Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-10
Handling Claims Against Uncle Sam
BY FREDERIC J. H4SKTN.

AS a result of the increased volume
of claims against the Government
since the " orld War. the Court OF
Claims found itself swamped with
work. 1t had been jogging along com
fortably with five judges who We're
appointed for life. Testimony was
taken by stenosraphers and from this
the judges reached their decisions. In
many cases the testimony was SO
voluminous that il took them some
time to make UP their findings Of fact
SO that the case might be heard in
the court. With the sudden influx Of
new cases the judges found the task
too great to permit them to handle
them with the desired promptness.
Last March, therefore. Congress
authorized the appointment of seven
commissioners for terms OF tn &c
years each. They are all lawyers.
and il is their duty to take the teS
timony in cases brought 10 the court
and then TO make their findings OF
facts so that they may be presented
TO the court when the case is brought
before il.
The appointment Of these commits
sioners has not only proved great
aid in expediting the handling of cases,
but il has saved the Government
. money. A large number of claims
greatly to the advantage of the Gov
, eminent TO have them settled prompt
". These are for the most part cases
of refunds OF taxes enormously as
sessed Interest is also allowable as
part of the amounts due for just
compensation for property taken.
AS is we'll known, curing The war
the various executive departments
were authorized to take what they
needed in the way of coal. ships or
other things necessary to the success
! full prosecution Of war. In great
many instances the owner was not
paid the fun value of the articles, but
he was permitted to sue the Govern
ment Tor the baIa nee. Such cases are
now reaching III" court daily. The
sooner they are adiudicated the
greater the saving In interest 10 the
United States.
Save Time and Money.
The new system of having trained
LAWYERS take the testimony and pre-
sent their findings to the court is also
a great help to the plaintiffs. Where.
under the old method of procedure, 1t
was necessary for the plaintiff to come
10 Washington to give his testimony,
the commissioner now goes to him.
He is, therefore, spared considerable
expense and time. There is now in
Europe a commissioner taking testi-
nouv in what IS known as the
Brooks Scanlon group, which consists
of eight cases involving $35.o0O,O00,
No foreign subject can sue the
United States Government unless II
Is shown that his government allows
| a like privilege TO the citizens Of the
United States. An investigation is
now being made In Russia to discover
whether the Soviet government pre-
vides for this In the Civil War
claims It was necessary for the plain
tiff TO prove his allegiance to the Fed
eral Government before he might file
| a claim. The Court Of Claims is the
only court in the United States where
q citizen may sue the Government.
! If he is not satisfied with the decision
of this court he may appeal 10 the
Supreme Court of the United States.
An unofficial survey recently made
showed that out Of i75 cases taken to
the Supreme Court the decision of the
Court Of Claims was upheld IN Lou.
| NineteaD decisions were reversed, four
modified, one approved In part and
one case remanded.
| 1t seems to be little known that the
| Court of Claims handles a great many
! fax cases-that is, those based upon
/
ital stock taxes, income taxes, excess
! Profits taxes, beverage taxes, estate
| taxes. sales taxes and stamp taxes
| During the fiscal year 1925 this court
| disposed of approximately 325 OF such
| cases, and there are number still
| pending These are cases where the
! taxpayer has been dissatisfied with
! the ruling of the board of tax appeals
end has taken his case to this court.
One of the new commissioners said
recently that 1t frequently happens
| that a decision of a single case in the
! Court of Claims disposes of hundreds
or thousands of similar cases with
out prosecuting further litigation
| "Such a decision was recently render
ed by the court" he added, Il do not
know the entire number of cases
affected by this decision, but there are
1000 cases in the Baltimore collection
district alone affected thereby
Court Seventy Years Old.
The Court of Claims was established
by act of Congress, February "a, 1855
and was at first merely d commission
whose duty 1t was to file facts regard
ing claims for the guidance and &C
ton of Congress. The Civil War. re
suited in a great many claims for
damage to property and such things
and the court was given general
jurisdiction over cases involving con
tracts.
4 There are now pending in the Court