All claims were required to be verified by the oath Presentation and Dis- of the claimant, and to be filed in the court within six position of Claims. months after its organization; and it was provided that all claims that should not be so filed should be held "to be finally and conclusively waived and barred." Immediately after its first meeting in Washington, the court was directed with all convenient dispatch to arrange and docket the several claims admissible under the act; to consider the evidence offered in support of and in opposition to such claims; and after allowing such time as might seem reasonable and just for the production of further evidence, to proceed to determine and render an award on each claim in accordance with the provisions of the act.

The powers of the court were duly defined. It was Powers of the Court. authorized to give public notice of its sessions and to make all needful rules and regulations for the government of its forms and mode of procedure, such rules to conform as far as practicable with the mode of procedure and practice of the circuit courts of the United States. It was invested with the same powers as the circuit and district courts of the United States to compel the attendance and testimony of parties, claimants and witnesses, to preserve order, to punish for contempts, and to compel the production of any books or papers deemed material to the consideration of any pending claim or matter. It was authorized to make orders or requisitions for the delivery to it of all records, documents, or other papers in the Department of State relating to the claims and necessary to their examination and adjudication. Each of the judges was authorized to administer oaths and affirmations, and to take the depositions of claimants, parties, and witnesses, in all matters pertaining to the presentation or examination of claims. False swearing as to matters or facts material in the examination of claims was made punishable with the penalties of perjury.

Jurisdiction of the
Court.

By section 11 of the act it was made the duty of the court to receive and examine all claims "directly resulting from damage caused by the so-called insurgent cruisers Alabama and Florida and their tenders, and also all claims directly resulting from damage caused by the so-called insurgent cruiser Shenandoah after her departure from Melbourne on the 18th day of February 1865, and to decide upon the amount and validity of such claims, in conformity with the provisions hereinafter contained, and according to the principles of law and the merits of the several cases."

By section 12 this grant of jurisdiction was materially qualified by the following provisions:

1. That no claim should be allowed "for any loss or damage for or in respect to which the party injured, his assignees or legal representatives, shall have received compensation or indemnity from any insurance company, insurer, or otherwise;" but that, if such compensation or indemnity was not "equal to the loss or damage so actually suffered, allowance may be made for the difference."

2. That no claim should be allowed "for or in respect to unearned freights, gross freights, prospective profits, freights, gains, or advantages, or for wages of officers or seamen for a longer time than one year next after the breaking up of a voyage by the acts aforesaid."

3. That no claim should be allowed "by or in behalf of any insurance company or insurer, either in its or his own right, or as assignee or other

wise, in the right of a person or party insured as aforesaid, unless such claimant shall show to the satisfaction of the said court that during the late rebellion the sum of its or his losses, in respect to its or his war risks, exceeded the sum of its or his premiums or other gains upon or in respect to such war risks; and in case of any such allowance, the same shall not be greater than such excess of loss."

4. That no claim should be allowed "arising in favor of any insurance company not lawfully existing at the time of the loss under the laws of some one of the United States."

5. That no claim should be allowed "arising in favor of any person not entitled, at the time of his loss, to the protection of the United States in the premises."

6. That no claim should be allowed "arising in favor of any person who did not at all times during the late rebellion bear true allegiance to the United States."

By section 13 of the act it was provided that, in estiAllowance of Interest. mating the compensation to be paid, interest at the rate of 4 per cent should in each case be allowed on "the amount of actual loss or damage" from such date as the court should decide that such loss or damage was sustained by the claimant; but it was also provided that the amount of such interest should not be included in or added to the amount for which judgment might be rendered on the claim, but that a report of the amount of such interest, certified under the seal of the court, should in each case accompany the report of judgment on the claim to the Secretary of State.

As it was known by the dissenting opinion of Sir Alexander Cockburn that the tribunal of arbitration allowed 6 per cent in gold on the amount which it found to be due, the provision that the court should allow interest only at the rate of 4 per cent indicates on the part of Congress an expectation that the payment of the "direct claims" would consume the whole fund. In its general provisions the act kept well within the lines of the award. Claims were restricted to the cruisers inculpated by the award, and the exclusion of claims for unearned freights, gross freights, and certain other matters was based upon its provisions.

Counsel Fees.

In rendering its judgment it was provided that the court should, on motion of the attorney or counsel for the claimant, allow, out of the amount awarded, such fees as it should determine to be just and reasonable as compensation for the services rendered in prosecuting the claim, which allowance should be entered as part of the judgment in the case, and should be made specifically payable as part of the judgment; and for the sum so allowed the Secretary of the Treasury was directed to issue a warrant in favor of the person to whom the allowance was made. All other liens upon, or assignments, sales, or transfers in respect of any claim for services rendered before the judgment was awarded and the warrant issued, were declared to be null and void.

ment of Judgments.

The court was required to report a list of its several Certification and Pay- judgments and decisions to the Secretary of State, and it was provided that the Secretary of State should, upon the conclusion of the business of the court, transmit a copy of such list to the Secretary of the Treasury, who should pay the judgments, together with interest at 4 per cent from the date certified, to the persons in

whose favor they were rendered, or to their legal representatives. But in case the sum of all the judgments, together with interest, should exceed the amount received into the Treasury as proceeds of the sum paid by Great Britain, it was made the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to distribute the money among the claimants according to the proportions which their respective judgments should bear to the whole fund. The Secretary of the Treasury was directed to pay the judgment "out of any such money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated," and for that purpose he was authorized to sell at public sale, at not less than par in coin, a sufficient amount of 5 per cent coupon or registered bonds, and from time to time. as the judgments were paid, to cancel the bonds mentioned in the act of March 3, 1873, to the amount of such payments. When all the payments were made, he was directed to cancel any such bonds as should remain; and if after the payment of the judgments and the reimbursement of the expenses of the court, any part of the money remained, it was provided that it should constitute a fund from which Congress might authorize the payment of other claims upon it.

Salaries of Officials.

The salary of each of the judges was fixed at the rate of $6,000 per annum; that of the clerk at the rate of $3,000, and that of the shorthand reporter at the rate of $2,500; and it was provided that the court should "be further allowed the necessary actual expenses of office rent, furniture, fuel, stationery, and printing, and other necessary incidental expenses, to be certified by the presiding judge of said court, and to be audited and paid on vouchers under the direction of the Secretary of State." The counsel on behalf of the United States was allowed "for his services and expenses such reasonable allowance in each claim as may be approved by the court, to be apportioned in each claim adjudicated, and paid from said award upon the certificate of one of the judges."

June 24, 1874, the President nominated Hezekiah G. Personnel of the Court. Wells, of Michigan, as presiding judge, and Martin H. Ryerson, of New Jersey; Kenneth Rayner, of Missis sippi; William A. Porter, of Pennsylvania, and Caleb Baldwin, of Iowa, as judges. These nominations were duly confirmed by the Senate. In the winter of 1874-75 Judge Ryerson resigned and soon afterward died. He was succeeded by Harvey Jewell, of Massachusetts, who was appointed February 26, 1875. Judge Baldwin died on the 15th of December 1876, but the vacancy created by his death was not filled.

June 24, 1874, the President appointed John Davis, of Massachusetts, as clerk of the court, and the nomination was confirmed by the Senate.

As counsel for the United States, the President, on the 22d of July 1874 designated John A. J. Creswell, of Maryland, formerly Postmaster-General of the United States.

Alexander Sharp, marshal of the United States for the District of Columbia, discharged the duties of marshal of the court.

R. W. C. Mitchell acted as shorthand reporter of the court from the time of its organization till its termination.

In accordance with the provisions of the act of ConOrganization and Rules. gress, the judges met and organized the court at Washington on the 22d day of July 1874, and as there was no suitable place in the government buildings they held their sessions at

1514 H street NW. On the 24th of July they adopted rules and regulations, which, together with the notice of their next session, were duly published. The court then adjourned to Thursday the 1st of October, in order that claimants might file their memorials and prepare for trial. The rules adopted by the court were as follows:

"RULES OF THE COURT OF COMMISSIONERS OF ALABAMA' CLAIMS.

"I. The clerk of the court is directed to file of record all claims which may be transmitted to him, and to enter the same on the docket in the order of time in which they may be received.

"Claims transmitted by mail may be addressed to John Davis, esq., clerk of the Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims, Washington, D. C.'

"II. All claims must be verified by the affidavit of the claimant, and filed in this court within six months from the 22d day of July 1874.

"III. Every claim shall be stated in a petition addressed to the court, and signed by the claimant or his attorney.

"The petition shall set forth

"1st. The title of the case, with the full Christian names and surnames of all the claimants, the places and times of their birth, and the places of their residence between the 13th day of April 1861 and the 9th day of April 1865, both inclusive.

If any of the claimants be naturalized citizens, an authenticated certificate of their naturalization shall be appended to the petition, and the petition shall also state whether the claimants, or any of them, have been naturalized in any other country than the United States; and if not so naturalized, whether any and what steps have been taken toward being so naturalized.

"2d. A plain and concise statement of the facts and circumstances, giving place and date, free from argument, and stating all assignments and transfers, whether in whole or in part.

"3d. The prayer, in which the claimant shall state distinctly the amount of the actual loss or damage for which he asks judgment, and the date from which he claims interest thereon.

"The claimant shall also give the post-office address of himself and of his attorney; and may append to his petition, as exhibits, the instruments or documents to which it refers, but shall not insert the same in the body of the petition. Immediately upon the filing of any petition, fifty copies of the same and the accompanying documents shall be printed in octavo form, under the direction of the clerk, for the use of the court and counsel. "IV. Parties having a common interest, growing out of the destruction of the same vessel or its cargo, may unite in one petition for the recovery of their respective claims, which may be heard together, but separate judgments shall be rendered in the case of each claimant.

"V. Any person of good moral character admitted to practice as attorney or counsel in the supreme court of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, or in any of the Federal courts, on filing with the clerk a written statement of the date and place of such admission, with his name and post-office address in full, may, on motion, be admitted to practice in this court.

"VI. It shall not be necessary for the United States to deny, specially, in writing, the validity of any claim; but a general denial of every claim shall be entered of record by the clerk as of course, and thereby every material allegation shall be considered as put in issue by the United States.

"Objections as to the law of the case may be raised by the United States at any stage of the proceedings by demurrer, stating the grounds of such objections with reasonable certainty.

VII. Testimony to be used in this court may be taken before a commissioner empowered by any circuit or district court of the United States to take testimony, on a rule entered of record in this court for that purpose by either party in any pending case, provided twenty days' notice be

given to the adverse party; but nothing herein contained shall prevent the taking of testimony before any other person, with the leave of this court, nor prevent counsel from accepting, by agreement in writing, a shorter notice than twenty days.

"VIII. It shall be the duty of the counsel of the claimant, at least ten days before the day of hearing, to file with the clerk of the court fifty copies of a brief (printed in octavo form) of the argument in behalf of the claimant.

"IX. Claims supported by printed or written testimony shall be first beard in the order in which they stand on the docket, unless otherwise specifically ordered by the court; and afterward those claims shall be heard in support of which the claimant may desire to introduce oral testimony.

"X. In cases where the amount claimed exceeds the sum of one thousand dollars, the claimant shall be at the expense of printing his own brief and testimony. In cases not exceeding that amount the printing shall be done, under the direction of the clerk of the court, at the expense of the United States.

"XI. The time to be occupied in the oral arguments of counsel shall be regulated by the rule in force in the Supreme Court of the United States. "XII. Whenever any deposition or document shall have been filed in any case before this court, either party to any other case may use such testimony on the hearing thereof: Provided, That the party so desiring to use such testimony in a case in which the same was not originally taken shall file a notice in the case in which such testimony is sought to be used five days before the hearing thereof of his intention so to do, specifying therein particularly the depositions or documents sought to be used and the case or cases in which the same were originally taken."

When the judges reconvened they found that, conDelay in Presentation trary to their expectations, very few cases were ready of Claims. for trial, or had even been filed. Indeed, only 3 petitions were filed in July, 5 in August, and 64 in September, making in all only 72 when the court reassembled. It was not until October that the number largely increased, and 312 more petitions were filed in January 1875 alone than in the previous five months together. By the 22d of January, on which day the period for the presentation of petitions terminated, 1,382 claims had been filed, and of these 767 were filed during that month. The court remained very constantly in session during the winter of 1874-75, considering amendments to the rules, hearing extended arguments on points of law arising on demurrers, and deciding all claims presented for final hearing. In the preparation of cases however there was great delay, and in order to hasten the dispatch of business the court on the 26th of January 1875 passed an order by which it was directed that the clerk should enter on the trial docket, in their numerical order, all claims in which no decision had been rendered; that this docket should be called three times, but that a greater number than 50 cases should not be called in one day; that at each calling of the docket parties who had not previously been heard would have an opportunity to submit their proofs and arguments; and that on the third calling of the docket every claim should be disposed of by final judgment. On the first calling of the docket it was found that comparatively few claims were ready for final hearing, and the court, after deciding every case that was ready, adjourned until the 28th of April 1875, at the same time publishing an order to the effect that the second calling of the trial docket would be commenced on its reassembling, and that no case would then be passed without the assignment of a sufficient reason for so doing.