The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-01
BARTLETT BILL CAUSES CONFUSION Does Not Affect Cotton Tax
 Claims GARRETT EXPLAINS Amendment Relates Only to Cap tured and Abandoned Property"
 Claimants Must Establish
 Claim in Court
GARRETT EXPLAINS

Washington, April 3O.-(Special )-Since the adoption of the Bartlett amendment to the judiciary code revision bill, dur ing the closing days of the last Congress, which amendment was with reference to what is commonly called captured and abandoned property" southern rep resentatives arc receiving many inquiries as to the scope of the legislation and as to the methods of procedure in re- gard to such claims Many of the in- quries also contain references to what is called the cotton tax claims and many seem to have the idea that the amend ment affected both.
 Representative Finis J. Garrett of Ten nessee today made the following state. ment in regard to the matter:
 Almost every mail brings inquiries to my desk in regard to the scope and ef- feet of the amendment and many of my correspondents have the impression that the cotton tax claims are affected, which Is erroneous. The amendment offered by MT. Bartlett, and adopted, affects only the claims of those whose property was taken subsequent to June 1, 1865, under the provisions of an act of Congress passed in 1863, commonly referred to as the abandoned property act Under this act there were collected by officers of the army and agents of the United States in various of the southern states thou sands of bales of cotton. This was sold and the proceeds turned into the treas ury of the United States, the net amount paid into the treasury being nearly s5,- GOO. Following the war a good many claims were paid, but hundreds remain yet unpaid and the amendment of MT. Bartlett simply enables those who have such claims to go into the court of claims and establish them, and the court is given Jurisdiction to adjudge the claims without regard to any statute of limitations and render judgment in favor of the claimant and against the govern ment for whatever amount may be found to have been paid into the treasury. No further legislation by Congress is necessary, as to these claims, the amend ment providing that when judgment is rendered the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay such judgment. It should be noted tha. the act applies only to that property which was taken after June l, 1865 The law does not take effect until January l, 1912.
 Cotton Tax Cases
 "The cotton tax claims are of an en- tirely different character. Various acts of Congress passed between the years 1862 and 1867, inclusive, levied a tax on raw cotton. In 1867 William M. Far rington of Memphis, Tenn., brought suit against the collector of internal revenue for damages for the seizure of 14S bales of cotton which had been assessed for internal revenue taxes under one of these acts. An agreed record was made up by counsel in the case and the matter went to the courts upon the issue of the constitutionality of the law, it be- ing insisted by Harrington that the act was in violation of the constitution of the United States. In the lower court the decision was against Harrington and the matter was appealed to the supreme court of the United States. Eight jus- tices of the supreme court heard the case and in the decision of it four held the act to be constitutional and four held it to be unconstitutional-an equally divid- ed court.
 .'So. under the law the act stood as constitutional and the S6S,00O,0Oo which had been collected by the government as internal revenue taxes on raw cotton was retained in the treasury. There was no written opinion in the case. Notwith- standing the decision, however, eminent legal authorities have all along insisted that the act was violation of the con- stitution and in every Congress since that time bills have been introduced to refund this tax to those from whom 1t was collected or their representatives, but these bills have always failed of passage, and until there Is legislation by Congress the treasury department, of course, has no authority of law to re- fund the amount or any part Of It.
 HouL niac