Chapter 800. To carry into effect the stipulations of article seven of the treaty between the United States and Spain concluded on the tenth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight
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CHAP. 800.— An Act To carry into effect the stipulations of article seven of the treaty between the United States and Spain concluded on the tenth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight. March 2, 1901. *Be enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That the President of theCommission to adjudicate daims of citizens of the United States against Spain (vol. 30, p. 1757) constituted. United States shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, five suitable persons learned in the law, who shall constitute a commission, whose duty it shall be, and it shall have jurisdiction, to 878receive, examine, and adjudicate all claims of citizens of the United States against Spain, which the United States agreed to adjudicate and settle by the seventh article of the treaty concluded between the United States and Spain on the tenth day of December, anno Domini eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.
It shall adjudicate said claims according to the merits of the several eases, the principles of equity, and of President.international law. One of said persons shall be designated by the terms of his appointment to be the president of said commission. Vacancies.The President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall till by appointment all vacancies which may occur in said commission. Sec. 2. Oath. That each of the members of said commission, the Assistant Attorney-General, the assistant attorneys, and the clerk provided for by this Act shall be citizens of the United States, and shall take the oath of office prescribed by law to be taken by officers of the United States.
Sec. 3. Sessions. That the said commission shall, within thirty days after the appointment of the members thereof, meet, and it shall thereafter Rooms.hold its sessions, in the city of Washington. The Department of Justice shall provide said commission with all necessary and suitable rooms and offices for holding its sessions and transacting its business. Payment of salaries.All the expenses, including salaries and compensation of said commission and of its officers and employees, shall be paid by the Department of Justice, upon vouchers certified by the president of the commission or by order of the other members of the commission in case of his Appropriation.absence or inability to act; and the sum of fifty thousand dollars annually. or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated and made immediately available for the Department of Justice as a special fund for the payment of said expenses.
Sec. 4. Rules. That the commission is empowered to make all necessary or convenient and proper rules and regulations of practice and procedure for the transaction of its business. Sec. 5. Employees. That the commission is empowered to appoint a clerk, and may also appoint one messenger and one or more stenographers, typewriters. and interpreters as the business of the commission may require;Commissioners to take testimony. and may also appoint one or more commissioners, whose duty it shall be to take testimony in such eases as may be brought before said commission.
Such commissioners to take testimony shall be citizens of the United States, and they shall receive for their services such fees as may be fixed by said commission, not exceeding the fees allowed by law for the taking of testimony to be used in the courts of the United States, including the sum of three dollars per day which the courts of the United States are now authorized by section twenty-oneVol. 29, p.184. of the Act of May twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, to allow to commissioners.
Bond of clerk.The clerk of said commission shall, before assuming the duties of his office, execute a bond to the United States, with sufficient surety or sureties, in such amount and conditioned as the Attorney-General shall prescribe, for the faithful performance of his duties as such clerk. Civil service exemption.The appointments authorized by this section shall be made without reference to the rules and regulations of the civil service. Sec. 6. Additional Assistant Attorney-General and assistant attorneys authorized.
That the President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, one additional Assistant Attorney-General of the United States, who shall hold his office during the existence of said commission, and the Attorney-General of the United States is empowered to employ such assistant attorneys as the business of —duties.the commission may require. It shall be the duty of said Assistant Attorney-General and assistant attorneys to appear as attorneys and counsel for the United States, under the direction of the Attorney-General. and defend the United States in all proceedings to adjudicate claims which may be had before said commission. 879 Sec. 7.
That each of the said commissioners and the clerk and eachAuthority to administer oaths. of the commissioners to take testimony shall have authority to administer oaths in all proceedings before the commission, and every person—penalty. knowingly and willfully swearing or affirming falsely in any such proceedings shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall, upon conviction, suffer the punishment provided by the laws of the United States for that offense, when committed in its courts of justice.
Sec. 8. That all reports, records, proceedings, and other documentsAccess to departmental files. now on file or of record in the Department of State, or in any other Department, or certified copies thereof, relating to any claims prosecuted before the said commission under this Act shall be furnished to the commission upon its order, made of its own motion or at the request of the claimant or of the attorney representing the United States before said commission. Sec. 9. That every claim prosecuted before said commission shallPetition. be presented by petition, setting forth concisely and without unnecessary—contents, etc. repetition the facts upon which such claim is based together with an itemized schedule setting forth all damages claimed.
Said petition shall also state the full name, the residence, and the citizenship of the claimant, and the amount of damages sought to be recovered, and shall pray judgment upon the facts and law. It shall be signed by the claimant or his attorney or legal representative, and be verified by the affidavit of the claimant, his agent, attorney, or legal representative. It shall be filed with the clerk of the commission, and the prosecution of the claim shall be deemed to have been commenced at the date of such filing.
All claims shall be filed as aforesaid within six monthsTime for filing claims limited. from the date of the first meeting of the commission, and every claim not filed within such time shall be forever barred: *Provided*, That the*Proviso*.—reception afterwards. commission may receive claims presented within six months after the termination of said period if the claimants shall establish to their satisfaction good reasons for not presenting the same earlier. Sec. 10. That service of the petit ion shall be made upon the Attorney-GeneralService of petition. of United States at such time and in such manner as may be prescribed by the rules of said commission.
It shall be his duty toAnswer. defend the interests of the United States, and he shall, within sixty days after the service of the petition upon him, unless the time shall be extended by order of the commission, file a demurrer or answer to said petition, which answer shall set up all matters of counterclaim, set-off, claim of damages, demand, or defense whatsover of the Government against such claim: *Provided*, That should the Attorney-General*Proviso*.—failure to answer; procedure. fail to so answer or demur, the claimant may proceed with the case under such rides as the commission may adopt: but the claimant shall not in such case have award for his claim or for any part thereof unless he shall establish the same by proof satisfactory to the commission.
Sec. 11. That the award in favor of any claimant shall be only forExtent of award. the amount of the actual and direct damage which said claimant shall prove that he has sustained. Remote or prospective damages shall not be awarded, nor shall interest be allowed on any claim. Sec. 12. That all awards of said commission shall be final unless aWhen award final. new trial or hearing shall be granted by said commission and no new trial or rehearing shall be had except upon motion made within sixty days of said award.
Sec. 13. When the commission is in doubt as to any question of lawAppeal to Supreme Court. arising upon the facts in any case before them, they may state the facts and the question of law so arising and certify the same to the Supreme Court of the United States for its decision, and said court shall have jurisdiction to consider and decide the same. Sec. 14. That the commission shall file with the Secretary of StateFiling copy of award with Secretary of State.Payment. a copy of the award in each case immediately after the same shall have been made and become final, and in every case of final award by said 880commission the sum found to be due snail be paid out of any appropriation made or to be made by Congress for the payment and satisfaction of such awards on presentation to the Secretary of the Treasury of a copy of said award, certified by the clerk of the commission and signed by the president of said commission, or by the Secretary of State in case said commission has terminated and ceased to exist.
Disposition of records on expiration of commission.All the files and records of said commission shall immediately upon the expiration thereof be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State. Sec. 15. Salaries. That the salaries and compensation of the persons appointed under this Act shall be as follows, and the same shall be paid monthly in equal installments: To each commissioner, the sum of five thousand dollars per annum. To the Assistant Attorney-General, the sum of five thousand dollars per annum.
To the clerk, the sum of three thousand five hundred dollars per annum. To such assistant attorneys as may be employed, at the rate of two hundred dollars per month to each for the time of actual employment. To the messenger and to each stenographer and typewriter, the sum of one thousand two hundred dollars per annum. To each interpreter, not exceeding the sum of one thousand eight hundred dollars per annum. Sec. 16. Duration of commission. That the powers and jurisdiction hereby granted to said commission shall be in force and continue for the period of two years from the date of the approval of this Act, and for no longer time: *Provisos*.—extension.*Provided*, That the President may, from time to time, extend the said period beyond said two years, not exceeding six months in each instance, when in his judgment such extension is necessary to enable —dissolution before two years.the commission to complete its work: *And provided further*, That in ease the commission shall have completed its work before the expiration of the said two years the President may dissolve said commission.
Approved, March 2, 1901.