[Untitled]
1514 H Street, Northwest,
Washington, D. C., November 1, 1875.
Sir: By order of the Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims, I have the honor to communicate to you the following statement of the business of that court.
In accordance with the act approved June 23, 1874, and entitled “An act for the creation of a court for the adjudication and disposition of certain moneys received into the Treasury under an award made by the tribunal of arbitration constituted by virtue of the first article of the treaty concluded at Washington the eighth of May, anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-one, between the United States of America and the Queen of Great Britain,” the judges met and organized the said court at Washington, on the 22d day of July, 1874, and have since that time held all their sittings in that city. On the 24th of July they made certain needful rules and regulations regulating the form and mode of procedure before them, and for carrying into full and complete effect the provisions of the act, (as provided in section 3 thereof,) which rules and regulations, together with a notice of their next session, were duly published.
The court then adjourned to Thursday, October 1, so that claimants might file their claims and prepare for trial, expecting that on the date of their next convening there would be such progress made by the claimants and their attorneys, in the preparation of their petitions and testimony, that the court would find a bar ready and anxious to proceed with a large number of cases. But when the court again met but few were ready for trial, and a very small number of claims had been filed.
From the table which I give below, you will see that the claims were filed very slowly at first, and it was not until the month of October that they began to come in with any rapidity, while 312 more petitions were filed in January alone than in the previous five months together.
[Page XXXII]The court remained very constantly in session during the winter, considering amendments to their rules, hearing extended arguments on points of law arising on demurrers, and applicable to a large number of claims, and deciding all claims presented to them for final hearing.
There was great delay, however, in the preparation of cases, and, in order to hasten the business of the court the following order was made on the 26th day of January, copies of which were forwarded by the clerk to all the attorneys practicing before the court, and through the press and otherwise it was brought to the knowledge of the public:
The time allowed for the filing of claims in this court expired on the 22d day of the present month of January. The whole number filed is 1,382. Before the expiration of this time it would have been useless to strike cases from the record, fur the claimants could have filed new petitions. Justice to all parties now requires that the, cases yet unheard should be disposed of with the least practicable delay.
The clerk is, therefore, directed to enter upon the trial-docket, in their numerical order, all claims in which no decision has been rendered. This docket will be called three times, but a greater number than fifty cases will not be called in one day. At each calling of the docket, parties who have not been previously heard will have an opportunity to submit their proofs and arguments. On the third calling of the docket, every claim shall be disposed of by final judgment.
The calendar was regularly called in accordance with this order, the court announcing constantly that, after disposing of the cases set for the day, any other cases ready for hearing might be submitted.
Comparatively few claims were presented for final hearing, and the court, after deciding every case before it, took a short recess, after directing the clerk to publish the following order and to forward a copy of it to the counsel of the respective claimants, which was done:
The court having finished the first calling of the trial-docket, and having entered judgment in every case presented for final hearing, is adjourned until the 28th day of April, 1875, at which time the second calling of the trial-docket will be commenced and claimants are hereby notified to be ready at that time with their proofs. No case will be passed on the second calling of the docket without sufficient reason assigned, but a greater number than fifty cases will riot be called in one day.
The court met pursuant to adjournment, and found that at last attorneys were ready to proceed to trial with a considerable number of cases, and since that date its time has been fully occupied; 643 cases having been argued and submitted since April 28. About 140 of these eases were dismissed by the court for want of jurisdiction; while a large proportion of those allowed were small in amount and presented few points for discussion.
This is not the case with the claims yet to be submitted, which involve larger sums and will require more extended argument.
The court directs me in this connection to communicate to you their high appreciation of the assistance rendered them in their labors by Mr. Creswell, the counsel on behalf of the United States. Allowing no point material to the Government to escape him, he has nevertheless performed his duties with the utmost fairness, and without captious criticism he has used every endeavor to facilitate the quick disposal of cases [Page XXXIII] and has neglected no opportunity to accommodate counsel with a speedy trial. With a large number of cases to investigate and master, involving, not only many various questions of fact, but also intricate points of law, with a learned bar arrayed against him, thoroughly conversant with their cases and all the points likely to arise in them, it will easily be seen that his task was one of no small magnitude. He has performed it in a most satisfactory and able manner.
The great delay to the business of the court caused by the length of time occupied by the claimants and their counsel in the preparation of cases was, under the peculiar circumstances governing the presentation of claims of this character, somewhat to be expected.
The court met and organized in the summer, when the attorneys were generally absent on vacation tours, and although every effort was made by the clerk through the newspapers and in other ways to bring the rules and form of procedure of the court to the notice of the claimants and their counsel, it was not until the latter part of September that they responded to any great extent; and although it appears that from that time every exertion was made in the preparation of cases, it has been impossible to present many for trial until a comparatively recent period.
Many of the claims are for losses sustained by mariners who are now absent at sea, and in other cases, where the claimants themselves are in this country, the testimony of captains, mates, or sailors, now abroad, has been necessary to substantiate essential points in the evidence necessary to support the claim.
Attorneys have had great trouble in discovering the whereabouts of many of these clients and witnesses, and commissions for the taking of testimony have been sent from this court to almost all parts of the world; in some cases the commission has followed the witness from port to port during a long voyage, arriving at each place just after his departure, until at last it has reached him thousands of miles from the place to which it was first forwarded.
In some cases the witness has not yet been found, and it is probable that many claims admissible under the act have never been presented, and some now on file will not be submitted for trial owing to the absence on whaling or other long voyages of the claimants or important witnesses.
The time which has elapsed since these claims first arose has also greatly increased the labors of counsel. Many of the claimants and witnesses have died leaving their affairs in disorder; many papers have been lost, and many important witnesses have disappeared.
Again, a large number of claims were in the hands of comparatively few attorneys, who were constantly and exclusively occupied, during the six months prescribed for the purpose, in filing petitions, and who, until after the 22d of January last, (when the six months expired within which the act required that all claims must be filed,) had no time for the preparation of testimony; while the other attorneys holding few cases, and those comparatively small in amount, did not feel [Page XXXIV] at liberty to proceed immediately to trial until the principles upon which the claims were to be adjudicated were more definitely settled, and counsel having more extensive interests at stake and a more intimate knowledge of the points which would probably arise should have an opportunity to present their views to the court.
A large part of the time, however, during which few cases were presented for trial, was occupied by able and extensive argument of counsel, for the forms and mode of procedure of the court being new, and the principles of law which were to govern them in the settlement of claims and the interpretation of the act not being fixed, the first work of the counsel was to learn, as far as possible, what the practice of the court was to be, and what the principles were which should govern them in the preparation and presentation of their cases. For this purpose the counsel on behalf of the United States filed demurrers to many of the points of law advanced in the petitions, and much time was occupied in argument on these demurrers, the decision of which greatly facilitated the disposal of claims when finally submitted for trial.
By the terms of the act of Congress under which the court was created, its duration, unless prolonged by proclamation of the President, was limited to one year from the date of its organization. Six months of that time were given within which petitions might be filed by the claimants, and a large part of the petitions, as has been shown, were filed during the latter part of this period. Although the claimants seemed to be diligent in preparing their cases, but few, comparatively, were ready for trial until late in the spring of 1375, so that out of the 1,382 claims on file, a large number remained undecided in June last, as heretofore mentioned. On the 2d of June, 1875, therefore, the President, by proclamation, extended the duration of the court for six months from the 22d of July, 1875, (as provided by law.) The powers of the court will therefore cease on the 22d day of January next.
The total number of cases in which judgment is now entered is 682, and the total amount allowed is $2,810,088.84, exclusive of interest; petitions have been dismissed or judgment has been entered in favor of the United States in 147 cases, involving $3,274,418.35, exclusive of interest 5 and 700 cases, involving $5,296,883.58, exclusive of interest, remain to be acted upon at the date of this communication, of which 12 have been argued, and are now under consideration.
Of the total number of cases submitted, 640 have been decided since the court met, on the 28th day of April last.
The court, therefore, direct me to inform you that it is evident to them that they will not be able to complete their work within the time provided by the eighth section of the said act.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Clerk.
Hon. Hamilton Fish,
Secretary of State.