law, in equity, or in admiralty, in pursuance of an order of the court, three dollars a day. For taking and certifying depositions to file, twenty cents for each folio. For each copy of the same furnished to a party on request, ten cents for each folio. For issuing any warrant or writ, and for any other service, the same compensation as is allowed to clerks, for like services. For issuing any warrant under the tenth article of the treaty of August nine, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, between the United States and the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, against any person charged with any crime or offense set forth in said article, two dollars. For issuing any warrant under the provision of the convention for the surrender of criminals, between the United States and the King of the French, concluded at Washington November nine, one thousand eight hundred and forty-three, two dollars. For hearing and deciding upon the case of any person charged with any crime or offense, and arrested under the provisions of said treaty, or of said convention, five dollars a day for the time necessarily employed. For the examination and certificate in cases of applications for discharge of poor convicts imprisoned for non-payment of a fine or fine and costs, five dollars a day for the time necessarily employed." [See § 1042.] "SEC. 2025. The circuit courts for the United States for each judicial circuit shall name and appoint, on or before the first day of May, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and thereafter as vacancies may from any cause arise, from among the circuit court commissioners for each judicial district in each judicial circuit, one of such officers, who shall be known for the duties required of him under this Title as the chief supervisor of elections of the judicial district for which he is a commissioner, and shall, so long as faithful and capable, discharge the duties in this Title imposed." "SEC. 2026. The chief supervisor shall prepare and furnish all necessary books, forms, blanks, and instructions for the use and direction of the supervisors of election in the several cities and towns in their respective districts; he shall receive the applications of all parties for appointment to such positions; upon the opening, as contemplated in section two thousand and twelve, of the circuit court for the judicial circuit in which the commissioner so designated acts, he shall present such applications to the judge thereof, and furnish information to him in respect to the appointment by the court of such supervisors of election; he shall require of the supervisors of election, when neces sary, lists of the persons who may register and vote, or either, in their respective election districts or voting precincts, and cause the names of those upon any such list whose right to register or vote is honestly doubted to be verified by proper inquiry and examination at the respective places by them assigned as their residences; and he shall receive, preserve, and file all oaths of office of supervisors of election, and of all special deputy marshals appointed under the provisions of this Title, and all certificates, returns, reports, and records of every kind and nature contemplated or made requisite by the provisions hereof, save where otherwise herein specially directed." "SEC. 2031. There shall be allowed and paid to the chief supervisor, for his services as such officer, the following compensation, apart from and in excess of all fees allowed by law for the performance of any duty as circuit court commissioner: For filing and caring for every return, report, record, document, or other paper required to be filed by him under any of the preceding provisions, ten cents; for affixing a seal to any paper, record, report, or instrument, twenty cents; for entering and indexing the records of his office, fifteen cents per folio; and for arrang ing and transmitting to Congress, as provided for in section two thousand and twenty, any report, statement, record, return, or examination, for each folio, fifteen cents; and for any copy thereof, or of any paper on file, a like sum. And there shall be allowed and paid to each supervisor of election, and each special deputy marshal who is appointed and performs his duty under the preceding provisions, compensation at the rate of five dollars per day for each day he is actually on duty, not exceeding ten days; but no compensation shall be allowed, in any case, to supervisors of election, except to those appointed in cities or towns of twenty thousand or more inhabitants. And the fees of the chief supervisors shall be paid at the Treasury of the United States, such accounts to be made out, verified, examined, and certified as in the case of accounts of commissioners, save that the examination or certificate required may be made by either the circuit or district judge." The objections to the items in the chief supervisor's account which were disallowed are respectively as follows: Item 1. Drafting recommendations to the court for appointment of supervisors. It is not made the duty of the Chief Supervisor to recommend persons for appointment as supervisors. Section 2026 of the Revised Statutes declares: "He shall receive the applications of all parties for appointment to such positions; upon the opening, as contemplated in section two thousand and twelve, of the circuit court for the judicial circuit in which the commissioner [Chief Supervisor] so designated acts, he shall present such applications to the judge thereof, and furnish information to him in respect to the appointment by the court of such supervisors of election. * The information to be given is not required by law to be in the form of "recommendations," nor is it required by law to be in writing. It is said by the learned judge, whose opinion has been referred to, that "the Chief Supervisor is ex officio United States Commissioner”—that is, the chief supervisor is by virtue of his office as such, a United States Commissioner. Technically there is no such officer as "United States Commissioner.” Section 627 of the Revised Statutes authorizes the appointment of "Commissioners of the Circuit Courts," and section 2025 refers to the same officers as "Circuit Court Commissioners." See also Rev. Stat., 2020, 2031. But assuming that these are "United States Commissioners," they are not such by virtue of being chief supervisors. On the contrary, section 2025 of the Revised Statutes authorizes the cir cuit courts to appoint" from among the circuit court commissioners, for each judicial district in each judicial circuit, one of such officers who shall be known for the duties required of him under this Title as the chief supervisor of elections of the judicial district." It is not at all correct to say, then, that "the chief supervisor is ex officio a United States commissioner." And it is certain that whatever duty such chief supervisor performs under Title XXVI of the Revised Statutes (which includes sections 2002 to 2031 both inclusive) is performed by him "as the chief supervisor" and not as commissioner of a circuit court. Now it is clear, that section 2031 of the Revised Statutes does not provide for payment of the compensation now in question. It is not named or specified therein. The learned judge, in the opinion above referred to, assumes that when a chief supervisor "performs other services [those now in question] not provided for in said" section 2031, he does so as circuit court commissioner simply, "and his fee bill is" as such commissioner, and as provided for by sections 828 and 847 of the Revised Statutes. In other words, whenever he renders a service for which he finds compensation provided in section 2031 he claims it as chief supervisor; when it provides no compensation, presto, he becomes a circuit court commissioner and is entitled to compensation as such by force of sections 828 and 847 of the Revised Statutes. This construction is inadmissible. When section 2025 declares that this officer "shall be known for the duties required of him by this Title as the chief supervisor," he cannot for the purpose of compensation be regarded as a cir cuit court commissioner. This is especially so, in view of section 2031 which specifies the compensation which "shall be allowed and paid for his services as such officer"-that is for all his services. The conclusion is, that section 2031 of the Revised Statutes provides the only authorized compensation for the services of a chief supervisor; that it does not provide compensation for the service now in question, and that every duty required of the chief supervisor by Title XXVI of the Revised Statutes is to be rendered by him as such officer, and that, as to such duties, he is not to be regarded as a circuit court commissioner, and is not entitled to fees or compensation as such. As to the second charge. The second charge is for "drafting oaths of office and furnishing same to supervisors for qualification." The chief supervisor was also a commissioner of the United States circuit court; only such commissioners can be appointed to the offices of chief supervisors. Section 2031 of the Revised Statutes provides that the compensation allowed and paid to chief supervisors shall be "apart from" all fees allowed by law for the performance of any duty as circuit court commissioner. As chief supervisor, Mr. Conrad was not authorized to administer oaths, and therefore it was not his duty to draft oaths of office for the use of supervisors and deputy marshals.. Commissioners of the circuit courts are authorized by law to administer oaths, and if any fees are due to Mr. Conrad for such service as stated they should be charged in his account as commissioner "apart from" his account as chief supervisor. (Muirhead v. United States, 13 Ct. Cl., 251; Commissioner's Oath-Fee case, 5 Lawrence, Compt., Dec. 350.) Section 2026 of the Revised Statutes provides that "the chief super6 LAWR-7 visor shall prepare and furnish all necessary books, forms, blanks, and instructions for the use and direction of the supervisors of election." This doe not contemplate a service of "drafting oaths of office" for supervisor The written draft of an oath is not, within the meaning of this section, a book, a form, a blank or an instruction. Section 2031 of the Revised Statutes provides no compensation for such service. As to the third charge. The third charge is for "drafting oaths of office, and furnishing same to deputy marshals for qualification." The same objections exist to this as to the preceding charge. As to the fourth charge. This is for "drafting instructions to supervisors 116, at 16 folios each." The instructions were necessarily the same for all the supervisors. If written instructions were absolutely required in any case, it is a sufficient objection to any charge therefor, that section 2031 of the Revised Statutes makes no provision for compensation for this service. One reason for this probably is, that section 2026 evidently contemplates, as a general rule, printed instructions. It requires the chief supervisor to "furnish all necessary books, forms, blanks and instructions." This is to be read in view of the well known usage which everywhere prevails of procuring printed blanks, forms, books, &c., for this service. A blank in this connection must generally mean a printed blank. It cannot be supposed that the law contemplates the furnishing of written blanks, written forms, &c., to the multitude of supervisors required in the great cities. The instructions should have been printed if they were not. The expense of printing would be comparatively small, but the United States should not be expected to pay for doing this work in the most expensive manner, as if each supervisor was to be furnished with manuscript instructions. If fees for instructions were allowed as charged in this account for the district of Delaware, like fees would no doubt be claimed and would have to be paid in the larger districts where they would amount to thousands of dollars. (See Muirhead's case, 13 Ct. Cl., 251; 15 Id., 116.) The fifth and last item is a charge of per diem compensation. This was allowed by the court under the clause in section 2031 of the Revised Statutes, which provides: "There shall be allowed and paid to each supervisor of election compensation at the rate of five dollars per day for each day he is actually on duty not exceeding ten days." A similar claim was considered in the case of another chief supervisor in August, 1883, and the conclusion then reached was that per diems were not chargeable under said statute, and that there was no authority of law for their allowance. (Chief Supervisor's Compensation case, 4 Lawrence, Compt. Dec., 442.) It is unnecessary to repeat the reasons presented in that case, the conclusions of which are adhered to. A distinction is made in the statute between supervisors and chief su pervisors. The former only are allowed per diems and they are limited to ten days' service. No per diems are expressly mentioned in the fee bill of chief supervisors, whose time of service is unlimited. The office, the duties, and the mode of compensation of chief supervisors are all different from those of supervisors. The disallowance heretofore made is adhered to. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, First Comptroller's Office, January 28, 1885. IN THE MATTER OF THE RIGHT OF COMMISSIONERS OF CIRCUIT COURTS TO RECEIVE COMPENSATION FROM THE UNITED STATES FOR (1) ADMINISTERING OATHS TO SUPERVISORS OF ELECTION AND SPECIAL DEPUTY MARSHALS FOR THE PURPOSE OF VERIFYING THEIR SALARY ACCOUNTS, (2) ADMINISTERING OATHS OF OFFICE TO SUCH SUPERVISORS AND DEPUTIES, (3) CERTIFYING ALL SUCH OATHS, AND (4) DRAFTING SUCH OATHS OF OFFICE.-OATH-DRAFTING CASE. 1. The Commissioner's Oath-Fee Case, (5 Lawrence, Compt. Dec., 350,) examined and reaffirmed. 2. A Commissioner of a Circuit Court is entitled to a fee, to be paid by the United States, of 10 cents for administering an oath to a supervisor of election or special deputy marshal, to verify his salary account; and a fee of 15 cents for certifying thereto. 3. A Commissioner of a Circuit Court is entitled to a fee, to be paid by the United States, of 10 cents for administering the oath of office to a supervisor of election or special deputy marshal, and to 15 cents for certifying the same. 4. Such Commissioner is not entitled to be paid by the United States any compensation for drafting oaths of office for supervisors of election, or special deputy marshals. 5. Such Commissioner is not entitled to be paid by the United States any compensation for drafting affidavits to verify salary accounts of supervisors of election or special deputy marshals. 6. Construction given to the various acts and those sections of the Revised Statutes, bearing directly and indirectly on the questions discussed. The account for services in the quarter ended September 30, 1884, rendered by John J. Allen, a commissioner of the circuit court for the eastern district of New York, contains the following charges: Drawing oaths of office of supervisors of election and special Certificates on same, 748 at 15 cents $224.40 112.20 74.80 Fees for administering oaths and certifying the same were allowed, but the fees charged for drawing the oaths were disallowed because the oaths should have been drawn by the supervisors and deputies themselves, or printed blanks should have been used, and therefore no separate drawing of each oath was actually necessary. The question is presented to the First Comptroller to decide whether the Commissioner is entitled to compensation for drawing the oaths. * Folio defined. (Cavender v. Cavender, 3 McCrary C. C., 383.) |