committed, or in the proper courts of the United States for the Territory or District of Columbia in which such perjury shall have been committed, and shall, upon conviction, suffer such punishment as is provided. by the laws of the United States for that offense.

SEC. 11. That it shall be the duty of said court to receive and examine all claims admissible under this act that may be presented to it, directly resulting from damage caused by the so-called insurgent cruisers Alabama, Florida, and their tenders, and also all claims admissible under this act directly resulting from damage caused by the so-called insurgent cruiser Shenandoah after her departure from Melbourne on the eighteenth day of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and to decide upon the amount and validity of such claims, in conformity with the provisions hereinafter contained, and according to the principles of law and the merits of the several cases. All claims shall be verified by oath of the claimant, and filed in said court within six months next after the organization thereof, as provided in section eight of this act; and no claim shall be received, docketed, or considered that shall have not been so filed within the time aforesaid; but every such unrepresented claim shall be deemed and held to be finally and conclusively waived and barred.

SEC. 12. That no claim shall be admissible or allowed by said court for any loss or damage for or in respect to which the party injured, his assignees or legal representatives, shall have received compensation or indemnity from any insurance company, insurer, or otherwise; but if such compensation or indemnity so received shall not have been equal to the loss or damage so actually suffered, allowance may be made for the difference. And in no case shall any claim be admitted or allowed for or in respect to unearned freights, gross freights, prospective profits, freights, gains, or advantages, or for wages of officers or seamen for a longer time than one year next after the breaking up of a voyage by the acts aforesaid. And no claim shall be admissible or allowed by said court by or in behalf of any insurance company or insurer, either in its or his own right, or as assignee or otherwise, in the right of a person or party insured as aforesaid, unless such claimant shall show to the satisfaction of said court that during the late rebellion the sum of its or his losses, in respect to its or his war-risks, exceeded the sum of its or his premiums or other gains upon or in respect to such war-risks; and in case of any such allowance, the same shall not be greater than such excess of loss. And no claim shall be admissible or allowed by said court arising in favor of any insurance company not lawfully existing at the time of the loss under the laws of some one of the United States. And no claim shall be admissible or allowed by said court, arising in favor of any person not entitled, at the time of his loss, to the protec tion of the United States in the premises, nor arising in favor of any person who did not at all times during the late rebellion bear true allegiance to the United States.

SEC. 13. That in estimating the compensation to claimants, interest shall be allowed, at the rate of four per centum per annum upon the amount of actual loss or damage which shall be ascertained in each case to have been sustained, from such date as the court shall, in each case, decide that the loss was sustained by the claimant: Provided, however, That the amount of such interest shall not be included in or added to the amount for which judgment may be rendered on said claim; but in each case a report of the amount of such interest, certified under the seal of the court, shall accompany the report of the judgment on the claim to the Secretary of State.

SEC. 14. That the said court shall report to the Secretary of State a list of the several judgments and decisions made by it, a certified copy of which shall, upon the conclusion of the business of the said court, be by him transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall thereafter, as soon as may be and upon such notice and in such manner as he shall prescribe, pay the said judgments, together with interest at the rate of four per centum per annum on the amount of such judgments from the date certified, unto the persons, respectively, in whose favor the same shall have been made, or to their respective legal representatives, in full satisfaction and discharge of said judgments: Provided, That if the sum of all the judgments rendered by the said court, together with interest, shall exceed the amount received into the Treasury of the United States as proceeds of the sum to be paid by Great Britain, by virtue of said decision and award, then the Secretary of the Treasury shall distribute, in ratable proportion, among the parties in whose favor judgment shall have been rendered, or to their legal representatives, such moneys as have been received into the Treasury, according to the proportions which their respective judgments shall bear to the whole amount received into the Treasury as aforesaid, which payments shall be in full satisfaction and discharge of such claims and judgment.

SEC. 15. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and required to pay the said respective judgments of said court, out of any such money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; and for that purpose he is hereby authorized when necessary to issue and sell at public sale, after ten days' notice of the time and place of sale, at not less than par in coin, a sufficient amount of coupon or registered bonds of the United States, in such form as he may prescribe, of denominations of fifty dollars, or some multiple of that sum, redeemable in coin of the present standard value, at the pleasure of the United States after ten years from the date of their issue, and bearing interest payable quar terly in such coin at the rate of five per centum per annum; and upon the payment from time to time, of the said respective judgments of said court as before provided, the bonds of the United States mentioned in the act approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, 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, auno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-one, between the United States of America and the Queen of Great Britain," shall be canceled and extinguished to the amount of such payments; and when all such payments shall have been made, any such bonds remaining shall also be canceled and extinguished; and after the payment of the said judg ments, and the re-imbursement of the expenses as herein provided, if there shall remain any part of the said money, the same shall be and remain a fund from which Congress may hereafter authorize the payment of other claims thereon. And the moneys necessary for the payment of the salaries of the judges and other officers authorized by this act, and of the expenses of the said court as herein before mentioned, are hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appro priated.

SEC. 16. That as soon as the business of said court shall be executed and completed, the records, documents, and all other papers in the possession of the court, or its officers, shall be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State.

SEC. 17. In ascertaining the amount of such losses, the memorials,

affidavits, depositions, and any other papers in the several cases of losses claimed respectively, now filed in the State Department, or official copies thereof, may be read in evidence: Provided, That no affidavit shall be read except where it appears to the satisfaction of the tribunal that the affiant cannot be produced before it as a witness or his testimony taken by a commission upon interrogatories; and in the hearing of the cause, any party claiming shall produce all books, papers, letters, and documents that may be called for by a general description thereof by any opposing party, or satisfactorily account for their loss or nonproduction, or suffer such judgment as is prescribed in section fifteen of the act entitled "An act to establish the judicial courts of the United States," approved September twenty-ninth, seventeen hundred and eighty-nine; and on the hearing of the cause, any competent evidence may be produced by either party, either viva voce or by deposition taken upon interrogatories; and for this purpose depositions may be taken by either party de bene, or the court may admit affidavits where it is satisfactorily shown that the witness cannot be produced or his examination by interrogatories and cross-examination cannot be had.

SEC. 18. That in case any judgment is rendered by said court for indemnity for any loss or claim herein before mentioned against the United States at the time of the giving of the judgment, the court shall, upon motion of the attorney or counsel for the claimant, allow, out of the amount thereby awarded, such reasonable counsel and attorney fees to the counsel and attorney employed by the claimant or claimants respectively as the court shall determine is just and reasonable, as compensation for the services rendered the claimant in prosecuting such claims, which allowance shall be entered as part of the judgment in such case, and shall be made specifically payable as a part of said judgment for indemnification to the attorney or counsel, or both, to whom the same shall be adjudged; and a warrant shall issue from the Treasury in favor of the person to whom such allowance shall be made respectively, which shall be in full compensation to the counsel or attorney for prosecuting such claim; and all other liens upon, or assignments, sales, transfers, either absolute or conditional, for services rendered or to be rendered about any claim or part or parcel thereof provided for in this bill heretofore or hereafter made or done before such judgment is awarded and the warrant issued therefor, shall be absolutely null and void and of none effect.

Approved June 23, 1874.

By the President of the United States of America.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by the eighth section of the act of Congress 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 on the 8th of May, anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-one, between the United States of America and the Queen of Great Britain," approved June twenty-three, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, it is provided that "the judges of the court created by this act shall convene in the city of Washington as soon as convenient after their appointment; and the said court shall exist for one year

from the date of its first convening and organizing; and should it be found impracticable to complete the work of the said court before the expiration of the said one year, the President may, by proclamation, extend the time of the duration thereof to a period of not more than six months beyond the expiration of the said one year; and in such case all the provisions of this act shall be taken and held to be the same as though the continuance of the said court had been originally fixed by this act at the limit to which it may be thus extended;" and

Whereas it has been made satisfactorily to appear to me that the said court convened on the 22d of July, 1874, and that a large portion of the business of said court still remains undisposed of, and that it is found impracticable to complete the work of the said court before the expiration of the said year from its first convening and organizing:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the provisions of the said eighth section of the act of Congress aforesaid, do hereby extend the time of the duration of said Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims for a period of six months after the 22d day of July, A. D. 1875.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name and have caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this 2d day of June, A. D. 1875, and of the Independence of the United States the ninety-ninth.

By the President:

HAMILTON FISH,

Secretary of State.

U. S. GRANT.

AN ACT to extend the duration of the Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the existence of the Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims, created by the act 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 eight. een hundred and seventy-one, between the United States of America and the Queen of Great Britain," be, and the same is hereby, continued and extended to the twenty-second day of July next, with the same effect, and no other, as if said last-named day had been named in said act for the termination of the powers of said court; and said act is hereby continued in force during said period.

SEC. 2. That the powers of the clerk of said court are hereby ex tended for an additional period, not to exceed two months from and after the termination of the existence of the court, for the purpose of closing his accounts, depositing the records, documents, and all other papers in the possession of the court or its officers, in the office of Secretary of State, as provided in said act; and all disbursements made by him during this period shall be under the direction of the Secretary of State.

Approved December 24, 1875.

AN ACT providing for the payment of judgments rendered under section eleven of chapter four hundred and fifty-nine of the laws of the first session of the Forty-third Congress.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims as soon after the twenty-second day of January, anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-six, as may be practicable, report to the Secretary of State the several judgments, which before, or on that day shall have been rendered by the said court pursuant to section eleven of chapter four hundred and fifty-nine, of the laws of the Forty-third Congress.

SEC. 2. That the said court, after the twenty-second day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, in like manner report to the Secretary of State the several judgments it shall render, pursuant to said section eleven, from the said twenty-second day of January to, and including said twenty-second day of July.

SEC. 3. That when a report is made under this act to the Secretary of State he transmit the same or a copy thereof to the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall without unnecessary delay proceed, pursuant to said chapter 459, to pay the judgments specified therein, with interest on the principal, at the rate of four per centum per annum from the date of loss, as certified until the Secretary of the Treasury shall give notice for payment, as provided by section 14 of such act. Approved February 15, 1876.

AN ACT to extend the time for claimants, under section eleven of chapter four hundred and fifty-nine of the laws of the Forty-third Congress, to prove their claims. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be the duty of the Court of Commissioners for the Alabama Claims to receive, examine, and pass upon all claims that may be admissible under the provisions of chapter four hundred and fifty-nine of the laws of the Forty-third Congress which may be presented and filed within three months after this act shall take effect: Provided, That it shall appear by the claimant's petition, and be proved to the satisfaction of the court, that, by reason of his absence from the United States, or his ignorance of the time limited for the filing of a petition by such claimant, or by reason of fraud, accident, or mistake, the claim of such claimant has not been previously presented to said court within the time limited by said act; and such claim, in cases where the claimant shall be absent from the United States at the time of presenting the petition, may be presented and verified in such manner as the court shall by rule have provided. Approved March 6, 1876.

AN ACT to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to pay judgments provided for in an act approved February fifteen, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, entitled "An act providing for the payment of judgments rendered under section eleven of chapter four hundred and fifty-nine of the laws of the first session of the Forty-third Congress."

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury, for the purpose of paying the judgments provided for in an act approved February fifteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, entitled