimony of witnesses under oath, or from other sufficient evidence, taken qunder such rules and regulations as the commissioners may adopt," of the loyalty o/f the claimant and the validity of the claim. 1. We have deemed it our duty to examine witnesses orally in all cases where it was practicable. The advantage, by oral examination, of hearing the witness, of observing his appearance on the stand, of judging of his intelligence, fairness, and honesty, and by cross-examination, of ascertaining his means of knowledge and testing his credibility is very great. Where the witnesses were so near Washington that it was reasonable for theim to come before us and testify, we have required them to do so. Most of such claims have come from Virginia. In some cases of larger amount, the claimants and their witnesses hlave come from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Louisiana. 2. Where the claims are small, the claimants poor, and they and their witnesses live remote from. Washington, it would amount to a denial of justice to require them to come here. In aid of such claimants, and under the authority given to the commissioners to adopt rules and regulations for the taking of evidence, we decided to allow claimants, whose claims did not exceed $3,000, to have the depositions of themselves and their witnesses taken by special commissioners, to be designated by us. We limited this right to claims not exceeding $3,000 because most of the claims are under that amount, and we believed that attempts to defraud the Government would generally be aimed at larger sums. With this limitation the cases have been numerous enough to employ all the time of the special commissioners, and to furnish us withl more cases than we have had time to examine and decide. A list of the special commissioners, the instructions we have given them, and the questions we have directed them to put, are annexed to ALIEN CLAIMS. 329 this report. WVe have sought to make the examination something better than an ex-parte proceeding. But questions prepared beforehand, and necessarily for all witnesses, and without any knowledge of what the particular witness will swear to, cannot be expected to elicit facts as a personal examination on the spot would do. Much, of course, depends on the skill and thoroughness of the special commissioners. They have generally shown a disposition to be thorough and faithful in their examinations; yet, after all, on reading the depositions, one cannot but feel that the results would have been far more satisfactory if some competent person on behalf of the Government had investigated the claims and been present to examine the witnesses. Under the existing law we do not see what more can be done than we have done to avoid the evil of ex-i)arte depositions. W'e have been strongly urged to allow depositions to be taken in the larger cases; but have decided to retain the limitation' as it is, at $3,000, until Congress should have the opportunity to prescribe some more thorough mode of inquiry and examination as to the larger claims. In the larger cases which are yet to come before us, in some of which hundreds of thousands of dollars are demanded, the temnptation and opportunity to procure the allowance of unjust claims exist; and high ability, ingenuity, and skill in procuring and presenting evidence to sustain them may be expected. In such cases, if persons could be designated by proper authority to investigate the claims on the spot where they arose, and to inquire in regard to them of those officers or other persons who must at the time have known about them, it would greatly aid in guarding against disloyal and fictitious claims. In designating special commissioners to take testimony, we nave been confined to persons already appointed as United States commissioners, or to notaries and magistrates authorized to administer oaths and take depositions under State laws, as the act of Congress does not authorize this board to confer such powers. A list of the special commissioners so desionated is appended to this report. 3. Where claims have heretofore been brought before the Court of Claims or any other tribunal or Department of the Government, and evidence has been filed and used either for or against them, we have treated all such evidence as admissible, when the same claims have been brought before us. We require that all the papers pertaining to a claim should be furnished us, and have often found evidence in the papers thus sent to us from the Departments of great use in the examination of claims. 4. Letters and papers from the archive office have also been furnished us, very useful and often decisive upon the question of loyalty. V. When claims have been heretofore presented to any Departcment of the Government havingjurisdiction of them, and have been flly considered and decided uon their merits, we do not open them Jbr examination, if brought before Its, unless new and material evidence has been found, and sutch as would induce the former tribunal to hear them again. When a claim is presented which is also pending before some other tribunal or Department, we decline to examine it, unless the Departmnent before which it is pending signify to us that it is withdrawn by consent in order to have it come before us. VI. tralue of property. In estimating the value of property we have been guided not only by the evidence on behalf of the particular claimant, but by the knowledge of prices which we olbt-ain in examining the numerous cases before us, and by the tables of prices furnished by the Commissary and Quartermaster's Departments. The report of the Commissary-General, showing the prices paid by the Department for all the leading articles of subsistence for 330 ALIEN CLAIMS. each month during the war at all the principal markets of the Union, has been of great service. By adding to the price at the nearest market the cost of transportation to the place where the claim accrued, we get a fair measure of the value of the property claimed. Similar tables of prices have been furnished by the QuartermasterGeneral. They have been of much use in reducing the inflated and exaggerated estimates which claimants generally put upon their property. The natural tendency of men to overestimate the value of their property (especially when compensation is expected from the Government) is well illustrated by the compensation asked for the;" superior and elegant" horses, the;" best" mules, the " remarkably fine and fat" cattle, and the "new" rails which the Arnmy seems always to have found wherever it went. VWe have endeavored to ascertain the fair market-price, and not to allow for an enhanced value occasionedl by the temporary presence of the Army. There are some articles of which particular notice should be taken. F'ence-rails.-These were usually taken for fuel. We have allowed for them as wood, at the rate of 100 rails per cord, (the rule adopted by the Quartermaster's Department, and which is believed to be just for the average of fairm fences,) and at the price usually of $2 per cord., the average common price of wood when taken upon the farms to be hauled to the camp or the market. The damage to the owner is more than this, for rails are worth more than wood, and without fences the farmer loses to a great extent the use of his land; and the country being denuded of wood, lie has to pay an increased price to replace them. But we are precluded from. estimating the damage, and, in conformity to the usage as to supplies, can only allow for the rails as fuel. Cotton.-This seems to have beentaken in some instances tostrengthen fortifications, but probably only in cases of- emergency. It has never been paid for by the Government when so used, but has been regarded as "loss by the casualty of war." (See Digest of the Opinions of the Judge-Advocate-General, pp. 97 and 9S, and cases there cited.) When taken for beds in hospitals it has been paid for as hospital stores. Tobacco.-Until the act of AMarch 3. 1865, tobacco was not furnishel to the Army. Under that act it has been issued to those who use it, and charged to them on the pay-rolls. In the claims that have come before us, tobacco has not usually been regarded as a supply, and therefore has been disallowed. Claims for tobacco alleged to have been taken and issued to the troops at Atlanta, Ga., under the order of General Sherman, of September 8, 1864, are pending before us. The examination of theml is still going on, and they will be reported upon hereafter. VII. The whole number of claims presented for allowance up to the end of -November, 1871, is ten thousand and ninety-nine. The whole amount claimed is $265,-)09,123.91. The monthly receipts of claimls have been as follows: March, (last few days)........................... 17 April..................................-............. 550 Mav...........-........ 1, 221 June........1....... 1, 562 July................................. 1, 539 August......... 1, 261 September.................................... 1, 762 October................. 1, 206 November................................. 9S1 Total.......................................... 10, 099 ALIEN CLAIMS. 331 The number not exceeding in amount $3,000 is 8,800; number that exceeds $3,000 is 1,299. The 8,800 claims (averaging about $1,305 each) amount to about $11,880,000. The 1,299 larger claims amount to about $14,629,000. We transmit herewith our reports in five hundred and eighty-eight cases, which we have examined and decided. They are accompanied by the testimony taken orally before us, and all the papers and evidence pertaining to such cases which we have received from any Department of the Government. Congress thus becomes the custodian of all the evidence, vouchers, and papers pertaining to these claims. it, may be noted that the act of March 3, 1871, provides that " no claimant shall withdraw any material evidence submitted in support of any claim." Annexed to this report is a list of the cases so decided and reported, with the number of the claim, the name of the claimant, and the amounts claimed, allowed, and disallowed. The number disallowed for want of satisfactory proof of'" loyal adherence to the cause and the Governmeat of the United States" is about two hundred anid thirty. Some have been rejected for want of jurisdiction, and some for insufficient proof upon other material points. The whole number rejected is two hundred and fifty-six. The claims examined by us in the months of'April, May, and June, were chiefly from the counties in Virginia near Washington. The witnesses came before us an(l were examine(l orally. These claimants mostly resided within the Union lines. Many of them were originally froml New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the North. They were generally loyal, and could prove their loyalty by overt acts, or by the testimony of Federal officers and well-known loyal men. In the cases more recently examined by us, which come from regions more decidedly hostile to the Government, and to which the Union forces did not penetrate till toward the close of the war, we have found the proportion of claims in which loyalty is not satisfactorily proved to be considerably larger. Of the claimants found loyal, many (about forty) have actually served in the Union Armyi, many have aided our military operations as scouts and guides, and in other ways. Some have been arrested, imprisoned, and cruelly treated by the rebels. The evidence on behalf of some of these claimants in Virginia, the mountain-regions of Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, and other portions of the South, furnishes instances of peril, hardship, sacrifice, and suffering, of steadfast courage and patriotic devotion to the Union, which do them honor and entitle them to the grateful consideration of the Government. Among those whose claims have been disallowed, about forty have served in the iebel army, and sonie as guards at Andersonville; others have held civil office under the confederacy, or furnished supplies to the rebel army, or voted for the ordinance of secession, or sworn allegiance to the confederate government, or have otherwise given aid and comfort to the rebellion. In the cases decided and herewith reported the amount claimed is $1,656,357.98; the amount allowed is $344,168.20; the amounlt disallowed is 81,312,189.78. We have not considered the " Loudoun County claims," so called. They are numerous; are chiefly for property taken by military necessity under the order to General Sheridan of November 27, 1864. The claims for property taken for the use of the Army are so intermingled with those in which the property was sold and the proceeds put into the 332 ALIEN CLAIMS. Treasury that it is almost impossible to separate them. As large herds of horses, cattle, and sheep were driven off together, the claimants cannot trace their separate property to Army use. We have therefore declined examining them, thinking Congress may make some special provision in regard to their examination and settlement. Lists of the cases presented to us for allowance have been published and distributed through the country, that public attention might be called to the loyalty of the claimants and the justice of their claims. The publication of these lists and of the questions as to the loyalty of claimants has had the effect, it is believed, of deterring many from pressing disloyal and unjust claims. The large number of claims presented, the extensive correspondence to be kept up, and other necessary official business, have thrown a great burden of duty upon the clerk, and one which could not have been performed but for the aid of the clerks kindly furnished to us from the Departments of War and the Treasury. Four clerks have been spared from those Departments for the time being to help this commission; but, as they can be spared no longer, and must soon be withdrawn, it is obvious that a considerable addition ought soon to be made to the clerical force of this commission. The stenographer has taken the testimony of nearly one thousand witnesses. The transcription of his minutes for the use of this board and of Congress imposes upon him a great labor, in which he ought to have some aid. Without it the important work of the commission in examining claimants and witnesses orally will be hindered. A month's labor is now required to enable him to transcribe the minutes of testimony taken in the months of October and November. About forty cases have been examined by us which we have suspended for further inquiry and examination. It has been suggested that loyal persons have sometimes been used to cover with their names the claims of the disloyal, sometimes persons formerly slaves endeavoring, from friendship, to help their former masters, and we have felt it our duty to carefully investigate claims in which such suspicions might be justly entertained. Respectfully submitted. ASA (OWEN ALDIS, J. B. HOWELL, ORANGE FERRISS, Commissioners of Clanims. NYASIIING-TON, D. C., December 11, 1871. SECOND GENERAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF CLAIMS. WVASHINGTON, D. C., December 6, 18". To the honorable the Speaker of the House of Representatives: SIR: The commissioners of claims herewith respectfully present their second general report. Our views as to the jurisdiction conferred by the act establishing this commission, as to loyalty, and the proof of it; as to the mneaning of the terms "stores and supplies;" as to the rules and regulations for taking evidence, and as to the nature of the claims which we could and could not allow, were so fully set forth in our first general report, made December 11, 1871, that we do not deem it necessary here to repeat them. A few new questions have arisen to'which we shall refer; and on some ALIEN CLAIMS. 333 points, -vhere our views do not seem to have been regarded by claimants, and further elucidation seems desirable, we may make some further suggestions. I.-NUMBER AND ASIOUNT OF CLAIMS. By referring to our first general report, made December 11, 1871, it will be seen that the number of claims presented for allowance tp to the end of November, 1.871, was............................. 10, 099' The number presented since, up to the end of November, 1872, is....................................... 7, 601 Whole number presented................ 17, 700 The monthly receipts of claims during the past year have been as follows: December, 1871........... 693 July.......... 540; January, 1872........... 665 August...694 February.....5... 507 September 649 March..741 October................ 563 April....... S58 November 413 May.................... 742 June................... 536 Total.......... 7, 601 The amount of claims presented, up to the end of November, 1871, was...................$....... $26, 509, 123 91 The amount of claims presented since, to the end of November, 1872, is............ 18,494, 980 57 Total amount of claims presented............. 45, 004, 104 48 With our first general report we presented to Congress special reports in 580 cases, which we had examined and decided. We herewith transmit to Congress special reports in 2,209 cases, whichk we have examined and decided during the past year. Whole number reported to Congress, 2.789. Of the claims herewith reported there are fromAlabama............. 345 South Carolina.... 41 Arkansas.. 184 Tennessee................ 397 Florida..... 3 Texas............... 8 Georgia................ 174 Virginia........... 545 Louisiana................ 27 Mississippi.. 213 Total, 209, North Carolina....... 272 Of these cases we have allowed, in whole or in part, 1,061; we have wholly rejected 1,148. Of those allowed, 122 were the claims of persons who had served as soldiers in the Union Army. or had been otherwise employed in the military service of the United States. A still greater number is of persons who had sons in the Union Army. Of those rejectedThere had been in the military service of the confederacy, or had furnished substitutes..............227 Voted for secession, or taken oath of allegiance to the confederacy.. 154 Total................................................ 381 334 ALIEN CLAIMS. Of the 2,209 claims herewith reportedThe whole amount claimed is........................ $3, 850,-141 05 The amount allowed is............................... 806, 699 31 The amount disallowed is............................ 3, 043, 541 74 Our reports are accompanied with all the evidence and papers belonging to the reported cases. Annexed to this report is a list of the cases decided during the year, with the number of the claim, name of the claimant, and the amounts claimed, allowed, and disallowed. Besides the. 2,209 cases which we have thus examined and decided during the year, and herewith report, we have thus examined about 700 more cases which, for various reasons, we have been obliged to suspend for further investigation; although, in many of them, reports have been drawn, and in all the chief part of the work has been (lone. Of this last class many appear so meritorious that we are not willing to reject them, and yet, from lack of proof, or other cause, require further investigation. It has been impossible for us, with only three agents, to fully investigate all the large cases already heard. Many of the largest claims are in this list of suspended cases, the whole amounting to about $2,500,000. They have taken much time in hearing and examining the evidence. They ought not to be decided till our agents have thoroughly investigated them. We regret that our agent has not been able to make a final report upon many important cases in Georgia, and especially upon the tobacco cases of Atlanta, to which we referred in our last report. The time for presenting claims expires on the 3d of Ma'rch, 1873. The number, by that time, will probably be about 19,000, and the probable amount about $50,000,000. This estimate is made upon the supposition that the claims will continue to be presented at the rate at which they are now coming in. II.-JURISDICTION. Since our last report a question has arisen as to the construction of the words used in the act of March 3, 1871, " the claims of those citizens who remained loyal adherents to the cause and Government of the United States during the war." The original owner of the property for which compensation is now asked was loyal and living when it was taken. He has since died. If he were living his claim would be allowed. His heirs now present the claim. They were disloyal during the war. The act authorizes us to consider only " the claims of those citizens who remained loyal adherents to the cause and Government of the United States during the war." iWe construe the act to mean that the claimants who present the claim before us, that is, the heirs, must prove their loyalty-that it is not enough that the ancestor was loyal. When the claim is presented by one who is a mere representative of others, and who has no bereficial interest, such as an executor or an administrator, we do not require him to prove his loyalty, but he must prove the loyalty of those he represents-that is, the legatees or heirs. When it appears that the heirs are the real owners of the claim, and that some or all of them were disloyal during the war, we reject so much as would go to the disloyal and allow what should go to the loyal ones. ALIEN CLAIMS. 335 III. The act of Congress of May 11, 1872, authorized us to employ three agents to investigate claims. We immediately appointed three agents, and directed them, in the first instance, to proceed to Virginia, where the number and urgency of the claims seemed especially to require their employment. Since then they have also been to Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. WVe have been urgently requested to send them to other States to speed the examination of claims there. As yet we have not been able to comply with these requests, but recently have sent one to Mississippi. The employment of these agents has, so far, proved very useful. We have directed them to inquire and report alike whether claims are just or unjust,\and whether the claimants were loyal or disloyal, and to inquire as to all claims, so far as time, expense, and opportunity make investigation reasonable. Their attention is, of course, more especially directed to the large and doubtful cases, and they cannot reasonably be expected to investigate the multitude of little claims. otow that we can examine cases through these agents, whenever we hlave reason to doubt as to their allowance we have authorized the special commissioners to take depositions in all cases not exceeding $5,000. WVe have directed the agents to examine all claims between $5,000 and $10,000, to correspond with the special commissioners to whom such cases are assigned, and with the claimants as to the time and place of taking the evidence, and'to be present and cross-examine the witnesses whenever they think it expedient, or to advise the special commissioner as to questions which he should pIut on behalf of the Government. In investigating claims we have directed themn to pursue the course which the agents of the Departments have been accustomed to pursue; to inquire in the vicinity of the claimants, of respectable and credible witnesses, and ascertain the truth as to the loyalty of the claimant and the justice and validity of the claim, and to report to us the evidence, the names of witnesses, and all facts that Tnay throw light upon the case. We do not require them to take the depositions of witnesses, or to confine themselves to strict legal evidence; but as this commission allows the same latitude of inquiry in its oral hearings that the committees of the Senate and House allow, and admit any evidence that they think will reasonably aid their inquiries, we require these agents to do the same. In all cases the claimants are allowed to see the reports of the agents filed in the case, and, if they wish, to rebut the evidence contained in them. IV.-LOYALTY, AND THE PROOF OF IT. In our first general report we stated very fully our views as to " loyalty, and the lproof of it." Some further suggestions on this topic may not be amiss. Loyalty is a fact to be proved. Claims are not unfrequently disallowed not because there is positive proof of disloyalty, but because the proof of loyalty is not satisfactory. Where the evidence leads us to think that the party may have been really loyal, and that the want of proof can be supplied, we suspend the case for further inquiry. We find, by experience, that to form a correct opinion as to whether a claimant was or was not loyal during the war, we cannot safely rely upon the mere opinion of witnesses as to his loyalty, and upon state 336 ALIEN CLAIMS. ments, at this late day, of alleged conversations. We Inust rather look to his surroundings-to the vicinity where he lived; the pressure that bore upon him; the opportunity he had to show his loyalty by aiding the Union cause; his acts and his omissions to act; whether he was threatened, molested. or injured in person, family, or property; whether he rendered any aid to the confederate cause; whether he had sons in the confederate service; in short, to all the circumstances of the case. It is not difficult for a claimant to select witnesses from his acquaintances who will testify in general terms, " I knew the claimant; he was a Union man-; I so regarded him. I think he was so regarded by his Union neighbors. I have often heard him express Union sentiments. He was bitterly opposed to secession." These are common phrases, and constantly repeated. How little such testimony is worth appears from the fact that such or similar phrases are constantly used in support of the loyalty of the claimants, who have served, sometimes, for three years in the rebel army, or who are otherwise clearly shown to be disloyal. We deem such evidence much weaker than the proof derived from surrounding circumstances. We have been led, by our expIerience in examining the proofs in these cases, to another opinion, not fully appreciated by us at first. It is this: that the proof to excuse disloyal acts, such as voting for secession, holding civil office under the confederacy, furnishing a substitute, &c., is rarely of actual force, or of danger from the.action of the constituted authorities. These existed and are sometimes proved. But the real, imminent danger of injury was from another quarter: There was, in certain districts, so much of terrorism and intimidation that loyal Inen felt a constant and oppressive apprehension of lawless violence. There was real danger to life, family, and property front the lawless violence of individuals and from the fury of the mob. To escape these perils, men who were at heart true fiiends of the Union felt compelled to appear friendly to the confederate cause and to do disloyal acts. Where such faicts are satisfactorily proved, and the whole tenor of the claicant's conduct before and after shows him to have been really loyal, where, perhaps, the suffering and losses he was afterward subjected to by the rebels show that they regarded him as an enemy, we think it our duty to regard the disloyal act as springing from duress, and find the claimant loyal. In weighing such evidence we do not forget that many pretend to have acted under duress where none existed. V.-STORES AND SUPPLIES. In our first general report we stated that all stores and supplies for the use of the Army might be included in the claims presented to us for allowance. Since then the act of May ll, 1872, has extended our jurisdiction to stores and supplies taken for the use of the Navy. We also stated that rent, danmage, and destruction of property, losses by lawless depredations, property taken by soldiers without authority or real necessity, and articles of luxury, wines, liquors, tobacco, and cotton, (unless used in hospitals,) were not included in the term " stores and supplies" for the use of the Army, and would not be allowed, We regret to see that such items still continue to be embraced in claims, and that the sum-total of the claims is thereby increased to a great amount. VI.-VALUE OF PROPERTY; PRICES; THE PROOF OF TAKING; DEPREDATIONS. In our first report we said: " In estimating the value of property, we have been guided not only ALIEN' CLAIUMS. 337 by the evidence on behalf of the particular claimant, but by the knowledge of prices which we obtain in examining the numerous cases before us, and by the table of prices furnished by the Commissary and Quartermaster's Departments. The report of the Commissary-General, showing the prices paid by the Department for all the leading articles of subsistence for each month during the war, at all the principal markets of the Union, has been of great service. By adding to the price at the nearest market the cost of transportation to the place where the claim accrued, we get a fair measure of the value of the property claimed. " Similar tables of prices have been filrnished by the QuartermasterGeneral. They have been of much use in reducing the inflated and exaggerated estimates which claimants generally put upon their property." We deem it proper to add, in reference to the report of the CommissaryGeneral above referred to, that it was made not long after the close of the war, with great care, for the use of the Government, from bills, vouchers, and data of actual purchases made by the Government during each month of the war; was published with the report of the CommissaryGeneral, and may be regarded as the highest authority for the price of commissary supplies during the war. So the prices from the Quartermaster-General stand upon similar data, and are equally reliable. We refer to these authorities (which differ so widely from the prices set forth in the petitions of claimants) because claimants and their counsel sometimes seem to think that the evidence they present in each particular case should be the rule of the case. We not only find the prices claimed in the petitions are generally greatly exaggerated, but that sometimes both prices and amounts increase with the lapse of time. Some claims presented to the Departments soon after the close of the war now appear before us much increased in amount and price. Horses and mules appear to be of very uncertain value, ranging in the claims from $50 to $6,000. We allow for them as animals of average value, for Army use, according to the quartermaster's prices at the time, unless the evidence clearly shows a higher value. There was no kind of property so much the object of theft and depredation, so frequently and so lawlessly taken for private gain, under the pretense of Army use, as horses and mules. PROOF OF TAKING. Claimants seem to think that if soldiers took property, pretending to have authority, and promising it should be paid for, that the Government is thereby bound to pay for it. But such pretenses were frequently used by the lawless, and for private gain, as well as by those really having authority. Such artifices must not be allowed to prevail. WVe must look beyond them, at all'the circumstances connected with the taking, in order to discriminate between lawful taking and lawless depredation. The Governmnent is not bound to pay for theft or pillage. Hence it is not enough for witnesses to say, 1" The property was taken by soldiers." All the facts connected with the taking should be stated, and, if possible, in the natural order of narrative. If not so narrated, questions should be put as to the number of soldiers, whether only one or two, whether officers were with them, and ordered or knew of the taking, the hour of the day, the distance from the main body or the camp; what and all that was said and done; whether threats of violence were used; whether there was other property taken, and especially household articles or valuables; whether application was made H. Rep. 134- 22 338 ALIEN CLAIMS. for the restoration of the property to officers, and what was said and done in reply, and all the attending circumstances. Our instructions to the special commissioners are positive that the questions on all these points must be put and answers insisted upon. It is their duty to enforce these directions, to have them. obeyed, or the refusal noted in the body of the depositions. If claimants or their counsel allow witnesses to omit answering, or to evade the questions, the result must be that the claim is not proved, or is seriously discredited. VII. —AS TO QUANTITIES TAKEN. Where a receipt or voucher was given at the time, we follow it, and have no difficulty in ascertaining the quantity taken. But where the testimony depends on the testimony of witnesses testifying eight or ten years after the property was taken, the quantity becomes uncertain. Witnesses rarely furnish any certain data. Their attention was not called, at the time, to the amount taken. They swear in round numbers, or to the " property claimed in the petition," but rarely show any means of knowledge. In perhaps a majority of cases, proof of the amount depends on the evidence of the claimant, or his wife or minor children, or of some colored dependent once his slave. When we reflect upon the lapse of time since the claims accrued, and the facilities with which the memories of such interested or easily influenced witnesses may be manufactured, it is obvious that we must receive such evidence with caution. Still, in most of these cases, there was some property taken, and it would be unjust to wholly reject the claim. No other evidence than such as the claimant offers can usually be had, and that is subject to the serious objections above alluded to. Hence, in such cases, it is extremely difficult to make any satisfactory decision. VIII.-REBEL ARCHIVES. The rebel archives in the possession of the Secretary of the Treasury and of the Secretary of War have been most obligingly opened for our use. They contain written contemporary evidence of the position of thousands, of persons in the service of, or having d(lealings with, the confederacy. They are thus evidence of the highest value. Already they have furnished proof for the rejection of claims to a large amount. The knowledge that such papers are in the hands of the Government doubtless deters others from being presented. The Secretary of the Treasury has occasionally, when it was needful and convenient, allowed us the aid of agents in investigating claims. The Secretary of WVar has also, when the duties of the service will permit, very kindly directed officers of the Army to examine claims in the vicinity where they were stationed. This has been of great utility. In one case satisfactory proof was obtained for the rejection of a claim of about $100,000. IX.-OF. THE UNFINISI-IED WORK. As this commission, by the limitation of the act of Congress which created it, will expire in March next, we deem it our duty to report ~upon the amount of unfinished work before it, and the time required to finish it. ALIEN CLAIMS. 339 The whole number of claims presented for allowance by MAarch 3, 1873, will probably be about 19,000. We reported at the last session of Congress 580 cases; herewith we send reports ill 2,209 cases. We have examined about 700 other cases, which we have suspended for further investigation, but in which the work is chiefly done. By the 3d of March next we shall probably have examined and disposed of at least 500 more. There will remain, therefore, on the 3d of March next, about 15,000 cases to be examined and decided. Perplexing questions having been settled, the labors of the commission systematized, and all employed having become familiar with their duties, and having acquired facility in the dispatch of business, it is reasonable to conclude that the work will hereafter progress with more rapidity. From the rate of progress now being made, we think the remaining work can be finished in four years. WVhen it is considered that the evidence in all cases over $10,000 must be taken orally before the commissioners, or some one of them, and that the depositions taken by the special commissioners are in some cases quite voluminous, and require long and laborious examination, it is plain that it will require diligence and industry to do the work in that time. ASA OWEN ALDIS, J. B. HOWELL, ORANGE FERRISS, Commissioners of Claimls. The Hon. the SPEAKER Of the House of Representatives. THIRD GENERAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF CLAIMS. To the honorable the Speaker of the House of Representatives: SIR: The commissioners of claims respectfully present their third general report. The first and second general reports, presented in December, 1871 and 1872, contain a full statement of the rules as to presenting and proving claims, and of the principles upon which we allow or reject them. We deem it sufficient to refer to those reports. I. The time for presenting claims to this commission expired on the 3d of March, 1873. By referring to our last general report it will be seen that the whole number of ciaims presented up to the end of November, 1872, was 17,700, and the aggregate amount claimed $45,004,104.48. The monthly receipts of claims since, up to the 3d March, 1873, have been as follows: December, 1872.............-.......t.......-. 658 January, 1873................ 804 February, 1873...........1, 621 March, (the first three (lays).... 1, 515 Total......................................... 4, a98 The amount of the above claims was $15,254,040.96. The whole number of claims presented to the commissioners is 22,298. The gross amount of all the claims filed is $60,258,150.44. 340 ALIEN CLAIMS. The number disposed of in ourFirst report was........................ 580 Second report as............................................, 209 (This) thirdl report is...........2....................... < 2, 465 Total............................................ 5,254 The aggregate amount of the claims so passed upon is $10,224,386.32. There remain, therefore, 17,044 claims, amounting to $50,033,764.12, yet to be disposed of: II. The act of Congress of May 11, 1872, requires that in all cases exceeding $10,000 the witnesses for the claimant must be examined orally before us. This obliges the claimant to bring his witnesses to Washington, for there is no provision in the law authorizing us to take the testimony of claimants elsewhere than at Washington, -and providing for the expense thereby incurred. Annexed is a table of the claims, showing the amounts by tens of thousands. From this it appears that 949 claims exceeding $10,000 each have been presented; of this number 50 claims exceed $100,000, and 145 exceed $50,000. Some of these have been reduced below $10,000 by the voluntary act of the claimants. About 138 have been disposed of in this and former reports. III. We present herewith special reports in 2,465 cases. Of this number there areWholly disallowed.............................. d...... 1, 373 Allowed in whole- or in part..................................... 1 092 Total........................2........... 2, 465 Of the number disallowed, 249 are claimants who have served in the. confederate army or furnished a substitute; and 56 are of persons who were in the civil service of the confederacy, or who took the oath of allegiance to the confederacy. Of the number allowed, 164 are persons who served in the United States Army. The aggregate amount claimed in these 2,465 cases is $4,717,887.29. Amount allowed................. $643, 713 04 Amount disallowed....................... 4, 074, 174 25 Total.4.. -..........8..................... 4,717,887 29 MIany cases, especially from Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, re. main in our hands, heard, partly examined, but not finished, because our special agents have not been able to find time to examine them and report to us. This has been owing partially to their ne/essary investigation of claims in other States, and in part (in Mississippi and Louisiana) to the prevailing sickness which interrupted their work. It is but justice to the special agents to say that they have worked industriously, and that their services have been of great value. IV. The numerous disallowances of claims in which the testimony offered did not satisfy us of the loyalty of the claimant, or of the justice and validity of the claim, have been followed by efforts on the part of claimants to get their cases reconsidered. Our only action upon the matter so far has been to receive petitions for the rehearing of claims,. ALIEN CLXIMS. 34t whenever the claimant sets forth specifically, over his own signature, and upon oath or affirmation, what new and material facts he relies upon to prove the disallowance to be erroneous, what witnesses are to prove the alleged facts, and why the proposed new evidence was not produced on the original examination. WVe also require the affidavits of the intended witnesses to be filed, embracing all the matters upon which they will testify. Until somewhat relieved from the pressure of unreported cases, it will be impracticable to take up any disallowed claims for reconsideration. V. In consequence of frequent applications from volunteer officers and other adherents of the Union cause who had served or resided, or now live in the insurrectionary States, for information concerning the claims brought before the commissioners, measures were taken, as soon as all the claims had been filed, to prepare a printed list, giving the name of each claimant, the State and county in which he resides, or in which his property was taken, and the number and amount of his claim. In the preface to the list explanation is made of the facts that the names were those of professed adherents to the cause and Government of the United States during the rebellion, the amounts charged, and the value of the personal property taken for the necessary and proper use of the Union Army. This list, containing the recorded particulars of nearly 23,000 claims, has been extensively circulated and distributed wherever it has been thought probable that information serviceable to the just determination of claims might be obtained, and it is intended to continue the distribution as long as such a measure is deemed advisable. VI. Tosacco. —As we now, for the first time, present reports allowing for tobacco taken for Army use, we desire to state th6 reasons for such allowances. Tobacco was never by law made an Army supply till the act of March 3, 1865, provided that it might be furnished at cost to those who desired it, and at their expense. All the claims for tobacco which have been examined by us are for tobacco taken before that date. After the capture of Atlanta, in September, 1864, General Sherman found that he was short of rations for his army, and that the soldiers were subject to many privations. To make his army contenfed, and, as far as possible, to make up to them for their usual rations, of which they were for the time deprived, he issued an order on the Sth of September, 1864, authorizing the chief commissary of subsistence to take possession of and issue to the troops all the tobacco in Atlanta, and give certificates thereof to the owners, to be accounted for in accordance with existing orders. Pursuant to this order, tobacco belonging to George J. Stubblefield was taken, and upon his making claim for payment, the Commissary Department recommended, "as this tobacco was taken by order of General Sherman and issued to the troops in lieu qf other rations, and as the loyalty of the claimant is clearly established," that payment should be made. This was approved by the Secretary of War, 31r. Stanton, and the claim was paid. The payment stands upon the ground that, when an army is deprived of its usual rations, the commanding general can, in his judgment, authorize an article not a supply to be taken and used for the time being as a supply and in lieu of other rations; and in such case the Government is bound to pay for it. We have strictly followed this precedent, and have not allowed for tobacco except when taken under this order. VII. We have heretofore set forth the necessity that exists for more 342 ALIEN CLAIMS. clerks in order to dispatch with reasonable speed the business of the commission. WYe again respectfully request attention to this subject. It is a, great hardship for a; loyal and honest claimant to be delayed year after year in the examination and payment of his just claim. But it would be unjust to the Government to allow claims without thoroughly and carefully examining all reasonable sources of information, in order to determine whether the claimant is loyal and the claim just. A thorough examination of the rebel archives, and of the papers purchased, as furnishing evidence in claims against the Government, is very essential. In this we have been greatly aided by the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, and the Adjutant-General, and the subordinate officers of these Departments and Bureaus having the custody of these papers. But there is much in the examination of these papers that we cannot reasonably ask them to do, and for which we have no clerks to spare. So, too, in preparing summaries of the evidence taken by special commissioners, of papers, often long and bulky, received from the Departments, and heretofore used on behalf of claimants, in examining papers received from the Treasury and War Departments, and making copies of them for Congress, and in giving directions to agents in examining claims, there is a great amount of work to be done which might well be done by clerks under the instruction of the commissioners. A moderate increase in the number of clerks would greatly relieve the commissioners, and enable them to devote more time to the decision of cases, and thus aid in the work of the commission. ASA OWEN ALDIS, J. B. HOWELL, ORANGE FERRISS, Commissioners of C(laims. WASSINGTON, D. C., December 6, 1873. FOURT'H GENERAL REPORT OF THE COMMIISSIONERS OF CLAIMS. WASHINGTON, D. C., December 14, 1874. To the honorable the Speaker of the House of Representatives: SIR: The commissioners of claims respectfully present their fourth general report. I. The time for presenting claims to this commission expired on the 3d of March, 1873. A bill for extending the time for presenting claims was passed by the House of Representatives at the last session, but was not acted upon by the Senate. No claims have, therefore, been received by us during the last year. The whole number of claims presented for allowance is 22,298. The number disposed of in our first report was.............. 580 Second report was....................209 Third report was....................................... 2 465 Fourth (this) report is.............................. 2 407 Whole number disposed of is.................... 7, 661 Remaining not disposed of................................. 14, 637 Total.................. 22, 298 ALIEN CLAIMS. 343 II. Of the unfinished business. —Of this number of 14,637 cases yet in our hands, a large number have been examined, and have been sus pended for further investigation by our special agents. About fifteen hundred doubtful cases are thus awaiting examination. It is proper to add that the work done during the year is not to be measured by the number of reported cases. These suspended cases, difficult and doubtful, and frequently involving large sums, consume a great portion of our time. In twelve of the larger cases so being investigated, the claims amount to $3,035,000. In many of the large cases our agents have made reports. These are shown to the claimants, or their attorneys, that they may, if they see fit, produce rebutting testimony. This leads to delay; for in almost every case so suspended and reported upon by our agents, the claimants have requested further time to put in their rebutting evidence. The number of agents which we are authorized to employ for the investigation of cases in all the Southern States is limited by law to three. We would again respectfully suggest that this number is wholly inadequate for doing, with reasonable dispatch, the work that is to be done. The claims we refer to the agents are numerous, large, and difficult of investigation. Reluctance of witnesses to give testimony against their neighbors, opposition in various and unexpected forms, and other unavoidable causes of delay constantly meet them, and hinder their work. The employment of such agents is of great utility and advantage to honest claimants, and to the Government. They often report favorably in cases which, upon the evidence filed in their favor, appear doubtful, or deserving of rejection. In other cases, often involving large amounts, they find facts establishing disloyalty, fraud, or other sufficient cause for rejection, and thus save large sums to the Government. The case of Whitty M. Sasser for $100,498, which was referred back to us by Congress at its last session for further examination, is now in the hands of an agent for investigation. We have not been able to include it in this report. In the case of Sarah Polk, for $2,040, the papers having been sent to the House of Representatives, at its request, we have not felt at liberty to further examine and report upon the claim until the pleasure of the House should be manifested, either by taking jurisdiction of and acting upon the claim, or by returning it to us for examination. A large portion of our time has heretofore been taken up with the oial examination of witnesses. We think that the number of cases in which witnesses will be thus brought before us is diminishing, and that we shall soon have more time for the examination of the other cases, in which the evidence is taken by the special commissioners. This will materially aid us in disposing of the unfinished business. III. We present herewith special reports in 2,407 cases. They are distributed among the States, as follows: Alabama................................................. 299 Arkansas..-.. 2.......77 Florida...-.............................................. 7 Georgia.2............................. 210 Louisiana-............................................. 59 Mississippi.......................................... 1 SO North Carolina.................................273 South Carolina.....-...........34 Tennessee.......................4........................ 54 344 ALIEN CLAIMS. Texas.......................................... 7 Virginia...,,.....,.................................. 475 West Virginia........................................... 32 2, 407 Of this niumber, there are wholly disallowed.......1.....,... 1,244 Allowed in whole or in part.................................. 1, 163 Of the number disallowed, 150 are claimants who served in the confederate army or sent a substitute, and 89 are persons who were in the civil service of the confederacy or voluntarily voted for secession. Of the number allowed, 120 are persons who served in the Army of the United States. The whole amount claimed in the 2,407 cases included in this report is........$5, 242, 706 40 Amount allowed................... 770, 911 37 Amount disallowed............................... 4, 471,995 09 Total...................................... 5, 242, 706 46 The number and amount of disallowed cases is somewhat increased by claims not within the jurisdiction of the commission, and therefore reported as disallowed without reference to their merits. IV. In many cases where we had disallowed claims, the claimants filed petitions to us for new hearings. Our action in receiving these petitions was fully set forth in our last report. Doubts having been expressed whether we had any jurisdiction of cases to grant rehearings and hear them anew after having reported them to Congress, we addressed notes to the Committees on Clainms of the Senate and War-Claims bf the House, asking for their judgment upon the question. They replied that, in their judgment, we had no jurisdiction of cases reported to Congress, and therefore that we could not grant rehearings in such cases. Being fully satisfied of the correctness of this decision of the committees, we have since refused to receive such petitions. V. Of citizenship. —We have held that aliens who had only declared their intention of becoming citizens, but who were not actually admitted to American citizenship, and had not renounced their foreign allegiance, were not citizens within the meaning of the act of Congress establishing this commission. This, we believe, is in consonance with the practice of the Government during the war, and with the recent decision of the mixed commission on.British and American claims. VI. Some misapprehension still seems to exist as to what in our judgment constitutes the proof of loyalty and disloyalty. It is thought that we hold that service in the rebel army, furnishing a substitute, holding civil office under the confederacy, furnishing munitions of war, supplies, cotton, or money, to aid the confederacy, are disloyal acts on the part of the claimant, which necessarily and in all cases require us to reject the claim. This is a mistake. They are prima-facie disloyal acts which require the rejection of the claim unless explained and shown to be not the voluntary acts of the claimants, but done under duress, from necessity, or through personal fear of danger to life, family, or property. The proof that they were not voluntary acts is always received and considered. In our present report there are many cases ALIEN CLAIMS. 345 of claimants who have served'in the confederate army whose claims have been allowed; but the proof that such service was involuntary has been ample, as, for instance, that they were loyal, were conscripted, served for a short time, deserted at the first opportunity, enlisted inll the Union Army, served one, two, or three years, and were honorable discharged. Such proof-and it is found in quite a number of cases-must satisfy every fair mind that the service in the contederate army was not voluntary, and that the party was really loyal to the Union cause. The principle applies to all cases where the disloyal act apIpears. But no two cases are alike. It is impossible to lay down a general rule as to the weight of evidence, and what is and what is not satisfactory proof that the disloyal act was done voluntarily or not. The circumstances are all to be weighed; the whole evidence is to be considered; and it is only by so doing that a reasonable judgment can be formed. VII. Bankr2ptcy.-After the war numerous claimants availed themselves of the benefit of the bankrupt law. In every such case the claim passed to the assignee in bankruptcy. Counsel have strenuously urged that, as there was no liability on the part of the Government to make payment to any one, and no tribunal before which claims could be adjudicated or enforced, they were mere naked, intangible rights, invested with no attributes of property, and not the subject of assignment or transfer. If this is true, we have erred in recommending payment to heirs and legatees. We have never doubted that these claims were the subject of inheritance and bequest. If they pass by will, then assuredly they pass in bankruptcy. The fourteenth section of the bankrupt law defines the property that goes to the assignee, and includes not only all real and personal property and choses in action, but in terms 1" all rights in equity." The act of March 3, 1871, does not create claims. It recognizes their existence, and provides a tribunal for their adjudication and settlement. At the beginning of the war they were paid through the proper accounting officers, and it required affirmative legislation to suspend payment. If a regular voucher was given for stores or supplies, no matter where taken, the proper officers of the Government always have been authorized to make payment. They refuse it because the highest evidence is not produced. Yet the character of the evidence to establish it neither creates, enlarges, nor diminishes the claim. ASA OWEN ALDIS, J. B. HOWELL, ORANGE FERRISS, Commissioners of Claims. The following are the regulations for taking testimony in support of claims pending before -the commissioners of claims at Washington. (Revised an(l re-issued July 1, 1874.) ADMISSIBLE ]VIDENCE. 1. Admissible evidence consists only of oral testimony given before the commissioners of claims or one of them, personally; or of testimony taken previous to March 3, 1871, to be used in the Court of Claims, or before some Department of the Government; or of depositions taken under the rules and authority of the commissioners of claims in cases not exceeding $10,000 in amount; or of papers used in evidence before any Department of the Government prior to March 3, 1871, in the consideration of any claim not now exceeding $10,000 in amount. 346 ALIEN CLAIMS. AUTHORITY OF SPECIAL COMAIISSIONERS. 2. Special commissioners appointed by the commissioners of claims are authorized to administer oaths and affirmations; to take the depositions of witnesses in any case not exceeding $5,000 in amount, upon application of the claimant or attorney, and to take the depositions of witnesses in any case not exceeding $10,000 in amount when so ordered by the commissioners. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY PROHIBITED. 3. Special commissioners must themselves administer all oaths and affirmations, examine all witnesses, write down all testimony, and fill up and sign all certificates. No part of their authority or duty can be delegated. MODE OF TAKING DEPOSITIONS. 4. Depositions must be written in presence of the witnesses and while they are testifying, and the record must be as closely as possible in the words spoken by the witnesses, who must sign their depositions after hearing them read. The testimony must be written on legal-cap paper, and on both sides of the sheets. Testimony concerning loyalty should be separately recorded from testimony concerning property, so that all the depositions affecting loyalty may be brought together before the several pages are fastened and the certificate appended. CERTIFYING AND INDORSING DEPOSITIONS. 5. All depositions taken at one time and in the sam'e case should be securely fastened together and covered by a certificate of the form furnished by the commissioners; each signature being also attested by the special commissioner. The depositions should be then folded, and so indorsed as to exhibit, without unfolding, the number of the case, the name and residence of the claimant, the amount of the claim, the names of the deponents, the name of the special commissioner, the amount of fees and expenses actually charged, and the name and address of the attorney at Washington, if there be any such attorney. SWEARING OF WITNESSES. 6. Every deponent, before testifying, must be duly and properly sworn or affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, concerning the matters under examination, and each deponent so swearing should be informed that false testimony, knowingly given before any special commissioner, is punishable as in cases of willful and corrupt perj ury. EXAMINATION OF WITESSES BY SPECIAL COMMISSIONERS. 7. Claimants, or the heirs or legatees of deceased claimants, are to be first examined when present; the other witnesses in any order that may be arranged. When a claimant, or a witness, is testifying, the other witnesses must not be present; but a claimant, or other beneficiary, or a claimant's counsel, is entitled to be present during the examination of all the witnesses. ALIEN CLAIMS. 347 The special commissioner will begin the examination of each deponent by putting, one after another, the printed questions prescribed for such a witness, reading each question deliberately, and repeating and explaining it, if necessary, and being careful to obtain and to write down a direct and explicit answer to every part of it. Printed questions are neither to be written down as questions, nor their contents repeated in the answers, but they will be mentioned only by numbers according to the following form:'" To question n-umbered, the witness answers:" After putting each printed question, or after putting all the printed questions, if he so prefers, the special commissioner will put such questions of his own as will draw out all the facts, whether they be favorable or unfavorable to the claim; also, such as will disclose the means of knowledge possessed by the witness, distinguish between what he actually knows and what he only believes, or thinks, or has heard, clear, up what is obscure and indefinite, and test the bias, the accuracy, the memory, and the honesty of the witness. A witness under examination should be reminded, by frequent questions, of the necessity of giving times, places, names, and particular circumstances connected with the more important facts to which he testifies, and, if careless or reluctant, should be informed that omissions to answer questions or parts of questions, or evasive answers, or uncertainties in the testimony, throw injurious doubts upon the merits of the claim and jeopardize its success. A witness should be permitted to tell all that he desires, and induced by searching questions to tell all that he knows; yet the special commissioner must not permit a witness to ramble in his statements, but cause himn to fully answer one question, or testify on one topic, before passing to. another. EXAMINATION BY CLAIMIANTS OR COUNSEL. 8. When the special commissioner has completed his examination of a witness, the claimant or counsel can put such questions as may tend to draw out additional facts, but must not be allowed, either ignorantly or through design, to put " leading questions," or questions liable to induce the witness to state as facts what he does not positively know or remember; and if any such question is insisted upon by claimant or counsel, the special commissioner will write it down as part of the record. RE-EXAMINATION BY SPECIAL COMMISSIONERS. 9. After a witness has been examined by the claimant or counsel, the special commissioner should put any further questions suggested by the questions and answers that have just passed between claimant or counsel and the witness, using, as before, his best efforts to bring out both sides of the case and free it from doubt and obscurity. QUESTIONS NOT TO BE RECORDED. 10. None of the questions put to witnesses by special commissioners, claimants, or counsel, need be written in the depositions, unless they be " leading questions," as already mentioned, or their appearance in the record is necessary to a proper understanding of the answers. SPECIAL TESTIMONY CONCERNING DECEASED CLAIMANTS. 11. Where the original claimant is dead, the questions that would be put to such claimant, if living, should be answered by the nearest or 348 ALIEN CLAIMS. most intimate relative, but the answers must contain only actual personal knowledge, and not mere belief, hearsay, or supposition; and the means of knowledge must be stated in every answer where kniowledge is professed. REFRESHMENT OF THE MEMORY OF WITNESSES. 12. Witnesses are not to be permitted to refresh their memory during their examination by referring for information to either persons or papers, excepting to memoranda made by themselves on the spot and at the time of the transactions to which they relate; and any such memoranda, used to refresh the memory, must be put into the record as evidence. In other respects, they are to testify from their own recollection, especially when testifying to number or quantity in connection with the items of a claim. TESTIMONY TO BE TAKEN ON FORMAL APPLICATIONS. 13. Before proceeding to take testimony, a special commissioner must have before him a formal application containing the record number, title, and amount of the claim, and the list of items corresponding with the items in the petition filed at Washington. The application on which testimony is taken should be attached firmly to the deposition as part of the record, and should be inserted just before the depositions relating to the property. MODE AND TIME OF FORWARDING TESTIMONY. 14. Depositions must be forwarded direct to the commissioners at Washington by the special commissioner, by mail or express, with postage or expressage prepaid, and as soon as possible after the proper costs are paid or secured. FEES AND EXPENSES. 15. The fees of a special commissioner for taking, certifying, and forwarding depositions in support of a claim not exceeding one thousand dollars in amount, are limited by law to ten cents per folio; a folio being construed to be one hundred words, and the words to be counted being those in the certificate, head-lines, testimony, and indorsement. In cases above one thousand dollars in amount, the authorized fees are twenty cents per folio, with an attendance-fee of three dollars for each day of actual service, divided among all the claimants served in one day, but not more than one day's attendance-fee to be collected in any one case. Copies of depositions may be furnished to claimants who desire them, at the rate of ten cents per folio. By special agreement, previously made, a special commissioner may receive from claimants or their agents the amount of his actual traveling expenses, including the necessary cost of board and lodging, for the actual distance traveled and the actual time consumed in their service. Any agreement for fixing the cost of taking testimony in any other way than herein provided, must, if made, be made in writing and signed by the claimant or his attorney, and the writing forwarded to the commissioners, to be filed and preserved, subject to the uses of either party, but the agreement must not be in excess of the legal fees. ALIEN CLAIMS. 349 The actual or estimated amount of postage may be collected by a special commissioner on each set of depositions, and used to pay the cost of forwarding such depositions. Claimants are not entitled to have their depositions forwarded or con — sidered till the authorized costs are paid or secured, but al special commissioner must accept no promise or security that would give him a pecuniary interest in the success of a claim. STANDING INTERROGATORIES. The following questions will be put to every person who gives testimony: 1. What is your name, your age, your residence, and how long has it been such, and your occupation? 2. If you are not the claimant, in what manner, if any, are you related to the claimant or interested in the success of the claim? The following questions will be put to every claimant, except claimants who were slaves at the beginning of the war: [NOTE. —If the original claimant be dead, these questions are to be answered by each of the heirs or legatees who were not less than sixteen years of age when the war closed.] 3. Where were you born? If not barn in the United States, when and where were you naturalized? Produce your naturalization-papers, if you can. 4. Where were you residing and what was your business for six months before the outbreak of the rebellion, and where did you reside and what was your business from the beginning to the end of the war "I And if you changed your residence or business, state how many times, and why such changes were made. 5. On which side were your sympathies during the war, and were they on the same side from beginning to end? 6. Did you ever do anything or say anything against the Union cause; and if so, what did you do and say, and whyS 7. Were you at all times during the war willing and ready to do whatever you could in aid of the Union cause? 8. Did you ever do anything for the Union cause or its advocates or defenders? If so, state what you did, giving times, places, names of persons aided, and particulars. Were the persons aided your relations? 9. Had you any near relatives in the Union Army or Navy; if so, in what company and regiment, or on what vessel, when and where did each one enter service, and when and how did he leave service? If he was a son, produce his discharge-paper, in order that its contents may be noted in this deposition, or state why it cannot be produced. 10. Were you in the service or employment of the United States Government at any time during the war; if so, in what service, when, where, or how long, under what officers, and when and how did you leave such service or employment? 11. Diid you ever voluntarily contribute money, property, or services to the Union cause; and if so, when, where, to whom, and what did you contribute? 12. Which side did you take while the insurgent States were seceding from the Union in 1860 and 1861, and what did you do to show on which side you stood? 13. Did you adhere to the Union cause after the States had passaed into rebellion, or did you go with your State? 350 ALIEN CLAIMS. 14. What were your feelings concerning the battle of Bull Run or Manassas, the capture of New Orleans, the fall of Vicksburgh, and the final surrender of the confederate forces? 15. What favors, privileges, or protections were ever granted you in recognition of your loyalty during the war, and when and by whom granted. 16. Have you ever taken the so-called "' iron-clad oath " since the war, and when and on what occasions? 17. Who were the leading and best-known Unionists of your vicinity during the war? Are any of them called to testify to your loyalty;,and if not, why not? 18. Were you ever threatened with damage or injury to your person, family, or property on account of your Union sentiments, or were you actually molested or injured on account of your Union sentiments? If so, when, where, by whom, and in what particular why were you injured or threatened with injury? 19. Were you ever arrested by any confederate officer, soldier, sailor,,or other person professing to act for the confederate government, or for any State in rebellion? e If so, when, where, by whom, for what cause; how long were you kept under arrest; how did you obtain your release; did you take any oath or give any bond to effect your release; and if so, what was the nature of the oath or bond? 20. Was any of your propertystaken by confederate officers or sol4diers, or any rebel authority? If so, what property, when, where, by whom; were you ever paid therefor, and did you ever present an account therefor to the confederate government, or any rebel officer? 21. Was any of your property ever confiscated by rebel authority, on the ground that you were an enemy to the rebel cause? If so, give all.the particulars, and state if the property was subsequently released or,compensation made therefor. 22. IDid you ever do anything for the confederate cause, or render,any aid or comfort to the rebellion! If so, give the times, places, per-,sons, and other particulars connected with each transaction. 23. WVhat force, compulsion, or influence was used to make you do anything against the Union cause? If any, give all the particulars demanded in the last question. 24. Were you in any service, business, or employment, for the confederacy, or for any rebel authority?t If so, give the same particulars as before required. 25. Were you in the civil, military, or naval service of the confederacy, or any rebel State, in any capacity whatsoever? If so, state fully in respect to each occasion and service. 26. Did you ever take any oath to the so-called Confederate States while in any rebel service or employment? 27. Did you ever have charge of any stores, or other property, for the -confederacy, or did you ever sell or furnish any supplies to the so-called Confederate States, or any State in rebellion; or did you have any share or interest in contracts or manufactures in aid of the rebellion? 28. Were you engaged in blockade-running, or running through the lines, or interested in the risks or profits of such ventures? 29. Were you in any way interested in any vessel navigating the waters of the confederacy, or entering or leaving any confederate port? If so, what vessel, when and where employed, in what business, and had any rebel authority any direct or indirect interest in vessel or cargo 6. 30. Did you ever subscribe to any loan of the so-called Confederate States, or of any rebel State; or own confederate bonds or securities, or ALIEN CLAIMS. 351 the bonds or securities of any rebel State issued between 1861 and 1865? Did you sell, or agree to sell, cotton or produce to the confederate government, or to any rebel State, or to any rebel officer or agent; and it so, did you receive or agree to receive confederate or State bonds or securities in payment; and if so, to what amount, and for what kind and amount of property? 31. Did you contribute to the raising, equipment, or support of tooops, or the building of gunboats in aid of the rebellion; or to military hospitals or invalids, or to relief-funds or subscriptions for the families of persons serving against the United States? 32. Did you ever give information to any person in aid of military or naval operations against the United States? 33. Were you at any time a member of any society or organization for equipping volunteers or conscripts, or for aiding the rebellion in any other manner? 34. Did you ever take an oath of allegiance to the so-called Confederate States? If so, state how often, when, where, for what purpose, and the nature of the oath or affirmation. 35. Did you ever receive a pass from rebel authority? If so, state when, where, for what purpose, on what conditions, and how the pass was used. 36. Had you any near relatives in the confederate army, or in any military or naval service hostile to the United States? If so, give names, ages on entering service, present residence, if living, what influence you exerted, if any, against their entering the service, and in what way you contributed to their outfit and support. 37. Have you been under the disabilities imposed by the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution? Have your disabilities been removed by Congress? 38. Have you been specially pardoned by the President for participation in the rebellion? 39. Did you take any amnesty oath during the war, or after its close? If so, when, where, and why did you take it? 40. Were you ever a prisoner to the United States authorities, or on parole, or under bonds to do nothing against the Union cause? If so, state all the particulars. 41. Were you ever arrested by the authorities of the United States during the war? If so, when, where, by whom, on what grounds, and when and how did you obtain your release? 42. Were there any fines or assessments levied upon you by the authorities of the United States because of your supposed sympathy for the rebellion? If so, state all the facts. 43. Was any of your property taken into possession or sold by the United States under the laws relating to confiscation, or to captured and abandoned property? The following questions will be put to all male claimants or beneficiaries who were not less than sixteen years of age when the war closed: 44. After the presidential election of 1860, if of age, did you vote for any candidate or on any questions, during the war, and how did you vote? Did you vote for or against candidates favoring secession? Did you vote for or against the ratification of the ordinance of secession, or for or against separation in your State? 45. Did you belong to any vigilance committee, or committee of safety, home-guard, or any other form of organization or combination designed to suppress Union sentiment in your vicinity?. 46. Were you in the confederate army, State militia, or any military 352 ALIEN CLAIMS. or naval organization hostile to the United States? If so, state when. where, in what organizations, how and why you entered, how long you remained each time, and when and how you left. If you claim that you were conscripted, when and where was it, how did you receive notice, and from whom, and what was the precise manner in which the conscription was enforced against you? If you were never in the rebel army or other hostile organization, explain how you escaped service. If you furnished a substitute, when and why did you furnish one, and what is his name, and his present address, if living? 47. Were you in any way connected with or employed in the confederate quartermaster, commissary, ordinance, engineer, or medical department, or any other department, or employed on any railroad transporting troops or supplies for the confederacy, or otherwise engaged in transportation of men and supplies for the confederacy? If so, state how employed, when, where, for how long, under whose direction, and why such employment was not giving " aid and comfort " to the rebellion. 48. Did you at any time have charge of trains, teams, wagons, vessels, boats, or military supplies or property of any kind for the confederate government? If so, give all the facts as in previous questions. 49.'Were you employed inll saltpeter-works, in tanning or milling for the confederate goverlnent, or making clothing, boots, shoes, saddles, harness, arms, ammunition, accouterments, or any other kind of munitions of war for the confederacy? If so, give all the particulars of time, place, and nature of service or supplies. 50. Were you ever engaged in holding in custody, directly or indirectly, any persons taken by the rebel government as prisoners of war, or any person imprisoned or confined by the confederate government, or the authorities of any rebel State, for political causes? If so, when, where, under what circumstances, in what capacity were you engaged, and what was the name and rank of your principal? 51. Were you ever in the Union Army or Navy, or in any service conlnected therewith? If so, when, where, in what capacity, under whose command or authority, for what period of time, and when and how did you leave service? Produce your discharge-papers, so that their contents may be noted herein. The following questions will be put to every person testifying to the loyalty of claimants or beneficiaries: 52. In whose favor are you here to testify? 53. How long have you known that person altogether, and what part of that time have you intimately known himn 54. Did you live near him during the war, and how far away? 55. Did you meet him often, and about how often, during the war? 56. Did you converse with the claimant about the war, its causes, its progress, and its results? If so, try to remember the more important occasions on which you so conversed, beginning with the first occasion, and state with restlect to each, when it was, where it was, who were present, what caused the conversation, and what the claimant said, in substance, it you cannot remuember his words. 57. Do you know of anything done by the claimant that showed him to be loyal to the Union cause during the war? It you (lo, state what he did, when, where, and what was the particular cause or occasion of his doing it. Give the same information about each thing he did that showed him to be loyal. 58. Do you know of anything said or done by the claimant that was against the Union cause? If so, please state, with respect to each ALIEN CLAIMS. 353 thing said or done, What it was, when it was, where it was, and what particular compulsion or influence caused him to say or do it. 59. If you have heard of anything said or done by the claimant, either for the Union cause or against it, state from whom you heard it, when you heard it, and what you heard. 60. WVhat was the public reputation of the claimant for loyalty or disloyalty to the United States during the war? It you profess to know his public reputation, explain fully how you know it, whom you heard speak of it, and give the names of other persons who were neighbors during the war that could testify to his public rep)utation. 61. Who were the known anid prominent Union Ipeople of the ineiglborhood during thie war, ald (lo you know that such persons could testify to the clailmant's loyalty? 62. Were you, yourself, an adherent of the Union cause lduring tilhe war? If so, did the claimant know you to be such, and how did he know it? 63. Do you know of any threats, molestations, or' injury inflicted upon the claimant or his fanily, or his property, on account of his adherence to the Union cause? Itf so, give all the particulars. 64. Do you know of any act done or language used by the claimant that would have prevented him from establishing his loyalty to the confederacy? If so, what act or what language? 65. Can you state any other facts within your own knowledge in proof of the claimant's loyalty during the war? If so, state all the facts and give all the particulars. The following questions concerning the ownership of property charged in claims will be put to all claimants, or the representatives of deceased claimants: 66. Who was the owner of the property charged in this claim when it was taken, and how did such person become owner'? 67. If any of the property was taken from a farm or plantation, where was such farm or plantntion situated, what was its size, how much was cultivated, how much awas woodland, and how much was waste-land? 68. Has the person who owned the property when taken since filed a petition in bankruptcy, or been declared a bankrupt? The following questions will be put to female claimants: 69. Are you married or single? If married, when were you marriedt Was your husband loyal to the cause and Government of the United States throughout the war? Where does he now reside, and why is he not joined with you in the petition? How many chil(lren have you? Give their names and ages. Were any of them in the confederate service during the war? If you claim that the property named in your petition is your sole and separate property, state how you came to own it separately from your husband; how your title was derived; when your ownership of it began. Did it ever belong to your husband? If the property for which you ask pay is wood, timber, rails, or the products of a farm, how did you get title to the farm? If by deed, can you file copies of the deeds? If single, have you been married? If a widow, when did your husband die? Was he in the confederate army? VWas he in the civil service of the confederacy? Was he loyal to the United States Government throughout the war? Did he leave any children? How many? Are any now living? Give their names and ages. Are they not interested in this claim? If they are not joined in this petition, why not? State fully liow your title to the property specified in the petition was obtained. Did you ever belong to any IX. Rep. 134-23 354 ALIEN CLAIMS. sewing-society organized to make clothing for confederate soldiers or their fatnilies, or did you assist in. making any such clothing, or making flags or other military equipments, or preparing or furnishing delicacies or supplies for the confederate hospitals or soldiers? The following questions will be put to colored claimants: 70. Were you a slave or free at the beginning of the war? If ever a! slave, when did you become free? What business did you follow after obtaining your freedom? Did you own this ]property before or after you became free? When did you get it How did you become owner, afd from whom did you obtain it? Where did you get the means to pay for it? What was the name and residence of your master, and is he still living? Is he a witness for you; and if not, why not? Are you in his employ now, or do you live on his land or on land bought from him?. Are you in his debt? What other person beside yourself has any interest in this claim? The following questions will be put to all colored witnesses in behalf of white claimants: 71. Were you formerly the slave of the claimant'? Are you now in his service or employment'? o you live on his land? Are you in his debt? Are you in any away to share in this claim, if allowed? The following questions kvill be put to claimants and witnesses who testify to the taking of property, omitting in the case of each claimant or witness any questions that are clearly unnecessary: 72.'Were you present when any of the property charged in this claim was taken?. Did you actually see any taken? If so, specify what you saw taken. 73. Was any of the prolerty taken in the night-time, or was any taken secretly, so that you did not know of it at the time? 74. Was any complaint made to any officer of the taking of any of the property? If so, give the name, rank, and regiment of the officer, and state who made the complaint to him; what he said and did in consequence; and what was the result, of the complaint. 75. Were any vouchers or receipts asked for or given? If given, where are the vouchers or receipts? If lost, state fully how lost. If asked and not given, by whom were they asked; who was asked to give them, and why were they refused or not given? State very fully in regard to the failure to ask or obtain receipts. 76. Has any payment ever been made for any property charged iu this claim? Has any payment been made for any property taken at the same times as the property charged in this claim? Has any payment been made for any property taken from the same claimant during the war; and if so, when, by whom, for what property and to what amount? Has this property, or any part of it, been included in any claim heretofore presented to Congress, or any court, Department, or officer of the United States, or to any board of survey, military commissior, State commission or officer, or an) other authority? If so, when and to what tribunal or officers was the claim presented? WVas it larger or smaller in amount than this claim; and how is the difference explained; and what wias the decision, if any, of the tribunal to which it was presented? 77. Was the property charged in this claim taken by troops encamped in the vicinity, or were they on the march; or were they on a raid or expedition; or had there been any recent battle or skirmish, 78. You will please listen attentively while the list of items, but not the quantities, is read to you, anlld as each kind of property is called oftf say whether you saw any such property taken. 79. Begin now with the first item of property you have just said you ALIEN CLAIMS. 355 saw takel, and give the following information about it: First. Describe its exact condition-as, for instance, if corn, whether green or ripe, standing or harvested, in shuck or husked or shelled; if lumber, whether new or old, in buildings or piled; if grain, whether growing or cut, &c. Second. State where it was. Third. What was the quantity? Explain fully how you know the quantity; and if estimated, describe your method of making the estimate. Fourth. Describe the quality, to your best judgment. Fifth. State as -nearly as you can the market-value of such property at the time in United States money. Sixth. Say when the property was taken. Seventh. Give the name of the detachment, regiment, brigade, division, corps, or army taking the property, and the names of any officers belonging to the commandl. Eighth. Describe the precise manner in which the property was taken into possession by the troops, and the manner in which it was removed. Ninth. State as closely as you can how many men, animals, wagons, or other means of transport, were engaged in the removal; how long they were occupied, and to what place they removed the property. Tenth. State if any officers were present; how you knew them to be officers; what they said or did in relation to the property, and give the names of any, if you can. Eleventh. Give any reasons that you may have for believing that the taking of the property was authorized by the proper officers, or that it was for the necessary use of the Army. 80. Now take the next item of property you saw taken, and give the same information, and so proceed to the end of the list of items. CHAPTER X. MIXED COMMIISSIONS UNDER TREATIES. Since the organization of the Government there have been many mixed commissions under treaties for the adjustment of claims between this and foreign powers. It would be impracticable to give a history of these now. The join commission of the United States and Mexico under the convention of July 4, 1868, is now in session in Washington. The treaty which provided for this and the rules and orders thereof are as follows: By the President of the United States of America. A PRtOCLAMATION. Whereas a convention between the United States of America and the republic of Mexico, providing for the adjustment of the claims of citizeus of either country against the other, was concluded and signed by their respective pleniplotentiaries, at the city of Washington, on the fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, which convention, being in the English and Spanish languages, is word for word as follows: Whereas it is desirable to main- Considerando que es conveniente tain and increase the friendly feel- mantener y ensanchar los sentiings between the United States and mientos amistosos entre la repui 356 ALIEN CLAIMS. tle Mexican republic, and so to blica Mexicana y los Estados Unistrengthen the system and princi- dos, y afianzarasi el sistema ay princiciples of republican government pios de gobierno republicano en el on the American continent; and continente Americano; y considewhereas since the signature of the rando que con posterioridad'a la treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, of the celebracion del tratado d(le Guada2d of February, 1848, claims and lupe Hlidalgo, de 2 de Febrero de complaints have been made by cit- 1848, ciudadanos de la repilblica izens of the United States, on ac- Mexicana han hecho reclamaciocount of injuries to their persons nes y presentado quejas con and their propertybyby authorities motivo de perjuicios sufridos en of that republic, and similar claims sus personas 6 sus propiedades, and complaints have been made on por autoridades de los Estados account of injuries to the persons Unidos, y reclamaciones y quejas and property of Mexican citizens semejantes se han hecho y presenby authorities of the United States; tado con motivo de perjuicios sufrithe President of the United States dos por ciudadanos de los Estados of America and the President of Unidos, en sus personas 6 sus prothe Mexican republic have resolved piedades, por autoridades de la to conclude.a convention for the repfiblica Mexicana; el Presidente adjustment of the said claims and de la repfublica Mexicana y el Precomplaints, and have named as sidlente (lde los Estados Unidos de their plenipotentiaries-the Presi- America han determinado concluir dent of the United States, William una convencion para el arreglo de IH. Seward, Secretary of State; and dichas reclamaciones y quejas, y han the President of the Mexican re- nombrado sus plenipotenciarios; el public, Matias Romero, accredited Presidente de la republica Mexias envoy extraordinary and min- cana, a Matias Romero, acreditado ister plenipotentiary of the Mexi- coino enviado extraordinario ymican republic to the United States; nistro plenipotenciario de la repuiwho, after having communicated to blica Mexicana en los Estados Unieach other their respective full dos; y el Presidente de los Estados powers, found in good and due Unidos, VWilliam H. Seward, Seform, have agreed to the following cretario de Estado, quienes despues articles: de haberse mostrado sus respectivos plenos poderes y encontrddolos en buena y debida forma, han convenido en los articulos siguientes: ARTICLE I. ARTICULO I. All claims on the part of corpo- Todas las reclamaciones hecllas rations, companies, or private in- por corporaciones, compafiias o individuals, citizens of the United dividuos particulares, ciudadanos States, upon the government of the de la repfiblica Mexicana, proceMexican republic arising from inju- dentes de perjuicios sufridos en ries to their persons or property by sus personas 6 en sus propiedades, authorities of the Mexican republic, por autoridades de los Estados and all claims on the -part of corpo- Unidos, y todas las reclainaciones rations, companies, or private indi- hechas por corporaciones, compaviduals, citizens of the Mexican re- ilias 6 individuos particulares, ciupublic, upon the Government of the dadanos de los Estados Unidos, United States, arising from injuries procedentes de perjuicios sufridos to their persons or property by au- en sus personas 6 en sus propiethorities of the United States,which dades, por autoridades de la repumay have been presented to either blica Mexicana,'que hayan sido pre ALIEN CLAIMS. 357 government for its interposition sentadas ia cualquiera de los dos with the other since the signature gobiernos, solicitando la interposiof the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo cion pbara con el otro, con postebetween the United States and the rioridad'a la celebracion del tratado Mexican republic of the 2d of Feb- de Guadalupe Hidalgo entre la ruary 1818, and which yet remain Repfiblica AMexicana y los Estados unsettled, as well as any other such Unidos, de 2 de Febrero de 1848, y claims which may be presented que auin permanecen pendientes, de within the time hereinafter speci- la misma manera que cualesquiera fled, shall be referred to two corn- otras reclalmaciones que se presenmnissioners, one to be appointe(l by taren dentro del tiempo que mas the President of the United States, adelante se especificara, se referiby and with the advice and consent rain'a dos comisionados, uno de los of the Senate, and one by the Pres- cuales sera nombrado por el Presiident of the Mexican republic. In dente de la repfiblica Mexicana y case of the death, absence, or inca- el otro por el Presidente de los pacity of either commissioner, or in Estados Unidos, con el consejo y the event of either commissioner aprobacion del Senado. En caso omitting or ceasing to act as such, de muerte, ausencia 6 incapacidad the President of the United States de alguno de los comisionados, 6 or the President of the Mexican re- en caso de que alguno de los copublic, respectively, shall forthwith misionados cese de funcionar como name another person to act as oom- tal, 6 suspenda el ejercicio de sus missioner in the place or stead of funciones, el Presidente de la rethe commissioner originally named. piblica Mexicana 6 el Presidente de los Estados Unidos, respectivamente, nombrarain desde luego otra persona que haga de comisionado en lugar del que originalmente fue nombrado. The commissioners so named shall Los comisionados nonmbrados de meet at Washington within six esta manera, se reuniran en Washmonths after the exclhange of the ington dentro de seis meses, desratifications of this convention, and pues de cangeadas las ratificaciones shall, before proceeding to business, de esta convencion, y antes de demake and subscribe a solemn dec- sempefiar sus funciones, haran y laration that they will impartially suscribiran una declaracion soand carefully examine and decide, lemne de que examinarain y decidito the best of their judgment, aund rin imparcial y cuidadosamente, according to publiclaw, justice, and segun su mejor saber, y conforme equity, without fear, favor, or affec- con el derecho puiblico, la justicia y tion to their own country, upon all equidad, y sin temor 6 afeccion a[ such claims above specified as shall su respectivo pais, sobre todas las be laid before them on the p)art of reclamaciones'antes especificadas, the governments of the United que se les sometan por los gobiernos States and of the Mexican Republic, de la repfiblica Mexicana y de los respectively; and such declaration Estados Unidos, respectivamente, shall be entered on the record of y dicha declaracion se asentara en their proceedings. la acta de sus procedimientos. The commissioners shall then Los comisionados procederan ennamne some third person to act as tonces a nomnbrar una tercera peran umpire in any case or cases on sona que hard de irbitro en el caso which they may themselves diffcr in o casos en que difieran de opinion. opinion. If they should not be able Si no pudieren convenir en el to agree upon thename of such third nombre de esta tercera persona, person, they shall each name a per- cada uno de ellos nombrarai una 358 ALIEN CLAIMS. son, and in each and every case in persona, y en todos y cada uno de which the commissioners may differ los casos en que los comisiouados in opinion as to the decision which difieran de opinion respecto de la they ought to give, it shall be de- decision que deban dar, se detertermined by lot which of the two minard por suerte quien de las dos persons so named shall be umpire personas asi nombradas hara de in that particular case. The person arbitro en ese caso particular. La or persons so to be chosen to be persona 6 personas que se eligieren umpire shall, before proceeding to de esa manera, para ser arbitros, act as such in any case, make and haran y suscribiran'ntes de obrar subscribe a solemn declaration in como tales, en cualquier caso, una a form similar to that which shall declaracion solemne en una forma, already have been made and sub- semejante a 1a que debera haber scribed by the comissioners, which silo ya hecha y suscrita por los shall be entered on the record of comisionados, lo cual se asentar4 their proceedings. In the event of tambien en la acta de los procedithe death, absence, or incapacity of mientos. En caso de muerte, ansuch person or persons, or of his or sencia 6 incapacidad de la persona their omitting, or declining, or ceas- 6 personas nombrados Arbitros, 6 ing to act as such umpire, another en caso de que suspendan el ejerciand different person shall be named, cio de sus funciones, se rehusen'a as aforesaid, to act as such umpire, desempeniarlas 6 cesen en ellas, in the place of the person so origi- otra persona sera nombrado Arbitro nally named, as aforesaid, and shall de la manera que queda dicha, en make and subscribe such declara- lugar de la persona originalmente tion as aforesaid. nombrada, y hari y suscribir'a la declaracionu antes mencionada. ARTICLE IJ. ARTICULO II. Thecommissioners shall then con- En seguida procederan juntajointly proceed to the investigation mente los comisionadas a la invesand decision of the claims which tigacion y decision dle las reclamashall be presented to their notice, ciones que se les presenten, en el in such order and in such manner 6rden y de la manera que de comun as they may conjoin tly think proper, acuerdo creveren conveniente, pero but upon such evi(lence or informa- recibiendo solamente las pruebas 6 tion only as shall be furnished by informes que se les ministren por or on behalf of their respective gov- los respectivos gobiernos 6 en su ernments. They shall be bound to nombre. Tendrhin obligacion de receive and peruse all written docu- recibir y leer todas las manifestaments or statements which may be ciones 6 documentos escritos que presented to them by or on behalf se le presenten por sus gobiernos of their respective governments in respectivos, 6 en su nombre, en support of or in answer to any claim, apoyo 6 respuesta' cualquiera and to hear, if required, one person reclamacion, y de oir, si se les pion each side on behalf of each gov- (liere, a una persona por cada lado, ernment on each and every separate en nombre de cada gobierno, en claim. Should they fail to agree in todas y cada una de las reclamaopinion upon any individual claim, ciones separadamente. Si dejaren they shall call to their assistance de convenir sobre alguna reclama. the umpire whom they may have cion particular, llamar'au en su auagreed to name, or who may be de- silio al Arbitro que hayan nombrado termined by lot, as the case may de comun acuerdo, 6' quien la be; and such umpire, after having suerte haya designado, segun fuere examined the evidence adduced for el caso, y el arbitro, despues de ALIEN CLAIMS. 359 and against the claim, and after haber examinado las pruebas prohaving heard, if required, one per- ducidas en favor y en contra de la son on each side as aforesaid, and reclamacion y despues de haber consulted with the commissioners, oido, si se le pidiere, i una persona shall decide thereupon finally and por cada lado, como queda dicho, y without appeal. The decision of the consultado con los comisionados, commissioners and of the umpire decidira sobre ella finalmente y sin shall be given upon each claim in apelacion. La decision de los comniwriting, shall designate whetherany sionados y del arbitro se dara en sum which may be allowed shall be cada reclamacion por escrito, espepayable in gold or in the currency cificarai si la suma que se conceof the United States, and slall be diere se pagara en oro 6 en moneda signed by them respectively. It corriente de los Estados Unidos, y shall be competent for each govern- sera firmada por ellos respectivament to name one person to attend niente. Cada gobierno podrai noInthe commissioners as agent on its brar una persona que concurra ia la behalf,topresentand supportclai m s comision en nombre del gobierno on its behalf, and to answer claims respectivo, como agente; que premade upon it, and to represent it senta o defienda las reclamaciones generally in all matters connected en nomnbre del misino gobierno, y with the investigation andl decision que responda d las reclamaciones thereof. hechas contra el, y que le represente en general en todos los negocios que tengan relacion con la investigacion y decision de reclamaciones. The President of the United States El Presidente de la repuiblica of America an(l the President of the Mlexicana y el Presideute de los Mexican Republic hereby solemnly Estados Unidos de America se comand sincerely engage to considerlthe prometen solemnue y sinceramente decision of the commissioners con- en esta convencion, a considerar la jointly or of the um'pire, as the case decision de los comisionados de may be, as absolutely final and con- acuerdo, Af del arbitro, segun fuere clusive upon each claim decided el caso, como absolutamente final upon by them or him respectively, y definitiva, respecto de cada uua and to give full effect to such decis- de las reclamaciones falladas por ions without any olbjection, evasion, los comnisionados o el arbitro respecor delay whatsoever. It is agreed tivamente. y'a dar entero cumplithat no claim arising out of a trans- miento a tales decisiones sin objeaction of a date prior to the 2d of cion, evasion ni dilacion ninguna. February, 1848, shall be admissible Si conlviene que ninguna reclamaunder this convention. cion que emane de acontecimientos de fechla anterioral 2 de Febrero de 1848, se admitira con arreglo'( esta convencion. ARTICLE III. ARTICULO 111. Every claim shall be presented Todas las reclamaciones se preto the commissioners within eight sentaran'a los comisionados dentro months froml the day of their first de ocho meses contados desde el meeting, unless in any case where dia (le su primera reunion, a no ser reasons for delay shall be estab- en las casos en que se manifieste lished to the satisfaction of the corn- que haya habido razones para dimissioners, or of the umpire in the latarlas, siendo estas satisfactorias eventof thecommissioners differilng para los conmisionados 6 para el 360 ALIEN CLAIMS. in opinion thereupon, and then and arbitro, si los comisionados no se in any such case the period for pre- convinieren, y en ese y otros casos senting the claim may be extended seinejantes, el periodo para la preto any time not exceeding three sentacion de las reclamaciones pomonths longer. dra estenderse por un plazo que no exceda de tres meses. The commissioners shall be bound Los comisionados tendran la oblito examine and decide upon every gacion de examinar y decidir todas claim within two years and six las reclamaciones dentro de dos months from the (lay of their first aftos y seis meses, contados desde meeting. It shall be competent for el dia de su primera reunion. Los the commissioners coInjointly, or for coinisionados de comun acuerdo the umpire if they differ, to decide 6 el arbitro, si ellos difirieren, poin each case whether any claim has d(ran decidlir en cada caso, si una or has not been duly made, pre- reclamacion ha sido o no debidaferred, and laid before them, either mente hecha, comlunicada y somewholly or to any and what extent, tida'a la comision, ya sea en su according to the true intent and totalidad o en parte y cual sea esta, meaning of this convention. con arreglo al verdadero espiritu y.i letra de esta convencion. ARTICLE iV.' ARTfCULO IV. When decisions shall have been Cuando los comisionados y el made by the commissioners and the airbitro hayan decidido todos los arbiter in every case which shall casos que les hayan sido debidahave been laid before them, the total mente sometidos, la suma total faamount awarded in all the cases llada en to(los los casos decididos decided in favor of the citizens of ent favor de los ciudadanos de una the one party shall be deducted fronr parte, se deducirii de la sumn-L total the total amount awarded to the fallada en favor de los cindladalios citizens of the other party, and the (le la otra parte, y la liferencia balance, to the amount of three hasta la cantidad de trescientos luil hundred thousand dollars, shall be pesos eii oro, o SU equivalente, se paid at the city of Mexico, or at thie pagarti en la ciudad de Mexico 6 city of Washington, in gold or its en la ciudad de Washington, al equivalent, within twelve months gobierno en favor de cuyos ciudadafrom the close of the commission, nos se haya fallado la mayor clantito the government in favor of whose dad, sin interes, ni otra deduccion citizens the greater amount may que la especificada en el Artictlo VI have been awarded, without inter- dle esta conlvencion. El resto de est or any other deduction than that dicha diferencia se pagar'i en abonos specified in Article VI of this con- anuales que no excedanl de tresvention. The residue of the said cientos mil pesosen oro,6 suequivabalance shall be paid in annual in- lente, hasta que se haya pagado el stallments to an amount not exceed- total de la diferenlcia. ingthree hundred thousand dollars, in gold or its equivalent, in any one yearuntil thewhole shall have been paid. ARTICLE V. ARTICULO V. The high contracting parties Las altas partes contratantes agree to consider the result of the convienen en consi(lerar el resulproceedinigs of this commission as tado de los procedimientos de esta ALIEN CLAIMS. 36,1 a full, perfect, and final settlement co-mision, como arreglo completo, ~of every claim upon either govern- perfecto y final, de toda reclama-:ment arising out of any transaction cion contra cualquiera gobierno, of a date prior to the exchange of que proceda de acontecimientos de the ratifiations of the present con. techa anterior al canje de las rativention; and further engage that ficaciones de la presente convenevery such claim, whether or not cion; y se comprometen ademis' the same mna)y have been presented que toda reclamacion, ya sea que to the notice of, made, preferred, or se haya presentado 6 no a la refelaid before the said commission, ridacomision,seraconsideradaytrashall, from and afteri the conclusion tada, concluidos los procedimientos of the proceedings of the said com- de dicha comision, como finalmente mission, be considered and treated arreglada, desechada y para siemas finally settled,barredand thence- pre inadmisible. forth inadmissible. ARTICLE Y'L ARTiCULO VI. The commissioners and the ur- Los comisionados y el'trbitro pire shall keep an accurate record Ilevaran una relacion fiel y actas and correct n minutes of their pro- esactas de sus procedimientos con ceedings, with the dates. For that especificacion de las fechas; con purpose they shall appoint two sec- este objeto nomlbraran dos secretaretaries versed in the language of rios versados en las lenguas de tinboth countries to assist them in the bos paises, para que les ayud(en en el transaction of the business of the arreglo de los asuntos de la comision..conlmission. Each government Cada gobierno pagarSa a su comnishall pay to its commissioner an sionado un sueldo que no exceda amount of salary not exceeding dle cuatro mil quinientos pesos al forty-five hundred dollars a year in afio, en moneda corriente de los the currency of the United States, Estados Unidos, cuya cantidad which amount shall be the same tfor ser'a la misma para alnbos gobierboth governments. The amount of nos. La compensacion que haya compensation to be paid to the urn- de pagarse al airbitro se determipire shall be determined by mutual narai por consentimieuto mfituo, al -consent at the close of the commis- termninarse la comision; pero posion, but necessary and reasonable dran hacerse por cada gobierno advances may be made by each gov- adelantos necesarios y razonables ernment upon the joint recolmmenu- en virtud de la recommendacion de dation of the commission. The los dos comisionados. El sueldo de salary of the secretaries shall not los secretarios no excedera de la exceed the sum of twenty-five hun- suma de dos mil quinientos pesos al dred dollars a year in the currency aiio, en moneda corriente de los Esof the United States. The wlhole tados Unidos. Los gastos todos de expenses of the commissiomi, includ- la comision, incluyendo los contining contingent expenses, shall be gentes, sepagaran conunareduccion defrayed by a ratable deduction on lproporcional de la cantidad total fathe amount of the sums awarded by 11ada por los comisionados, siempre the commission, provided always que tal deduccion no exceda del cinco that such deduction shall not ex- por ciento de las cantidades falladas..ceed five per cent. on the sums so Si hubiere algun deficiente, lo cuawarded. The deficiency, if any, brirtan (tmbos gobiernos por mitad. shall be defrayed in moieties by the two governments. 362 ALIEN CLAIMS. ARTICLE VII. ARTICULO VII. The present convention shall be La presente convencion sera raratified by the President of the tificada por el Presidente de la reUnited States, by and with the puiblica Mexicana, con aprobacion advice and consent of the Senate del Congreso de la misma, y por el thereof, and by the President of the Presidente de los Estados UniMexican Republic, with the appro- dos, con el consejo y aprobacion bation of the Congress of that re- del Senado de los mismos, y las public, and the ratifications shall ratificaciones se cangeara'n en be exchanged at Washington within Washington dentro de nueve meses nine months from the date hereof, contados desde la fecha de la conor sooner, if possible. vencion, o antes, si fuere posible. In witness whereof the respective En f6 de lo cual, los respectivos plenipotentiaries have signed the pllenipotenciarios la heinos firmado same and have affixed thereto the y sellado con nuestros sellos resl)ecseals of their arms. tivos. Done at Washington, the fourth Hecho en Washington el dia day of July, in the year of our Lord cuatro de Julio del afio dlel Selior one thousand eight hundred and rail ochocientos sesenta y ocho. sixty-eight. VILLIAM H. SEWARD. [L. S.] M. ROMERO. [L. S. i M. ROMERO. IL. S.] WILLIAMA H. SEWARD. [L. S.] And whereas the said convention has been duly ratified on both parts, and the respective ratifications of the same have this day been exchanged: Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States of America, have caused the said convention to be made public, to the end that the same, and every clause and article thereof, mlay be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this first day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, and of the independence of the United States of America the ninety-third. [SEAL.] ANDREW JOHNSON. By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE MEXICAN REPUBLIC FOR THE FURTHER EXTrENSION OF THE DURATION OF THE JOINT COMMISSION RESPECTING CLAIMS, ORIGINALLY FIXED BY THE CONVENTION OF JULY 4, 1868. CONCLUDED NOVEMBER 20, 1874; RATIFICATION ADVISED BY SENATE JANUARY 20, 1875; RATIFIED BY PRESIDENT JANUARY 22, 1875; RATIFIED BY PRESIDENT OF MEXICO DECEMBER 21, 1874; RATIFICATIONS EXCHANGED AT WASHINGTON JANUARY 28, 1875; PROCLAIMED JANUARY 29, 1875. By the President of the United States of Anmerica. A PROCLAMATION. Whereas a convention between the United States of Americla and the Mexican Republic for further extending the time originally fixed by the convention between the same parties of the 4th of' July, 1868, ALIEN CLAIMS. 363 and. extended by those of the 19th of April, 1871, and of the 27th of:Ncvember, 1872, for the duration of the joint commission 6n the subject of claims, was concluded and signed by their respective plenipotentiaries at Washington on the 20th day of November, 1874, the original of which convention, being in the English and Spanish languages, is word for word as follows: Convention between the United States Convencion entre la Repiblica 1Mexiof America and the Mexican Re- cana y los Estados Unidos depublic. An erica. Whereas, pursuant to the con- Considerando: Que, conforme a vention between the United States ia convencion celebrada entre la and the Mexican Republic of the Repfiblica Mexicana y los Estados 19th day of April, 1871, the func- Unidos el 19 de Abril de 1871, las tions of the joint commission under funciones de la comision mista the convention between the same establecida porla convencion entre parties of the 4th of July, 1868, were las mismas partes, del 4 de Julio de extended for a term not exceeding 1868, fueron prorogadas por un one year from the day on which they termino que no excediera de un aiio were to terminate according to the contado desde el dia en que debian convention last named; terminar con arreglo't la convencion ultimamente citada: And whereas, pursuant to the Y que, si bien conforme al artifirst article of the convention be- culo primero de la convencion entre tween the same parties, of the twen- las mismas partes, del veintisiete ty-seventh day of November, one de Noviembre de onil ochocientos thousand eight hundred and seven- setenta y dos, la referida comision ty-two, the joint commission above mista fue revivida y doe nuevo proreferred to was revived and again rogada por un ternmino que no exextended for a term not exceeding cediese de dos aiios contados desde two years from the day on which el dia en que las funciones de dicha the functions of the said commis- comision habian de terminar segun sion would terminate pursuant to la citada convencion del diez y the sai(l convention of the nine- nueve de Abril de 1871, dichas proteenth day of April, 1871; but rogas no han sido suficientes para whereas the said extensions have el despacho de los negocios pennot proved sufficient for the dis- dientes ante dicha comision, haposal of the business before the said llaindose las referidas partes igualcommission, the said parties being mente animadas del deseo de que equally animated by a desire that todos esos negocios queden conall that business should be closed, cluidos como se estipul6 originalas originally contemplated, the mente, el Presidente de la RepulbPresident of the United States has lica Mexicana ha conferido con este for this purpose conferred full pow- fin plenos poderes a Don Ignacio ers on Hamilton Fish, Secretary Mariscal, Enviado Extraordinario y of State, and the President of the Ministro Pleuipotenciario de dicha Mexican Republic has conferredlike Repfiblica en los Estados Unidos, powers on Don Ignacio Mariscal, y el Presidente de los Estados UniEnvoy Extraordinary and Minister dos ha conferido iguales poderes a Plenipotentiary of that republic to Hamilton Fish, Secretario de Estathe United States; and the said do. Y estos Plenipotenciarios, haPlenipotentiaries havin gexcl an ged biendo cangeado sus poderes plenos, their full powers, which were found que se encontraron en debida forma, to be in due form, have agreed upon han convenido en los articu\os sithe following articles: guientes: 364 ALIEN CLAIMS. ARTICLE I. ARTiCULO I. The high contracting parties Las altas partes contratantes.agree that the said commission convienen en que el t6rmino ahora shall again be extended, and that fijado para la duracion de la cothe time now fixed for its duration mision mencionada se extienda de.shall be prolonged for one year from nuevo, prorogandose por un afio the time when it would have ex- contado desde el tiempo en que pired pursuant to the convention espiraria con arreglo a la conven-.of the twenty-seventh of Novem- cion del veintisiete de Noviembre ber, 1872; that is to say, until the de mil ochocientos setenta y dos: ~thirty-first day of January, in the es decir, hasta el treinta y uno de year one thousand eight hundred Enero de mil ochocientos setenta y and seventy-six. seis. It is, however, agreed that noth- Queda sil embargo convenido ing contained in this article shall que nada de lo que contiene este in any wise alter or extend the time articulo alterara 6 extender' de originally fixed by the convention modo alguno el termino originalof the 4th July, 1868, aforesaid, for mente fijado por la convencion del the presentation of claims to the cuatro de Julio de mil ochocientos commission. sesenta y ocho, ya referida, para presentar reclamaciones ati te la comision. ARTICLE II. ART[ICULO IL. It is further agreed that, if at the Se conviene ademias en que, si al expiration of the time when, pur- espirar el tiempo en que conforme suant to the first article of this con- al articulo primero de la presente vention, the functions of the comrn- convencion termninen las funciones missioners will terminate, the urn- de los comisionados, el atrbitro es. pire under the convention should tablecido por la convencion no not have decided all the cases hubiese decidido todos los casos que which may then have been referred se le hubieren sonietido hasta ento him, he shall be allowed a fur- tonces, quedara facultado para hather period of not more than six cerlo en un nuevo periodo que no months for that purpose. exceda de seis meses. ARTICLE III. ARTICULO III. All cases which have been (le- Todas las reclamaciones que han cided by the commissioners or by sido sentenciadas por los comisiothe numnpire heretofore, or which nados 6 por el airbitro hasta la preshall be decided prior to the ex- sente fecha, 6 que sean sentenciachange of the ratifications of this das antes del cange de las ratifica-.convention, shall from the date of ciones de esta convencion, seran such exchange be regarded as defi- consideradas desde la fecha de ese nitively disposed of; and shall be cange cono dlefilitivalnente resuelconsidered and treated as finally tas, y se considerarall y tratarain,settled, barred, and thenceforth in- como finalmente arregladas y en lo admissible. And, pursuant to the futuro inadLmisibles. Y. conforme stipulation contained in the fourth a la estipulacion contenida en el.article of the convention of the articulo cuarto de la convencion fourth day of July, one thousand del cuatro de Julio de 1868, la suma,eight hundred and sixty-eight, the total fallada en casos ya decididos,,total amount awarded in cases y que se decidan'antes del cange ALIEN CLAIMS. 365 already decided, and which may be de ratificaciones de esta convendecided before the exchange of rati- cion, y en todos los casos que estufications of this convention, and in vieren decididos dentro de los plaall cases which shall be decided zos respIectivamente fijados con tal within the times in this convention fin en la convencion presente, ya respectively named for that pur- sea por los comisionados 6 por el pose, either by the commissioners ftrbitro, en favor lde ciudladanos de or by the umpire, in favor of citi- una de las partes, sera deducida zens of the one party, shall be de- (le la suma total fallada en favor ducted from the total amount de los ciudadanos de la otra parte, awarded tothe citizensof the other y la diferencia hasta la cantidad party, and the balance, to the de trescientos mil pesos, se pagarai amount of three hundred thousand en la ciudad de Mexico 6 en la de dollars, shall be paid at the city of W~ashington, en oro 6 su equivaMexico, or at the city of Washing- lente, dentro de doce ineses conton, in gold or its equivalent, with- tados desde el 31 de Enero de mil in twelve months from the 31st day ochocientos setenta y seis, al gobierof January. one thousand eight no en favor de cnyos ciudadanos se hundred and seventy-six, to the hubiere fallado la mayor cantidad, government in favor of whose citi- sin interes, ni otra deduccion que zens the greater amount may have la especificada en el articulo VI de been awarded, without interest or aquella convencion. El resto de any other deduction than that spe- dicha diferencia se pagar'a en cified in article VI of that conven- abonos anuales que no excedan de tion. The residue of the said bal- trescientos mil pesos en oro, 6 su ance shall be paid in annual install- equivalente, hasta que se haya ments, to an amount not exceeding pagado el total de la diferencia. three hundred thousand dollars. ill gold or its equivalent, in any one year, until the whole shall have been paid. ARTICLE IV. ART'I'CULO ITV. The present convention shall be La presente convencion serfa ratiratified, and the ratifications shall ficada y las ratificaciones se canbe exchanged at WTashingtou, as gearan en Washington'a la brevesoon as possible. dad posible. In witness whereof the above- En testimonio de lo cual, los named Plenipotentiaries have Plenipotenciarios antes mencionasigned the same and affixed thereto dos firmaron la presente y le pusietheir respective seals. ron sus respectivos sellos. Done in Washington the twen- Hecho en Washington el dia tieth day of November, in the year vetnte de Noviemnbre del afio mil one thousand eight hundred and ochocientos setenta y cuatro. seventy-four. [SEAL.] HAMILTON FISH. [SELLO.] IGNO. MARISCAL. [SEAL.] 1GNO. MARISCAL. [SELLO.] HAMILTON FISH. And whereas the said convention has been duly ratified on both parts, and the respective ratifications were exchanged in this city on the 28th. instant: Now, therefore, be it known that I, ULYSSES S. GRANT, President of the United States of America, have caused the said convention to be made public, to the end that the same, and every clause and article 366 ALIEN CLAIMS. thereof, may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this twenty-ninth d(ay of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-'SEAL.] five, and of the Independence of the United States the ninetyninth. U. S. GRANT. By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State. RULES AND ORDERS OF THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICAN JOINT COMMISSION. JOINT COMMISSION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE UNITEl) STATES OF MEXICO. Ordered, That the commission adopts and prescribes the following rules for the regulation of the business of the commission, namely: Rules and regulations of the commissioners appointed under the contention between the United States of America anid the United States of Mllexico, oJf July 4, 1868, as adopted August the 10th, 1869, and amended by order of the 23d of December, 1869. 1. All claims filed with the commission by the respective governments shall be entered in duplicate dockets, one kept by each of the two secretaries, in his respective language, in the order in which they are referred. Separate dockets shall be kept for the claims, respectively, of citizens of the United States and for those of citizens of the Mexican Republic. Duplicate records shall be kept in like manner of all the proceedings of the commissioners. 2. All claims provided for by the convention shall be presented through the respective governments on or before the 31st day of March, 1870, unless at a later day, for special cause shown to the satisfaction of the commissioners. 3. All persons having claims shall file memorials of the same with the respective secretaries. Every memorial shall be signed and verified by the claimant, or, in his absence from the District of Columbia, by his attorney in fact, such absence being averred by such attorney, and it shall be subscribed by his solicitor or counsel. It shall set forth particularly the origin, nature, and amount of the claim. with other circumstances, as follows: (a.) The amount of the claim; the time when and place where it arose; the kind or kinds and amount of property lost or injured; the facts and circumstances attending the loss or injury out of which the claim arises; and all the facts upon which the claim is founded. (b.) For and on behalf of whom the claim is preferred. (c.) Whether the claimant is now a citizen of the United States or of the Mexican Republic, as the case may require; and, if so, whether he ALIEN CLAIMS. 367 is a native or naturalize(l citizen, and where is now his domicile;and if he claims in his own right, then whether he was a citizen when the claim had its origin, and where was then his domicile; and if he claims in the right of another, then whether such other was a citizen when the claim had its origin, and where was then, and where is now, his domicile; and if in either case the domicile of the claimant, at the time the claim had its origin, was in any foreign country, then whether such claimant was then a subject of the government of such country, or had taken any oath of allegiance thereto, (d.) Whether the entire amount of the claim does now, and did at the time when it had its origin, belong solely and absolutely to the claimant, and if any other persons is or has been interested therein or in any part thereof, then who is such other person, and what is or was the nature and extent of his interest; and how, when, and by what means, and for what consideration, the transfer of rights or interests, if any such was made, took place between the parties. (e.) Whether the claimant, or any other who may at any time have been entitled to the amount claimed, or any part thereof, had ever received any, and, if.any, what sum of money, or other equivalent or indemnification for the whole or any part of the loss or injury upon which the claim is founded; and, if so, when and from whomn the same was received. (f.) Whether the claim was presented prior to the 1st of February, 1869, to the department of state of either government, or to the minister of the United States at Mexico, or that of the Mexican Republic at Washington, and to which and at what time. 4. All motions and arguments addressed to the commissioners shall be made in writing and filed with the secretaries, who shall note thereon the time when they are received. Brief verbal explanations may be made after the opening of each day's session, by or in behalf of the agents of the respective governments. 5. Of all memorials, twenty printed copies in quarto form in English, and twenty in Spanish, shall be filed with the respective secretaries. Citizens of the United States may file their documents and proofs in English, and citizens of the Mexican Republic may file theirs in Spanish, and in both cases in manuscript, subject to the further order of the commissioners in this respect. 6. When a claimant shall have filed his proofs in chief and argument in support thereof, the adverse proofs and argument on the partr of the United States, or of the Mexican Republic, shall be filed within the term of four months; but, upon good cause shown on either side, this period may be extended in particular cases. By order of the commissioners: GEORGE G. GAITHER, J. CARLOS MEXIA, Secretaries. ADDITIONAL ORDERS. On the 12th of August. 1869, the commission adopted the following ORDER. That the secretaries of this commission take charge of all the papers belonging to the coMnmission, and not allow them to be withdrawn fron 368 ALIEN CLAIMS. the office, but furnish parties interested or their counsel all convenient opportunities. in the office and in presence of either of the secretaries, of examining and making extracts from the same. On the 29th of December, 1869, the commission adopted the following ORDER. That the secretaries keep a book, to be called the "' notice docket." (a.) A claim is prepared in chief whenever a memorial, with the proofs and argument relied on il support thereof, shall be filed. Such claim. shall be entered, by direction of the agent representing it, on the notice docket, the secretaries noting the date of the entry on the docket. (b.) Such entry shall be notice, under the rules, to the government against whom such claim is preferred, that the claimant is ready; thereupon proofs and arguments in answer thereto (if any are insisted on) must be filed in four months from the date of such entry, unless, for cause shown, further time is allowed. (c.) Rebutting proofs and argument in support of the claim may be afterwards filed or waived, and in either case the claim shall be entered " heard" by the commissioners. On the 21st of January, 1870, the commission adopted the following ORDER. Every claimant purporting to be a citizen of either country, party to this convention, shall disclose the facts upon which he bases his citizenship, either in his memorial or by affidavit. If a native, he shall, so far as in his power, disclose the time and place of his birth; if naturalized, he shall file a copy of his naturalization papers, in all cases where it is in his power, and if not in his power to do so, he shall show why: Provided, The affidavit above required may be put in at any time before a hearing, on such terms as may be deemed proper. On the 20th of June, 1870, the commission adopted the following ORDERS. 1. That all claims presented to the commission since the adjournmentl79 be received and entered upon the dockets for preparation, investigation, and decision, as in other cases. 2. That the time for filing claims before this commission be extended from the 31st day of March last to the 30th of June, instant, and including the latter day, after which time no further claims will be received. 3. That further time be granted to all claimants whose cases are or may hereafter be entered on the dockets of this commission, to file memorials of the same until the 1st day of January, 1871. On the 13th of July, 1870, the commission adopted the following ORDER. All claimantswho have heretofore filed memorials, as required by the rules, and have not prepared their claims for hearing, must make preparation on or before the 1st of November next, at which date the secre179 The adjournment referred to was from January 31, 1S70, to June 1, 1870. ALIEN CLAIMS. 369 taries of this Commission are directed to enter such claims upon the notice-docket; and all other claims not now ready must be prepared by claimants on or before the 1st of January next, at which period the secretaries are directed to place them, also, upon the said docket; and claims thus placed will be disposed of under the rules applicable to other cases on that docket. The foregoing orders are truly copied from the originals of record. RANDOLPH COYLE, J. CARLOS MEXIA, Secretaries. IN THE JOINT COMMISSION OF THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO, UNDER THE CONVENTION OF JULY 4, 1868. SATURDAY, January 20, 1872. The Commissioners now give notice that all claims by the United States vs. Mexico, and all claims by the latter government vs. the former, not disposed of before that date, will, on the first day of April next, be entered "heard;" whereupon the Commission will proceed immediately to dispose of them, in obedience to the requirements of the convention. True copy from the record, RANDOLPH COYLE, J. CARLOS MEXIA, Secretaries. H. Rep. 134- 24 ADDENDA. The following is inserted because the books are referred to in the matter furnished by foreign governments: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, Washington, February 23, 1875. In behalf of the Joint Committee of both Houses of Congress on the Library, the undersigned has the honor to acknowledge the reception of Oesterreich Gesetze, 4 vols., 12mo; Turkey, L6gislation ottomane, 2 vols.; Italy, Codice civile, 2 vols.; Italy, Legge per l'unificazioni del Regno, 1 vol.; Danuemark, Constitution du Royaume, 1 vol.; France, Bulletin des Lois, and Journal officiel, 3 pamphlets, presented by yourself to the Library of Congress. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, A. R. SPOFFORD, Librarian of Congress. To Hon. WM. LAWRENCE, Chairman Committee on War Claims. P. S.-The above works are placed in the law department of the Library, in the chapter of national codes and statute law. THE ASSIGNMENT OF CLAIMIS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES. The act of Congress of February 26, 1853, (10 Statutes, 170,) which seems to be an enlargement of the act of July 29, 1846, (9 Statutes, 41,) prohibits the assignment of claims against the United States. See Revised Statutes, ~ 3477. On this subject see Painter vs. Drum, 40 Penn. R., 467; Child vs. Trist, 1 Washington Law Reporter, 1; Sines vs. The United States, 1 Nott & H., 12; Peirce vs. United States, i N. & H., 270. OF CONTRACTS TO PROCURE LEGISLATION FOR THE PAYMENT OF CLAIMS. This subject was discussed before the Supreme Court of the United States in February, 1875, in the case of Nicholas P. Trist vs. Linus I. Child. The report of that case will doubtless show much learning on the subject. Among the questions discussed were these: Is a contract to secure the passage of a bill through Congress to pay a claim void as against public policy? If not, can the claimant be enjoined from collecting the money from the Treasury appropriated by such act without paying for such services t Can a lien be created on the money so appropriated I If the lien can exist, is the holder of it entitled to interest on the amount? On these questions seeAs to public policy —Marshall vs. Baltimore R. R., 16 Howard, 314; Tool Company vs. Norris, 2 Wallace, 54; Harris vs. Roof, 10 Barbour, 489; Hunt vs. Test, 8 Alabama, 713; Paschal's Case, 10 Wallace, 483; Mills vs. Mills, 36 Barbour, 474. ALIEN CLAIMS. 371 As to lien-Vice-Chancellor Malins, Bank of Hindustalln, L. R., ch. 7, p. 126, note I; Mercer vs. Greaves, L. R., 7 Queen's B., 503; Bransdon vs. Allard, 2 E. and E., 19 vol., 105 C. L. R; Jenkins vs. Hooker, 19 Barbour, 435. As to the practice in England-A statement of the English parliamentary practice will be found in Riddell's Railway Parliamentary Practice, London, 1846. See, also, Standing Orders of the House of Commons, 1859; List of Charges for Parliamentary Agents, Attorneys, Solicitors, and others, prepared by the Clerk of Parliament, 1867. For interesting statistics of.private bills, see Parliamentary Acts and Papers, 1862, vol. 44: Returns relating to private bills. A large mass of valuable testimony concerning the method, cost, &c., of prosecuting private bills in Parliament will be found in the l'arliamentary Reports from Committees, vol. 14, 1857-8. In this last will be found the testimony of MIr. T. Coates, who is the parliamentary agent referred to in the brief. OTHER QUESTIONS. Various other questions as to claims will be found referred to in Brightley's Federal Digest, title "Public Accounts," 714, and in the supplement, p. 308. CONSTRUCTION OF THE ACT OF JULY 4, 1864, &S;C. The following opinion of the Attorney-General is given for informa tion: D1CP.1TMEINT OF JUSTICE, April 6, 1871. Hon. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL, Secretary of the Treasury: SIR: I have received your letter of the 21st ultinmo, requesting my opinion upon certain questions arising under the act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the year ending June 30, 1872, and for other purposes, approved March 3, 1871. The second section of that act provides for the appointment of a board of commissioners, " whose duty it shall be to receive, examine, and consider the justice and validity of such claims as shall be brought before them of those citizens who remained loyal adherents to the cause and the Government of the United States during the war, for stores or supplies taken or furnished during the rebellion for the use of the Army of the United States in States proclaimed as in insurrection against the United States, including the use or loss of vessels or boats while employed in the military service of the United States. I * * *. And upon satisfactory evidence of the justice and validity of any claim, the commissioners shall report their opinion, in writing, in each case, and shall certify the nature, amount, and value of the property taken, furnished, or used, as aforesaid." The fourth section is in these words: " That said commissioners shall make report of their proceedings, and of each claim considered by them, at the commencement of each session of Congress to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall lay the same before Congress for consideration; and all claims within this act, and not presented to said board, shall be barred, and shall not be entertained by any Department of the Government, without further authority of Congress." On the 16th day of August, in the year 1861, President Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring the inhabitants of the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, ("except the inhabitants of that part of the State of Virginia lying west of the Alleghany Mountains, and of such other parts of that State and the other States hereinbefore named, as may mainiain a loyal adhesion to the Union and the Constitution, or may be from time to time occupied and controlled by forces of the United States engaged in the dispersion of said insurgents,") to be in a state of insurrection against he United States. (1'2 U. S. Stats., p. 1262.) 372 ALIEN CLAIMS. The act of June 7, 1862, section 2, directs, "That, on or before the 1st day of July next, the President, by his proclamation, shall declare in what States and parts of States said insurrection exists." In accordance with this act, President Lincoln, on the 1st day of July, 1862, issued his proclamation declaring that the States of South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and the State of Virginia, except thirty-nine named counties, all in what was then the western part of that State, were in insurrection and rebellion. (12 U. S. Stats., p. 1266.) The counties of Berkeley and Jefferson are not among the counties named. The act of July 4, 1864, provided that all claims of loyal citizens in States not in rebellion, for quartermaster's stores and subsistence actually furnished to the Army of the United States, and receipted for by the proper officers receiving the same, or which might have been taken by such officers without giving such receipt, should be submitted to the Quartermaster-General of the United States, or the Commlissary-General of Subsistence, (as the case may be,) accompanied with the proofs presented by the claimant; and these officers were required to cause each claim to be examined, and, if convinced that it was just, and of the loyalty of the claimant, and that the stores had been actually received or taken for the use of, and used by, the Army, then to report each case to the Third Auditor of the Treasury, with a recommendation for settlement. (13 U. S. Stats.; pp. 381, 382.) The joint resolution of June 18, 1866, extends the provisions of this act to the counties of Berkeley and Jefferson, which had become part of the State of West Virginia. (14 U. S. Statutes, 360.) The joint resolution of July 28, 1866, extends the provisions of the same act to loyal citizens of the State of Tennessee. (14 U. S. Statutes, 370.) The act of February 21, 1867, declares that the act above cited, of July 4, 1864, " shall not be construed to authorize the settlement of any claim for supplies or stores taken or furnished for the use of, or used by, the armies of the United States, nor for the occupation of or injury to real estate, nor for the consumption, appropriation, or destruction of, or damage to, personal property by the military authorities or troops of the United States, where such claim originated during the war for the suppression of the southern rebellion, in a State, or part of a State, declared in insurrection by the proclamation of the President of the United States, dated July first, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, or in a State which by an ordinance of secession attempted to withdraw from the United States Government: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall repeal or modify the effect of any act or joint resolution extending the provisions of the said act of July fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, to the loyal citizens of the State of Tennessee, or of the State of West Virginia, or to any county therein. (14 U. S. Stats., 397.) Your first question is this: Does the act of March 3, 1871, repeal, displace, or supersede, so far as the State of Tennessee, and the counties of Berkeley and Jefferson, in West Virginia, are concerned, the acts of July 4, 1864, and February 21, 1867, and the joint resolutions of June 18 and July 28, 1866? If there had been no previous legislation on the subject of claims arising in Tennessee, and the counties of Berkeley and Jefferson in West Virginia, the act of March 3, 1871, would undoubtedly have been construed to embrace such claims. It sends to the board such claims of the defined classes as originated in States (including, by fair construction, parts of States) proclaimed in insurrection. Tennessee and the part of Virginia then embracing said counties were so proclaimed. But the act contains no express words of repeal; and are its provisions so repugnant to the prior legislation in relation to that State and those counties, as to work a repeal by implication? Repeal by implication is not favored; and a later act does not repeal a prior act by implication unless there is a positive repugnance between the two.(Dwaris on Statutes, p. 533; Dr. Foster's Case, Rep., Pt. II, pp. 62-64; Wood vs. The United States, 16 Pet. Rep., p. 342; Bowen V8. Lease, 5 Hill's Rep., p. 221.) The act of July 4,1864, as extended by the resolutions of June and July, 1866, provided for settling in the Departments claims of the defined classes arising in said State and counties. The act of March 3, 1871, provides that all claims considered by the board shall be reported to the Speaker of the House for submission to Congress, a provision which would be nugatory if the claims might meanwhile be settled elsewhere. It shuts out from any Department all claims within the act which but for this prohibition some Department would entertain. What claims can these be except claims from Tennessee and the said counties? Claims from the loyal States are not within the act. Claims of the classes in question from the disloyal States, except from Tennessee and said counties, are never entertained by any Department; hence these words of exclusion can have no operation except upon claims from said State and counties. Here, then, is found the repugnancy between the actof March 3, 1871, and the prior legislation in relation to Tennessee and s8id counties, which the rule requires in order to work a repeal by implication. An additional argument in support of the same construction is derivable from the act ALIEN CLAIMS. 373 of February 21, 1867, above quoted. In that act Congress p laced a restricted construction upon the act of July 4, 1864; and having used general language, which would extend this restriction to Tennessee and the counties in question, took care to reserve said State and counties from the operation of this general language by special provision. In passing the act of March 3, 1871, Congress must have had in mind all the legislation upon the general subject, and the omission to make, in favor of that State and those counties, the exception which was made in the act of 1867 signifies that such exception was not intended. I am therefore of opinion that the act of March 3, 1871, repeals the act of July 4, 1864, and the joint resolution of June 18 and July 28, 1866, so far as Tennessee and said counties are concerned, and places that State and those counties upon the same footing, in respect to these claims, as other insurrectionary States. Your second question is as follo wsP: If the first. question be answered in the affirmative, when did or will such chan ge in the law become operative, and how will such claims from the said State and counties submitted under the former law of March 3, 1871, be affected thereby? The act of March 3, 1871, as to the matter under consideration, taking effect immediately, all such claims have been improperly submitted to the Departments since the 3d day of March, 1871. The additional question which your letter presents relates to a supposed distinction between property " taken " and property "furnished," as those words are used in the act of March 3, 1871. These words are not new in statutes upon this subject. They are found in the act of July 4, 1864, and also in the act of February 21, 1867. The act of July 4, 1864, indicates the different senses in which these words were used by Congress. The property for which the proper officers gave receipts is described as' furnished" to the Army, and that for which the officers did not give receipts is described as "taken." In the latter part of the second and third sections of the same act the word " received " seems to be substituted for the word " furnished," but referring to the same transactions, the former word describing the act of the officer and the latter the act of the owner who delivered the property. The difference intended by Congress between " taken " and "furnished " seems to be this: that while both words signify such appropriations as were essentially involun-, tary on the part of the owners, there was an exertion of force in cases of taking which,did not exist in cases of furnishing. The giving of receipts in the latter, and the failure to give receipts in the former, indicates, in the one case, a ready submission by the owner to the caption of his property which is wanting in the other. Attorney-General Evarts construed these acts (of July 4, 1864, and February 21, 1867) not to comprehend accounts founded upon express contracts for the purchase of isupplies for the Army made by the proper agent of the Government within the scope of the Army appropriation acts. (12 Opins., 439.) Following that opinion, which I believe to be sound, I think that none of the acts which I have cited forbids the payment of such accounts. The claim of John T. Lee, to which your letter refers, is reported as a case of appropriation by the officers, and not of ordinary contract between the Government agents and Mr. Lee. Hence I am of opinion that it falls within the scope of the act of March 3, 1871, and must go before the board of commissioners, for which that act provides. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, A. T. AKERMAN, Attorney-General. This was followed by the act of April 20, 1871, (17 Statutes, 12,) which contains these provisions: That the jurisdiction conferred by the joint resolution of June eighteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, in regard to claims from the counties of Berkeley and Jefferson, in the State of West Virginia, and by the joint resolution of July twenty-eight, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, in regard to claims from the State of Tennessee, and by the joint resolution of December twenty-three, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, as amended by the act of March three, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, in regard to steamboats and other vessels, shall not be withdrawn or impaired by any construction of the law creating commissioncrs of claims to examine claims arising in States proclaimed to be in insurrection, and the jurisdiction upon all claims presented by loyal citizens from said State of Tennessee, and from said counties of Berkeley and Jefferson, to the proper Department before the third of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, shall remain as before the passage of said act creating said commissioners of claims. This gave construction to section 4 of the act of March 3, 1871, clapter 116, section 2, (which is found on page 322 of the foregoing report.) 7 Z5 t5 In~~~~\~YVY, ~C~1 U ~ 374 ALIEN CLAIMS. Under these laws the Quartermaster's Department held that it had jurisdiction to receive, examine, and report to the Third Auditor of the Treasury, claims for quartermaster's stores originating under the act of July 4, 1864, and acts amendatory thereof. The Commissary-General held otherwise, and took no jurisdiction until in June, 1874, when a new Commissary-General took jurisdiction of and paid the famous Sugg Fort claim, for which see the report of the Committee on War-Claims made in the House of Representatives, March, 1875. It is proper to say, however, that this was after the act of June 16, 1874, which is found on page 311 of this report, where it is by a typographical error inserted as "Approved June 17, 1874;" it should be June 16, 1874. THE PROPER 3IMODE OF EXAMINING CLAIMS. This subject was elaborately discussed at the _2d session of the 30th Congress. (Globe, vol. 20, pp. 38, 139, 144, 159, 172, 178, 188, 198, 203, 302, 303, 307, 378, 492, 543.) The discussion also refers to a valuable report made on the subject during that Congress, which shows a large proportion of all claims presented to Congress without merit. THE ACT OF CONGRESS OF APRIL 9, 1816. For a discussion of this act, and for a report of proceedings under it see Annals of Congress, 14th Congress, 2d session, 1816-1817, pp. 245, 299, 462, 1028, 1035, 1040, 1051, 1211; debates on pp. 382-426; Senate proceedings, pp. 20, 65, 67, 78, 89, 96, 106. In the House debates, Mr. Clay discussed the duty of the Government to repair losses by the ravages of war. Mr. Calhoun declared the Government was not liable for damages inflicted by the enemy; that the Government was not an insurer; that if it would become such "' the enemy would make war on you in that way which will most affect your Treasury;" that it would invite the enemy to destroy property of citizens, &c. INTEREST. Cases in which allowed on revolutionary claims, Annals of Congress, 2d session, 14th Congress, 1816-1817, pp. 1250-1254, &c. CLAIMS FOR COTTON CAPTURED AND SOLD BY UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DURING THE REBELLION. The United States Supreme Court, in Sprott vs. United States, at October term, 1874, held that a purchaser of cotton from the Confederate States, who knew that the money he paid for it went to sustain the rebellion, cannot, in the Court of Claims, recover the proceeds, when it has been captured and sold, under the captured and abandoned property act. The cotton was sold to the claimant by an agent of the confederate government for the purpose of raising funds to purchase munitions of war, and the cotton was understood by the claimant to be the property of the confederate government. The claimant was a resident of Claiborne County, Mississippi, in March, 1865, the date of the purchase, and the cotton was captured in May, 1865, by the Federal forces, and afterward sold by the Government. Miller, J., who delivered the opinion, said: "The claimant now asserts a right to this money on the ground that he was the owner of the cotton when it was captured. This claim of right or ownership he must prove in the Court of Claims. He attempts ALIEN CLAIMS. 375 to do so by showing that he purchased it of the confederate government and paid them for it in money. In doing this he gave aid and assistance to the rebellion in the most efficient manner he possibly could. * * * A clearer case of turpitude in the consideration of a contract can hardly be imagined, unless treason be taken out of the catalogue of crimes. The case is not relieved of its harsh features by the finding of the court that the claimant did not intend to aid the rebellion, but only to make money. It might as well be said that the man who would sell for a sum far beyond its value, to a lunatic, a weapon with which he knew the latter would kill himself, only intended to make money and did not intend to aid the lunatic in his fatal purpose. This court, in Hanaver vs. Doane, 12 Wall., 342, speaking of one who set up the same defense, says:' He voluntarily aids treason. He cannot be permitted to stand on the nice metaphysical distinction that, although he knows that the purchaser buys the goods for the purpose of aiding the rebellion, he does not sell them for that purpose. The consequences of his acts are too serious to admit of such a plea. He must be taken to intend the consequences of his voluntary acts.' This case, and the succeeding one of iHanaver vs. Woodruff, 15 Wall., 349, are directly in lrint in support of our view of the case before us." Field, J., delivered an elaborate opinion, dissenting from the view of the majority of the court, and maintaining that the claimant had the benefit of the proclamation of pardon and amnesty made by the President in December, 1868. He said:* "That pardon and amnesty did not, of course, and could not, change the actual fact of previous disloyalty, if it existed, but, as was said in Carlisle vs. United States, 16 Wall., 151, they forever close the eyes of the court to the perception of that fact as an element in its judgment, no rights of third parties having intervened. In legal contemplation the executive pardon not merely releases an offender from the punishment prescribed for his offense, but it obliterates the offense itself. * * * And I submit respectfully that the eloquent denunciation of the wickedness of the rebellion contained in the opinion of the majority is no legal answer to the demand of the claimant for the proceeds of his property seized and sold by our Goverument, when that Government long since pardoned the only offense of which the claimant was guilty, and this gave him the assurance that he should stand in the courts of his country in as good plight and condition as any citizen who had never sinned against its authority." TABLE OF CASES CITED AND I:N D IE X. TABLE OF CASES CITED. A. Page. Alexander's, Mrs..-.209,211,217,218,233,234,237,238,239,240,244,255,261,263,279, 284 Alexander v. Duke of Wellington.......................................... 233 Allen v. United States......-..... 316 American Print-Works v. Lawrence-................................. 282,283,288,289 Anderson & Thompson v. Mexico........................................... 241 Armes, Josiah 0........................................................... 296 Atocha, ex parte............................................................ 317 Ayres v. United States.-................ 259, 260 B. Baird v. The United States....... 231 Baltimore R. Company v. Woodruff.-.. —..... 245 Bank of Kentucky v. Schuylkill Bank....................................... -245 Barclay, Anthony-.'275 Barnsley, Godfrey......................................................... — 275 Baron v. Denman- --..- 283 Beach v. Fulton Bank................................................. 245 Beacham, Thomas........................................................ 271 Bedford, ex parte-........................................................... 17 Beers v. Housatonic Railroad Company..................................... -245i Bevans v. United States-.................................................... 274 Bollman, ex parte.......................................................... 210,265 Bonner v. United States.................................................... 315 Booth v. Woodbury........................................................ -282 Booth, William B-.......................................................... 278 Bostock, Elizabeth....................................................... —. 275 Bowen v. Lease............................................................ 372 Bradley v. Boston Railroad Company...................................... 245 Brook, Samuel............................................................. 261 Brown's...................................................... 10, 11, 12,13, 205 Brown v. South Kennebec Agricultural Society.............................. - - 245 Brown v. The United States --..........................................12,218,233,241 Brunsdon v. Allard......................................................... 371 Brunson, John............................................................. 271 Buron v. Denman.......................................................... 293 Bushel v.u Commonwealth Insurance Company............................... 245 C. Campbeli's................................................................ 246 Canterbury v. Attorney-General............................................ 193 Carlisle v. The United States........................................12,206,238,317 Carman v. Steubenville Railroad Company.................................. 245 Cattell, Charles............................................................ 271 Chestnut Hill Turnpike Company v. Rutter................................. 245 Child v. Trist.............................................................. 370 Church claim............................................................. 254 Churchward v. The Queen................................................ 193 Clark v. Mayor.........................................................282,287,294 Cleworth, Charles......................................................... - 278 Clyde v. United States..................................................... 315-317 Collectors, the, v. Day...................................................... 268 Comegys v. Vasse........................................................... 222 Commissioners v. Miller.................................................... 282 Conger v. Chicago R. Company............................................. 245 Cook, William-............................................................ 245 Coolidge v. Guthrie.................................................209,233,239,283 Coppell v. Hall.... 209 380 TABLE OF CASES CITED. Page. Cowan & Dickinson.___... 241,263 Cross v. Harrison.......................................................... 208,209 Crutchett, M r............................................................. 245 Culver v. United States.................................................... 265 Cummings v. Missouri - 209 Cutner v. United States.................................................... 265 D. Dashing Wave, the brig.................................................... 229 Davenport v. W ood........................................................ 17 Davidson, Robert.....................................-........-.......... - 261 Davis, Charles J........................................................... 13 Davis, John............................................................... 13 Dauphin's................................................................ 11,205 De Bode's................................................................. 193 De Gives's................................................................ 11,205 Denton v. Great Northern R. Company...................................... 245 D.orsheimer v. United States................................................ 315 Duncan v. Surry Canal..................................................... 245 E. Eadres, W illiam........................................................... 271 Eastern Counties R. v. Broom.............................................. 245 Edwards v. Union Bank of Florida.. 245 Elliott, Thomas C.......................................................... 327 Elphinstone v. Bedreechund................................................ 209,283 Evans, M arie P............................................................ 300 F. Feather v. The Queen - 193 Fichera v. The United States............................................... 10,205 Filor v. United States...........................................246,247,252,259,260 First Baptist Church v. Schenectady R. Company............................ 245 Fisher v. Florida Indians................................................... 17 Fleming v. Page........................................................... 208 Forbes, W illiam........................................................... 271 Fort's, Sugg............................................................... 18,374 Foster's, Dr............................................................... 372 Fowle v. Common Council of Alexandria.................................... 245 G. Garland, ex parte.......................................................... 209 Gibbons v. United States................................................260,282,293,Gillenwater v. Madison R. Company........................................ 245 Gilman v. Sherloygan...................................................... 282 Goodloe v. City of Cincinnati.............................................. 245 Grace, M ichael............................................................. 275,Grant v. United States......................210,216,217,241,265,282,283,287,289,293 Gratiot v. United States.........-........................ 256,260,304 Gray Jacket, the........................................................... 217,244 Green, J. & T............................................................. 300 Grossmeyer v. The United States 208 H. Hale v. Lawrence.......................................................... 282, 289 Hallenback v. Hahn 282 Halliburton v. United States ----------------------------------------------- 274 Hamilton Company v. Cincinnati T. Company............................... 245 Hanger v. Abbott.......................................................... 209 Hanna, John H............................................................ 267,268 Hanna v. United States.................................................... 269 H anson v. Vernon......................................................... 282 Harvey v. United States............................................... 256,261,304 Harris v. Roof............................................................. 370 Hawkins v. Dutchess Steamboat Company. 245 TABLE OF CASES CITED. 381 Page. Hay v. Cohoes Company................................................... 245 Hayes, Misses...~.......................................................... 275 Henderson, William....................................................... 271 Holden v. Javis............................................................ 17 Humes v. Knoxville....................................................... 245 Humphrey, Letitia........................................................ 222 Hunt v.Test 370 J. Jecker v. Montgomery.211 Jenkins v. Hooker ----------- 371 Jones v. Perry............................................................. 17 K. Kater, John 260 Keegan v. Western Railroad Company. 245 Keith's-...................................................................9218 Kimball's................................................................. 247 Kimball v. United States................................................... 259 King, John- 271 Kneass v. Schuylkill Bank.................................................. 245 L. Lane v. Dorman........................................................... 17 Laurent's case............................................................. 278 -Lee v. Village of Sandy Hill............................................... 245 Lewis v. Webb...... 17 Linds v. Rodney... 283 Lobsiger's..............................................................10,12, 205 Lorenger v. United States-295 Luther v. Borden-.....................................................210, 265,283 Lyman v. White River Bridge Company-245 M. Malevener v. Spink........................................................ 292 Mansan v. The Insurance Company......................................... 209 Marlatt v. Levee Steam Cotton-Press Company............................. 245 Marshall v. Baltimore Railroad Company................................... 370 Martin v. Mott................................................... 208,283 Mayor of Lynn v. Turner.................................................. 245 McCready v. Guardians of the Poor........................................ 245 McCullough v. Maryland.................................................. 282 McDougald v. Bellamy.................................................... 2 45 McKee v. The United States... 209 McKim v. Odum.......................................................... 245 McKenney v. United States................................................ 279 McMahon, Thomas........................................................ 275 Meade's.................................................................. 13 Memphis v. Lasser...... 245 Mercer v. Greaves...371 Mexico v. The United States.. 369 Milligan, ex parte.......................................... 210,211,212,'216, 265, 283 Milligan v. Hovey......................................................... 283 Mills v. Mills.............................................................. 370 Mississippi v. Johnson...................................................... 209 Mitchell v. Harmony.......................................241,266,282,283,289, 293 Molina's.................................................................. 11,205 Moore v. Fitchburgh Railroad Company.................................... 245 M uller's ----------------------------------—.-. —----------------—......- 12 Murphy, Sue.............................................................. 211 N. New York v. Bailey........................................................ 345 Nicholls v. United States...315 New York Railroad Company v. Schuyler.................................... 245 N. Y. T. C. v. Dryburg...245 382 TABLE OF CASES CITED. 0. Page. Ouachita cotton, the...................................................... 209, 265 P. Painter v. Drum. —370 Parham v. The Justices.....................................238, 249,278,287,288,291 Paschal's. —.....................................3...................... 370 Peirce v. The United States................................................. 370 People v. Lynch............................................................ 210,265 People v. Mayor............................................................ 282 Perrin v. The United States -12,206,241,244, 275,277,293 Peterhoff, the............................................................. 211 Pattison, James........................................................... 271 Picquet's appeal........................................................... 17 Pitcher v. United States....265,282 Planters' Bank v. Union Bank........................13,218,238,244,261,262,263,265 Plate-glass Company v. Meredith............................................ 288 Polk, Sarah............................................................... 343 Prerog'%tive case, the..................................................... 288 Prize-cases, the ----. —--------—.207, 209,210,211,217,233,239,255,263,268 Protector v. The United States............................................. 208 Provene v. The United States ----------------------------------------------- 259 Provine's ------------------------------------------------------------- --- 246,247 Pugh v. United States._ 316 R. Rabassa v. Orleans Navigation Company.................................... 245 Redfield, J., opinion in Brown's case.- -...................................... 13 Regina v. Birmingham Railroad Company................................... 245 Respublica v. Sparhawk ------------------------------— 277,278,282,288,289,290,292 Rex v. Medley............................................................. 245 Riddle v. Proprietors, &c................................................... 245 Russell, exparte...I........................................................ 320 Russell's.................................................................. 246 Russell v. Mayor....................................................2 Russell v. Mayor-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~288,'289, 292, 293 5Santarnecchi, M........................................................... 127 Sasser, Whitty M.....343 Science, the bark -229 Sharrod v. London R. Company............................................ 245 Simmons - - -...-................................................... 103 Slawson v. United States-. -316 Smith v. Birminghqm Gas Company........................................ 245 Smith v. City of Cincinnati-245 Sones v. The United States................................................. 370 Steubenville and Indiana Railroad Company v. Tascarance County -------- 282 Steven v. United States -2 —-------------------------------- 59,279,283 Stewart v. State...209 Stirling, Thomas.274 T. Taney, Augustine.......................................................... 271 Ten Eyck v. Delaware Canal Company...................................... 245 Thayer v. Boston......................................................... 45 The Amy Warwick........................................................ 12,206 The Baigorn —209 T eB ion............ o....................................~......~........o 0 The Bankers.............................................................. 193 The Betsey. —224 Th icsin...... o....................,...............................~....o 20 The Circassian -209 The Hoop.................................................. o............. 1,0 The Venice --------------------------------------------------—.208,209,261,263,265 The Venus................................................................ 110 The Venus.-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~12, 206 Thomas v. The Queen...... 193 Thorshaven's. —26 Tobin v. The Queen............................. 261 Tobi v. he Qeen................................................. 193 TABLE OF CASES CITED. 383 Page. Todd's......................................................... 218 Tool Company v. Norris.................................................... 370 Town of Akron v. McComb..245 Traversi, Antona................. 127 Tripodo, M................................................................ 127 Trist, Nicholas P., v. Linus M. Child..................................... 370 Trook, administrator...................................................... 278 U. Underwood v. Newport Lyceum............................................. 245 Union Bank v. McDonough................................................. 245 United States, ex parte, in matter of.............. 320 United States v. Anderson............................................... 208,211,316 United States v. Burr...................................................... 210,265 United States v. Crussell................................................... 316 United States v. Eliason............................................... 256,260,304 United States v. Freeman.............................................256,260,304 United States v. Grossmeyer..... 209 United States v. Kimball................ 316 United States v. Klein............................................. 217,233,236,240 United States v. Lytle..................................................... 256 United States v. MacDaniel....................... 256 United States v. Mexico.................................................... 369 United States v. O'Keefe............................... 12, 206,239,246,317 United States v. Paddleford.......................... 233, 238, 239 United States v. Palmer......................................... 268 United States v. Russell............................................... 217,293,315 United States v. Speed...................................................... 279 United States v. Thomas.................................................. 273 V. Vallandigham's............................................................ 209 Volant, the brig.......................................................... 229 Von Frantzius, Carl....................................................... 193 W. Ware v. Barrataria Canal Company........................................ 245 Ware v. Hylton........................................... 287 Waters's.................................................................. 246 Waters v. United States................................................ 259 Watson v. Bennett......................................................... 245 Watkins & Donnelly........................................................ 276 Wentworth v. United States.............................................. 279 Whiteman v. Wilmington R. Co............................................ 245 Wiggins v. United States....................................... 289,293 Wood v. The United States.............................. 372 Worcester v. The State of Georgia.......................................... 222 Y. Yarborough v. Bank of England............................................ 245 INlXDEX. A. Page. Abuses in prosecution of claims, bill to prevent..-.......................................... 21 Acts of Congress cited, 1789. The judiciary act. —-—.. —............... —................... -. 231 1790. August 5, State claims.-...-........... 230 1792. May 8, as to contracts-2.....................59, 279 1793. January 14, Christopher Green's claim........ -............... 225 1794. May 31, Arthur St. Clair's claim................................... 225,230 1795. February 27, Angus McLean's claim-.......... 225 1797. March 3, debts due by or to the United States -.................. 207 1798. February 23, General Kosciusko's claim2..... 225 June 6, debts due by or to the United States -........... 207 July 16, as to contracts-............... 259,279 1799. March 3, as to contracts.......................................... 279 1802. May 3, Fulwar Skipwith's claim................ 225 1804. January 14, John Coles's claim................................ 225 1807. March 3, Oliver Pollock's claim................................... 225 Stephen Sayre's claim......................................... 225 1808. April 21, as to contracts -.. —-. —-2 —-... ——...- -.. —...... 259 1809. March 3, as to contracts.......................................... 259 110. April 25, Moses Young's claim —---. —. —. — ------. —--- 226 May 1, P. C. L'Enfant's claim..................................... 226 1812. January 10, John Burnham's claim -....................... 2'26 July 1, John Durkee's claim....................................... 226 1813. February 25, Lucy Dixon's claim — 2...................... 226 John Murray's clainm-......-.............. 226 March 3, Samuel Lapsley's claim.- -..- -.. — - -.- -......... - _, - 226 as to property-. 246, 250 1814. April 13, Joseph Brevard's claim.................................. 226 April 18, Dennis Clark's claim.................................... -226 1815. February 2, William Arnold's claim............................... 226 1816. April 9, as to damages -.. —...............-............. 270, 285 April 24, as to the Army-. - -.................. 256 April 26, Joseph Wheaton's claim................................. 226 Alexander Roxburgh's claim.................................. 226 1817. March 3, debts due by or to the United States. -.......207, 246, 270,295 May 1S, as to property.....-......-...... 295 1818. April 14, John Thompson's claim -............................. 226 as to contracts. —-. —---------- ------..2 —. —------- 226 1820. May 1, as to contracts............................................ 259 May 11, Samuel Beall's claim.......-.......... 227 May 15, Thomas Leiper's claim................................... 227 1821. March 2, as to property........................................... 279 1822. William Henderson's claim -..-............271 May 7, John Guthry's claim...................................... 227 as to the Army. ——.. —---....-2...- -..................... 256 1823. March 3, James McClung's claim-.................................. 227 Daniel Seward's claim -.....-... 2277 1824. March 3, Stephen Arnold's claim.................................. 227 David Jenks's claim- -....................227 * THE ACT OF APRIL 9, 1816. —For a discussion of this, and for report of proceedings under it, see Annals of Congress, 14th Congress, 2d session, 1816-'17, pp. 245, 299, 462, 1028, 1035,1040, 1051, 1211: Debates on, 382-426 Senate proceedings, pp. 20, 65, 67, 78, 89, 96, 106. In the House debates, Henry Clay discussed the duty of the Government to repair losses by the ravages of war. Mr. Calhoun declared the Government was not liable for property destroyed by the enemy. He said the Government did not become an insurer, and that if the Government would "the enemy will make war on you in that way which will most affect your Treasury." It would be an invitation to the enemy to destroy property. (See foregoing report, 285.) H. Rep. 134-25 386 INDEX. Pare. Acts of Congress cited-Continued. 1824. March 3, George Jenks's claim 227 May 5, Amasa Stetson's claim..................................... 227 1826 May 20, John Stemman's claim.................................... 227 Ann D. Taylor's claim....................................... 227 1827. March 3, B. J. V. Valkenberg's claim.............................. 227 1828. May 19, Patience Gordon's claim................................. 227 1830. May 29, Benjamin Wells's claim -. 227 1832. John Brunson's claim............................................. 271 Augustine Taney's claim-.... -271 May 19, Richard G. Morris's claim................................. 227 July 4. Aaron Snow's claim. -—........................... 228 W. P. Gibbs's claim -..-..... 228 July 14, E. L. Warren's claim..................................... 228 Hartwell Yick's claim --.-. - - --.. 228 1833. February 19, debts due by or to the United States-................. 207 1834. June 18, Martha Bailey's claim.-................................... 228 June 30, William C. H. Waddell's claim....-..... 228 debts due by or to the United States....-... 207, 270 1835. March 3, as to contracts.......................................... 259 1836. Thomas Beacham's claim......................................... 271 William Forbes's claim........................................... 271 Charles Cattell's claim............................................ 271 February 17, Marinus W. Gilbert's claim.......................... 228 Charles Wilkins's claim...................................... 228 July 2, David Caldwell's claim.................................... 28 Don Carlos Delossus's claim................................... 228 1837. January 18, debts due by or to the United States.................. 207 October 14, debts due by or to the United States................... 207 1838. James Pattison's claim.......................................... 271 William Eadres's claim........................................... 271 July 7, debts due by or to the United States....................... 207 Richard Harrison's claim.................................... 229 1839. March 3, debts due by or to the United States..................... -207 1841. February 27, debts due by or to the United States....-..... 207 1812. John King's claim................................................ 271 August 11, John Johnson's claim................................... 229 August 23, debts due by or to the United States.................... 207,259 1843. March 3, debts due by or to the United States.... 207,259 1844. June 15, debts due by or to the United States..................... 207,259 June 17, as to contracts........................................... 259 1845. March 3, as to contracts.......................................... 259 1846. July 29, debts due by or to the United States................. 207, 370 August 3, Abraham Horbach's claim.............................. 229 August 6, debts due by or to the United States-..... 207 August 10, as to contracts.......................................... 259 1847. March 2, debts due by or to the United States..................... 207 Bank of Metropolis claim.................................. 229 1848. August 3, as to contracts......................................... 259 1849. March 3, debts due by or to the United States..................207,271, 295 1850. September 28, as to contracts -..-..........-.......... 259 1851. March 3, as to contracts.. —................................. 259 1l52. July 20, James C. Watson's claim................................. 229 Angust 31, debts due by or to the United States................... 207 1853. February 26, debts due by or to the United States.................. 207, 370 1854. July 29, John C. Fr6mont's claim.................................. 229 August 5, as to contracts......................................... 259 1855. February 24, creating the Court of Claims.-....................... 231 1858. May 4, as to contracts............................................ 259 1859. February 5, Thomas Laurent's claim.............................. 229 February 28, as to property....................................... 270 1860. June 23, as to contracts.......................................... 259 1861. February 8, authorizing a loan.................................... 231 February 24, as to contracts....................................... 259 March 2, as to unauthorized contracts and Indians.......... 221,230, 259 March 8, as to unaulthorized contracts and Indians................. 230 March 26, as to Indians........................................... 231 July 13, as to the rebellion....................................... 207,255 July 31, as to the rebellion................................ 255 INDEX. 387 Page. Acts of Congress cited-Continued. 1862. March 1, debts due by or to the United States................. 207 March 2, as to contracts..................................... 259 March 17, as to contracts......................................... 207 March 30, as to property.......................................... 207 June 2, as to contracts......2................. 59 June 7, as to war................................................. 372 June 14, as to contracts.......................................... 259 July 17, debts due by or to the United States....... 207,259 1863. March 3, contracts, torts, aliens.................13,17,207,295 March 12, as to cotton.................217,236,237,239 1864. March 30, war-damages...................... 271 June 25, contracts, torts, aliens.-....-...- -.. — - -.....207,271,295 July 2, as to claims...-........... —.. —... —.-........... 237,258 July 4, contracts, claims, torts, aliens - 13, 207, 217, 236, 246, 247, 249, 250, 259, 302, 303,304,305,306,311,312,327,372,373,374 1865. March 2. as to contracts.......................................... 259 March 3, as to tobacco. -.............330 1866. May 11, contracts, torts, aliens.................................... 13 June 18, contracts, torts, aliens................................250, 372,373 June 23, as to contracts...................................... 259 July 13, as to contracts........................................... 259 July 28, debts due by or to the United States.............207,250, 372, 373 1867. January 21., Josiah O. Armes's claim............................... 296 February 9, as to claims... —..-.................................. 238, 306 February 21, contracts, torts, aliens. 13, 246, 248, 250, 252,259, 296, 311, 372, 373 March 2, reconstruction.............208,209, 306, 309 1868. March 30, captured and abandoned property................... 242 April 9, as to claims.............................................. 271 June 28, as to contracts...................... 259 July 25, as to contracts.....259 July 27, as to rights of aliens -......11,12,13,205, 206 1870. June 1, Cutler's claim.......... 239 July 8, claims of owners of barks Volant and Science, and brig Dashing Wave.............................................. 229 July 11, as to contracts_..............259 July 15, as to contracts... ——... -... --.... —................ 259,270 1871. March 3, creating the Commissioners of Claims...8,20, 217,230,232,236, 259, 324,327,331,334,372,373 April 20, Tennessee and West Virginia war-claims.........._.... 373 1872. April 27, war-damages........................................... 271 May 11, claims of loyal citizens........217,236, 335, 336 May 18, as to cotton..- -.. ——.. —.....-...-.. —.............. 217, 236 May 29, as to property........................................... 270 June 10, war-damages.......................................... 248 1873. January 23, loyal citizens of Loudoun County, Virginia............ 296 March 3, claims of loyal citizens..-..- -. —..-....-............ 217, 236 May 5, as to claims................... 271 1874. June 16, war-claims.................299, 311,374 Army appropriations................ 312 June 20, legislative, executive, and judicial appropriations........ 312 Adams, Charles Francis.............................. 272 Adams, John. —......... —--... —-.....- -.-....................... 272,273 Adams, Samuel........................................................... 232 Addenda, see.............................................................. 370-374 Agent, implied powers of...................................................... 256 Agency, agent of Government must have actual authority..................... 260 personally responsible for unauthorized acts........................ 282 Ahrens, M................ 126, 127 Akerman, A. T., Attorney-General, opinion on the act of July 4, 1864....... -—...-.-.-..-.......... 371-373 Alabama, date of secession.........208 vote of the people on.................................................. 215 amount of claims presented and allowed from...... 286 ordinance of secession passed by convention of............ 212 388 INDEX. Page. Aldis, A. 0., Page relative to Harben's claim...................................234, 332,339, 342, 345 Aidridge, John u-...... —...................................... 274 Aliens, adjudication of the claims of.-......................................... 1,7 bill forthe.-..... —. —......... 1,7 claims of, not within jurisdiction of Commissioners of Claims —....S.... 8 claims of, passed on by special tribunals................................ 8 remedy of, in England-..................... 12 may prosecute and recover in Prussia.....-.... 13 claims of, not proper for committee of Congress to examine. -.... 206 expatriation of........................................................ 205 by civil law may sue Government...................................... 206 remedy of, by petition of right in England.............................. 206 Hanover._.. —.-.. —. -..... 13 Bavaria-........................................................... 13 Belgium.-......................................................... — 30 Austria-Hungary..-................. 69, 70 Turkey.-........-...........-......-.... 72 France ---—.. ——. —---------—. —-. —.- -...... 76 Ecuador.-......................................................... 99 United States of Colombia --—......... —-. -—. - -.-.-........... 103 Liberia - -.... —- -..... —. —... —------.......................... 117 Central America..... — -.-........ 118 Venezuela......................................................... 119 Norway. —........12............2............... 122 Sweden........................................................... 123 Italy -----—... —-.............. 128,205 Great Britain —.. -.-.-.-.-..... 193 the Argentine Republic........................................... 195 Denmark. —........... —.....-.. 200 rule of House of Representatives relative to claims of.................. 207 of Senate relative to claims of...................................... -207 whne compensation allowed to, under treaty of Washington............ 261 Allegiance, change of............................................................. 205 Ambrose, Des.......-........-....-...... 183, 188 Amelioration of lanws of war, by Congress.-..-....-......... -.......... 217 by military commanders.-...-.........-..-..... 236 inexpediency of........................................................ 235,236 acts relating to........................................................ 217 Halleck's order relating to............................................. 236 American and British claims, expenses of commission to settle- -............................... 3 American and Mexican commission, expenses of —.. 4 President's proclamation concerning.................................... 355 Andam, James L........................................................... 324 Anderson, Elbert.......-....... -................................ 228 Andrew, John A........................................................... 218 Andrews, C. C., letter of, and inclosures, to Hon. H. Fish. —...... -27,120, 122 to General Bjornstjerna -............................................ 121 Appeal, from decisions of Court of Claims............................... —....... 1,5,67 Archibald, Justice —........ -.......... 193 Argentinie Republic, citizens and aliens may prosecute claims against......................... 195 mode of procedure in claims against.................................... 195 Arkansas, ordinance of secession passed by convention....... 213 vote of the people on..-.....-2...... 15 amount of claims presented from, and allowed........................... 286 Armny Regulations. the power to prescribe..-..-........-.........-..256, 260 require officers to give vouchers.-... —. —-..-...- -.............. 252, 260,279 do not make contract by giving voucher; this is done to charge the officers...-.....2.......-..................... 52,260,279 INDEX. 389 Page. Army Regulatiois-Continued. have the force of law..-..-.-.-.-.-.-.... 260 Dr. Lieber's rules for armies in the field...-..-...... 217,261 authorize contracts for rent............................................ 246, 252 Arnold, General..-................................................... 273 Arnold, Stephen...................................... 227 Arnold, William....... -226 Attorney- General, must assent to appeal by the United States 6..................... 6 opinion of, on the act of July 4,1864-............ 371-373 Austria, not liable to citizens for property destroyed in war-....................... 275 Austria-HJungary, laws of, relative to claims................... 69 any citizen may prosecute claims against...........................-... 70 rights of aliens.-........................................... 70 Avery, John, jr............................................................ 23'2 Azuero, M. Plata............................................. 114 B. Bailey, Martha-2............................................................ 28 Baird, Dr-.-.... —,....-...-...-..-..-..-.-....-...-..-.-............ 231,232 Banks. General N. P....................................... 261,263,278 Barente, Bon De. —.............-................77, 78, 270 Bass, Eugenie.... -262 Battle, property destroyed or damaged in...................................... 274-276 Baraaria, protection of subjects by..............................................-. 12 aliens may recover in.................................................. 10, 13 Beall, Samuel L............................................................ 227 Beatty, Mr-................................................................ 291 Belgium, mode of procedure in claims against.. —.-..... -.......... 29 provisions of the constitution of, relative to claims-... -. 29 for the examinations of claims in-.... -30 fees of attorneys and barristers in-... -..-.-..-... 31 length of suits in............................ 31 Belknap, ion. W. W., letter of, to Hon. William Lawrence relative to settlement of war-claims, 249, 254, 297 transmits to the House of Representatives reports of the QuartermasterGeneral and Commissary-General................................. 97 Belligerents, (see American Law Register, March, 1875,) rights of the Government toward....................................... 211 Chase, Chief-Justice, on-........... 211 rights of.-2................'33 rights of, granted rebel States by Great Britain.-...... 239 belonged to United States during the rebellion.....-2........ 239 may destroy any property in enemy's country -.......... 240 Benjamin, Charles F.....3....................... 324 Benjamin, L. N..-.......................................................... 240 Bernard, Professor......................................................... 245 Best, J. Milton, claim of-......281, 291, 292, 296, 297, 298 Bethmont, Paul.........................................................-77, 78, 270 Beulh, MM-.-..............86,87, 91,92 Biddle, Thomas, (note 1)................................................... 2 Bjornsljerna, 0. M., letter of, and inclosure, to C. C. Andrews.. —............................ 121 Black, Charles............................................................. 240 Blackford, Judge.......................................................... 295 Blaine, James G-........................... 20 Blanco, Dr. Jesus Ma -..................................................... 119 Blockade, of certain ports declared. —................................ 208,209 Bluntschli, M.............................................................. 127 Board of survey, (see Army Regulations as to,) why organized -..-.......................... 260 390 INDEX. Page. Boker, George H., letters of, and inclosures, to Hon. H. Fish............................. 27, 70 Bombardment, rule in losses by........................................... 275 Bombonnel, Charles........................................................ 206 Boutwell, George S., letter to, from A. T. Akerman.......................................371, 372, 373 Boville, Justice............................................................ 193 Brevard, Joseph........................ — 226 Briosa, M., letter to George Williamson —.................. 118 British-American, commerce, magnitude of................-.. 6 mixed commission, claims presented to-....7................7........ 7 awards made by-.........-... 7 Broglie, M -—.-. —-... —.....-...-............. —-. —------—.... —-.. ——. 93,95 Brower, Mary............................................................. 291, 292 Brown, Albert G., jr -................................-.............. 218 Brown, Sevellon A......................................................... 211 Browne, Albert G., jr................................. -................. 218 Bruzzo, M —. —.- -... —. —-------—. —. —.. —---------- -—. —-----—. —- 183 Buell, Major-General.... ---—.- —.- —...... - -- - - —.....-..251,253,254,297 Buffet, L-...-.......-.......80, 85, 96 Biilow, M. Von................................ -............................ 123 Burnham, John-............................................................. 226 Burnside, General..............................-...................... - 263 Bustamante, Pablo-...-.................................. 101 Butler, B. F., letter to Hon. WV. Lawrence relative to war-clainims.....- 263 Bynkershoek, opinion of, on enemies. —...-...................211, 235, 245 on taking property of loyal citizens.................................... 283 Byrne, John K... —............................................... 240 C. Cabella, M -.. —..-.-.-... 127 Cadwalader, John L., letter of, to Hon. William Lawrence... 25 Cairns, Sir Hugh........................................................... 240 Caldwell, David........................................................... 228 Caldwell, Elias B.......................................................... 226 Calhoun, opinion of, as to duty to pay for ravages of war, (see Annals of Congress, 1816-'17, [2d sess. 14th Cong.,] pp. 382, 426.) Capitulation, rule of protection where there is no..................................... 262 Calvo, M................................................................. 262 Captured and abandoned property, (see Property, Cotton, Tobacco.)........236, 243 Carmichael, William....-........-.-.-..-.-.... 273 Carpenter, Senator M. H-............-..-..217 Casey, Chief-Justice.-...................................................... 293 Castellana, Marquis de. ——.-. —------.- -.....-............-...... 77,270 Cavallini, M.............................................................. 179 Cavour, Count-..-.................................................. 127 Cazenove de Pradive, E. de.................................................80,85, 96 Central America, mode of procedure in relation to claims against-......................... 118 aliens may prosecute claims against.................................... 118 Ceresole, M., letter of, to Horace Rublee-....-............................... 33 Cevallos, Pedro Fermin.................................................... 101 Chandler, Z _-...........-............................... 284 Chase, Chief-Justice S. P................................................ 211,212,216 Chatham, Lord, on the supremacy of the laws of peace..............-............-....... 287 Cheves, Langdon........................................................ 223 Choctaw Indians, report on claim of................................................... 220-232 INDEX. 391 Page. Chronicle, The Washington, Page. extracts from, relative to private claims before Congress.............. 18, 19 letter of Hon. William Lawrence in reply to above...................... 19 Churches, the laws of war as to.................................................. 233, 258 Methodist, amount of claims for damages............................... 300 Episcopal, of similar import........................................... 300 Christian, of similar import........................................... 300 their connection with rebellion........................................ 233 Cicero, on laws of war. —....... 126 Cissey, General E. De..-.................................... 96 Citizens, American, rights of, before foreign courts............................... 16 when to be regarded as enemies........................................ 211 expatriation of. 205 naturalization of...................................................... 205 Civil law, allows citizens and aliens to sue Government...205 Claimants, (see the names of, under proper letter of alphabet.) Clainms, amount of, presented to American-British mixed commission --—..- -. — 6 of the United States against the United States of Colombia-...... 2 bill limiting time for allowance of...................................... 15 investigation of, a judicial duty -............................-..-..... 16 may limit time for investigating..16 extracts fromnt speech of Hon. William Lawrence relative to.............. 17 House Committee on, Forty-third Congress, resolution of................ 18 list of, note on......................................................... 205 classes of.............................................................. 218 the tribunals having jurisdiction of................................... 204,'246 amount of, before Congress.........................................286, 298,301 private, before Congress, extract from Washington Chronicle............18,19, 20 how effectually disposed of 19 bill to prevent abuses in the prosecution of............................. 21 on foreign governments, the law of.................................... 23 mode of adjusting................................................. 23 against the United States.. 17,203 law of, in the United States....203,205,232 officers and tribunals having jurisdiction to investigate...........204,297,313, 321 classes of, and general principles of..................................... 205 duty of United States to hear and pass upon..................... 206 Florida, opinion of Webster on......................................... 222 letter of Quartermaster-General relative to............................. 246 to be submitted to and examined by the Quartermaster-General......... 248 Commissary-General of Subsistence................................ 246 proof required in support of the last two classes........................ 248 in the Departments of the Government...............246,248, 297,298, 301 of Christian churches, for damages, amount of... 300 of Episcopal churches, for damages, amount of.......................... 300 of Methodist churches, for damages, amount of.......................... 300 rules governing presentation of, to Quartermaster-General and CommissaryGeneral of Subistence........................................... 306-309 forms prescribed for the above......................................... 309 Commissioners of, laws of Congress relative to..................321,322, 323,324 Court of, laws of Congress relating to.....313,314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320 regulations for taking testimony in support of, before the Commissioners of Claims....................................................... 345 admissible evidence........ 345 authority of special commissioners 346 delegation of authority prohibited................................. 346 mode of taking depositions........................................ 346 certifying and indorsing depositions.... 346 swearing by witnesses. 346 examination of witnesses by special commissioners.............. 346 examination by claimants or counsel............................... 347 re-examination by special commissioners............. 347 questions not to be recorded...... 347 special testimony concerning deceased claimants.............. 347 392 INDEX. Page. Clainms-Continuned. refreshment of the memory of witnesses........................... 348 testimony to be taken on formal applications............ 348 mode and time of forwarding testimony..-..................... 348 fees and expenses.............................................. 348 standing interrogatories............................................ 349-355 still pending for captured and abandoned property................. 243 still pending in the Court of Claims..................................... -243 amount of, filed before the Secretary of the Treasury. -.... -243 policy of Congress relative to..................................... 246 for rent not allowed26........ 246, 264,250, 251,252, 253,254, 287 letter of the Judge-Advocate-General relative to.................... 247 of British loyalists for damages presented to Parliament -................ 267 number of, and amount claimed and allowed-........................ 267 for property alleged to have been destroyed by the rebels...-..-.. 267 for losses of houses, decisions of Congress against.-...................... 274 for property alleged to have been wrongfully destroyed or injured by, the forces of the United States................................... 278 recommendations of the President relative to.-.-..... 285 Court of Claims forbidden to adjudicate certain........................ 293 against the United States, assignment of................................ 370 of contracts to procure legislation for the payment of..-...-....... 370 is such contract void as against public policy................. 370, 371 from the State of Tennessee.-....................373 for quartermaster's stores under act of July 4, 1864.-...-....., 374 Claims of aliens, bill for adjudication of................................................. 1 Court of Claims given jurisdiction of.............................. 1 British................................................................ 1,246 and war-claims, bill to establish a court of.............................. 7 necessity of providing for settlement of.......................... 19 neglect of Congress to act on.................................... 19 passed upon by special tribunals....................................... 8 Clark, Alonzo............................................................. 301 Clark, Dennis............................................................. 226 Clay, Henry, opinion of, as to ravages of war damages, (see Annals of Congress, 1816-'17, 2d sess. 14th Cong.)............................................. 382-426 Cole, John................................................................ 225 Colleges, the laws of war as to...............................................233, 258,261 exceptions in favor of loyal owners-.- -....... — -..- --—.-.-...... 258 veto of the bill to pay for, in rebel States............................... 296 amount of claims for damages to....-......................... 300 Colombia, United States of, cost of settling claims against.......................................... 2 mode of procedure in settling claims against........................... 102 Colunje, Jil............................................................... 114 Commissary- General of Subsistence, claims to be submitted and examined by the............................. 248, 374 proofs required in support of the above..........-.. 248,306 rules for presenting claims to.................................... 306-309 forms prescribed for above.................. 309 Commissary stores, (see Stores, Supplies.) Commissioners of Claims, no jurisdiction over alien claims.....-..... 7, 8 false claims presented to................................................ 13 bill relating to........................................................ 13, 371 should be converted into a court, with proper counsel for the Government. 14 how valuable evidence is secured by the-....................... 18 acts relating to, &c..........................................14,15, 321, 323, 324 extending time for presenting claims to....-............................ 14 resolution concerning.................................................. 18 statement of, concerning publication of claims-......... 18, 242 number of claims allowed by........................................... 20 duties and powers.........-.. -.......... 204 acts of Congress organizing the -........................... 321-324 first general-report of.................................................. 324-332 second general report of................................................ 332-339 third general report of.-........................................ 339-342 INDEX. 393 Page. Commissioners of Claims-Continned. regulations for taking testimony in support of claims before............. 345 rules for taking testimony in support of claims before the............... 345 admissible evidence...... -............... 345 authority of special commissioners..................................... 346 delegation of authority prohibited...................................... 346 mode of taking depositions............................................ 346 certifying and indorsing depositions.................................... 346 swearing of witnesses................................................. 346 examination of witnesses by special commissioners...................... 346 examination by claimants or counsel.................................. 347 re-examination by special commissioners................................ 347 questions not to be recorded........................................... 347 special testimony concerning deceased claimants........................ 347 refreshment of the memory of witnesses................................ 348 testimony to be taken on formal applications........................... 348 mode and time of forwarding testimony................................ 348 fees and expenses............-........................348 standing interrogatories............................................... 349 Con.missions, mixed, under treaties.................................................. 335 expenses of............................................................ 2 court preferable to................................................... 9 Fish, Secretary of State, on............................................ 4 President as to............................................. 1 Committees of Congress, not a suitable tribunal to examine claims..........17,19,20, 243 (On this subject see Globe, vol. 20, pp. 38, 139, 144, 159, 172, 178, 188, 198,203, 302, 303, 307, 378, 492, 543; also report made in House of Representatives, 30th Congress, 2d session, on bill discussed in Globe, vol. 20; see also Annals of Congress, 1816-'17, [14th Cong., 2d sess.,] pp. 245, 299, 382,426, 462, 1028, 1035,1040, 1051, 1211.) examine claims in the United States................................... 204 cannot properly examine alien claims................................... 206 Common law of war, (see Amelioration, Constitution,) existed prior to and recognized in Constitution......................... 217,251 not repealed by acts of Congress authorizing seizure of property.218,236,238, 239 Compensation, (see Liability,) expediency of making, as a gratuity................................205,217,236 another view of this................................................... 284 Calhoun's opinion, (see Annals of Congress, 1816-'17, [14th Cong., 2d sess.,] pp. 382,426.) Clay's opinion, (see same.) Confiscation, Thomas Jefferson as to....................... 235 discussed............................................................. 236 certain estates and property liable to................................... 237 lightly used in the rebellion........................................... 237 property of loyalists not subject to..................................... 228 Conforti, R............................................................... 134 Congress, should create court of alien claims, (note 2) 4 notice to be given to, of judgments..................................... 11 act of, relative to Court of Claims...................................... 12 act of;, making certain requirements of alien claimants.-............. 12 fraudulent claims presented to......................................... 13 Commissioners of Claims to report to................................... 13 claim of Charles J. Davis, passed by............................... 13 action of Forty-third, relating to claims................................ 13 claims acted on by committees of.................................... 14, 17 petitions to, for payment of claims...................................... 16 power to summon witnesses............................................ 17 power to appropriate money........................................... 17 why it created a Court of Claims................... 17 resolution adopted by House Committee on Claims in Forty-third 18 private claims before, Washington Chronicle on.......... 18 letter of Hon. William Lawrence in reply to above........ 19 committees of, unsafe for adjudication of claims......................... 19, 20 neglect of, to act on claims............................................ 19 394 INDEX. Page. Congress-Continued Page. testimony before committees of, exparte............. 19 demands upon the time of............................................. 19 has not generally entertained alien claims.............................. 206 reconstruction acts of, why passed..................................... 209 duty of, in certain cases............................................... 209 opinion of Senate committee on allowing interest on claims...... 230 powers conferred on, by the Constitution.-.....- -..-............. 216 provision by, for payment of loyal claimants in disloyal States........... 236 for taking property in statutory nmodes......... 236 loyal claimants always compensated by.. —. —.. —.-..-............... 281 resolution of, relative to compensation for property taken....... 291,292 horses killed in service paid for by order of............................. 294:amount of claims pending in House committees.......... 298 Thirty-eighth, first session, act of, restricting jurisdiction of the Court of Claims.......................................................... 304 Thirty-ninth, first session, joint resolutions extending the preceding act-. 305 second session, act explanatory of the preceding act................. 305 joint resolution extending the provisions of the preceding act.-.... 306 act of, appropriating money for the Army, for the year ending June 30, 1875............................................................ 311 law of, organizing the Court of Claims..................... 313-321 acts of, organizing the Commissioners of Claims........................ 321-324 forbidden to make certain laws........................................ 16 power of, to make rules concerning captures on land...... 218 prescribed time for presentation of claims.............................. 242 policy of, relative to claims........................................... 246 cannot declare war in case of rebellion.................................. 255 may revise awards of boards of survey.................................. 262 decisions of, relative to claims for loss of houses -........... 274 in war, right of eminent domain may be exercised by.................... 287 resolution adopted in 1784 relative to property.................... 291,292 Court of Claims forbidden to adjudicate certain claims by............... 293 Congress, Librarian of, acknowledges to Hon. William Lawrence the receipt of specified foreign law-works...................................................... 370 Conkling, Roscoe.........................................................281,284 Con8stitution, proposed amendment to................................................ 18 principles of law recognized anterior to its adoption.................... 276 right of petition guaranteed by........................................ 16 provision of, relative to judicial power..-... -_ _...-...... 17 Paschal's Annotated, on rights of citizens............................... 206 safeguards of, withdrawn from District of Columbia................... 211 provides for military as well as civil government....................... 212 three kinds of military jurisdiction under............ 212 recognizes rights and remedies of person and property.....215 confers certain war-powers on Congress................................ 216 recognizes the law of nations.......................................... 216, 285 requirements of the fifth amendment to the........................ 247,285, 291 ~evident purpose of the last-mentioned.................................. 255 declarations of the preamble to............. 285 recognizes the war-power.............................................. 217,`285 principles of the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments to....... 290'Justice Story on the principles of the.................................. 291 Constitutional law, (see Eminent domain,) the fifth amendment................................................... 215 construed as to public use.................... 215, 216, 261,276,285, 287,290,297 the right of petition cannot be abridged on claims.......... 16 houses of citizens subject to seizure....................... 248,287,256, 274 war-power not limited by fifth amendment............................. 212 due process of law defined................................. 215 the right to occupy houses of citizens in war............................ 252 war as defined in the Constitution...................................... 255 the power to prescribe Army regulations............................. 256 the power to levy taxes on the enemy.................................. 256, 274 power of each House of Congress to punish contempts.................. 17,217 destruction of property in war not a "public use"...................212,285,297 the power to declare martial law, by what authority.................... 283 INDEX. 395 Page. Constitutional law —Continued. recognizes the rights and remedies of citizens........................ 215 power of Congress to declare war...................................... 216 laws of war independent of, but recognized by the..............212,217,285 right to take life in war............................... 214,215 Construction, of the acts of July 4, 1864.............................................. 371 statutes do not repeal common law of war by implication.....218,236,238,239 Contemipt,I power of each House of Congress to punish 17,217 Contracts, (see Rent,) by military officers, when binding..................................... 259 unauthorized, not binding............................................. 259 acts of Congress relating to public...................................... 259 consent of both parties necessary to bind..259 for rent require assent of Quartermaster-General........................ 260 -no implied contract on a voucher...................................252,260,279 ratification of......252 Controversies, celebrated, by Ferdinand Vasquez................................................. 126 Cornwallis, Lord......................................................... 273 Corporations, not liable to confiscation act........................................... 244 foreign, not entitled to immunity...................................... 244 rebellion cannot shield itself behind.................................... 244 right and duty of the Government to seize and occupy property of....... 244 and members thereof may be disloyal.................................. 245 can commit trespass................................................... 245 Cotton, a proper subject of capture............................................ 233 chief reliance of the rebels............................................ 233,279 value of that destroyed at New Orleans......... 233 capture of, justified by public policy and legislation..................... 234 acts of Congress relating to............................................ 236 paid for in certain cases............................................... 238 used as breastworks for defense........................................ 238 Treasury to receive proceeds from sale of............................... 238 seized at Helena by General Curtis..................................... 239 used in beds and hospitals, claims allowed for........................... 239 destroyed by United States forces in rebel States.............. 240 captured in Knoxville....................................... 241,263 why time for presenting claims for, should not be extended............. 242 amount of, captured after June 1, 1865................................. 242,243 gross proceeds of captured and abandoned.............................. 243 Hiram W. Love's agreement to pay rent on......... 256 used by soldiers....................................................... 256 John H. Hanna's claim for............................................. 267 used for fortifications.................................................. 278,288 Mrs. Alexander's, (see Table of Cases.) claims for..... 330 reports to Congress on................ 237, 243 Cowan & Dickinson's claim for_. 241 acts of Congress as to.... 236 Courts, are the judges whethes war-power is operating...217 are the sole judges of the time and place where the law of military necessity operates.................................................... 283 Court of alien and war claims, recommended by President............................................ 1 by Secretary of State.............................................. 4 bill to establish.... 8 powers and government of............................................ 9, 10, 11 Court of Claims, alien claims referred to the............................................ 1,7 when it shall have jurisdiction..... 1 rules and practice of, to be observed in alien claims..1 appeals may be taken from..1,5 agency in securing peace, (note 2)....... 5 decisions of, revised by Supreme Court, (note 2)..6 396 INDEX. Court of Claims-Continued. Page. no jurisdiction over torts, (note a)..................................... 7 jurisdiction of, (note 3)...............................................12, 13,204 limited.......................................................... 13, 204 false claims presented to.............................................. 13, 244 bill relating to parties in.............................................. 16 why established by Congress.......................................... 17 claims pending before the.............................................. 286 awards made by...................................................... 244,286 act to restrict the jurisdiction of....................................... 304 joint resolutions extending the preceding act..... 305 act declaratory of the sense of the preceding act........................ 305 act extending the provisions of the above.............................. 306 law organizing the.................................................... 313 judges of, how appointed; seal........................................ 313 sessions of; quorum; salaries of officers................................ 314 clerk's bond; contingent fund; report to Congress, copies for Departments. 314 members of Congress not to practice in the... 315 jurisdiction, powers, and procedure.................................... 315 claims for captured and abandoned property............................ 316 private claims in Congress, when transmitted to-. 316 judgments for set-off or counter-claim, how enforced 316 decree on account of payments, &c.................................... 316 claims referred to, by Departments.......... 316 procedure in cases transmitted by Departments... 317 judgments in foregoing cases, how paid................................ 317 claims growing out of treaties not cognizable therein................... 317 claims pending in other courts not to be prosecuted in.................. 317 rights of aliens before the............................................. 317 limitation of claims................................................... 318 rules of practice; contempts........................................... 318 oaths and acknowledgments; petition................................. 318 petition dismissed if issue found against claimant....................... 318 burden of proof and evidence as to loyalty. 318 commissioners to take testimony.. 319 may call on Departments for information............................... 319 when testimony not to be taken 319 witnesses not excluded on account of color ----------------—........... 319 witnesses excluded if interested; examination of claimant.............. 319 testimony taken where deponent resides. 320 witnesses, how compelled to attend.................................... 320 cross-examination of................................................... 320 how witnesses sworn.... 320 fees of commissioners, by whom paid................................... 320 claims forfeited for fraud.............................................. 320 new trial on motion of claimant........................................ 320 new trial before, on motion of the United States........................ 320 payment of judgment; interest........................................ 321 a full discharge................................................... final judgment a bar -................................................. 321 regulations for taking testimony in cases before the...... 345 amount awarded by the 243,286 claims still pending in the --------------------------------------------- 243, 286 forbidden by Congress to adjudicate certain claims...................... 293, 296 Cowan & Dickinson.......................................................`241 Cox, Alfred............................................................... 240 Cox, Henry E............................................................. 240' Cox, T. C.................................................................. 3 Coyle, Randolph.......................................................... 4, 369 Craft, General............................................................. 297 Cramer, M. J., letter of, and inclosures to Hon. H. Fish................................. 198 letter to 0. D. RosenDrn-Lehn........................................... 200 Crops, (see Liability,) if in the way of an army may be destroyed............................. 277 Government not liable therefor.... 277 army may destroy corn-fields........................................... 289 Government not liable therefor.-.. 289 destroyed by an army do not create liability............................. 277 INDEX. 397 D. Page. Dalloz, M..................................................................- 127 Damages done by the enemy, (see Enemy,) rule of law of......................................................... 266 opinion of Alexander Hamilton as to law of............................ 266 opinion of Vattel on the same......................................... 266 opinion of Pitt on the same............................................ 266 opinion of Calhoun, see Annals of Congress, [14th Cong., 2d sess.,] pp.382, 426, debates. opinion of Clay, (see same.) opinion of Delano ------------------------------------------------.235,242,286 Dana, Francis............................................................. 273 Darling, Flora A........................................................... 263 Davis, Charles W., (note 1)................................................. 2 Davis, Garrett......................................................266,268,283,293 Davis, Henry G........................................................... 301 Davis, J.................................................................. 278 Davis, J. C. B -----------------------------------------------------— 25,26,27, 31,123 transmits schedule of inquiries... 27, 28 letter of, and inclosures, to Hon. H. Fish................................ 123 Davis, W. M............................................................... 116 Day, Frank............................................................... 300 Dean, G -------------—.................................................... 2 Deane, Silas............................................................... 273 Decazes, Duke, letter of, to Mr. W ashburne............................................ 74-77 De Engstein, Count....................................................... 224 Delano, C., opinion as to war-claims- 235,242,286 Delaplaine, J. F., letter of, and inclosures, to Hon. H. Fish................................ 27.69 Delossus, Don Carlos...................................................... 228 Denmark, mode of procedure in relation to claims against......................... 199 citizens may recover in suits against ----------------------------------- 200 aliens may recover in suits against........... 201 Dennis, General E. S....................................................... 256 Denormandie, M.......................................................... 74 Departments of the Government, claims in the............................. -............................ 297 claims, how adjusted in.....................................246,248,297,298,301 Derby, Earl of, * letter of, nd inclosures, to Hon. Robert C. Scheuck-.................. 191,192 Deseilligny, M............................................................. 95 Desjardins, Albert......................................................... 80,$5 Diplomatic correspondence, of American Revolution............................................... 273 District of Columbia, never in insurrection.................................................. 211 commencement and continuance of martial law in....................... 211 laws of war prevailed in............................................... 217 Dixon, John 226 Dixon, Lucy.............................................................. 226 Domat, M., on the law of interest 222,223 Donaldson, J. L............................................................ 301 Druey, H.................................................................. 49 Due process of law, the meaning of...... 215 Dufaure, J................................................................. 77 Dumas, M.......................................................... 273 Dunscomb, Andrew........................................................ 226 Durant, T. C.............................................................. 325 Durkee, John.............................................................. 226 E. Eaton, A. B., letter of, relating to war-claims......................................... 303 regulations concerning claims..... 3C6-309 398 INDEX. Ecuador, Page. mode of procedure in claims against.98-101 relative to claims of citizens against.... 99 aliens against..................................................... 100 Edmunds, Senator......................................................... 287 Ela, H 219 Emancipation, proclamation of, date of............................................... 208,290 Emanuele, Vittorio........................................................ 130 Eminent domain, limitation on the exercise of............................................ 253 Government may use private property on the right of 282 right of admitted by the fifth amendment to the Constitution. 286,287 overruling necessity unlike the law of.................................. 287,289 in military operations, Congress may exercise the right of. 287 discretion admitted in the exercise of................................... 288 constitutional limitations may fetter.................................... 289 compensation to be made for property taken under...................... 289 New York law of................ 289 military seizure not an exercise of........................................ 293 New Jersey law of..................................................... 289 a civil right........................................................215,287,293 property taken for destruction by army to.prevent it falling into the enemy's hands not an exercise of.293 Enemies, alien, power of Government over........................................ 211 within what boundaries citizens are.................................... 211 Bynkershoek on....................................................... 235,245 property of alleged, must be inventoried................................ 260 Enemy, of damages done by the................................................ 266 rule of the law of................................................. 266 of injuries, occupation, and destruction of property caused by necessary military operations to repel attack of....... 276-281 property useful to, may be damaged or destroyed....................... 281-297 property taken from, becomes public property........................... 256,261 when persons and property of, protected................................ 262 right to seize and destroy cotton in country of..239 England, mode of prosecuting claims against..................................... 17 Espinosa, Janvier.......................................................... 101 Europe, law of the nations of modern.......................................... 126 Evans, Daniel............................................................. 228 Evarts, W. M.............................................................. 373 Expenses, of United States and Spanish claims commission........................ 2 and United States of Colombia commission......................... 2 of carrying into effect convention with Venezuela....................... 2 of commission to adjust claims of United States against New Grenada and Costa Rica....................................................... 3 of commission to carry into effect treaty between United States and Hudson Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural Company.................. 3 of commissiononAmerican and British claims........................... 3 of American and Mexican commission................................. F. Farini, M................................................................. 171 Feer-Herzog, M............................................................ 55,56 Ferdin'and and Isabella, independence of courts maintained by, (note 3)......................... 12 Ferriss, Orange...................................................332, 339,342, 345 Ferry, M.................................................................. 174 Filor case, Court of Claims decide that contract for rent requires approval of Quartermaster-General.................................................. 252,260 Fiscus, when, how, and by whom sued........................................ 12 judgment against, satisfied in the usual way.... 12 INDEX. 399, Fish, Hon. Hamilton, Page. letter of, to Hon. W. Lawrence relative to the bill establishing a court of alien claims -------------------------------------------------- 7, 26, 27 documents transmitted by............................................. 25. letter to, and inclosures, from Henry A. Peirce.......................... 25 J. R. Jones....................................................... 28 Horace Rublee.................................................... 32 J. F. Delaplaine.................................................... 69 George H. Boker.................................................... 70 Wickham Hoffman -74 Rumsey Wing..................................................... 98 Charles T. Gorham-... 101 William L. Scruggs............................................. 102 J. Milton Turner.................................................. 115 George Williamson................................................ 118 Thomas Russell...............................-.................... 118, C. C. Andrews..................................................... 120 J. C. B. Davis..................................................... 123 George P. Marsh........................................ 124Robert C. Schenck.. 191 C. H. Lewis-....................................................... 194 Thomas 0. Osborn................................................. 195 M. J. Cramer.................................................... 198 letter of, to Hon. William Lawrence, inclosing letter and inclosures from C. H. Lewis...................................................... 193 inclosing letter and inclosures from Thomas 0. Osborn................ 195 inclosing letter and inclosures from M. J. Cramer.... 198 relative to presentation of alien claims to Congress...................... 206, 365 Fitzherbert, Mr............................................................ 272 Flag of truce, (see Safeguard.) Florida, amount of claims presented from, and allowed........................... 286. depredations of Indians in.. 17 result of the invasion of............................................... 241 ordinance of secession passed by convention in.......................... 213 voted on by the people............................................. 215 habeas corpus suspended in.............................................. 208 Foreign governments, the law of claims on................................................... 23 mode of procedure........ 23 adjusting claims against.... 23 Forts, armies may erect..................................................276, 277, 280 France, means of redress in, (note 3)........................................... 12 mode of procedure in, in claims against................................. 74-97 method of examination and settlement of claims against................. 76 any citizen may prosecute claim against.. 76 rights of aliens in the courts of......................................... 76 laws relative to claims against......................................... 77-97 claims made upon private citizens................................. 77 contributions, requisitions, &c., to be paid by....................... 78 appropriating money for invaded departments.... 79, 83 indemnit~s pour dommages de guerre............................... 80 bases de la repartition de l'indemnit6 entre les d~partements.. 81 6tat g6n6ral des pertes............................................. 81 repartition entre les int~resss............................-. 82 payement des indemnits — 83 report to the President of.......................................... 85, 89 number of titles.................................................... 85 exemption from duties and from the income-tax.................... 85 form of the bonds................................................. 86 delivery of the bonds.... 86 methods of amortization and times of payment...................... 86 sum left over and above the amortization. 86 expense of the operation.......................................... 86 decrees....................................................... 87, 91, 92, 94 amount to be paid Paris for losses.................................. 8amount to be paid departments for losses........................... 9 400 INDEX. P agZ5e. France-Continued. distribution of the last mentioned ---------------------------------- 93 law to indemnify sufferers by war-losses............................ 95 law of August 30, 1830............................................ 96 law of December 24, 1851.......................................... 97 kind of offenses for which communes are responsible............... 97 of civil damages and redress........................................ 97 Franklin, Benjamin........................................................ 272,273 Fraudulent claims, presented to Departments............................................. 21 criminal liability for presenting, to Departments ----------- ------------- 286 presented to Commissioners of Claims ---------- ---------------— 13, 286, 331,344 presented to Court of Claims........................................... 13,242 presented to British-American Mixed Commission. 4,241 the President's opinion as to........................................... 13,284 opinion of Delano on...............................................235,242,286 opinion of Lowndes.. 286 opinion of Vattel2.... 84 cotton-claims......................................................... 242,243 as to claims under act of April 9, 1816 -285 (See Annals of Congress, 1816-'17, [14th Cong., 2d sess.,] pp. 20, 65, 67, 78, 89, 96, 106, 245,299, 382, 426, 462,1028, 1035, 1040, 1051, 1211; and see Globe, vol. 20, pp. 38, 139. 144, 159, 172, 178, 188, 198, 203, 302, 303, 307, 378, 492, 543; see also report made in House on bill discussed 30th Congress, Globe, vol. 20.) Frazer, Commissioner, James S...........................3,239,241,261,268,269,278 Fr6mont, John C.......................................................... 229 G. Gage, General............................................................ 273 Gaither, George G......................................................... 364 Gaither, George H......................................................... 4 Garfield, General J. A...................................................... 286 Georgia, decision of supreme court of, relative to use of private property for public purposes................................................. 278 amount of claims presented from, and allowed.......................... 286 supreme court of, on law of necessity.................................. 288 ordinance of secession passed by convention of..213 voted on by the people............................................ 215 Gerard, M..273 Gericke, L................................................................. 102 Germany, Empire of, protection of individuals by............................................ 12 mode of procedure in relation to claims................................ 123 citizens may prosecute claims against.................................. 123 aliens may prosecute claims against.................................... 123 Gerra, M.................................................................. 177 Gerry, Elbridge........................................................... 291 Ghent, treaty of, contents of its articles.. 223 Gibbs, W. P............................................................... 228 Gilbert, Marinus W........................................................ 228 Gilchrist, C. J., opinion in Baird's case- 231 Gordon, Patience.......................................................... 227 Gore, Mr.................................................................. 224 Gorham, Charles T., letter of, and inclosures, to Hon. H. Fish.............................27,101,102 Goulard, E. De........................................................ 80,83,85,89 Government, not a guarantor against damage from public enemy..266 not liable for unauthorized act of agent.293 claims in the Departments of the.297 rebel States owe supreme allegiance to the national..................... 210 national rights of, over rebellious subjects.............................. 211 right of, to seize private houses of citizens.............................. 248, 252 liability of, to payment never recognized................................ 254 Grant, President, U. S..211,239, 262, 283, 355, 365, 366 Granville, Earl.. 245 INDEX. 401 Pagre. Gratuity, (see Damages done by the enemy,) Government has provided for paying for Army supplies as a 236 captured and abandoned property acts are 237 policy of 205, 217,284, 236 (See Calhoun.) Gray & Brown_. _ _ 273 Great Britain, claims of citizens of.. —----------------------------------------------- 1 mode of procedure in relation to claims against ---------- --------------- 17,191 legal opinion of the home department relative to..- 192 citizens may prosecute claims against ---------------------------------- 193 aliens may prosecute claims against.................................... 193 rebellious States recognized by......................................... 239 Green, William L ---------------------------------------------------------- 26 Grdvy, Jules -----------------------------------------------------------— 77, 78,270 Grivart, L ----------------------------------------------------------- -- 80,85 Grotius, Al., on liability of an invaded city to make compensation -------- ----------- 214 on the inviolability of a flag of truce ----------------------------------- 263 on indemnifying individuals for war-losses -------------------------— 281,284,294 on the exemption of a nation from liability for damage done by the enemy. 284 on the liability of government for property destroyed by the army to deceive an enemy-.-. 294 on eminent domain.................................................... 282 Guthry, John. —---------------------------------------------------------- 227 H. *Habeas corpus, suspended in Florida.................................................. 208 power of each House of Congress to imprison.. 217 Vallandigham's case --------------------------------------------------- 209 effect of war on.- 212, 216 Haddon, Samuel H -------------------------------------------------------- 240 Hale, Lord -. 282 Hale, Nathan..... —. —----------------------------------------------- 273 Hale, R. S -.................3, 205,219,240,245,246,260,261,267,274,275,276,277,278 Halleck, H. W., General --------------------------------------------------- 236 Hamburg, free city of, rights of aliens in courts of............................................ 11 Hamilton, Alexander ---------------------------------------------— 248,258,266,274 Hancock, John ------------------------------------------------------------ 232 Hanna, John Holmes...................................................... 267,268 Hanover, protection of subjects by, (note 3)..................................... 12 rights of aliens to recover in........................................... 10,13 Hanseatic Provinces, liability of, to citizens................................................. 12 rights of aliens in courts of -------------------------------------------- 10 Harben, N. P -----------------------------------------------------------— 2 34 Harris, Governor I. G., proclaims vote of Tennessee on seceding -------------------------------- 214 Harrison, Richard --------------------------------------------------------- 229 Heifter, M I —-----------— 126, 127 History of London, Lord Clarendon's, relative to the great fire of 1666 ---------------------------------------- 290 Hoar, E. R. —------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Hoffman, JWickham, letter of, and inclosures, to Hon. H. Fish -. —------------ ---------------- 27, 74 Holabird, S. B ------------------------------------------------------------- 279 Holland, legal liability of, to citizens, (note 3) -. —------------------------------- 12 rights of aliens in courts of --------------------------------------------- 10 Holt, J., letter to Hon. William Lawrence relative to settlement for use of property during the war-. _247,252,253 *In the debate in House of Representatives on the bill to provide for the security of elections, February 27, 1875, General Butler argued that war ipsofacto suspends the writ of habeas corpus. He stated generally the effect of suspending it. H. Rep. 134-26 402 INDEX. Holt, J.-Continued. letter to Hon. W. Lawrence relative to payment of rent-254,64 relative to payment of rent for use of land ----- 280 Hopkinson, Francis...........................226 Horbach, Abraham.89......................... Horses, paid for when surrendered by order.271 of citizens stolen by Indians.2...70 of citizens captured while in service..270 House of Representatives, rule of, relative to alien claims...207 substance of war-claims report to, in 1818 285 Secretary of War transmits documents to.297 amount of claims pending before committees of298 committee of, on Valley Forge claims. - 295 Howe, Senator269, 281, 284.. Howell, J. B-3......333.........345 Hudson Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural Company, expenses of commission to carry into effect treaty with, and United States, (note 1).......3............. lanigro, M..................................178 Indiana, act of Congress relative to Morgan's raid in306 Indians, Choctaw, claim of.. —....-.220-232 indemnification by United States for property taken by-270 Cherokee, allowed interest on their claim.225 Creek, paid for slaves captured....229 Seminole, slaves captured from..... 229 rule of interest observed in wars with certain230 Inquiries, schedule of, to foreign ministers, from J. C. B. Davis, relative to the mode of I~rocedlure in settlement of claims- 28 Insurrectionary States, proclamations respecting ------------------------ 208 -Interest, (see Annals of Congress, 1816, [2d sess. 14th Cong.,] pp. 1250-1254,) when allowed[ on claims-. —218,219,221, 22.4 under ordinary claims, Government not liable for —----------- 218 obligation of United States to pay, on Choctaw Indian claims. —----- 223 allowed by American-British mixed commission undertreaty of May 8, 1871 219 allowed lby the American-Mexican commission-.............. 224 United States in dealing with Indians ---------------- 225 United States in fifty-three cited cases - 225-229 resolution of the Massachusetts senate relating to —----------- 226 opinion of Senate committee on allowing —---------------- 230 House committee on allowing-231 Senator Sumner on allowing- 230 upon advances for States in certain wars-...............218,219, 220 in what volumes discussed-219 relating to payment of, to British creditors. -219 only three cases in which it can be demanded-............... 219 allowed Virginia and other States -------------------- 219 not allowed Massachusetts ------------------------ 219 iDomat on the law of-.......................... 223 Pothier on the law of. --------------------------- 223 Chancellor Kent on the law of —-------------------- 223 allowed underthe treaty of 1794 between the United States and Great Britain 223 under treaty of 1795 between the United States and 0Spain. - -2_.-~ 24 under convention with Mexico of 1839 - ---------------- 224 under convention with Mexico of 1848 -- 224 unuder convention with Colombia of 1864. -- 224 undler convention with Venezuela - ------— 224 by the mixed American and Mexican commission-.......... 224 as damages for delay-, of payment —----------------- 225 by the United States to the Cherokee Nation —---- -------- 225 by the United States to the State of Massachusetts...___.. 230 in A. R. McDonald's claim - --------- -241 INDEX. 403 Page. nternational a, (see Constittional la, Laws of war,) alien claims decided in accordance with principles of...... 1, 6 ma.nitude of clainis arising under —............. 2.........relief granted under, for war losses --..- - - -.-.-. 268 under it nations not liable to indemnify losses of citizens who suffer from acts of the enemy -- - -------- —.....................-... —-... 273, 274 no settled principles of, furnished by special tribunals................... 8 United States not liable to rebellios States under -—................ 232 loyalists having property in rebellious States cannot claim immunity there~foru -- --- ---- --- — *-*-*-*- *-* -*- *-*- *-........... 244.principles of-26 —---—.... -.......... 268,274,280,291 under its principles nations are not liable to indemnify citizens for losses..by the public enemy in*a -. —-.... 273 exceptions to the f.orgoig rule......-..... 272,273 early adoption of..the Aerican rule of- -....274 ruleofa tndit a 864.o..f.....as.contained.in.th 296.recognized by the Constitution... 216, 251,291 investigation of claims against the United States,....mode of procedure adopted- --—. —--. —------------------- 203 officers and tribunals having jurisdiction............................... 204 Irvin, John- -----------------------—. —-- 227................................ 2'127...Irwin, Richard B.......... 217 Italy, civil code of, establishes liability.: ------------------- 11 mode of procedre in relation to claims against..-......... —--- 124 may American citizens maintain action against government of - -...... 10, 205 ~~~~~ —-..................... 128 ~~~~bills re~latingve to war-damages.-......... 129 opinion of the council of state of, relative to war-damages-........ 129 laws of, relating to claimsdell'institzione e composizione della corte dei conti................ 130 delle attribzioni della corte dei conti.............. 131.....del riscontro delle spese ——....... 132 della vigilanza sulla riscossione delle entrate e sui valori in denaro o in materie-13. 2 —............................. 132 dela vigilaza della corte in ordine alle cauzioni................-.- 132 dell'esame del conti dci ministri-132 del giudizio sni conti ------------------------ 133 disposizioni generali e transitorie-134 tabella degli stipendi. —---------------------- 135 indennitA per danni di guerra-...................135, 145 progetto di ege135, 139 la relazione ministeriale e, il sno progetto di legge-.147 lFallegato alla relazione ministeriale- 148 continuiaIa storia-148 la commissione e ii sno mandato-..1.48 i principii della commissione ------------------—'149 tum certare odiis, tuin res rapnisse licebit. -152 le applicazioni all'allegato dei, principii della commissione ----— 1-55 il progetto di legge della commissione- 166 la fine-168 progetto del ministero-168 progetto della ginnta. ------------------------- -169 decreto del Granduca di Toscana del 3 novembre 1850 snile spese per le truppe ausiliari-169 circolare, del mninistro dell'interno ai signori governatQri provinciali ed intendenti generali pei danni e requisizioni della guerra 1859: 16 agosto 1860 ---------------------------- 170 istruzioni 3 agosto 1861 diramate dall'Austria per la liquidazione delle domande, di compenso sui danni provenienti della gnerra del 1859 nelle provincie venete-............ 7 --- 172 notificazione del governo anstriaco sull'approvvi gionamento dell'armata mobile del 25 giugno 1866 —----------------- 173 circolare alle onorevoli congregazioni provinciali, agli IIL RR. commissari distrettuali ed alle congregazioni mnunicipali e deputazioni comuna-li-...................... 174 J. R. Lnogotenenza in Trieste-.................... 174 ministero dell'interno - - - -~~175, 178 coinsiglio di sao1719 8,8 estratto del decreto —----------— 184 catalogo delle, petizioni intorno al danni di guerra- 188 Izard, Ralph- 273 404 INDEX. J. Page. Jackson, General..260,28..............288..296.......... Jay, John 273 Jefferson, Thomas -............235 Jenks, David................................27 Jenks, George................................227 Jennison, Colonel............................276 Johnson, Andrew, proclamations of, concerning insurrectionary States.. 208,250 proclamation of, concerning treaty with Mexico 355, 362 Johnson, Herschel V..........................13 Johnson, John..............................229 Johnston, N - --------— 72,270 —-------- Joint commission, rules and orders governing between United States and Mexico366 Jones, Dr. W. P -............280 Jones, J. R., letter to Hon. Hamilton Fish.2,28 Jottrand, L., pere, letter to J. R. Jones........28 Journal, The Louisville, on secession in Tennessee.-.....214 Judgment, against Spain by an American...12 K. Kapp, Frederick - -......11, 20..... Kent, Chancellor.-2...............6.. -..-.2 Kentucky, message of the President relative to the destruction of salt-works in 297 Kern, Dr.....48....... King, Mr.....224....... Klaine, Peter..-32.................. Knoxville, Tenn., was enemy's country during rebellion- 263 Kcechlin, Mr —-------------------------------- 55,56 Kopp, A ----------------------------------- 67,68 Kosciusko, General —............................. 225 L. Lafayette, M. de -—................................. 273 Lamnbrecht, F ---- 77,270 Lapsley, Samuel —---------------------------- - - 226 Lanrens, Henry --—..........273 Laurent, Thomas -— 229 Law of overruling necessity, (see Overruling necessity.) Law of claims, the, on foreign governments - - ---------—!.............. 23 in the United States. -- 203,205 classes of war-claims —----------------------- - - 205 general principles of —------------------------ - - 205 Law of the Nations of Modern Europe, by Heifter - -- 126 Lasa, Philosophy of, by Ahrens -— 126 Lawrence, H1on. William, letter to, from F. A. Sawyer, inclosing amended statement of expenses of certain mixed commissions, (note 1)-2 letter to, from Hon. Hamilton Fish, relative to the bill to establish a court of alien claims, (note 2)._- _.. —-_. 4 letter of, relating to limitation of claims ----------------- 16 extract froui speech of, relative to -10,17 letter of, in reply to the Washington Chronicle, on private claims before Congress ----------------------------- 19 bill of, to prevent abuses in prosecution of claims - 21 letter and inclosures to, from J. L. Cadwalader -------------- 25 Hamilton Fish —--------------------— 26, 193,195, 198 letter to, fromt Hon. H. Fish, relative to presentation of alien claims to Congress-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~206 INDEX. 405 Page. Lawrence, lion. TWilliami-Continned. letter to, from M. C. Migs, relative to settlement for occupation of real....estate during the war....-............. 246, 250 Hn. J. Holt, relative to use of property during the war. - 247,253, 254, 264, 280 Hon... Belknap, relative to settlement of war-claims............- 249 HO. M. C. Meigs, of similar import... 250 Hon. B F. Butler, of similar import................................. 263 A. R. Spofford, Librarian of Congress, acknowledging the receipt of..specified foreign law-wor............ 370 Laws of war, (see Wfar, international lawv,) An,) existed prior to Constitution and recognized by it.-........ 217,251,287,291 where prevailing during rebellion..-...... 216 prevailed when no battles being fought —-------------- ---- 2160 test of their prevalence ------------------------- 216 sum......mary of, by Francis Leiber* ——... —-—. 217 odified by Congress dring rebellion..-................. 217,236,263..modified by military commanders........ 126, 216.the policy ofameliora. aei tng126,217,235, 294 ~~~~Dr~ ~....Leiber's rles modified - 126,209,217, 233,260,298 ~~....many opinions as to.......-..................... 181 ~~~~~~~courts cannotamlote — --- -.................... 211,216 effect of proclamations on, promising "protection of person and property"-......................................... 252,253,261,263,264 Lex loci, as affecting rights of property in rebel States........................... 217,245 s of proper...................................... 244.Lee, Arthur —---—..-............................ 273 *LeeJohn T —-----—........ —-—.......... 373 ~~Lee, Mr ------------ --------— * —— *-.-..-................ M291,373 Lee, William —--------------------- --------------— * —--—. 273 LEnfant, P.C.......... 226.Leiber, Francis. 126,209,217,233,260,298 Leiper, Thomas ------------------------------------- -- --—. 227..Leon, Francisco Janvier-... —-9 8, 99 Leopold, M. -170 Letamnendi, Jos6 —.............................. 101 Letcher, Governor — 214 Letters to Hon. Hamilton Fish relating to the adjustment.of war-claims in foreign coun tries, fromn Haw ai i, an d inuclosures, by Hen ry A. Peirce-25, 26 Belgium, and inclosures, by J. R. Jones —............... 28 Switzerland, and inclosures, by Horace Rublee —........... 32 Austria-Hungary, and inclosures, by J. F. Delaplaine —........ 69 Tnrkey, and inclosures, by George H. Boker --------------- -70 France, and inclosures, by Wickliam Hoffman-. -. —- 74-97 Ecuador, and inclosures, by Rumusey Wing -------------- 98 United States of Colombia, and inclosures, by W. L. Scrnggs- _- -- 102 Liberia,, and inclosures, by J. Milton Turner.............. 115 Central America, and inclosures, by George Williamson.- 118 Venezuela, and inclosures,7 by Thomas Russell —............ 118 Sweden and Norway, and inclosures, by C. C. Andrews ---- ----- 120 German Empire, and inclosures, by JC.BDai -123 Italy, and inclosures, by George P. Marsh —...........124 Great Britain, and inclosures, by Robert C. Schenck ---- ------ 191 Portugal, and inclosures, by CH.rae -194 Argentine Republic, and inclosures, by Thomas 0. Osborn- ----------- 195 Lewis, C. H., letter of, and inclosures, to Hon. H. Fish -- 94 Lewis, John —------------------------------- 3 Lewis, Moses —............................... 3 Liability of government,, in Italy --------------------------------- 205 in Bombonuel's case --------------------------- 206 in foreign war of invasion. -210 in America-217,267 not liable for interest unless by contract. ------------------ -218 as in Todd's and Keith's cases. —. -218 to rebellions States --------------------------- 232 lawful exercise of power does not create..-............... 239 when performing a duty-.248 406 INDEX. Pa, ge Liability of government-Continued. for injuries resulting from torts of its officers ---------------------------- 249 to pay rent never recognized. 254 to indemnify Hiram W. Love ------------------------------------------- 257 in cases cited -..........................................................259,260 for unauthorized promise of an officer. —------------------------------- 260 determined by law of war............................................. -260 of the United States not suspended by secession of a State. - 267 not liable for acts of rebels 268 of France to its subjects ---------------------------------------------- -269 crops destroyed by army does not create- 277 to compensate for property destroyed to keep it from falling into the enemy's hands............................................... 282,283,284 under the law of overruling necessity --------------------------------- 289 to compensate for emancipated slaves ---------------------------------- 290 property destroyed as a ruse does not create a - 294 Grotius on the law of -------------------------------------------------- 294 usage of, since the rebellion, a denial in certain cases of all -------------- 296 Liber;a, mode of procedure in claims against ------------------------------------ 115 citizens may prosecute claims against the government of -117 aliens may prosecute claims in the courts of 117 letter of the Attorney-General relative to claims in. 117 Liln-arian of Congress, acknowledges to Hon. William Lawrence the receipt of specified; foreign law-works-...................................................... 370 Limitation, (see Fraudulent claims,) of actions in the Court of Claims. 318 before Commissioners of Claims. 324 expediency of, discussed ----------------------------------------------- 18,242 under capture and abandoned property act -238,242 opinion of President --------------------------------------------------- 13. subject discussed, (see Preface.) Lincoln, President Abraham, proclamation by, concerning insurrectionary States -----------------— 208, 250,371 Literary institutions, liable to seizure in war ------------------------------------------- 258 but only urgent necessity can justify it................................. 258 at Princeton, N. J., allowed compensation for damages. 258 at Wilmington, Del., allowed for the same -------------- ---------— 258 claim of William and Mary College2. 58 East Tennessee University. 258,296 Kentucky University ---------------------------------------------- 258 London, folly of the lord mayor of, in 1666 — 290 Longstreet, General -------------------------------------------------------- 263 Loring, J. —------------------------------------------ 283 Loudoun County, Virginia, claims in, paid -------------------------------------------------------- 296 Louisiana, date of secession -213 amount of claims presented from, and allowed ------------ -------------- 286 vote of the people on secession- -215 Love, Hiram W -256 Loyalty, presumpton of -------------------------------------------------------- 211 proof of............................................................... 242,307 in Court of Claims ------------------------------------------------ 318 before Commissioners of Claims ------------------------------------ 326 Lowudes, Lloyd ---------------------------------------------------------— 2 86 Loyal citizens, (see Enemies,) resident in loyal States having property in rebel States................. 217,245 Ludington, M. J —251,25'2 Lutscher, J. L -------------------------------------------------------- -55, 56, 67, 68 Luzerne, M-.... —------------------------------- 273 Lyons, Lord. 240 M. Macado, J. W —-------------— 2 MacMahon, Marshal de-.........................87, 93, 95, 96 INDEX. 407 Page. Magna Charta,Pae..when principles of, were in force...... 217,251, 287,291 MagneP —---------—................................ 86, 87 ~Ma~iu.s, Vice-Chancellor....-...... 371 ~~Mantillini, M —-----------------—............. 168, 191 Marcy,....... L' 236 Mariscal, gn.- *- -- —.....-*..* 365 Marsh, George P., letter of, and.nclosures, to Hon. H...... Fis.. 27,124 Martial law,...in.......District..of. 211..courts cannot modify -............. 211, 216, 217, 236, 263 ~~..when justified... -..............-.... 265 ~~......authorities relating to..... 209, 210, 212, 283.legislative power over.... 283 ~~right of offi~cers of........................decide on existence of.. 216, 244, 283 Massachusetts, interest on advances not allowed to.2................ 219 allowed to — -- —.....-........-................. 330 McCluug, James, — 127 McDonald, A.. R. — - -- 241 M.Kean, Chief-Justice -... 290 McMillan, A.......... -....................... 240 McPherson, Edward, Historyof. - -.................20...9... 90, 233.Reconstruction -.. -............... - --- - -----— * —- 209 Meaux, Vte................................... —---—. d77, 78,270 Meigs, M. C,9 letter to Ho. William Lawrence explaining mode of settlement fc - eupation of real estate during the war.- 208, 245, 246,247, 25)O, 259, 263, 279 letter of, relative to war-claims... - -.....- —.... 298-302 Meigs, ReturJ~.-.. Rtr - 225,251,253 Mellen, William P... --- 256 Message, (see President, Veto.) Methodist Publishing House at Nashv~ille, the claim of, for use and occupation and for damages rejected - 251 Mexia, J. Carlos —---------------------------— 367,369 Mexico, settlement of claims between United States and, (note) —-------- 4 proclamation of President relative to treaty with United States and --— 355, 362 Military necessity, (see Overruling necessity,) cases in which property of loyalists may be occupied as a. ----- 276 Military occupation, when permanent, may change enemy to friend...245,263 Military operations, temporary occupation of, injuries to, and destruction of property while conducting necessary —---------------------— 276-281 Military orders, (see Or-ders.) Militia, seventy-five thousand called out --------------------- 208 Mississippi, amount of claims presented from, and allowed................ 286 ordinance of secession passed by convention --------------- 213 voted on, by the people ---- - -------------------- 215 Mixed coMnnissions, value of.-2 decisions sometimes contradictory-2 award of, final ----------------------------- 2 expenses of, paid by the United States ------------------ 2 expenses of United States and Spanish —---------------- 2 United States of Colombia ------------------—, 2 New Grenada and Costa Rica, (note 1) ---------------- 3 Hudson Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural Company.-3 Great Britain.-.3 Mexican-4, 355 proclamation relatifig to United States and Mexican. -355, 369 Amierican-British, results of, (note 2) ------------------- -6,267,219 amount of claims presented to -------------------- 6 408 INDEX Mixed commissions-Continued. American-British, expenses of printing, how borne-6 awards by.-................. jurisdiction of, in the United States..204 under treaties.......355-370. between the United States and Mexico...355-370 Moncayo, Pedro..........10..1......... Monroe, President James....................218 Montesquieu, M.-......-........-.126 Moore, J. E., letter of, to J. Milton Turner...-..116,118 Morgan, John...........................217,271,306 Morgan raid, law of Congress relative to damages by..306 action of Ohio legislature on............271 Morris, Richard G............................228 Murillo, M..................................114 Murphy, John.........-....-........-240 Murray, Henry...........2..6.... Murray, John............................... 226 N. Napoleon, Louis..............................289 Nashville, military occupation of..................251. no proclamation for military protection.252 Government not liable to pay for use and occupation in, during rebellion- 252 Nation, Cherokee, interest allowed by United States to......225 Nations of Modern Europe, law of, by Heffter.. —................ -.....26 Neira, J. M. Maldomado......14 Nelson, Samuel J -- 3,211 opinion in the prize-cases ------------------------ 211 Netherlands, liability of, to citizens........................... —12 mode of procedure in claims against.......................101, 102 rights of aliens in courts of —--------------------— 10, 102 New Granada and Costa Rica, expenses of commission of, with the United States, (note 1) —.3 New Jersey, supreme court of, on the law of necessity and eminent domain - -...... 288 Nicholl, Dr..-............................... 224 Nicholl, Sir John —............................. 224 Niles's Register, case in, as to martial law. —283 Noerr, M. L., memorandum of captured and abandoned property —........... 243 North Carolina, amount of claims presented from, and allowed —............. 286 ordinance of secession passed by. --------------------- 213 voted en, by the people. —._215 Norway, mode of procedure in, relative to claims in................... 122 citizens macy prosecute claims against.................... 123 aliens may- prosecute claims against —------------------ 123 Nott,) J.,7 opinion of, in Brown v. United States. -12 Fichera v. United Sae-10,205 0. Officers8,.action of military, subject to review by court -------------- 216 when decision of, conclusive on courts.. -244 right of, to judge of military seizure —-------------— 216,-244, 283 ratification by Government, of act of release from liability. -- 283 ratification of act, of, equivalent to original authority-.......... 252 INDEX. 409 Ohio, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Page. commission appointed to examine claims of citizens of.-..271 act of Congress relative to Morgan's raid in.-.......306 Orange, Williani I, of —--------------------------- 30 Orders, mi.t......ary,........ general military, No. 100... —. —------------—....233 as to tobacco - ------------------------------- 34 as to Tennessee-............................ —.... —-........236 general, as to property..-.............36 Osband, General —----------------------------- 241 Oswald, Mr. --------------------------------- 272 Otero, Jos Maria Quijano.11..............4 Otis, Samuel A —------------------—.. —-------- 232 Ottoman Empire, laws of, relating to war-claims -................................79 all citizens may prosecute claims against 72 rights of aliens in courts of...................................72 testimony purchased in courts of...................... 73 Overruling necesmity, t~ jstiied proclamation of emancipation........................208,290 right and duty of government under..........................244286 cae iwhcit exists.-............276,293,294 on the temporary occupancy of real estate by -......280 government may take or use private property by the law of.... 282 distinct from the right of eminent domain 287 law of, antedated the Constitution...........................287 291 decision of New York courts in.-.............. 288 law of, applied in peace for individual benefit.-......289 lseparate and distinct from eminent domain..289 Pennsylvania supreme court on the law of -........290 the case of Russell v. Mayor of New York exemplifies the law of.292 P. Paducah claims —------------- 299 Palmerston, Lord, opinion of American tribunals ----------------------- 7,275 Pardon, effect of, on the right to recover under the captured and abandoned property act__-375 Parker, L. C., report of, on claim of Choctaw Indians —................. 220 Parliamentary Practice, Riddell's railway —............................ 371 Parliament, appeal to, by British loyalists for relief-.................... 2 6`7 may punish for contempt -17 Paschal, Mr -------------------------------— 215,265 Passp~ort, (see Safegutard.) Peirce, Henry A., letter of, to Hon. H. Fish. --— 25)26 Peiroleri, M., letter of, and inclosures, to George P. Marsh —............... 125 Peiinsylrania, supremie couirtof, on the law of necessity in time ofwar —-. —.-2781,288, 282 action of board of war of, iu taking private property ------------ 289 indemnifies citizens of Chainbersburgh for war damages —-------- 271 Pdrez, Julio E. —.- ------------------------------- 114 Petition of right, is a common-law remedy in England-192,206 statute of Victoria regulates —-------------------— 192,206 Philipsborn, V - ----—......................... 123 Philosolhy of law, by Ahrens -------------------------------- 126 Phipps, Thomas - 3-24 Pickering, Timothy. —--------------------------- 228 Pierce, John —----------------------------— 2U6 Pillage, Government not liable for —------------------— 248,266,275 Government may be liable for, if it sanction ------- - --------- 276 410 INDEX. Page. Pinckney, Mr. —........... -,,,,,,.................... 224 Pitchlynn, P. P...........-2...1..9............................... 21 Political questions, (see Constitutional law,) courts cannot interfere with.....................-...........0....... 2 martial law, how far such......................-.................,..... 211, 216 Pollock, Oliver..............-2...2............-..-............... 25 Population, in 1860, of States declared in rebellion, Alabama......-.2.........,........................ 25 Arkansas.-............1..-.-........5...................2 Florida....... 215 Georgia-1.................5.....................,...............2 Louisiana................. i,5 Mississippi.....-..................................'215 North Carolina.................................... 15.............. South Carolina..........-..........2..-....1................. 21 Tennessee......-....................... —-. —----------—. —-—. —--- 21............................5 Texas...-.2........5.............................. 21 Virginia.215............... Portugal, mode of procedure in claims against.................................-... - 1 Pothier, M., on the law of interest -..................2...3................... ——. —.. Pratt, Senator, (see Cowan 4 Dickinson,) report of, on claim of Cowan & Dickinson reviewed....................- 263,241 President of the United States, (see Proclamations,) extract from message of, December, 1873, favoring settlement of alien claims.... —1. —------------------------------------------. cites result of treaty of Washington, (note 2)..-....4........... extract from message of December, 1873, on false claims..... 13 recommendations to Congress relative to false claims..13. extract from message of June 1, 1873, relative to use, occupancy, or destruction of private property in war. -.. -... -........280 extract from message of February 12, 1873, relative to destruction of Kentucky salt-works.-.................29....................... 2' proclamation respecting the American-Mexican commission...........- - 355 Procedure, in adjusting claims against the United States Government........... - - 203 Proclamations, presidential, schedule of; respecting the insurrectionary States....................... 208,371 fixing commencement of the American internal war.....................- 207,371 of emancipation.,................................- _. - -.,. 208 declaring insurrection ended in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas................... —209..............-. 20 of General Butler at New Orleans.- -..................................... 264 President's, as to New Orleans..- -.......................................'5 none by General Buell at Nashville - -.................................... 252,253 effect of a, promising protection of person and property..-.... 252,261, 264 as to martial law in District of Columbia ---—.. 212............................ Property, Government not liable for damages to. 248................................. exceptions when not to be taken for public use..........................- - 215,21'6 what, may be used in war. 2......1.....-. —.................0 taken, used, damaged, or destroyed in States declared in rebellion -. - - -.. 232-265' title to, seized in enemy's country vested in Government................'256 memorandum of captured and abandoned...............................-243 destroyed or damaged in battle by troops.-.......... ---—.. 274-276 occupation of, injuries to, and destruction of, caused by actual and necessary Government military operations to repel a threatened attack of or in advancing to meet an enemy in opena war —------— 218,276-281 civilized nations bound to pay for all, taken from loyal citizens ------ 276 exceptions to this rule ---------- --------------- 276 in war, Gov'ernmient may use, occupy, or destroy —----------- 280 useful to enemy, may he taken, damaged, or destroyed —-------— 281-297 five modes in which Government has a right to take or use —------- 282 resolution Of Congress relative to, taken ---------------— 291, 292 in horses, paid for by Congress.-294 how laws of war affect.-218 lNDEX. 411 Page. Property-Continued. ~~~~~~~..several classes of-.......... —-—.. 218,236,237 Hon. C. Delano on daaes for - -.......-.... 235 ~~...sthe right to take, in insurgent State - 236, 241...of what kind to be paid for- -—. —--------—..... 236 commanders in certain States ordered to seize............ -...... 236 provisions of statutes in relation to captured or abandoned.............. 237,241.claimants seeking payment for...-......-.... 238 of loyal owners not liable to confiscation --------------— 238 when destruction......of. justified 238 * ** **...................... 23 9 may be destroyed by belligerents in enemy's country.................... 240.....destruction of, in Florida..-............. 241 capturedadabnoef a.nd aban p.........r.o....e. 242,243 in enemy's country, held by virtue of charters granted by foreign governments, can claim no protection beyond other enemy's property. —-- 244,245 right and duty of military officers in selecting........ 244 taken from the enemy becomes public.-...-...-...... ——..... 256,261 privateprtceinies.p.r...o.t.ected in..hostile u. 260 taken from alleged enemies must be inventoried. — -- —........... 260 letter of General B. F. Butler on the rights of, &c -.. -.............-...... 264 private, when destroyed, governments seek to give redress. —-- -- - 266 Alexander Hamilton on ti rule —......................... 266 destroyed in battle, Senator Davis's speech on..- -....................... 266..Mr. Pitt on war-losses of................ 267 alleged to have been destroyed by rebels, claim for. —- -- -2......... 267 destroyed during the Morgan raid, action of Ohio legislature on. — - 2. 271 destroyed at Cambersburgh, Pa., legislature indemnifies losers.. — --. 271.........stolen by Colonel Jennison's troops -.-. —2... —.. 276 supreme court of Pennsylvania on the rights of..- -..................... 277..Georgia on the.rights of-........... —-.. 278 priva.te, for public use........... —2-.. 279 Government has five modes in which to take private....... 282 destruction of private, in battle is not taking for public use. —- --- - 287 Chief-Justice McKean on the seizure of. 290 resolution adopted by Cong ress in 1784 relating to. — 291, 292 case of Mlary Brown, arising unuder the above.- 291 taken under military authority should be paid for ----- ------— 291,293 often destroyed during the revolutionary war to prevent it falling into the hands of the enemy ---------------------- 294 supreme court of Pennsylvania decided there was no redress -294 Congress never paid for it, nor did the States. -294 destroyed in the war of 1812 to prevent it falling into the hands of the enemy. —--------------------------— 294,295 Congress never paid for it ---------------------- 294 Congrress provided for p~ayin~g for horses killed in service- 294 losers of, at Valley Forge were not compensated —------------ 2 955 clai ms for d am age o r de strucetion o f-327 "1takien" and "Ifurnishied" ------------------------ 273 taken in Tennessee - --------------------------- 373 Protection, effect of polmtoprmsn- -261 Prussia, rights of subjects of --------------------------- 12 aliens may recover in courts of. —-------------------- 10, 13 Public use, (see Constitutional law.) Q. Quartermaster-General, (see Stores,) claims to be submitted to and examined by the-..............248, 306 proofs required in support of the above --------------— 248,299, 307 validity of claims —-------------------------- 307 forms prescribed for presenting claims.: 309 act relating to —---------------------------- 311 report of the, for 1874.. —------------------------ 312 claims and accounts in the Office of. —------------------ 312 character of claims against ----------------------- 302, cost of inetgtn lisaant30t right of, to examine claims originating under the act of July 4, 1864 ---- 374 412 INDEX Pa —e. R. Raid, Morgan's, relative to.....................271 quartermaster's stores furnished during-306 Saint Albans, report of committee on 274 on loyal citizens in insurrectionary States - -274 rebel raids on loyal citizens, when paid for274 Lee's, in Pennsylvania. —.... —277'Railroads, (see Corporations,) action of Government as to, in rebel States - -244 Ratification, (see Officer,) by Government of act of officer relieves hin from liability- -283 of contract for rent equivalent to an original authority252 Rawlins, John A..... 262 Rebellion, (see Pardon,) commencement of the American.- - 206,208,209 President's proclamation relating to - -206,20,209,371 of property taken, used, or damaged in the States declared in232-265 citizens in, forfeit all constitutional rights - -216 McPherson's History of the...- -209,233 raids on loyal citizens during the - -..274 when it terminated...............-209 cases decided relating to... —-209,212 Rebels, (see Philadelphia American Law Register, Marc, 1875,) subject to sovereign and belligerent rights of Government- -211,239 in civil war not entitled to privileges of foreign eemies 211 Reconstruction, power of Congress to pass acts of- 209 McPherson's History of.......... -- 209 Redfield, Judge —........... —— 13 Reeside, James2..............29 Regulations, (see Army Regulations,) for taking testimony in support of claims before the Commissioners of Claims - 345 governing commissioners under the treaty between the United States and Mexico ------------------------------ 366 Reilly, Mr.. —.240 iRdmusat, Paul de ---------------------------— 77,78,270 Renit, (see Use and occupation,, Filor case,) claims and allowances for ----------— 246,250,251,252, 253,254,264,287 in Tennessee ---- ------------ -- ------- ---- -250,254 "1Murfreesborough decision," as to-251 at New Olas262, 265 in M issouri-............................. 247 statute of 1867 as to —----------------------- 246 authority to contract for- 246 contracts for, not affected by act of February 21, 1867 —--------- 250 Re~port of the Commissioners of Claims, first general —---------------------------— 324-332 second general_ -332-339 third general —--------------------------— 339-342 fourth general —--------------------------— 342-345 Reports, (see War-Claims Committee reports 43d Congress.) Revertera, Count-.............................. 69 Revolution, American, diplomatic correspondence of ---------------------- 273 Rive, Francisque ------------------------------ 96 Roads, government not liable for military use of ordinary- 276 Romero, M -------------------------------— 356, 362 Rosend)rn-.Lehn, 0. D., letter to, from M. J. Cramer —--------------------- 199 Roxburgh, Alexander ---------------------------- 226 Rublee, -Horace, letter of; to Hon. Hamilton Fish —-----------------— 27, 31 president of the Swiss Confederation ---------- ------ 32 IRucker, D. H —---------------------------— 304, 306-309 Rules and regulations, for taking testimony before the Commissioners of Claims._ ------ 345 INDEX. 413 Page. Rules and regulations-Continued. governing commissioners under the treaty between the United States and Mexico...-.. 366 Russell, Earl.............................................................. 240 Russell, Thomas, letter of, and inclosures, to Hon. H. Fish....................27,118,224 Russia, not amenable, in matters of property, to the law -12,275, 289 decision of Emperor of, relative to indemnification of United States for property destroyed by British forces ------------------------------ 223 Ruttimann, J 48 S. Safeguard, what it amounts to and includes --------------------------------------- 262 granted by General Grant to Mrs. Eugenic Bass ------------ --------- 262 whoever forces, to suffer death.......................................... 262 giver of, to protect the bearer.......................................... 262 Chancellor Kent on the rule of. —-------------------------------------- 262 Vattel on the inviolability of ------------------------------------------- 262 sovereign can revoke -------------------------------------------------- 262 Calvo on the rule of ------------------------------------------------—. 262 when the bearer guilty of violating -................ —----------------- 263 Grotins on the inviolability of a. 263 Santarnecchi, M. --— 127 Sappa, M -------------------------------------------------------------— 130,180,182 Sawyer, F. A., letter of, to Hon. William Lawrence giving expenses of mixed commissions 2 Sayre, Stephen ------------------------------------------------------------- 225 Schenck, Robert C., letter of, and inclosures, to Hon. H. Fish -------------------------— 27, 56, 69,191 letter to, from the Earl of Derby --------------------------------------- 192,193 Schiess, Al., letter of, to Horace Rublee, &c ------------------------— 33, 48, 49,55, 56, 67, 68,69 Scott, Sir William --------------------------------------- 224 Scott, General Winfield. —------------------------------------------------- 236 Scruggs. William L., letter of, and inclosures, to Hon. H. Fish ----------------------------— 27,102, 104 Secession, ordinance of, passed by Alabama convention ------------------- - --------- 212 Arkansas convention ------------------------------- - -------------- 213 Florida convention ------------------------—. —--------- ---------- 213 Georgia convention................................................ 213 Louisiana convention.............................................. 213 Mississippi convention ----------------------------- - --------------- 213 North Carolina convention. - 213 South Carolina convention... 213 Tennessee convention ----------------------------- - --------------- 214 Texas convention.................................................. 213 Virginia convention ------------------------------ - ---------------- 214 West Virginia, seceding from Virginia -- ---- 214 how carried in most of the States ---------------------- - --------------- 212,213 Louisville Journal on the spirit of, in Tennessee......................... 214 vote of Virginia on - --------------------------------------------------- 214 vote of the people on, in Alabama. -215 Arkansas — 215 Florida ---------------------------------------------------------- 215 Georgia ----------------------------------------------------------- 215 Louisiana. —------------------------------------------------------ 215 Mississippi -------------------------------------------------------- 215 North Carolina ---------------------------------------------------- 215 South Carolina ----------------------------------------------------- 215 Tennessee...... -................................ 215 East Tennessee.... 214 Middle Tennessee -------------------------------------------------- 214 West Tennessee --------------------------------------------------- 214 Military Camps__. 214 Texas ----—.. —-------------—.. —-----—.... —-------- 215 Virginia.......................................................... 215 414 INDEX. Page. Secretary of State, to refer alien claims to Court of Claims.1,56 opinion as to necessity of Court of Claims-4 letter of, to Hon. W. Lawrence relative to establishig a court of alien claims -............4 reasons why such court should be created-4 reasons for the provisions of the proposed act5 reasons why a favorable result may be looked for6 reasons why judgments of such courts would probably be accepted by other governments.-.6...... information given by, relative to mode of adjudicating claims by foreign governments........- -- 13 documents transmitted by..25 opinion of, on alien claims..-...206 Sedgwvick, on construction of statutes 218 Segar, Joseph.-.............248 Segur, Louis de.96................... Seizure, limitations on the ancient right of.233 military, necessary to vest title...........33 right to make military... —-239,261 military, is different from "booty".......261 when decision of officer conclusive in courts-244 283 power of, exercised during revolutionary war - -290,291 Self-defense, right of.... —-209,276,277Sella, Quintino......... —- -134,135 Seward, Daniel.-2............27 Seward, William H...... —— 356-362 Sheridan, General.-..-... —260,296 Sherman, Mr -. -........... —291 Sherman, W. T.-....-.0....275,301,330 letter of, relating to Harben's claim 234 Skipwith, Fulman M —275 Smith, Henry H. —----------------------------- 18,211 Smythe, William —----------------------------- 240 Snow, Aaron —------------------------------- 228 South Carolina, ordinance of secession passed by convention —----- --------- 213 vote of the people on —......................... 215 amouint of claims presented from, and allowed - -------------- 286 Southern Claims Commission, suggestions as to its jnrisdiction, (note 2) -.................-. 5 erroneously so called --------------------------- 321 ~Spaight,Mr --------------------------------- 291 Spain, restrictions of conrts in certain proceedings, (note 3) —---- ------ 12 judgment against, by an American citizen, (note 3) - ------------ 12 Spanish Claims Commission, expense of,(note1) --------------------------- 2 Sparks, Jared —............................... 273 Spofford, A. B.Y, letter of, to lion. William Lawrence acknowedging receipt of certain lawworks- 370 Stanley, R.H -------------------------------- 26 Stanton, Edwin M.-234, 341 States in rebellion, of property taken, used, or damaged in.-232-365 proceedings in certain ------------------------— 212-215 Government not liable for damages to-.................. 232 recognized by England —------------------------ 239 became "1enemny's country" ------------------------ 255 Presiden t authorized to declare certain. -255 St. Clair, Arthur —----------------------------- 2,25 Stemman, John —--------------— I —------------ 127 Stephens, Alexander H. —-------------------------- 213 Stetson, Amasa-.............................. 22 7.Stones, (see Forts, Timiber-.) INDEX. 415 Page. lstores, tobacco, may be destroyed............................ —........235 quartermaster and commissary, paid for by Government 235-250 General Halleck's order relative to..-2...............38 cotton seized and used as...-23................9 qarterinaster's, claiins for..,. —,374. Goverient pays for quartermaster and commissary -234,.77 the act oMaich 3, 1871, for payment for, in rebel States a gratuity 236 the captured and abandoned property acts a gratuity - -- — 237 tobacco is not stores" or " supplies"...235.. orders to take, in rebel States.-2...3............... cotton used for hospitals is a "supply" within the act of March 3, 1871. 239 tobacco may be made Army supply by special order.............. 235 Stubblefield, George J..-243.......4....................... Sullivan, Geea-. —74 Sumner, Senator Charles, extracts from speeches of..............................219,258, 267, 275, 284, 295 Supplies, (see Stores, Tobacco.) Supreme Cort of the United States, appeals may be made to, from Court of Claims...................2,5,6,8,11 decisiosofCourt of Claims revived by-6 in cases of Springbok and Volant sustained............ 7 when it may order argument........................................ 11 declares who are to be treated as enemies -...... —--- -255 opinion in Mrs. Alexander's case..................................279 appeals to, from Court of Claims.........................2,5,6,8...... revise decisions of Court of Claims..............................6 opinions of Chief-Justice Taney............................... of Chief-Justice Chase...................212 216 of Justice Clifford.........................................7 of Justice Swayne........................................239 of Justice Nelson.......7,.211......... topinifon of, as to capture of property on land-..... 279 Surrey, boards of, why orgranized.............................. 260 frequently organized during the rebellion -—............... 260 payments under the awards of -—..................... 262 Congress may revise awards of-......................... 262 Swabey, Dr ------------------------------------ 224 Swayne, J —-239 Sweden, mode of procedure in claims against -—.................. 120 citizens and aliens niay prosecute claims against ------ --— 122 Swiss Confederation, letter of Horace Rublee to the President of -—............... 32 Switzerland, jurisdiction of federal tribunal -—..................... 12 rights of aliens in courts of -—...................... 10 constitution anad laws of, relating to war-claims.............. 33-69 letter of Federal Council of, to Horace Rublee-.............. 32 mode of procedure relative to claims againstdispositions g~ndrales. - 33, 49, 56 fonctions des juges......................... 33 des parties. — - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 34,d6bat collectif............................ 34 participation d'nn tiers au proces-.................. 34 de'nonciation d'instance. —-------------------- 34 intervention accessoire. —--------------------- 34 intervention principale. —--------------------- 35 droits et devoirs des parties. —------------------- 35 des personnes adjointes aux parties-................. 35 principes g6n6,raux de la proeddure_-. -. -. -36 interdiction de provocation A. former une dernande -. —-------- 36 cumulation de demiandes -—.36 production simultan~e des moyens de la demande et de la d6fense. ---- 36 modification de la plainte........................ 36 de la fixation du temps dans le proce's ---------------- 37 jours fixes-............................. 37 416 INDEX. Switzerland-Continued. mode of procedure, &c.des ddlais38..... restitution des parties dans le cation des jous d fixes o des ddlais............-.38 jours fdrids -.............38 suspension du proces.3.........8 ddsistdment... —..3..-..-.....8 de la forme du audiences du tribunal 39 introduction du procs..... —-39 partie speciale.........-3........9 procddure pr6paratoire.... —-40 fixation des faits. —................... 40 proeddure probatoire.-.4......1 moyen de prenve...-.....41 l1avenu..-..-.................. —4... —-.1 documents........-4..............1 des descentes sur les lieux et expertises - -42 t6moins.-................ —42 du serment d6f6r6..............4 de la preuve complexe-.-....44 du serrment sitpplftoire et du serment purgatoire - -44 dispositions gdndrales -33, 44, 56.. procedure probatoire.... —-44 introduction de la preuve... —-44 ddbat pr6alable.-...-...........45 admission de la preuve.....45 preuve h futur.-...-....4......5 fin de ]a procddure prdparatoire..- -45 proc6dure principale..-4......6 de l'ex6cntion.. —..4..-......7 de la revision.-......... — -47 de l'interpr6tation du jugement- 48 mesures provisionelles................48 flassernmbe f6d6rale suisse, arrAte.48, 49,56 le Conseil f~ddrai suisse —48 i'assembbie frid6rale de in conf~ddration suisse —---------— 49, 56, 67 administration de la justice civile ------------------ 51 administration de in justice pdnale —----------------- 52 des contestations de droit public ------------------- 54 dispositions finales -----------------------— 5.5 le COn seil, f6d~ral arrdte ---------------------— 56, 69 arrdtWi f6d~iaie coucernant le siege du tribunal f~ddral. —----------- - - 56 constitution f6d6rale de in conf6ddration suisse —........... 56 autorit6s f6d~rales —------------------------- 62 assemibl6e f6d6rale —------------------------- 62 Conseii national —-------------------------- 63 conseil des 6tats —63 tribunal f~a-6.5 dispositions diverses ------------------------- 66 r6vision delinconstitution fdre -66 dispositions transitoires — 67 declare cc qui suit — 68 T. Table of contents ------ 1, i Talmage, ID. M., —----— 2 Taylor, Ann D -------------------------------- 227 Taylor, General ------------------------------- 236 ya~conquering army may tax the vanquished-260 way tax disloy al to pay depredatioins by rebels..-.274 Tennessee, ordinance of secession passed the convention-213 vote on secession by the people of -------------------- 214 amount of claims presented[ froni and allowed -------------- 27:3,286 Tenterden, Lord-~~~~~~~~~~~~245 INDEX. 417 Page. regulatios f gin cases before the Commissioners of Claims.......345 Texas, amount of claims presented from, and allowed......................... 286 Thiers, A-778........................................... 77, 78,80, 85,270 Thomas, Major-General.............................. 280 Thompson, John................-................................. 226 Timber,.......claims for.......................... 276,278 may be destroyed by..................................... 289 cut down to open pas s.................................... 277 Title, to property of enemy seized by military authority vested in Government. 256 Tobacco, (see Stores, Supplies,) may be destroyed in time of war..................................... 234 -'~~~~~~...when first made an army supply. 234 letter of General Sherman on Harben's claim for.................... 234 soldiers will have, by fair means or foul................-............ 234 claims for.....................................:330,341 *Toggenburg, -*............................................ 173 Court of Claims no jurisdictio over................................... 7 of officers, Government not liable for- 249 ~Townsend, E.D............................................ 311 Treaties, mixed commissions under..................................... 355 Treaty of Gheut, contents of-223...................................... ~23 Ilreaty of Washington, aims of British subjects arising under................................. - -I.........some provisions of, (note 2)4,6,245, 261 number of vessels adjudicated on under, (note 2)........................ 6 fixes date of commencement of the rebellion............................ 207 Tribunals, to investigate claims-.......................... 204 Tribu~ne, Chic~ago, letter to, from Hon. William Lawrence relating to limitation of claims..-.. 16 Troops, property destroyed or damaged in battle by..274-276 Truce, flag of, effect of... -263 Tudor, Mr-................................. 224 Turner, J. Milton, letter of, and inclosures, to Hon. H. Fish-.................27, 115 to J. E. Moore, secretary of Liberia-.........-........ 118 U. United States, claims of aliens against, bow disposed of.-1, 18 and Spanish claims commission, expenses of2 cost of settling claims of, against the United States of Colombia...... 2 against New Granada and Costa Rica. —-------------- 3 carrying into effect treaty between, aud Hudson Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural Company.......................... 3 amount paid by, to British claimauts.... -............... 4 awards against, by British-American mixed commission.......... 7 independence of tribunals of-... opinions of Chief-Justice Taney..................... 7 Chief-Justice Chase ---------------------— 211,212, 216 Justice Clifford-........................... 7 Justice Swayne-...........................209,239 Justice Nesn7,211 Justice Catron-........................... 7 claims of citizens and aliens.8, 18 legal redress of a citizen, of, against th'e"-12 proposed amendment to Constitution of-18 procedure in adjusting claims against the.................. 203 law of claims in the —.......................... 203 -debts due by or to.-207 II. Rep. 134 ~27 418 INDEX. Page. United States-Continued. Page. citizens in rebel States owe supreme allegiance to....................... 210 status of citizens in the rebellious States of the. 211 authority of, over rebellious citizens..................................... 211 proceedings in certain rebellious States................................. 212-215 prevalence of laws of war in........................................... 217 under obligation to pay interest on Choctaw claim...................... 221 allowed interest in fifty-three cited cases............................... 225-229 foreign relations of, during the Revolution.............................. 273 treaty between Mexico and............................................ 355 and Mexico, rules governing commissioners under the treaty between.... 366 entitled to indemnification from Great Britain........................... 223 not liable to rebellious States for damages.............................. 232 death the penalty of forcing a safeguard of the......................... 262 claims for property wrongfully destroyed by the forces of the............ 278 assignment of claims against............................... 370 United States of Colombia, cost of settling claims against the..................................... 2 mode of procedure in claims against.................................... 102 all citizens may prosecute claims against.. 103 certain aliens may prosecute claims against............................. 103 law of, relative to claims againstextracts from the fiscal code of 1873................................ 104 judicial code of 1872-witnesses.................................... 104 adicional i reformatoria del c6digo judicial de la union. 108 atribuciones de los consejos de guerra............................... 109 procedimiento para declarar que se ha perdido o recobrado el cardeter de colombiano................................................... 113 Universities, amount of claims for damage to.................................. 300 claim of East Tennessee................................................ 258 Kentucky................................................... 258 Princeton, N. J................................................. 258 William and Mary................................................. 258 Urbina, Jos6 Maria........................................................ 101 Use and occupation, (see Rents,) provision of the act of February 21, 1867................................ 246, 259 July 4, 1864....................................................... 247 rents paid for, on authorized contracts.................................. 246, 259 when remuneration is made for......................................... 260 loyal citizens in loyal States paid for...................-............... 279 rents sometimes allowed and at others not.............................. 250 the Murfreesborough decision........................................... 250, 251 letter of General Butler on.............................................. 263 Joseph Segar's claim for, paid.......................................... 248 of churches, hospitals, &c....................................... 233, 251,261,280 many opinions as to................................................... 246, 263 opinion of Congress.................................................... 246 opinion of the President....................................280 V. Valkenburg, B. J. V....-......................... 227 Valley Forge, the, claims in revolutionary war........................... 285 Valparaiso, citizens of United States did not recover for losses in bombardment of... 275 Vasquez, Ferdinand, celebrated controversies of............................................. 126 Vattel, M., on war-damages........................... 126, 127, 211, 235, 239, 240, 261, 266, 276 liability of a city for damages of war................................... 215 the inviolability of a flag of truce...................................... 263 damages by the state and damages by the enemy........................ 281 no liability of government to compensate for property taken or destroyed by the enemy in time of war, nor by its own forces in actual battle........................................................... 267,283 necessary losses....................................................... 26,287 the exerciy ses-2 of the rights of eminent domain...........66, 29387 the exercises of the rights of eminent domain -- 293........... INDEX. 419' Page. Vattel, M.-Continued. liability of invaded nations for damages of war ------------------------- 284 the law of necessity -............................ 288 on the liability of government for property destroyed by the army to deceive the enemy -----------------------------------— 294 Venezuela, expenses of carrying into effect convention with ------------------------ 2 mode of procednre in claims against-...................118 citizens and aliens have same rights in courts of......................... 119' laws of, relative to claims against..... 120G Ver Walter, I. and R....................................................... 70 Vessels, Government, as a gratuity, pays for vessels of loyal citizens seized in rebel States.......................................................... 236* Veto messages of the President, June 1, 1872, case of J. Milton Best.....................210, 211, 281,296,297,298 June 7, 1872, case of Thomas B. Wallace.'211,296 January 60, 1873, case of East Tennessee University...................... 258,296 February 12,1873, case of Kentucky salt-works -2.....,.._.1.........2[1, 283,297 December, 1873....................................................... 284 proceedings of Congress on. — 258 Vick, Hlartwell.... 228 Vignie, N — 280., Virginia, vote of the people of, on secession -—. 215 amount of claims presented from, and allowed.. 286 date of secession of.................................................... 214 population of, at the time of seceding................................... 215 interest on advances allowed to.......................................... 219 Voison, Felix............................................................ 80, 85, 96 Von Moos, N.............................................................. 48 Vote on secession, in Alabama........................................................... 21&, in Arkansas.......................................................... 215, in Florida — 215 in Georgia............................................................ 215 in Louisiana - -215 in Mississippi — 215 in North Carolina..................................................... 215 in South Carolina............................ 215 in Tennessee — 215 East Tennessee... 214 Middle Tennessee................................................. 214 West Tennessee — 214 Military camps................................................... 214 in Texas. 215 in Virginia — 215 Vouchers, do not create Government liability. 260 given for certain kinds of property........................... 260 som(times create a contract........................................... 279 given by Army officers...-... 373 required by Army Regulations...... -260 W. Waddell, William C. H-228 Wait, Thomas B.......................................................... 219 Wallace, General Lewis................................................... 306 Wallace, Thomas B........................................................ 296 War, (see Laws of war,) United States exercised acts of, after April 9, 1865.. 4 bill to establish a court alien and war claims.. 7 when the American internal, began.................................... 207 prevalence of laws of, in rebellious States.............................. 217 memorandum of captured and abandoned property during the.......... 243 mode of settlement for occupation of real estate during the.. 246 right of Government during, to seize private houses 248 relief for losses by, granted under international law........ 268, 420 INDEX. Page.,War-Continued. nation not liable to indemnify citizens for losses' during. 273 temporary occupation of, injuries to, or destruction of property while repelling or advancing to meet an enemy in...................... 276-281 rights of Goverltment to use, occupy, or destroy property in time of...... 280 length of duration of, in insurrectionary States........................ 208 may exist where no battle has been or is being fought 210 when District of Columbia subject to laws of-.. 211 certain rights determined by the laws of-..-.. 216 protection promised by the laws of. 217 who are made enemies by.............................................. 232 cannot be declared by Congress in case of rebellion... 255 risks of................................................................ 257 liability of Government determined by laws of 260 -War- Claims, committee on, number of claims pending in............................. 17, 20 number of claims reported on by.................................. 20 documents transmitted to, by Secretary of State.. 25 when organized... 298 number of claims presented to..................................... 298,299 liability of the Government for -207.letter of Hon. J. Holt relative to settlement of......................... 247 M. C. Meigs, of similar import -2 —--------------------------------- 246, 250 W. W. Belknap, of similar import.................................. 249 B. F. Butler, of similar import. 263 M. C. Meigs, relating to.........................................-253,298-302 A. B. Eaton, relating to-... 303 M. I. Ludington, relating to. 251 statement of Pennsylvania............................................ 272 amount paid by Pennsylvania......................................... 272 a gratuity........................................................ 272 W1arren, Ebenezer L-228 Washburne, E. B........................................................... 77 Washington, William H. 295 Watson, James C ---------------—.................... 229 Webster, Daniel ----------------------------------------------------------- 222,268 Wells, Benjamin -------- —. —---------------------------------------------- 227 West Virginia, amount of claims presented from, and allowed........................... 286 Wheaton, Joseph........................................................... 226 Wheaton, Mr., opinion of, on allowing interest on claims.-.. 2.22 Wilkins, Charles.......................................................... 228 Willard, Mrs. S. D......................................................... 251'Williams, G. It............................................................ 3 ~Willianmson, George, letter of, and inclosures, to Hon. H. Fish................................. 27,118 Wing, Rumsey, letter of, and inclosures, to Hon. H. Fish.. 27,98 -Winthrop, W.............................................................. 280 Witherspoon, Rev. Dr-.... 258 Witnesses, Government may summon and cause to testify.......................... 17 Wexurv, C. F., letter of, and inclosures to C. C. Andrews............................... 122 WVurts, Mr................................................................. 124 Y. Young, Anna.............................................................. 226 Young,Moses....... 226 Youngs, George............................................................ 226 Z..Ziegler M...... 67,68 APPENDIX. ouse Executive Document No. 100. Forty-third Congress, first session. GOVERNMENT OF UNITED STATES ARMIES IN THE FIELD. Letter from the Secretary of War, relative to "Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field." January 29, 1874.-Referred to the Committee on War-Clais, and ordered to be printed. VWAR DEPARTMENT,.January 24, 1874. The Secretary of WVar has the honor to transmit to the House of Representatives, for the information of the Committee on WVar.-Claims, in reply to letter of said committee (by its clerk) of the 19th instant, a copy of General Orders No. 100, dated April 24, 163, from this Department, publishing "Instructions for the Government of Armies cf the 1Uited States in the Field," prepared by Francis Leiber, LL. D., and revised by a board of officers, of which Maj. Gen. E. A. Hitchcock was president. The suggestions regarding the same, desired by the committee, will be sumitted in a future communication, the matter being now under consideration. WM. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of r. [General Orders No. 100. 1 WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, IVashington,April 24, 1863. The following " Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field,' prepared by Francis Lieber, LL. D., and revised by a board of officers, of which Maj. Gen. E. A. Hitchcock is president, having beell approved by the President of the United States, he commands that they be published for the informnation of all concerned. By order of the Secretary of War. E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-General. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THlE GOVERNMENT OF ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATE~S IN THE FIELD. SECTION I 111artial lav-.Lllilitary jurisdiction-MIilitar-y necessities-R taliat ioln, 1. A place, district., or country occupied by an enemy stands, in consequence of t he occu - pation, under the martial law of the invading or occupying army, whether any proclamation declaring martial law, or any public warning to the inhabitants, has been issued or not. Martial law is the immediate and direct effect and consequence of occupation and conquest. The presence of a hostile army proclaims its martial law. 2. Martial law does not cease during the hostile occupation, except by special proclamation, ordered by the commander-in-chief; or by special mention in the treaty of peace concluding the war, when the occupation of a place or territory continues beyond the conclusion of'peace as one of the conditions, of the same. 3. Martial law in a hostile country consists in the suspension, by the occupying military authority, of the criminal and civil law, and of the domestic administration and government in the occupied place or territory, and in the substitution of military rule and force for th0 H. Rep. 134-~28 422 APPENDIX. same, as well as in the dictation of general laws, as far as military necessity requires this suspension, substitution, or dictation. The commander of the forces may proclaim that the administration of all civil and penal law shall continue, either wholly or in part, as in times of peace, unless otherwise ordered by the military authority. 4. Martial law is simply military authority exercised in acordance with the laws and usages of war. Military oppression is not martial law it is the ause of the power which that law confers. As martial law is executed by military force, it is incumbent upon those who administer it to be strictly guided by the principles of ustice, honor, and humanityvirtues adorning a soldier even more than other men, for the very reason that he possesses the power of his arms against the unarmed. 5. Martial law should be less stringent in places and countries fully occupied and fairly conquered. Much greater severity may be exercised in places or regions where actual hostilities exist, or are expected and must be prepared for. Its most complete sway is allowedeven in the commander's own country-when face to face with the enemy, because of the absolute necessities of the case, and of the paramount duty to defend the country against invasion. To save the country is paramount to all other considerations. 6. All civil and penal law shall continue to take its usual course in the enemy's places and territories under martial law, unless interrupted or stopped by order of the occupying military power; but all the functions of the hostile government-leislative, executive, or administrative-whether of a general, provincial, or local character, cease under martial law, or continue only with the sanction, or, if deemed necessary, the participation of the occupier or invader. 7. Martial law extends to property, and to persons, whether they are subjects of the enemy or aliens to that government. 8. Consuls, among American and European nations, are not diplomatic agents. Nevertheless, their offices and persons will be subjected to martial law in ases of urgent necessity only: their property and business are not exempted. Any delinquency they commit against the established military rule may be punished as in the case of any other inhabitant, and such punishment furnishes no reasonable ground for international coplaint. 9. The functions of emrnbassadors, ministers, or other diplomatic agents, accredited by neutral powers to the hostile goyvernment cease, so far as regards the displaced government but the conquering or occupying power usually recognizes them as temporarily accredited to itself. 10. Martial law affects chiefly the police and collection of public revenue and taxes, whether imposed by the expelled government or by the invader, and refers mainly to the support and efficiency of the army, its safety, and the safety of its operations. 11. The law of war does not only disclaim all cruelty and bad faith concerning engagements concluded with the enemy during the war, but also the breaking of stipulations solemnly contracted by the belligerents in time of peace, and avowedly intended to remain in force in case of war between the contracting powers. It disclaims all extortions and other transactions for individual gain; all acts of private revenge, or connivance at such acts. Offenses to the contrary shall be severely punished, and especially so if committed by officers. 12. Whenever feasible, martial law is carried out in cases of individual offenders by miiitary courts; but sentences of death shall be executed only with the approval of the chief executive, provided the urgency of the case does not require a speedier execution, and then only with the approval of the chief commander. 13. Military jurisdiction is of two kinds: First, that which is conferred and defined by statute; second, that which is derived from the common law of war. Military offenses under the statute law must be tried in the manner therein directed; but military offenses which do -not come within the statute must be tried and punished under the common law of war. The character of the courts which exercise these jurisdictions depends upon the local laws of each particular country. In the armies of the United States the first is exercised by courts-martial; while cases,which do not come within the " Rules and Articles of War," or the jurisdiction conferred by statute on courts-martial, are tried by military commissions. 14. Military necessity, as understood by modern civilized nations, consists in the necessity of those measures which are indispensable for securing the ends of the war, and which are lawful according to the modern law and usages of war. 15. Military necessity admits of all direct destruction of life or limb of armed enemies, and of other persons whose destruction is incidentally unavoidable in the armed contests of the war; it allows of the capturing of every armed enemy, and every enemy of importance to the hostile government, or of peculiar danger to the captor; it allows of all destruction of property and obstruction of the weys, and channels of traffic, travel, or communication, and of all withholding of sustenance or means of life from the enemy; of the appropriation of whatever an enemy's country affords necessary for the subsistence and safety of the army, and of such deception as does not involve the breaking of good faith, either positively pledged, APPENDIX. 423 regarding agreements entered into during the war, or supposed by the modern law of war to exist. Menwhotake up arms against one another in public war do not ceaseonthisaccount to be moral beings, responsible to one another, and to God. 16. Military necessity does not admit of cruelty; that is, the infliction of sufferig for the ake of suffering or for revenge, nor of maiming or wounding except in fight, nor of torture to extort confessions. It does not admit of the use of poison in any way, nor of the wanton devastation of a district. It admits of deception, but disclaims acts of perfidy; and, in general, military necessity does not include any act of hostility which makes the return to peace unnecessarily difficult. 17. War is not carried on bv arms alone. It is lawful to starve the hostile belligerent, armed or unarmed, so that it leads to the speedier subjection of the enemy. 18. hen the commander of a besieged place expels the non-combatants, in order to lessen the number of those who consume his stock of provisions, it is lawful, though an extreme measure, to drive them back, so as to hasten on the surrender. 19. Commanders, whenever admissible, inform the enemy of their intention to bombard a place, so that the non-combatants, and especially the women and children, may be removed before the bombardment commences; but it is no infiraction of the common law of war to omit thus to inform the enemy. Surprise may be a necessity. 20. Public war is a state of armed hostility between sovereign nations or governments. It is a law and requisite of civilized existence that men live in political, continuous societies, forming organized units, called states or nations, whose constituents bear, enjoy, and suffer, advance and retrograde together, in peace and in war. 21. The citizen or native of a hostile country is thus an enemy, as one of the constituents of the hostile state or nation, and as such is subjected to the hardships of the war. 22. Nevertheless, as civilization has advanced during the last centuries, so has likewise steadily advanced, especially in war on land, the distinction between the private individual belonging to a hostile country and the hostile country itself, with its men in arms. The principle has been more and more acknowledged that the unarmed citizen is to be spared in person, property, and honor, as much as the exigencies of war will admit. 23. Private citizens are no longer murdered, enslaved, or carried off to distant parts, and the inoffensive individual is as little disturbed in his private relations as the commander of the hostile troops can afford to grant in the overruling demands of a vigorous war. 24. The almost universal rule in remote times was, and continues to be with barbarous armies, that the private individual of the hostile country is destined to suffer every privation of liberty and protection, and every disruption of family ties. Protection was, and still is with uncivilized people, the exception. 25. In modern regular wars of the Europeans, and their descendants in other portions of the globe, protection of the inoffensive citizen of the hostile country is the rule; privation and disturbance of private relations are the exceptions. 26. Commanding generals may cause the magistrates and civil officers of the hostile country to take the oath of temporary allegiance or an oath of fidelity to their own victori ous government or rulers, and they may expel every one who declines to do so. But whether they do so or not, the people and their civil officers owe strict obedience to them as long as they hold sway over the district or country, at the peril of their lives. 27. The law of war can no more wholly dispense with retaliation than can the law of nations, of which it is a branch. Yet, civilized nations acknowledge retaliation as the sternest feature of war. A reckless enemy often leaves to his opponent no other means of securing himself against the repetition of barbarous outrage. 28. Retaliation will, therefore, never be resorted to as a neasure of mere revenge, but only as a means of protective retribution, and, moreover, cautiously and unavoidably; that is to say, retaliation shall only be resorted to after careful inquiry into the real occurrence and the character of the misdeeds that may demand retribution. Unjust or inconsiderate retaliation removes the belligerents farther and farther from the mitigation rules of a regular war, and by rapid steps leads them nearer to the internecine wars of savages. 29. Modern -times are distinguished from earlier ages by the existence, at one and the same time, of many nations and great governments related to one another in close intercourse. Peace is their normal condition; war is the exception. The ultimate object of all modern war is a renewed state of peace. The snore vigorously wars are pursued, the better it is for humanity. Sharp wars are brief. 30. Ever since the formation and co-existence. of modern nations, and ever since wars have become great national wars, war has comne to be acknowledged not to be its own end, but the.means to obtain great ends of state, or to consist in defense against wrong; and no con-.ventional restriction of the modes adopted to injure the enemy is any longer admitted; but the law of war imposes many limitations and restrictions on principles of justice, faith, and honor. 424 APPENDIX. SECTION. Public and prirate property of the enemny-Protection of Prsons, and especially women of religion, the airts, and sciences-IPanishment of crimes aainst the inhabitants of hostile countries. 31. A victorious army appropriates all public money, seizes all public movable property until further direction by its government, and sequesters for its own benefit or that of its government all the revenues of real property belonging to the hostile government or nation. The title to such real properlty remains in abeyance during military occupation, and until the conquest is made complete. 32. A victorious army, by the martial power inherent in the same, may suspend, cane, or abolish, as far as the martial power extends, the relations which arise from the services due, according to the existing laws of the invaded country, from one citizen, subject or native, of the same to another. The commander of the army must leave it to the ultimate treaty of peace to settle the permanency of this change. 33. It is no longer considered lawful-on the contray, it is held to be a serious breach of the law of war-to force the subjects of the enemy into the service of the victorious government, except the latter should proclaim, after a fair and complete conquest of the hostile country or district, that it is resolved to keep the country, district, or place permanently as its own, and make it a portion of its own country 34. As a general rule, the property belonging to churches, to hospitals, or other establishments of an exclusively charitable character, to establishments of education, or foundation for the promotion of knowledge, whether public schools, universities, academies of learning, or observatories, museums of the fine arts, or of a scientific character, such property is not to be considered public property in the sense of pararaph 31 but it may be taxed or used when the public service may require it. 35. Classical work of art, libraries, scientific cor precious instruments, such as astronomical telescopes, as well as hospitals, ust be secured against all avoidable injury, even when they are contained in fortified places while besieged or bombarded. 36. If such works of art, libraries, collections, or instruments, belonin to a hostile nation or government, can be removed without injury, the ruler of the conquering state or nation may order them to be seized and removed for the benefit of the said nation. The ultimate ownership is to be settled by the ensuing treaty of peace. In no case shall they be sold or given away, if captured by the armies of the United States, nor shall they ever be privately appropriated, or wantonly destroyed or inijured. 37. The United States acknowledge and protect, in hostile countries occupied by them, religion and morality; strictly private property; the persons of the inhabitants. especially, those of women; and the sacredtiess.- of domestic relations. Offenses to the contrary shall he rigorously punished. This rule does not interfere with the right of the victorious invader to tax the people or their property, to levy forced loans, to billet soldiers, or to appropriate property, especially houses, land, boats, or ships, and churches, for temporary and military uses. 38. Private property, unless forfeited by crimes or by offenses of the owner, can be seized only by way of military necessity for the supp:rt or other benefit of the Army or of the United States. If the owner has not fled, the commanding officer will cause receipts to be given, which will serve the spoliated owner to obtain indemnnity. 39. The salaries of civil officers of the hostile governm-ent who remain in the invaded territory, and continue the work of their office, nnd can continue it according to tire circumnstances arising- out of the war-such as judges, administrative or police officers, officers of city or communal governments-are paid fiom the public revenue of the invaded territory until the military government has reason wholly or partially to discontinue it. Salaries or incomes connected with purely honorary titles are always stopped. 40. There exists no law or body of authoritative rules of action between hostile armies except that branch of the law- of nature and nations which is called the law and usages of war on land. 41. All municipal law of the ground on which the armies stand, or of the, countries to which they belong, is silent and of no effect between armies in the field. 42. Slavery, complicating and confounding the ideas of property (that is, of a thing') and of personality, (that is, of humllanity,) exists according to municipal or'Local law only. The law of nature and nations has never acknowledgyed it. The digest of the Roman law enacts the early dictum of the pagan jurist, that, " so far as the law of nature is concerned, all men are equal." Fugitives escaping from a country in which they were slaves, villians, or serfs, into another country, have, for centuries past, been held free and acknowledged fr-ee by judicial decisions of European countries, even though the municipal law of the country in which the slave had taken refugre acknowledged slavery within its own dominions. 43. Therefore, in a war between the United States arid a belligerent which admits of slavery, if a person held in bondage by that belligerent be captured by or come as a fugitive APPENDIX. 425 under the protection of the military forces of the United States, such person is immediately ntitled to the rights and privileges of a freeman. To return such person into slavery would amount to enslaving a free person, and neither the United States nor any officer under their authority can enslave any human being. Moreover, a person so made free by the law of war is under the shield of the law of nations, and the former owner or state can have, by the law of postliminy, no belligerent lien or claim of service. 44. All wanto violence co itted against persons in the invaded country, all destruction of property not commanded y the authorized officer, all robbery, all pillage or sacking, even after taking a place y main force, all rape, wounding, maiming, or killing of such inhaitants, are prohibited under the penalty of death, or such other severe punishment as may seem adequate for the gravity of the offense. A soldier, officer, or private, in the act of committing such violence, and disobeying a superior ordering him to abstain fro it, may be lawfully killed on the spot by such superior. 45. All captures and ooty elong, according to the modern law of war, primarily to the government of the captor. Prize-money, whether on sea or land, can now only be claimed under local law. 46. Neither officers nor soldiers are allowed to make use of their position or power in the hostile country for private gain, not even for commercial transactions otherwise legitimate. nOffenses to the contrary committed y commissioned officers will be punished with cashiering or such other punishment as the nature of the offense may require; if by soldiers, they shall be punished according to the nature of the offense. 47. Crimes punishable by all penal codes, such as arson, murder, maiming, assaults, highway robbery, theft, urglary, fraud, forgery, and rape, if committed by an American soldier in a hostile country against its inhabitants, are not only punishable as at home, but in all cases in which death is not inflicted the severer punishment shall be preferred. SECTION III. Deserters-Prisoners of war-Hostages-Booty on the battle-field. 4. Deserters from the American Army, having entered the service of the enemy, suffer death if they fall again into the hands of the United States, whether by capture or being delivered up to the American Army; and if a deserter fromn the enemy, having taken service in. the Army of the United States, is captured hy the enemy, and punished by them with death or otherwise, it is not a breach agrainst the law and usa~yes of war requiring redress or retaliation. 49. A prisoner of war is a public enemy, armed or attached to the hostile army for active,aid, "who has fal'en into the hands of the captor, either fightingr or wounded, on the -field or in the hospital, by individual surrender or by capitulation. All soldiers, of whatever species of armis; all men who belong to the risingr en masse, of the hostile country; all those who are attached to the army for its efficiency, and promote directly the object of the war, except such as are hereinafter provided for; all disahled men or officers on the field or elsewhere, if captured; all enemies who have thrown away their arms and ask for quarter, are prisoners of war, and, as such, exposed to the inconveniences as well as entitled to the privileges of a prisoner of war. 50. Moreover, citizens who accompany an army for whatever purpose, such as sutlers, editors, or reporters of journals, or contractors, if' captured, may he made prisoners of war, and he detained as such. The monarch and memhbers of time hostile reigning family, male or female, time chief, and chief officers of the hostile government, its diplomatic agents, and all persons who are of particular and singular use and benefit to the hostile army or its government, are, if captured on belligerent ground, and if unprovided with a safe-conduct granted hy the captor's government, prisoners of war. 51. If the people of that portion of an invaded coxutry which is not yet occupied by the enemy, or of the whole country, at the approach of a hostile army, rise, under a duly-authorized levy, en masse, to resist the invader, they are now treated as public enemies, and, if captured, are prisoners of war. 52. No belligerent has the right to declare that he wviii treat every captured man in arms of a levy en miasse as a brigand or a bandit. If, however, the people of a country, or any portion of the same, already occupied by an army, rise against it, they are violators of th laws of wvar, and, are not- entitled to their protection. 53. The enemy's chaplains, officers of the medical staff, apothecaries, hospital nurses and servants, if they fall into the hands of the American Army, are not prisoners of war, unless the commander has reasons to retain them. In this latter case, or if, at their own desire, they are, allowed to remain with their captured companions, they are treated as prisoners of war, and may be excimanged if the commander see fit. 54. A hostage is a person accepted as a pledge for the fulfillment of an agreemnent con 426 APPENDIX. eluded between belligerents during the war, or in consequence of war. ostages are rare in the present age. 55. If a hostage is accepted, he is treated like a prisoner of war, according to rank and condition, as circumstances may admit. 56. A prisoner of war is subject to no punishment for being a public enemy, nor is any revenge wreaked upon him by the intentional infliction of any suffering, or disgrace, by cruel imprisonment, want of food, by mutilation, death, or any other barbarity. 57. So soon as a man is armed by a sovereign government, and takes the soldier's oath of fidelity, he is a belligerent; his killing, wounding, or other warlike acts are no individual crimes or offenses. No belligerent has a right to declare that enemies of a certain class, color, or condition, when properly organized as soldiers, will not be treated by him as public enemies. 58. The law of nations knows of no distinction of color, and, if an enemy of the United States should enslave and sell any captured persons of their Army, it would be a case for the severest retaliation, if not redressed upon complaint The United States cannot retaliate by enslavement erefore death must b the retaliation for this crime against the law of nations. 59. A prisoner of war remains answerable for his crimes committed against the captor's army or people, committed before he was captured, and for which he has not been punished by his own authorities All prisoners of war are liable to the infliction of retaliatory measures. 60. It is against the usage of modern war to resolve, in hatred and revenge, to give no quarter. No body of troops has the right to declare that it will not give, and therefore will not expect, quarter; but a commander is permitted to direct his troops to give no quarter, in great straits, when his own salvation makes it impossible to cumber himself with prisoners. 61. Troops that give no quarter have no right to kill enemies already disabled on the ground, or prisoners captured by other troops. 62. All troops of the enemy known or discovered to give no quarter in general, or to any portion of the army, receive none. 63. Troops who fight in the uniform of their enemies, without any plain, striking, and unifortnm mark of distinction of their own, can expect no 64. If American troops capture a train containing unorms of the enemy, and the commander considers it advisable to distribute them for use among his men, some striking mark or sign must be adopted to distinguish the American soldier from the enemy. 65. The use of the enemy's national standard, flag-, or other emblem of nationality, for the purpose of deceiving the enemy in battle, is an act of perfidy by which they lose all claim to the protection of the laws of war. 66. Quarter having been given to an enemy by American troops, under a misapprehension,of his true character, he may, nevertheless, be ordered to suffer death if, within three days after the battle, it be discovered that he belongs to a corps which gives no quarter. 67. The law of nations allows every sovereign government to make war upon another sovereign state, and, therefore, admits of no rules or laws different from those of regular war - fare, regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, although they may belong. to the army of a government which the captor may consider as a wanton and unjust assailant. 68. Modern wars are not internecine wars, in which the killing of the enemy is the object. The destruction of the enemy in modern war, and, indeed, modern war itself; are means to obtain that object of the belligerent which lies beyond the war. Unnecessary or revengeful destruction of life is not lawful. 69. Outposts, sentinels, or pickets are not to be fired upon, except to drive them in, or when a positive order, special or general, has been issued to that effect. 70. The use of poison in any manner, be it to poison wells, or food, or arms, is wholly excluded from modern warfare. He that uses it puts himself out of the pale of the law and usages of war. 7J. Whoever intentionally inflicts additional wounds on an enemy already wholly disabled, or kills such an enemy, or who orders or encourages soldiers to do so, shall suffer death, if duly convicted, whether he belongs to the Army of the United States, or is an enemy captured after having committed his misdeed. 7~2. Money and other valuables on the person of a prisoner, such as watches or jewelry, as well as extra clothing, are regarded by the Anierican Army as the private property of the prisoner, and the appropriation of such valuables or money is eonsidered dishionorable, and is prohibited. Nevertheless, if large sums are found upon the persons of prisoners, or in their possession, they shall be taken from them, and the surplus, after providing for their own support, approp~riated for the use of the Army, under the direction of the commander, unless otherwise ordered by the Government. Nor can prisoners claim, as private property, large sums found and captured in their train, although they had been placed in the private luggage of the -prisoners. 73. All officers, when captured, must surrender their side-arms to the captor. They may be restored to the prisoner in marked cases, by the commander' to signalize admiration of APPENDIX. 427 his distinguished bravery, or approbation of his humane treatment of prisoners before his capture. The captured officer to whom they may be restored cannot wear them during captivity. 74. A prisoner of war, bein a public enemy. is the prisoner of the Government, and not of the captor. No ransm can be paid by a prisoner of war to his individual captor, or to any officer in coinand. The Goverment alone releases captives, according to rules prescribed by itself.. Prisoners of war are subject to confinement or imprisonment such as may be deemed ecessar on account of safety, but they are to be subjected to no other intentional suffering or indignity. The cofinement and mode of treating a prisoner may be varied during his captivity according to the demands of safety. 76. Prisoners of war shall be fed pcn plain and wholesome food whenever practicable, and treated with humanity..4 They may be required to work for the benefit of the captor's government, according to their rank and condition. 77. A prisoner of war who escapes may be shot, or otherwise killed in lhis flight, but neither death nor any other punishment shall be inflicte] upon him simply for his attempt to escape, which the law of war does not consider a crime. Stricter means of security shall be used after an unsuccessful attempt at escape.:pe. If, however, a conspiracy is discovered, the purpose of which is a united or general escape, the conspirators may be rigorously punished, even with death; and capital punishment may alsobe inflicted upon prisoners of war discovered to have plotted rebellion against the authorities of the captors, whether in union with fellow-prisoners or other persons. 8. If prisoners of war, having given no pledge, nor made any promise on their honor. forcibly or otherwise escape, and are captured again in battle, after having rejoined their own army, they shall not be punished for their escape, but shall be treated as simple prisoners of war, although they will be subjected to stricter confinement. 79. Every captured ounded enemy shall be medically treated according to the ability of the medical staff. 80. Honorable men, when captured, will abstain from giving to the enemy information concerning their own army, and the modern law of war permits no longer the use of any violence against prisoners, in order to extort the desired information, or to punish them for having given false iformCato IV. SECTION IV. Partisaas-A crmed enemies not belongying to the hostile army -Scouts-Armed prowlers- Warrebels. SI. Partisans are soldiers armed and wearingr the uniform of their army. but belonging to a corps which acts detached from time main body, tor the purpose of niaking inroads into the territory occupied by the enemy. If captured, they are entitled to all the privileges of the prisoner of war. 8~2. Men, or squads of men, who commit hostilities, whether by fighting, or inroads for destruction or plunder, or by -raids of any kind withoat commission, without being part and portion of the organized hostile army, aind without sharing continuously in the war, but who do so with in-termitting returns to their homes and avocations, or with the occasional assumption of the semblance of peaceful pursuits, divesting themselves of time character or appearance of soldiers-such men or squads of men are not public eimemies, and, therefore, if captured, are not entitled to the privileges of prisoners of war, but shall be treated Summarily as highway robbers or pirates. 83. Scouts or single soldiers, if disguised in the dress of the country, or in the uniform of the army hostile to their own, employed in obtaining information, if found within or lurking about the lines of the captor, are treated as spies, and suffer death. 84. Armed prowlers, by whatever names they may be called, or persons of time enemy's territory who steal within the lines of a hostile army for the purpose of robbing., killing, or of destroying bridges, roads, or canals, or'of robbing or destroying the mail, or of cutting the telegraph wires, are not entitled to the privileges of the prisoner of war. 85. War-rebels are persons within an occupied territory who rise in arms against the occupying or conquering army, or against the authorities established by the same. If captured, they may suffer death, whether they rise singly, in small or large bands, anid whether called upon to do so by their own, but expelled, government or not.. They are not prisoners of war; nor are they, if discovered and secured before their conspiracy has matured to an actual rising, or to armed violence. SECTION V. Safe-con luct -Spies- [Var-traitors-Captured messengers-Abuse of the flag, of truce. 86. All intercourse between the territories occupied by belligerent armies, whether by traffic, by letter, by travel, or in any other way, ceases. This is the general rule, to be observed without special proclamation. 428 APPENI)IX. Exceptions to this rule, whether by safe-conduct or permission to trade on a small or large scale, or by exchanging mails, or by travel from one territory into the other, ca take place only according to agreement approved by the government, or by the hihest military authority. Contraventions of this rule are highly punishable. 87. Embassadors, and all other diplomatic agents of neutral powers, accredited to the enemy, may receive safe-conducts through the territories occupied by the belligerents, unless there are military reasons to the contrary, and unless they may reach the place of their destination conveniently by another route. It implies no international affront if the safe-conduct is declined. Such passes are usually given by the supreme authority of the state, and not by subordinate officers. 88. A spy is a person who secretly, in disguise or under false pretense seeks information with the intention of communicating it to the enemy. The spy is punishable with death by hanging by the neck, whether or not he succeeded in obtaining the information or in conveying it to the enemy. 89. If a citizen of the United States obtains information in a legitimate manner and etrays it to the enemy, be he a military or civil officer or a private citizen, he shall suffer death. 90. A traitor, under the law of war, or a war-traitor, is a person in a place or district under martial law who, unauthorized by the military commander, gives information of any kind to the enemy, or holds intercourse with him. 91. The war-traitor is always severely punished. If his offense consists in betraying to the enemy anything concerning the condition, safety, operations, or plans of the troops holding or occupying the place or district, his punishment is death. 92. If the citizen or subject of a country or place invaded or conquered gives information to his own government, from which he is separated by the hostile army, or to the army of his governmant, he is a war-traitor, and death is the penalty of his offense 93. All armies in the field stand in need of guides, and impress the if they cannot obtain them otherwise. 94. No person having been forced by the enemy to serve as a guide is punishable for aving done so. 95. If a citizen of a hostile and invaded district v tarily serves as a guide to the enemy, or offers to do so, he is deemed a war-traitor, and shall suffer death. 96. A citizen serving voluntarily as a guide against his own country commits treason, and will he dealt with according to the law of his country. 97. Guides, when it is clearly proved that they have misled intentionally, may be put to, death. 98. All unauthorized or secret communication with the enemy is considered treasonable by the law of war. Foreign residents in an invaded or occupied territory, or foreign visitors in the same, can claim no immunity from this law. They may communicate with foreign parts, or with the inhabitants of the hostile country, so far as the military authority permits, hut no further. Instant expulsion from the occupied territory would be the very least punishment for the infraction of this rule. 99. A messenger carrying written dispatches or verbal messages from one portion of the army, or from a hesieged place, to another portion of the same army, or its government, if aimed, and in the uniform of his army, and if captured, while doing so, in the territory occupied by the enemy, is treated by the captor as a prisoner of war; if not in uniform, nor a soldier, the circumstances connected with his capture must determine the disposition that. shall be made of him. 100. A messenger or agent who attempts to steal through the territory occupied by the enemy, to further, in any manner, the interests of the enemy, if captured, is not entitled to the privileges of -the prisoner or war, and may he dealt with according to the circumstances of the case. 101. While deception in war is admitted as a just and necessary means of hostility, and is consistent with honorable warfare, the common law of war allows even capital punishment for clandestine or treacherous attempts to injure an enemy,. because they are so dangerous, and it is so difficult to guard against them. 102. The law of war, like the criminal law regarding other offenses, makes no difference, on account of the difference of sexes, concerning the spy, the war-traitor, or the war-rehel. J03. Spies, war-traitors, and war-rebels are not exchanged atcording to the common law of war. The exchange of such persons would require a special cartel, authorized by the government, or, at a great distance from. it, by the chief commander of the arimy in the field. 104. A successful spy or war-traitor, safely returned to his own army, and afterward captured rcs an enemy, is niot subject to punishment for his acts as a spy or war-traitor,hbut he may be held in closer custody as a person individually dangerous. 'APPENDIX. 429 SECTION VI. Exchange of prisoners-Flags of truce-Flags of protection. 105. Exchanges of prisoners take place number for number, rank for rank, wounded for wounded, with added condition for added condition, such, for instance, as not to serve for a certain period. 106. In exchanging prisoners of war, such numbers of persons of inferior rank may be substituted as an equivalent for one of superior rank as may be agreed upon by cartel, which requires the saction of the government, or of the commander of the army in the field. 107. A prisoner of war is in honor bound truly to state to the captor his rank; and he is not to assume a lower rank than belons to him, in order to cause a more advantageous exchange; nor a higher rank, for the purpose of obtaining better treatment. Offeses to the contrary have been justly published by the commanders of released prisoners, and may be good cause for refusing to release such prisoners. 108. The surplus number of prisoners of war remaining after an exchange has taken place is sometimes released either for the payment of a stipulated sum of money, or, in urgent cases, of provision, clothing, or other necessaries. Such arrangement, however, requires te sanction of the highest authority. 109. The exchange of prisoners of war is an act of convenience to both belligerents. If no general cartel has been concluded, it cannot be demanded by either of them. No belligerent is obliged to exchange prisoners of war. Sr. A cartel is voidable so soon as either party has violated it. 110. No exchange of prisoners shall be made except after complete capture, and after an accurate account of them, and a list of the captured officers has been taken. 111. The bearer of a flag of truce cannot insist upon being admitted. He must always be admitted with great caution. Unnecessary frequency is carefully to be avoided. 112. If the bearer of a flag of truce offer himself during an engagement, he can be admitted as a very rare exception only. It is no breach of good faith to retain such a flag of truce, if admitted during the engagement. Firing is not required to cease on the appearance of a flag of truce in battle. 13. If the bearer of a flag of truce, presenting himself during an engagement, is killed or wonded, it furnishes n ground of complaint whatever. 114. If it be discovered, and fairly proved, that a flag of truce has been abused for surreptitiously obtaining military knowledge, the bearer of the flag thus abusing his sacred character is deemed a spy. So sacred is the character of a flag of truce, and so necessary is its sacredness, that while its abuse is an especially heinous offense, great caution is requisite, on the other hand, in convicting the bearer of a flag of truce as a spy. 115. It is customary to designate, by certain flags, (usually yellow,) the hospitals in places which are shelled, so that the besieging enemy may avoid firing on. them. The same has been done in battles, when hospitals are situated within the field of the engagement. 116. Honorable belligerents often request that the hospitals within the territory of the enemy may be designated, so that they may be spared. An honorable belligerent allows himself to be guided by flags or signals of protection as much as the contingencies and the necessities of the fiZht will permit. 117. It is justly considered an act of bad faith, of infamy or fiendishness, to deceive the enemy by flags of protection. Such act of bad fuith may be good cause, for refusing to respect such flags. 118. The besieging belligerent has sometimes requested the besieged to designate the buildings containing collections of works of art, scientific museums, as~tronomical observatories, or precious libraries, so that their destruction may be avoided as miuch as possible. SECTION tII. The Parole. 119. Prisoners of war may be released from captivity by exchange, and, under certain: circumstances, also by parole. 120. The term parole designates the pledge of individual good faith and honor to do, or to omit doing, certain acts after he who gives his parole shall have been dismissed, wholly or partially, from the power of the captor. 121. The pledge of the parole is always an individual, hut not a private, act. 122. The parole applies chiefly to prisoners of war whom the captor allows to return to their country, or to live in greater freedom within the captor's country or territory, on conditions stated in the parole. 123. Release of prisoners of war by exchange is the general rule; release by parole is the exception. 124. Breaking the parole is punished with death when the person breaking the parole is captured again. HI. Rep. 1.34-29 430 APPENDIX. Accurate lists, therefore, of the paroled persons must be kept by the belligerents. 125. When paroles are given and received there must be an exchange of two written documents, in which the name and rank of the paroled individuals are accurately and truthfully stated. 126. Commissioned officers only are allowed to give their parole, and they can give it only with the permission of their superior, as long as a superior in rank is within reach. 127. No non-commissioned officer or private can give his parole except through an officer. Individual paroles not given through an officer are not only void, but subject the individual giving them to the punishment of death as deserters. The only admissible exception is where individuals, properly separated from their commands, have suffered long confinement'without the possibility of being paroled through an officer. 128. No paroling on the battle-field; no paroling of entire bodies of troops after a battle and no dismissal of large numbers of prisoners, with a general declaration that they are paroled, is permitted, or of any value. 129. In capitulations for the surrender of strong places or fortified camps the commanding officer, in cases of urgent necessity, may agree that the troops under his command shall not fight again during the war, unless exchanged. 130. The usual pledge given in the parole is, not to serve during the existing war unless exchanged. This pledge refers only to the active service in the field, against the paroling belligerent or his allies actively engaged in the same wvar. These cases of breaking the parole are patent acts, and can be visited with the punishment of death; but the pledge does not refer to internal service, such as recruiting or drilling the recruits, fortifying places not besieged quelling civil commotions, fighting against belligerents unconnected with the paroling belligerents, or to civil or diplomatic service for which the paroled officer may be employed. 131. If the government does not approve of the parole, the paroled officer must return int captivity, and, should the enemy refuse to receive him, he is free of his parole. J32. A belligerent government may declare, by general order, whether it will allow paroling, and on what conditions it will allow it. Such order is communicated to the enemy. 133. No prisoner of war can be forced by the hostile government to parole himself, and no government is obliged to parole prisoners of war, or to parole all captured officers, if it paroles any. As the pledging of the parole is an individual act, so is parolig, on the other hand, an act of choice on the part of the belligerent. 134. The commander of an occupying army may require of the civil officers of the enemy, and of its citizens, any pledge he may consider necessary for the safety or security of his army, and upon their failure to give it he may arrest, confine, or detain thlem. SECTION VIII. Armistice-Cap~itulation. 135. An armistice is the cessation of active hostilities for a period agreed upon between belligerents. It must be agreed upon in writing, and duly ratified by the highest authorities of the contending parties. 136. If an armistice be declared without conditions, it extends no further than to require a total cessation of hostilities along the front of both belligerents. If conditions be agreed upon, they should be clearly expressed, and must be rigidly adhered to by both parties. If either party violates any express condition, the armistice may be declared null and void by the other. 137. An armistice may be general, and valid for all points and lines of the belligerents or special, that is, referring to certain troops or certain localities only. -An armistice may be concluded for a definite time, or for an indefinite time, during which. either belligerent may resume hostilities on giving the notice agreed upon to the, other. el138. The motives which induce the one or the other belligerent to conclude an armistice, whether it be expected to be preliminary to a treaty of peace or to prepare during the armistice for a more vigorous prosecution of the war, does in no way affect the character of the armistice itself. 139. An armistice is binding, upon the belligerents from the day of the agreed commencement, but the officers of the armies are responsible from the day only when they receive -official information of its existence. 140. Comtmanding officers have the right to conclude armistices binding on the district over which their command extends, but such armistice is subject to the ratification of the superior authority, and ceases so soon as it is made known to the enemy that the armistice is not ratified, even if a certain time for the elapsing between giving notice of cessation and the resumption of hostilities'should have been stipulated for. 141. It is incumbent -upon the contracting parties of an armistice to stipulate what intercourse of persons or traffic between the inhabitants of the territories occupied by the hostile armies shall be allowed, if any. I f nothing is stipulated, the intercourse remains suspended, as during actual hostilities. 142. An armistice is not a partial or temporary peace; it is only the suspension of military opei atious to the extent agreed upon by the parties. APPENDIX. 431 143. When an armistice is concluded between a fortified place and the army besieging it, it is agreed by all the auhorities on this subject that the besieger must cease all extension, perfection, or advance of his attacking works, as much so as from attacks by main force. But as there is a difference of opinion among martial jurists, whether the besieged have the ight to repair breaches or to erect new works of defense within the place during an larmistice, this point should be determined by express agreement between the parties. 144. So soonas a capitulation is signed the capitulator has no right to demolish, destroy, or injure the works, arms, stores, or ammunition in his possession during the time which elapses between the signing and the execution of the capitulation, unless otherwise stipulated in the same. 145. When an armistice is clearly broken by one of the parties, the other party is released from all obligation to observe it. 146. Prioners taken in the act of breaking an armistice must be treated as prisoners of war, the officer alone being responsible who gives the order for such a violation of an armistie. The highest authority of the belligerent aggrieved may demand redress for the infraction of an armistice. 14. Belligerents sometimes conclude an armistice while their plenipotentiaries are met to discuss the conditions of a treaty of peace; but plenipotentiaries may meet without a preliminary armistice. In the latter case the war is carried on without any abatement. SECTION IX. Assassination. 14. The law of war does not allow proclaiming either an individual belonging to the hostile arm itizen, or a subject of the hostile government, an outlaw, who may be slain without trial by any captor, any more than the modern law of peace allows such international outlawry; on the contrary, it abhors such outrage. The sternest retaliation should follow the murder committed in consequence of such proclamation, made by whatever authority. Civilized nations look with horror upon offers of rewards for the assassination Cof enemies as relapses into barbarism.X. SECTION X. Insurrection-Civil war- Rebellion. 149. Insurrection is the rising of people in arms against their government, or a portion of it, or against one or more of its laws, or against an officer or officers of the government. It may be confined to mere armed resistance or it may have greater ends in view. 150. Civil war is war between two or more portions of a country or state, each contending for the mastery of the whole, and each claiming to be the legitimate government. The term is also sometimes applied to war of rebellion, when the rebellious provinces or portions of the state are contiguous to those containing the seat of government. 151. The term rebellion is applied to an insurrection of large extent, and is usually a war between the legitimate government of a country and portions or provinces of the same who seek to throw off their allegiance to it and set up a government of their own. 152. When humanity induces the adoption of the rules of regular war toward rebels, whether the adoption is partial or entire, it does in no way whatever imply a partial or complete acknowledgment of their government, if they have set up one, or of them as an independent or sovereign power. Neutrals have no right to make the adoption of the rules of war by the assailed government toward rebels the ground of their own acknowledgment of the revolted people as an independent power. 153. Treating captured rebels as prisoners of war, exchanging them, concluding of cartels,,capitulations, or other warlike agreements with them; addressing officers of a rebel army by the rank they may have in the same; accepting flags of truce; or, on the other hand, proclaiming martial law in their territory, or levying war-taxes or forced loans, or doing any other act sanctioned or demanded by the law and usages of public war between sovereign belligerents, neither proves nor establishes an acknowledgment of the rebellious people, or of the government which they may have erected, as a public or sovereign power. Nor does the adoption of the rules of war toward Tebels imply an engagement with them extending beyond the limits of these rules. It is victory in the field that ends the strife and settles the future relations between the contending parties. 154. Treating, in the field, the rebellious enemy according to the law and usages of war has never prevented the legitimate government from trying the leaders of the rebellion or chief rebels for high treason, and from treating them accordingly, unless they are included in a general amnesty. 155. All enemies in regular war are divided into two general classes; that is to say, into combatants and non-combatants, or unarmed citizens of the hostile government. The military commander of the legitimate government, in a war of rebellion, distinguishes 432 APPENDIX. between the loyal citizen in the revolted portion of the country and the disloyal citizen. The disloyal citizens may further be classified into those citizens knowmO to sympathize with the rebellion, without positively aiding it, and those who, without taking up arms, give positive aid and comfort to the rebellious enemy, without being bodily forced thereto. 156. Common justice and plain expediency require that the military commander protect the manifestly loyal citizens, in revolted territories, against the hardships of the war as much as the common misfortune of all war admits. The commander will throw the burden of the war, as much as lies within his power, on the disloyal citizens of the revolted portion or province, subjecting them to a stricter police than the non-combatant enemies have to suffer in regular war; and, if he deems it appropriate, or if his government demands of him that every citizen shall, by an oath of allegiance, or by some other manifest act, declare his fidelity to the legitimate government, he may. expel, transfer, imprison, or fine the revolted citizens who refuse to pledge themselves anew as citizens obedient to the law and loyal to the government. Whether it is expedient to do so, and whether reliance can be placed upon such oaths, the commander or his governmoent have the right to decide. 157. Armed or unarmed resistance by citizens of the United States against the lawful movements of their troops is levying war against the United States, and is therefore treason.