Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1900-05-23
A CIVIL WAR CLAIM
A Bill to Reimburse a New Mexico
Claimant Is Reported Favorably
In the House.
THE HISTORY OF The CASE
The claim Is for House Destroyed at Al
buquepue During the Civil War to
Prevent Its Capture By the Con-
.... federates.

| The committee on war claims Of the
house of representatives has reported
favorably bill introduced by Repre-
sentative Dolliver of Iowa for the re-
lief of Agnes and Maria de Leon, heirs
at law of Rebecca L. de Leon. The bill
provides for the payment of $1,000 for
injury to the buildings of said Rebecca
L. de Leon in Albuquerque, N. M, and
| consequent loss of rent, in 1862, and in
the lifetime of the said Rebecca L. de
Leon, which buildings, while occupied
| under lease by the United States,
| were partially destroyed by the United
States troops to prevent them and the
stores therein contained from falling in
| to the hands of the enemy in the war
between the states.
The committee on war claims reported
as follows: Accounts in the qusrter-
master generals office show that a
house of seven rooms was rented from
claimants or their intestate, at Abu-
| querque, N. M, from August Is. 1856,
to September, 1861, at the rate Of $56 per
month, and occupied by Assistant Sur
geon Norris as quartermaster store
| rooms and office.
In October 1861, a house of four
rooms was occupied by Assistant Sur
geon Baily for store rooms at $29 per
month, and two rooms as store rooms
for medical stores at SIS per month, un-
til May 2, 1862. 1t is also shown that a
/ nominal balance was then due for rent
The report of board of survey in the
same Office shows that it was appointed
ito assess the damages upon the build
ings which were rented and occupied to
the I'd of March, 1862, when a portion of
these houses were destroyed" which
they assessed at $3.50. The said dam
ages, according to said report, were
consequent upon the abandonment by
the United States troops on the I'd of
March, 1852 and their subsequent occu-
patton by the enemy, two rooms of the
same building having been destroyed by
order Of the assistant surgeon in charge
Of the hospital.
The committee further find that the
actual cost of restoring said building to
it's former condition was $1,000 and up
ward, and that by reason of the dam
ages to the house, and the inability of
the owners to repair it, there was loss
of two years or more rent entailed up
on the owners. The rent of the rooms
at the rate at which they were rented at
the time of the burning, for the period
Of two years, would amount to $1,056. If,
therefore, the government was required
to make good the entire loss-that is,
the cost of restoring the property to the
had possession, and the loss of rent con-
sequent upon the destruction of proper
ty by the government-the amount
would be $2,O56. But the claimants only
ask in their bill for the sum of $1,000.
There is no evidence of the time of
duration of the lease of the property.
The general rule on the part of the gov
ernment is to provide in the least for it's
termination at the will Of the govern
ment. But, although such may have
been one of the provisions of this lease,
yet, when the government destroyed the
property leased. thus placing it beyond
the power of the tenant to secure an
other tenant, the government should, it
seems to the committee, make good the
rent during the time the premises, by
reason of the destruction, remained un-
occupied, or it should make good the
amount necessary to restore the prop
erty to it's fermer condition, and in Ell
ther event the amount would reach the
sum asked in the bill.
It Is true the board of survey places
the damages at $3.50, but the sworn
statement of the claimants places the
actual expenditures in repairing the
property at $1,000 and upward. The
committee think the sworn statement
Of actual outlays in repairs as the most
reliable basis of calculation for reach
ing the amount which ought to be paid.
The committee therefore reported the
bill back to the house and recommended
its passage.