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Be it enacted, &c.

teenth and Six

[SECTION 1], That the proper accounting officers of the Treasury be, Bounty to enlistand they hereby are, directed to pay bounty to the enlisted men of the ed men of FifFifteenth and Sixteenth Missouri Cavalry Volunteers who served during the late rebellion, as follows, to wit;

To those who served the full period of one year, or more, the sum of one hundred dollars; to those who served the full period of six months, but less than one year, the sum of sixty-six dollars and sixty-six cents; to those who served a less period than six months, the sum of thirtythree dollars and thirty three cents.

teenth Missouri Cavalry.

relatives in case of

SEC. 2. That in case of the death of the soldier, who if living would —pa y able to be entitled under the first section of this act, then the said sum or sums widow or other that would be due to said soldier if living shall be paid to his widow; death of soldier. and if there be no widow, then to his child or children; and if there be none, then to his mother if she be a widow.

And so much money as may be necessary to carry this law into effect is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. [June 16, 1880.]

Appropriation.

CHAPTER 242.

SECTION

AN ACT CREATING YAKIMA LAND-DISTRICT IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY.

1. Yakima land district in Washington Territory created and bounded.

2.register and receiver for.

Be it enacted, &c. .

June 16, 1880.

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Yakima land dis

[SECTION 1], That all that portion of Washington Territory bounded by a line commencing at a point of the intersection of the line between trict in Washingtownships six and seven north, and between ranges twenty-seven and ated and bounded. ton Territory cretwenty-eight east of the Willamette meridian; and running westerly R. S., § 2256, 2d along said line between townships six and seven north to the summit ed., p. 406. of the Cascade Mountains; thence northerly along said summit to the boundary line between the United States and British Columbia; thence east along said line to the Columbia guide meridian; thence south on said meridian to the line between townships sixteen and seventeen north; thence west along said line to the line between ranges twentyseven and twenty-eigh; east; thence south along said line to the place of beginning, shall constitute a separate land district, to be called the Yakima land district, the office of which shall be located at Yakima City therein.

SEC. 2. That the President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, or during the recess thereof, a register and a receiver of public moneys for said district; and said officers shall reside in the place where said land office is located, and shall have the same powers and responsibilities, and shall receive the same fees and emoluments, as the like officers now receive in the other land-offices in said Territory.

register and receiver for. R. S., § 2234.

&c., in other dis

SEC. 3. That all persons in said district who, prior to the opening of applications, unsaid Yakima land-office, shall have filed their declaritory statements or finished business, applications for pre-emption, homestead, or other land rights, in any tricts, for land in, other land-office in said Territory of Washington, shall hereafter make to be transferred proofs and entries at said Yakima land-office; and all unfinished busi- to. ness in any other land-office relating exclusively to lands in said Yakima land district shall be transferred to said Yakima land-office when notified by the officers of the opening thereof. [June 16, 1880.]

CHAPTER 243.

June 16, 1880.

21 Stat. L., 284.

Court to have jurisdiction of claims against District. R. S., § 1059.

on contracts of

board of public works, &c.

- of Commission

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF ALL OUTSTANDING CLAIMS AGAINST
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND CONFERRING JURISDICTION ON THE COURT OF
CLAIMS TO HEAR THE SAME, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

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[SECTION 1], That the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims is hereby extended to, and it shall have original legal and equitable jurisdiction of,

All claims now existing against the District of Columbia arising out of contracts, made by the late Board of Public Works, and extensions thereof made by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia,

And such claims as have arisen out of contracts made by the District ers since June 20, Commissioners since the passage of the act of June twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four,

1874.

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And of all claims for work done by the order or direction of the said
Commissioners, and accepted by them for the use, purposes or benefit
of the said District of Columbia, and prior to the fourteenth day of
March, eighteen hundred and seventy-six;

And all certificates of the auditor of said Board of Public Works,
All certificates issued by the auditor and comptroller of the District

comptroller's cer- of Columbia,

tificates.

- of contracts of

levy court.

- of sewer certifi

All claims based on contracts made by the Levy Court,

All sewer certificates, all sewer taxes not heretofore converted into

cates; sewertaxes. three-sixty-five bonds,

Fendall's case, 16

Ct. Cls., -.

-of measurements

All measurements made by the engineers of said District of work done of work under con- under contracts made since February twenty-first, eighteen hundred and tracts made since seventy-one, for which no certificates have been issued to and received February 21, 1871, for which no cerby the contractor or his assignee which certificates shall be prima facie tificates have been evidence of the amount of work done,

issued.

- of contracts of All claims based upon contracts made by the Board of Public Works board of public for which no evidence of indebtedness has been issued.

works for which no certificates have been issued. Procedure.

Additional rules.

Reference.

Said Court of Claims shall have the same power, proceed in the same manner, and be governed by the same rules, in respect to the mode of hearing, adjudication, and determination of said claims, as it now has in relation to the adjudication of claims against the United States:

Provided, Said court may make such additional rules as may be neces sary to save costs and prevent delays in the prosecution of such claims. When the trial of any claim against the District of Columbia, prosecuted under the provisions of this act, involves the taking and stating of a long account, or the making of measurements or computations involving the services of engineers, said court shall have power to award a reference to a competent referee to take and state such account, or to

the engineer commissioner of the District to make and report such measurements and computations;

Report and com

eree.

And said referee or engineer shall report to the court the evidence taken by him for the information of said court, and any such referee shall pensation of refbe allowed such compensation for his services as the court may determine, not exceeding ten dollars per day for time actually employed to be paid on the order of the court by the Secretary of the Treasury and charged to the account of the District of Columbia.

Method of prose

SEC. 2. All such claims against the District of Columbia shall, in the first instance, be prosecuted before the Court of Claims by the contractor cution of claims. his personal representatives or his assignee, in the same manner and subject to the same rules so far as applicable as claims against the United States are prosecuted therein, or to such other rules as the court shall prescribe.

In any case if before trial either party requests in writing a finding of facts by the court, there shall be the same right of appeal, either by the District of Columbia or by the claimant, and subject to the same rules and regulations, as are prescribed by law for appeals on behalf of the United States or claimants against the United States from the judg ments of the Court of Claims:

Regulations for appeals.

R. S., §§ 707, 708.

Claims must be filed within six

Provided, That the prosecution of all such claims shall be commenced in the Court of Claims by the filing of the petition of the claimant, as months after pasrequired by the rules and practice of said court, within six months from sage of this act. the passage of this act; and all such claims against the District of Columbia now existing, and not so filed within said time shall be forever barred, except in cases of claims owned and held by persons under legal disabilities, in which case such claims shall be in like manner barred unless commenced as aforesaid within six months after the expiration of such disability:

Provided, That all certificates, measurements, or other evidence of Certificates, eviindebtedness, in the custody of the Commissioners of the District of dence, &c., to be Columbia, shall be deposited with the Court of Claims, upon the application of any claimant.

When the validity of a number of claims depends substantially upon a like state of facts, they may be brought before the court in one petition in which all parties are joined, and may be tried together under such rules as the court may prescribe, and such judgments may be entered therein as the court may determine; and cases of like kind may be consolidated and tried together whenever the court so orders.

deposited in court on application of

claimants.

Consolidation of

cases.

Attorney-Gen

suits.

SEC. 3. The Attorney-General of the United States shall have authority, and it shall be his duty, to defend the District of Columbia against eral to defend all such claims against said District of Columbia prosecuted in said Court of Claims, and on appeal, in like manner as he is now by law required to defend the United States in said court, with the same power to interpose counter claims and offsets against claims and defences for fraud practiced or attempted and all other legal defences, and with like power of appeal as in cases against the United States tried in said court. SEC. 4. All laws now in force relating to prosecutions of Claims against the United States in the Court of Claims shall apply, as far as apply so far as applicable. applicable, to the prosecution, practice, hearing, and determination of claims against the District of Columbia authorized to be prosecuted under the provisions of this act:

Laws in force to

Provided, That motions for new trials shall be made by either party within twenty-days after the rendition of any judgment:

New trials.

Witnesses.

And provided further, That in the trial of such cases no person shall be excluded as a witness because he or she is a party to or interested in R. S., § 1079.

the same.

Payment of

SEC. 5. If no appeal be taken from the judgment and determination of the Court of Claims in cases provided for in this act within the term judgments. limited by law for appealing from the judgments of said court, and in all cases of final judgments by the Court of Claims, or on appeal by the Supreme Court where the same are affirmed in favor of the claimant,

Certificate of judgment.

Method of payment prescribed. 1874, June 20, ch. 337, § 7. 1975, Feb. 20, ch.

94.

the sum due thereby shall be paid, as hereinafter provided, by the Secretary of the Treasury:

Provided, That no payment shall be made except upon the presentation to the Secretary of the Treasury of a copy of said judgment certified by the clerk of the Court of Claims, and signed by the chief justice, or, in his absence, by [by] the presiding judge of said court.

SEC. 6. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to demand of the sinking fund commissioner of the District of Columbia so many of the three sixty-five bonds authorized by act of Congress approved June twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, and acts amendatory thereof as may be necessary for the payment of the judgments, 1881, March 3, and said sinking-fund commissioner is hereby directed to issue and dech. 134, par. 4. liver to the Secretary of the Treasury the amount of three sixty-five bonds required to satisfy the judgments; which bonds shall be received by said claimants at par in payment of such judgments, and shall bear date August first, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, and mature at the same time as other bonds of this issue:

Certain coupons on bonds to be detached.

See Fendall's case, 16 Ct. Cls.,

Gross amount of bonds limited.

Bonds to be no more binding on United States than

by former act. 1874, June 20, ch. 337, § 7.

Prosecution of

cases.

Attorney-General may place

cases on calendar. -may move to dis

cuted.

Provided, That before the delivery of such bonds as are issued in payment of judgments rendered as aforesaid on the claims aforesaid, the coupons shall be detached therefrom from the date of said bonds to the day upon which such claims were due and payable; And the gross amount of such bonds heretofore and hereafter issued shall not exceed in the aggregate fifteen millions of dollars:

Provided, The bonds issued by authority of this act shall be of no more binding force as to their payment on the Government of the United States than the three sixty-five bonds issued under authority of the act of June twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four.

SEC. 7. In all cases prosecuted under the provisions of this act it shall be the duty of the claimant, after the commencement of said actions, to prosecute them in said court diligently;

And after any issue of law or of fact shall be joined in any case, the Attorney-General shall have power to place the same on the trial calendar of said court for trial;

And in all cases when any case has been reached in its order on the miss if not prose- calendar, and the trial thereof has been unreasonably delayed by the claimant, the said court may, on motion of the Attorney-General, on notice to the claimant, or his counsel, attorney, or solicitor, dismiss said claim;

Judgment under such motion to be

final bar.

Judgment to be

And such dismissal or final judgment on any claim shall be a conclusive bar against any further prosecution of such claim before any court or tribunal whatsoever.

The Secretary of the Treasury shall pay, according to the provisions paid as presented. of this act, the said judgments from time to time as they may be pre

sented.

Claims rejected SEC. 8. No claim shall be presented to, or considered by the Court of by board of audit Claims under the provisions of this act which was rejected by the Board not to be consid- of Audit.

ered.

Outstanding cer- SEC. 9. That the Treasurer of the United States as ex-officio sinkingtificates of the fund commissioner of the District of Columbia is hereby authorized and board of audit may directed to redeem the outstanding certificates of the late Board of Audit, be redeemed by United States created by the act approved June twentieth, eighteen hundred and sevTreasurer. enty-four, with the interest accrued on said certificates by issuing and 1874, June 20, ch. delivering to the owners or holders of such certificates, bonds of the 1875, Feb. 20, ch. District of Columbia as provided in section seven of the act approved June twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, entitled, "An act 1879, March 3, for the government of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes", ch. 182, § 3.

337, § 7.

94.

and acts amendatory thereof, said bonds to bear the same date, same rate of interest, and interest and principal be payable at same time, and subject to all the conditions, pledges of faith, and exemptions as the bonds authorized to be issued by the said seventh section of said act, and shall be signed by the said treasurer as ex-officio sinking-fund com

missioner of the District of Columbia, and numbered, countersigned, sealed and registered as the said seventh section of said act prescribes detaching all coupons from said bonds up to the date of such certificates. SEC. 10. No suit now pending for the collection of any claim based Suits pending upon a contract or extension of contract herein before mentioned in the not prejudiced by supreme court of the District of Columbia shall be in any manner prejudiced by the provisions of this act. [June 16, 1880.]

this act.

CHAPTER 244.

AN ACT FOR THE RELIEF OF CERTAIN SETTLERS ON THE PUBLIC LANDS, AND TO
PROVIDE FOR THE REPAYMENT OF CERTAIN FEES, PURCHASE MONEY AND COM-
MISSIONS PAID ON VOID ENTRIES OF PUBLIC LANDS.

SECTION

1. Persons who have paid fees, &c., for certain entries of soldiers' and sailors' homesteads which have proved void, to have money refunded.

2. Where entries on public lands are canceled, or not confirmed, fees and purchase money, &c., to be refunded, &c.

Be it enacted, &c.

SECTION

3.

Refund of excess when parties have paid
double price for what were erroneously sup-
posed to be alternate railroad sections.
Appropriation.

4. Rules by Commissioner.

Warrants for payment.

June 16, 1880.

21 Stat. L., 287.

Persons who

for certain entries

cy refunded. R. S., § 2306.

[SECTION 1], That in all cases where it shall, upon due proof being made, appear to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that have paid fees, &c., innocent parties have paid the fees and commissions and excess pay- of soldiers' and ments required upon the location of claims under the act entitled "An sailors' homesteads act to amend an act entitled 'An act to enable honorably discharged which have proved soldiers and sailors, their widows and orphan children, to acquire home- void, to have monsteads on the public lands of the United States', and amendments thereto", approved March third eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and now incorporated in section twenty-three hundred and six of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which said claims were, after such location, found to be fraudulent and void, and the entries or locations made thereon canceled, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to repay to such innocent parties the fees and commissions, and excess payments paid by them, upon the surrender of the receipts issued therefor by the receivers of public moneys, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and shall be payable out of the appropriation to refund purchase-money on lands erroneously sold by the United States.

canceled or not

SEC. 2. In all cases where homestead or timber-culture or desert-land Where entries on entries or other entries of public lands have heretofore or shall here- public lands are after be canceled for conflict, or where, from any cause, the entry has confirmed, fees and been erroneously allowed and cannot be confirmed, the Secretary of the purchase money, Interior shall cause to be repaid to the person who made such entry, or &c., to be refundto his heirs or assigns, the fees and commissions, amount of purchase money, and excesses paid upon the same upon the surrender of the duplicate receipt and the execution of a proper relinquishment of all claims to said land, whenever such entry shall have been duly canceled by the Commissioner of the General Land Office,

And in all cases where parties have paid double-minimum price for land which has afterwards been found not to be within the limits of a railroad land grant, the excess of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre shall in like manner be repaid to the purchaser thereof, or to his heirs or assigns.

SEC. 3. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to make the payments herein provided for, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

ed, &c.

Refund of excess when parties have paid double price for what were erroneously supposed

to be alternate railroad sections. R. S., § 2357. Appropriation.

Rules by the

SEC. 4. The Commissioner of the General Land Office shall make all necessary rules, and issue all necessary instructions, to carry the provis. Commissioner. ions of this act into effect;

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