COMMISSIONERS (CIRCUIT COURT)—Continued.
13. The accounting officers of the Treasury have no jurisdiction to con-
sider items in a fee account of an officer of a United States court
unless such items are approved by the court as required by the
act of February 22, 1875. 223.
14. Where the court does not approve a commissioner's per diems for
days to which he had continued cases on trial before him, no fees
can be allowed for services rendered necessary by and incident to
such continuances. 223.
15. A commissioner is entitled to the folio fees for the entry upon his
docket of the proceedings of each particular day as a single con-
tinuous entry, under a rule of court requiring such entries to be
made on the day the transactions occur. 257.
16. A United States commissioner is not entitled to a per diem fee
under section 847, Revised Statutes, as for “hearing and decid-
ing on criminal charges," when the only action taken by him is
to admit the defendant to bail to appear before another commis-
sioner for a hearing upon the criminal charge. 281.
17. Where a State statute authorizes a justice of the peace to issue an
attachment for a defaulting witness who was duly summoned, for
the purpose of compelling him to appear and testify and not for
the purpose of punishing him as for a contempt, a United States
commissiouer in that State is, by virtue of section 1014, Revised
Statutes, entitled to fees for issuing the writ of attachment. 283.
18. A United States commissioner who committed a defendant for a
hearing before him on a future day, and on a later day, but prior
to the day set for hearing, admitted him to bail, is entitled to a
per diem fee for the day upon which he took and passed upon the
sufficiency of the bail, as one of the days in the progress of the
"hearing and deciding" on the criminal charge. 2-3.
19. A commissioner is entitled to fees for drawing affidavits of persons
offering themselves as sureties on bail bonds. 319.
20. A commissioner will not be allowed fees for issuing a temporary
mittimus for the custody of a defendant for part of a day only,
except in extraordinary cases showing the necessity therefor, as
it is ordinarily the duty of the marshal to keep the defendant in
custody. 382.
21. A commissioner is not entitled to a fee from the United States for
administering to a marshal the oath required by the act of Febru-
ary 22, 1875, to be taken by the marshal in proving his accounts
before presenting them for the approval of the court. 426.
22. In re Totten (2 Comp. Dec., 213), as to oaths to accounts of deputy
marshals explained and affirmed as to accounts subsequent to
July 1, 1895.
23. Fees for jurats to testimony will be allowed under the authority of
United States v. Julian (162 U. S., 324). 607.
24. The fee of 20 cents a folio for "taking and certifying depositions to
file" includes the drawing of the certificate required by article
267 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure to be attached to
the testimony of witnesses, and a separate fee for drawing such
certificate is therefore not allowable. 607.
See INDIAN TERRITORY, No. 1; MARSHALS, Nos. 1, 5, 6, 7.
COMMITMENT.
See MARSHALS, No. 22.
COMMUTATION OF RATIONS.
1. When a soldier deserts the military service and never returns thereto,
he forfeits all right to commutation of rations accruing while in
service. 200.
2. An enlisted man subsisted by the United States while held a prisoner
by the civil authorities is not entitled to commutation of rations.
411.
3. The provision o. the act of July 19, 1892, for the "subsistence of
officers and men when unavoidably detained or absent from a
vessel to which attached under orders," is not applicable to offi-
cers aud men held in prison by the civil authorities for an offense
to which they have plead guilty, as their detention is not una-
voidable within the meaning of this act. 411.
4. Under the provisions of section 1579, Revised Statutes, an apothe-
cary in the Navy on duty at a navy-yard and not attached to a
receiving ship nor to the ordinary of a navy-yard is not entitled
to a ration.
See COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY, Nos. 4, 6, 14; DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA, NO. 1; PAY; SUBSISTENCE; TRAVEL PAY.
See BOND, Nos. 1, 2, 3; CONSULAR OFFICERS, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4; OFFICE
AND OFFICER; PAY.
See JURISDICTION OF ACCOUNTING OFFICERS.
CONDEMNED SHIP.
See NAVY, No. 8.
See APPROPRIATIONS, Nos. 10, 17; COSTS IN STATE COURT, Nos. 1, 2.
CONGRESS.
1. Under the act of March 2, 1895, making the approval of the tem-
porary Committee on Accounts, House of Representatives, “con-
clusive upon all the Departments and auditing officers of the
Government," the Comptroller has no jurisdiction to render a
decision upon any question involved in the payment of accounts
which have been so approved. 24.
2. A clerk of a committee of the House of Representatives who ceased
to hold the office on December 21, 1895, is not entitled, under the
resolution directing payment of salaries of clerks and employees
for the month of December on the 20th day of that month, to
the salary for the whole month, payment not having been made
to him until after he had vacated the office. 359.
3. Under the joint resolution of July 28,1886, providing that the pay
of session clerks to committees of the House of Representatives
shall begin from the time such clerks enter upon the discharge
of their duties, to be ascertained and evidenced by the certificate
of the chairmen of the several committees, such a clerk is not
entitled to compensation from the beginning of the session, on
the certificate of the chairman, but only from the date when he
enters upon the discharge of his duties as clerk to the commit-
tee, which can in no event be prior to the appointment of the
committee by the Speaker. 638.
See JURISDICTION OF ACCOUNTING OFFICERS, Nos. 5, 11; LOYALTY,
No. 1; SUGAR BOUNTY.
See INDIAN TERRITORY, Nos. 2, 4, 5, 6.
See JURISDICTION OF ACCOUNTING OFFICERS, No. 5; SUGAR BOUNTY.
CONSULAR OFFICERS.
1. The payment of a vice-consul's draft drawn for his salary, and spe-
cifically including the period prior to the approval of his bond, is
a payment of his salary, and upon the settlement of his account
he can not be recharged with the amount covering his service as
a de facto officer. 52.
2. While it is a general rule that the payment of drafts of consular
officers is not a settlement of the account upon which they are
drawn, but such payments are charged as advances and accounted
for upon the statement of an account, yet the payment of salary
upon the draft of a de facto officer is such a payment as can not
be recovered back by the Government. 52.
3. The leave of absence of a marshal of a consular court is not limited
by the law restricting the leave of consular officers, and he is en-
titled to salary so long as he continues in office. 455.
4. C. was appointed by the President as commercial agent at Furth,
and there being no appropriation for the salary of a consular
officer at that place he was allowed, nder sections 1729 and 1732,
Revised Statutes, to retain as compensation $2,500 per annum
from the fees collected. Subsequently Congress appropriated
$2,000 in full compensation for the fiscal year 1895 for a consul at
Furth. Held That C. can not be allowed more than $2,000 for
the fiscal year 1895. 508.
See COMMISSIONERS, No. 17.
CONTINGENT EXPENSES.
1. Section 3683 of the Revised Statutes requires that the written order
therein mentioned shall be given by the head of the Department
before the articles to be paid for from the contingent fund are
procured, and a subsequent approval is not sufficient. 1.
2. Section 3683, Revised Statutes, requiring the written order of the
head of a Department for expenditures from a contingent fund,
applies only to cases where an appropriation is made in a lump
sum for "contingent, incidental, or miscellaneous expenses,” or
CONTINGENT EXPENSES-Continued.
under similar words, and where Congress has specifically desig-
nated appropriations for enumerated items as being for “con-
tingent, incidental, or miscellaneous expenses." 42.
3. Newspapers for the Coast and Geodetic Survey may be paid for
from the appropriation for miscellaneous expenses of that Bureau
when the order required by section 3683, Revised Statutes, has
been given, provided that the limit found in section 192, Revised
Statutes, of $100 per year for newspapers for the Treasury Depart-
ment is not exceeded. 48.
4. The appropriation for miscellaneous expenses of the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing is not available for the purchase of items
for which provision is made in the appropriations for the contin-
gent expenses of the Treasury Department, the latter appropria-
tions specifically including "all buildings under control of the
Treasury in Washington." 258.
See COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY, No. 12; JURISDICTION OF
ACCOUNTING OFFICERS, No. 4; LIGHT-HOUSE ESTABLISHMENT,
Nos. 2, 3; TERRITORIES.
1. Payments may be made to a corporation under a contract entered
into by an attorney duly authorized to act for the corporation in
the making of such contract. 30.
2. Section 3737 of the Revised Statutes prohibiting all transfers of
contracts will not prevent payment to the corporation actually
carrying out the terms of a contract made by the United States
with a contractor, whose rights passed to the corporation through
insolvency proceedings, when the United States has received and
accepted the goods from the successor of the original contractor.
49.
3. Under a provision in a contract to complete the work within a cer-
tain number of "working days," with a forfeiture for "each and
every day's delay," in computing the amount to be withheld for
delay working days only should be counted, Sundays and holidays
being excluded. 72.
4. Sections 3718 and 3719 of the Revised Statutes do not apply to con-
tracts for the purchase of stationery for the Navy Department,
and it is within the discretion of the Secretary of the Navy, in
making such contracts, to waive the usual requirement that
contractors shall furnish a bond for the faithful performance
thereof. 73.
5. After the expiration of a fiscal year and the completion of a con-
tract payable from an appropriation made for that year, such
appropriation can not be used to pay the expenses to be incurred
in protecting the property which was repaired under the contract
until a further appropriation is made by Congress, such expenses
not being in the fulfillment of the contract within the meaning
of section 3690, Revised Statutes, nor incidental thereto. 74.
6. Under an agreement to pay a stipulated sum as a life rental of tele-
phone instruments, such sum may be paid on delivery of the same,
as the contract is at that time completed by the contractor, and
section 3648, Revised Statutes, prohibiting payment for articles
prior to delivery, has no application. 82.
7. Under a contract for an electrical plant with condition that the
contractors shall be paid when the materials have been delivered
and accepted, payment for the accepted portions of the plant is
not authorized until a defective part is replaced and the plant
accepted as a whole, the contract not being severable, although
the contractors submitted bids for each separate part of the
plant. 147.
8. Where the Government was to pay the actual cost of coaling a ves-
sel, it is liable for the amount expended for the subsistence of the
laborers, if the same was paid by the party supplying the coal, as
much as for the amount of their wages.
9. The term actual cost in such an agreement includes all money actu-
ally paid out or a liability to pay it incurred in the execution of
the agreement, but it does not include wear and tear of imple-
ments, etc., used in its performance.
10. Where the contractor is bound to keep a vessel insured for the ben-
efit of the United States until accepted, the Government is not,
in the absence of agreement, liable for additional insurance pro-
cured by the contractor to cover a trial trip held elsewhere than
in waters adjacent to the contractor's works. 165.
11. The head of an Executive Department may, when not prejudicial
to the interests of the Government, or for its benefit, alter or
modify the terms of a contract made under his direction, but his
subordinates may not take such action without express authority
from him. 182.
12. The terms of a written contract are not varied by the clerical error
of a subordinate officer of the Navy Department so as to entitle a
contractor who did not insist upon his rights under the contract
to compensation in the nature of demurrage for delay caused by
the error. 182.
13. Where the essential part of a contract is for personal services,
advertising for proposals under section 3709 is not required. 185.
14. Where an oral contract for rent of buildings in 1864 and 1865 was
made by a quartermaster, who gave the owner vouchers certifying
that the services had been rendered, the same being duly reported
to the Quartermaster-General, the owner is entitled to payment,
although no formal approval of the contract by the Quartermaster-
General, as required by regulations, is shown; an implied approval
by him arising from the fact that it was reported to him and was
not disapproved, both parties having acted upon the basis of the
contract. 189.
15. The Secretary of War has authority to extend the time for the exe-
cution of a contract made on behalf of his Department when the
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