Chapter 190. To provide for the reimbursement of officers and seamen for property lost or destroyed in the naval service of the United States
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CHAP. 190.— An Act To provide for the reimbursement of officers and seamen for property lost or destroyed in the naval service of the United States.March 2, 1895. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Navy.Adjustment of losses by shipwreck, etc. That the proper accounting officers of the Treasury be, and they are hereby, authorized and directed to examine into, ascertain, and determine the value, of the private property belonging to officers, petty officers, seamen, and others in the naval service of the United States which has been or may hereafter be lost and destroyed in the naval service by shipwreck or other marine disaster, under the following circumstances:
First. When such loss or destruction was without fault or negligenceConditions. on the part of the claimant. Second. Where the private property so lost or destroyed was shipped on board an unseaworthy vessel by order of any officer authorized to give such order or direct such shipment. And the amount of such loss or losses which have accrued prior toPayment of prior losses. the passage of this Act so ascertained and determined upon settlement by the proper accounting officers of the Treasury shall be paid out of Report on future losses.any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and all losses that shall hereafter accrue shall be certified by the Secretary of the 963 Treasury at the commencement of each regular session to the Speaker of the House of Representatives who shall lay the same before Congress for consideration, and shall be in full for all such loss or damage: *Provided*, That any claim which shall be presented and acted upon*Provisos*.Claims not to be reopened. under authority of this Act shall be held as finally determined, and shall never thereafter be reopened or considered: *And provided further*,War losses.Limit of liability.
That this Act shall not apply to losses sustained in time of war: And *provided further*, That the liability of the Government under this Act shall be limited to such articles of personal property as are required by the United States Naval Regulations, and in force at the time of loss or destruction, for such officers, petty officers, seamen, or others engaged in the public service, in the line of duty: *And provided further*, That the amounts which have been paid to persons in theAmounts deducted.[R.
S., sec. 288–290, p. 48](/us/rs/t/s288–290/948). naval service under sections two hundred and eighty-eight, two hundred and eighty-nine, and two hundred and ninety of the Revised Statutes shall be deducted in the settlement of all claims under this Act: *And provided further*, That the value of the article or articlesDetermining value. lost or destroyed shall be their value at the date of loss or destruction: *And provided further*, That all claims now existing shall be presented within two years, and not after, from the passage of this Act; and all such claims hereafter arising be presentedTo be presented in two years. within two years from the occurrence of the loss or destruction.
That nothing in this Act shallClaims barred. be construed to authorize the reopening or payment of any claims for losses of private property on vessels sunk or otherwise destroyed prior to August twentieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four. Approved, March 2, 1895.