Chapter XCII. to amend “An Act to establish a Court for the Investigation of Claims against the United States,” approved February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and fifty-five
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Chap. XCII.— An Act to amend “An Act to establish a Court for the Investigation of Claims against the United States,” approved February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and fifty-five.March 3, 1863. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That1855, ch. 122.vol. x. p. 612.Two additional judges for the court of claims. there shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, two additional judges for the said court, to hold their offices during good behavior, who shall be qualified in the same manner, discharge the same duties, and receive the same compensation, as now provided in reference to the judges of said court; and that from the whole number of said judges the President shall in like manner appoint a chief justice for said court.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* ThatAll petitions and bills for private claims against the government to be sent to the court. 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.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* ThatCourt to consider set-offs, &c., for the government. the said court, in addition to the jurisdiction now conferred by law, shall also have jurisdiction of all set-oils, counterclaims, claims for damages, whether liquidated or unliquidated, or other demands whatsoever, on the part of the Government against any person making claim against the Government in said court; and upon the trial of any such cause it shall hear and determine such claim or demand both for and against the Government and claimant; and if upon theIf the court finds that the claimant owes the Government, to render judgment therefor.Transcript of judgment to be entered in district, &c., court, and be enforced like other judgments. whole case it finds that the claimant is indebted to the Government, it shall *under* [render] judgment to that effect, and such judgment shall be final, with the right of appeal, as in other cases herein provided for.
Any transcript of such judgment, filed in the clerk’s office of any district or circuit court of the United States, shall be entered upon the records of the same, and shall ipso facto become and be a judgment of such district or circuit court, and shall be enforced in like manner as other judgments therein. Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* ThatAnnual session to commence 1st Monday in October.Rules.Commissioners the said court of claims shall hold one annual session, commencing on the first Monday in October in each year, and continuing so long as may be necessary for the prompt disposition of the business of the court.
The said court may prescribe rules and regulations for practice therein, and it may punish for contempt, in the manner prescribed by common law. It may appoint commissioners,Law library. and may generally exercise such powers as are necessary to carry out the powers herein granted to it. The judges, solicitors, and clerks of said court shall be admitted to the use of the congressional library, and also the law library, until a law library be provided for them. The said court may appoint a bailiff, who shall hold his office during four years, unlessBailiff.Salary sooner removed by said court for cause, and who shall receive a salary of766THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.
Sess. III. Ch. 92. 1863. one thousand dollars, payable quarterly. TheOaths, &c.Seal.Members of Congress not to practise in court of claims. judges and clerks of said court may administer oaths and affirmations, take acknowledgments of instruments in writing, and give certificates of the same. Said court shall have a seal, with such device as it may order. Members of either house of Congress shall not practice in said court of claims. Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* ThatAppeals to supreme court. either party may appeal to the supreme court of the United States from any final judgment or decree which may hereafter be rendered in any case by said court wherein the amount in controversy exceeds three thousand dollars, under such regulations us the said supreme court may direct: *Provided,* That such appeal shallWhen to be taken.When an appeal may be had without reference to amount in controversy. be taken within ninety days after the rendition of such judgment or decree: *And provided, further,* That when the judgment or decree will affect a class of cases, or furnish a precedent for the future action of any executive department of the Government in the adjustment of such class of cases, or a constitutional question, and such facts shall be certified to by the presiding justice of the court of claims, the supreme court shall entertain an appeal on behalf of the United States, without regard to the amount in controversy.
Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* ThatSolicitor and assistants, how appointed.Duty. the solicitor, assistant solicitor, and deputy solicitor of said court, shall hereafter be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and it shall be their duty faithfully and diligently to defend the United States in all matters and cases before said court of claims; and in all cases taken by appealNo fee but salary. therefrom to the supreme court; and no other fee or compensation than the salary of said solicitor, and assistant and deputy solicitors, shall hereafter, in any case, be paid to either of them, and no fee or compensation for services in either the supreme court or court of claims shall hereafter be allowed or paid in any case by the United States.
Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted,* ThatClaims sustained, how paid. in all cases of final judgments by said court, or on appeal by the said supreme court where the same shall be affirmed in favor of the claimant, the sum due thereby shall be paid out of any general appropriation made by 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 said court of claims, and signed by the chief justice, or, in his absence, by the presiding judge, of said court.
And in cases where the judgment appealed from is in favor of said claimant, or the same is affirmed by the said supreme court,Interest. interest thereon at the rate of five per centum 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: *Provided,* That no interest shall be allowed on any claim up to the time of the rendition of the judgment by said court of claims, unless upon a contract expressly stipulating for the payment of interest, and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, at the commencement of each Congress, to include in his report *or* [a] statement of all sums paid at the treasury on such judgments, together with the names of the parties in whose favor the same were allowed: *And it is further provided,* ThatPayments to be a full discharge, und bar all further claim. such payments shall be a full discharge to the United States of all claim or demand touching any of the matters involved in the controversy: *And provided further,* That any final judgment rendered against the claimant on any claim prosecuted as aforesaid shall forever bar any further claim or demand against the United States arising out of the matters involved in the controversy.
Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted,* ThatClaimant may be examined on oath.Proceedings. it shall be lawful for said court, at the instance of the solicitor for the United States, to make an order in any case pending in said court, directing that the claimant or claimants in such ease, or any one or more of them, shall appear, upon reasonable notice, before any commissioner of said court, and be examined on oath or767 affirmation touching any or all matters pertaining to said claim.
And the examination of such claimant or claimants shall be reduced to writing byExamination to be reduced to writing.If claimants neglect or refuse. the said commissioner, and be returned to and filed in said court, and may, at the discretion of the solicitor for the United States, be read and used as evidence on the trial of said cause. And if any claimant or claimants, after such order has been made, and due and reasonable notice thereof given to him or them, shall fail to appear or shall refuse to testify or answer fully as to all matters within his knowledge material to the issue, the said court may, in its discretion, order that the said cause shall not be brought forward for trial until the said claimant or claimants shall have fully complied with the order of said court in the premises.
Sec. 9. *And be it further enacted,* ThatCourt not to have jurisdiction of certain claims the jurisdiction of the said court shall not extend to or include any claim against the Government not pending in said court on the first day of December, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-two, growing out of or dependent on any treaty stipulation entered into with foreign nations or with the Indian tribes. Sec. 10. *And be it further enacted,* ThatClaims to be filed in court within six years. every claim against the United States, cognizable by the court of claims, shall be forever barred unless the petition setting forth a statement of the claim be filed in the court or transmitted to it under the provisions of this act within six years after the claim first accrues: *Provided,* ThatProviso. claims which have accrued six years before the passage of this act shall not be barred if the petition be filed in the court or transmitted as aforesaid within three years after the passage of this act: *And provided, further,* ThatPersons under disability. the claims of married women first accrued during marriage, of persons under the age of twenty-one years first accruing during minority, and of idiots, lunatics, insane persons, and persons beyond seas at the time the claim accrued, entitled to the 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.
Sec. 11. *And be it further enacted,* ThatAttempts to practise any frand upon the United States, how punished. any person or persons who shall corruptly practise or attempt to practise any fraud against the United States in the proof, statement, establishment, or allowance of any claim, or any part of any 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 fraud was practised or attempted to be practised, and thereupon give judgment that such claim is forfeited to the Government, and that the claimant be forever barred from prosecuting the same.
Appeals may be taken from the court of claimsAppeals. to the supreme court, in all such cases, on all questions of law, in the manner herein provided for appeals in other cases. Sec. 12. *And be it further enacted,* ThatPetitions to the court to be verified by affidavit. any petition filed under this act shall be verified by the affidavit of the claimant, his agent, or attorney, stating that no assignment or transfer of said claim, or any part thereof, or any interest therein, has been made, except as in said petition stated; that said claimant is justly entitled to the amount therein claimed from the United States, after allowing all just credits and offsets; and that he believes the facts as stated in said petition are true: *Provided, however,* ThatProviso. in order to authorize the said court to render a judgment in favor of any claimant, it a citizen of the United States, it shall be set forth in the petition that the claimant, and the original and every prior owner thereof where the claim has been assigned, has at all times borne true allegiance to the Government of the United States, and whether a citizen or not, that he has not in any way voluntarily aided, abetted, or given encouragement to rebellion against the said Government, which allegations may be traversed by the Government, and if on the trial such issue shall be decided against the claimant, his petition shall be dismissed. 768THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.
Sess. III. Ch. 92, 93. 1863. Sec. 13. *And be it further enacted,* ThatRepeal of inconsistent laws. all laws and parts [of laws] inconsistent with the provisions of tins not are hereby repealed. Sec. 14. *And be it further enacted,* ThatMoney not to be paid out for claims until appropriated upon estimates. no money shall be paid out of the treasury for any claim passed upon by the court of claims till after an appropriation therefor shall be estimated for by the Secretary of the Treasury.
Approved, March 3, 1863.