torney constitute a general charge against the client, but not a specific lien on the subjectmatter of the claim. Ibid. 10. The conflicting equities between a claimant and his attorneys should be left by the Executive Departments to be settled before the courts. Ibid. AGENT OF THE TREASURY, See also SOLICITOR OF THE TREASURY. ALASKA. 1. The provisions of the act of July 1, 1870, chap. 189, to prevent the extermination of furbearing animals in Alaska, considered and construed with reference to the authority and duty of the Secretary of the Treasury touching the time and mode of executing the same, so far as they relate to the granting of a lease of the right to engage in the business of taking fur-seals on the islands of Saint Paul and Saint George, and the parties to whom such lease may be granted by him. Opinion of July 6, 1870, 13 Op. 274. 2. Proposals for a lease of the exclusive right to take fur-seals upon certain islands off the The act of May 15, 1820, chap. 107, makes it the duty of the agent of the Treasury, ap-coast of Alaska, agreeably to the provisions of pointed thereunder, to instruct district attorneys when, against whom, and for what amount to institute suits; when to press the collection and when to indulge; when, and under what circumstances of additional security, to renew the debts; what substitution, what commutations, what partial payments, what compromises to accept; when to acquiesce in the decisions of the courts below, and when to appeal; always leaving to the learning of the law officer (district attorney) the direction of all measures merely technical and professional. Opinion of April 11, 1823, 1 Op. 612, 613. AGRICULTURAL FUND. the act of July 1, 1870, chap. 189, having been 3. The buildings in Alaska, consisting of warehouses, store-houses, blacksmith-shops, cooper-shops, fish houses, dwelling-houses, &c., purchased by Hutchinson, Kohl & Co. from the Russian-American Company in March, 1868, were not included in the cession made by Russia to the United States in the treaty of 1. All the existing legislation appropriating March 30, 1867, and did not become the propmoney for the collection of agricultural statis-erty of the latter under that treaty. Opinion tics evinces an intention on the part of Congress that the money appropriated for that object should be expended and accounted for by the Commissioner of Patents. Opinion of Oct. 17, 1861, 10 Op. 147. 2. The Secretary of the Interior has no power to defeat that intention by transferring to another officer the expenditure and administration of those appropriations. Ibid. 3. Since the act of May 15, 1862, chap. 72, the Commissioner of Patents is not authorized to use the unexpended portion of the appropriation for agricultural purposes of the preceding year to pay the debts of that year chargeable on that fund. Opinion of Sept. 18, 1862, 10 Op. 344. 4. It is the duty of the Commissioner of Agriculture to take charge of that fund, and see to the payment of claims against it. Ibid. of Sept. 27, 1873, 14 Op. 303. 4. But the Russian-American Company never had anything more than the use of the land on which its buildings stood-the dominium, or right of property therein, ever remaining in the Government of Russia; and by the sixth article of the treaty the right of possession, use, and all other privileges which that company then enjoyed in the soil were in effect extinguished; so that the United States acquired under the said cession the absolute proprietorship of all the lands on which the establishments of that company were located, and as a consequence the latter could occupy such lands thereafter only by the sufferance of the Government of the United States. Ibid. 5. Hence, although the ownership of the buildings referred to may be in Hutchinson, Kohl & Co., under their purchase from the Russian-American Company, they acquired no interest whatever in the soil by the purchase of such buildings; they are simply occupants of the public domain, without right or title, and at the sufferance of the Government. Ibid. 6. By the act of March 3, 1873, chap. 227, the introduction of spirituous liquors or wine into the Territory of Alaska, unless authorized by the War Department, is absolutely prohibited. Opinion of Nov. 13, 1873, 14 Op. 327. every foreigner, not a public minister, who comes within the jurisdiction of our courts. If he has a defence under the treaty of peace he must plead it in the usual course of judicial proceedings. Opinion of July 26, 1794, 1 Op. 49. 3. A person acting under a commission from the sovereign of a foreign nation is not amenable to the United States courts for what he does in pursuance of his commission. But where there may be a legal trial the President will not interfere with the action against him. Opin 7. By virtue of the acts of February 13, 1862, chap. 24; March 15, 1864, chap. 33; and Marchion of Dec. 29, 1797, 1 Op. 81. 3, 1873, chap. 227, the War Department is clothed with a discretionary authority over the introduction of spirituous liquors or wines into the Territory of Alaska, and may permit such articles to be taken there, whether they are or are not intended for the use of officers or troops in the service of the United States. Opinion of June 3, 1874, 14 Op. 401. 8. The first of these acts, though in form an amendment, is really a substitute for the whole of section 20 of the act of June 30, 1834, chap. 161, and nothing of said section not contained in that act is left in force. Ibid. 9. The President has no authority, by virtue of section 2132 Rev. Stat., to prohibit the introduction of molasses into the Territory of Alaska (the article being used there for manufacturing distilled spirits for sale among the natives) when in his judgment the public interest seems to require that he should do so. In this matter that Territory cannot be considered as a country belonging to an Indian tribe. Opinion of Sept. 24, 1878, 16 Op. 141. ALIENS. See also PUBLIC LANDS, IV. 1. The late governor of Guadaloupe, who had caused a vessel to be seized and condemned by authority assumed as such officer, being prosecuted in the court of Pennsylvania whilst here as a prisoner of war to the British forces on parole, is not more exempt than any other foreigner (not a public minister) from suit and arrest. Opinion of June 16, 1794, 1 Op. 45. 2. The Government will not interfere with a private action against a foreigner for receiving a negro on board his ship. Such defendant is, as to his liability to suit, on a footing with 4. The courts of the United States in every State are at all times open to the subjects of a foreign power in friendly relations with them; and they are entitled to claim the benefit of every legal remedy in as ample a manner as could be enforced by citizens of the United States. More especially will such remedies be extended in a case of fraud. Opinion of Oct. 1, 1816, 1 Op. 192. 5. An alien can inherit, carry away, and alienate personal property without being liable to any jus detractus, but not real estate. Opinion of July 30, 1819, 1 Op. 275. 6. Jaques Porlier, who settled in the Michigan Territory prior to the execution and ratification of Jay's treaty, is not a citizen of the United States. Opinion of Sept. 3, 1819, 5 Op. 716. 7. It is the duty of the Executive, to whom the care of our foreign relations is committed, to take all lawful measures for the protection of alien subjects of a state with whom the United States are at peace, who shall have placed themselves under the safeguard of our laws. Opinion of July 5, 1837, 3 Op. 254. 8. But where aliens shall have suffered violence from citizens of the United States, they can be protected only by the redress to be afforded in the courts and the special interposition of the legislature. Ibid. 9. The State courts only have jurisdiction of the criminal offense in such cases; the circuit court of the United States of civil actions where the offenders are citizens. Ibid. 10. Aliens only, in the proper acceptation of the term, are excluded from the privileges of pre-emptioners. Opinion of March 15, 1843, 4 Op. 147. 11. An alien can be enlisted in the naval or Marine Corps service of the United States, and is bound the same as citizens to serve for the term of his enlistment. Opinion of Nov. 20, chap. 4, in the hands of bona fide holders, with1844, 4 Op. 350. Opin 12. An alien may hold, convey, and devise real estate in the District of Columbia. ion of Sept. 2, 1852, 5 Op. 621. 13. Of the disability of alienage as affecting interest in land in California. Opinion of Feb. 3, 1855, 8 Op. 463. 14. Under the land laws of the United States aliens are entitled to purchase the public lands, subject only, as to their tenure, to such limitations as particular States may enact; with this exception, however, that pre-emptions are secured to aliens who have declared their intention to become naturalized according to law, and to citizens, whether native-born or naturalized, and none others. Opinion of July 28, 1855, 7 Op. 351. 15. The same distinction is maintained in the graduation acts, with the further condition that the limited quantity of land purchasable by any person at the reduced prices can be purchased only for personal use, and for actual settlement and cultivation. Ibid. 16. The Government of the United States has constitutional power to enter into treaty stipulations with foreign governments for the purpose of restricting or abolishing the property disabilities of aliens or their heirs in the several States. Opinion of Feb. 26, 1857, 8 Op. 411. 17. It seems that there is no existing treaty stipulation between the United States and the Netherlanders on the subject of the rights by inheritance of children of a deceased child of a Netherlander dying intestate in the United States. Opinion of Aug. 8, 1866, 12 Op. 5. 18. In this absence of treaty stipulation the subject-matter is regulated by the laws of the respective States, and they, as a general rule, recognize the children of a deceased child as entitled to represent their deceased parent in the share which he would have taken from the intestate if such deceased parent had survived the intestate, the descent being per stirpes, and not per capita. Ibid. ALLOTMENT CHECKS. The United States are legally bound to pay the allotment checks or drafts issued by Army paymasters under the act of December 24, 1861, out regard to the fact that such paymasters have not placed in the hands of the drawee sufficient funds to meet the drafts. Opinion of Feb. 25, 1865, 11 Op. 156. ALLOWANCES. See ARMY, XI; COMPENSATION, VIII; MILEAGE; MILITIA AND VOLUNTEERS, II; NAVY, VI; TRAVELING ALLOWANCES. AMBASSADOR. See DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR OFFICERS. ANNUITY. See INDIANS, IV. APPEAL. See also ACCOUNTING OFFICERS, IV; CUSTOM LAWS, XIV; PATENTS FOR INVENTIONS, IV; WRITS OF ERROR AND AP PEALS. 1. In a matter which the law confides to the pure discretion of the Executive, the decision by the President or proper head of Department of any question of fact involved is conclusive, and is not subject to revision by any other authority in the United States. Opinion of Nov. 23, 1853, 6 Op. 226. 2. There is no direct appeal from the Commissioner of Pensions to the Attorney-General. Opinion of July 8, 1856, 7 Op. 759. 3. The President ought not, as a general rule, to entertain an appeal from the decision of the head of a Department respecting a private claim against the Government. Opinion of Oct. 9, 1863, 10 Op. 526. 4. Nor, as a general rule, ought the President to entertain appeals from the heads of Bureaus or other inferior officers of the Executive Departments. Opinion of Oct. 9, 1863, 10 Op. 527. 5. An appeal from a decision of the Commis sioner of the General Land Office ought to be taken not to the President, but to the Secretary of the Interior. Ibid. 6. Under the act of March 3, 1857, chap. 104, requiring the Commissioner of the General Land Office to state an account between the United States and the State of Illinois of the "2 per cent. fund," the State has no legal right to take an appeal to the President, and require him to state such account, after the refusal of the Commissioner of the General Land Office and of the Secretary of the Interior to comply with the law. Opinion of March 8, 1864, 11 Op. 14. 7. The President is not an auditor or comptroller of accounts, nor the accountant-general of the nation; but he may require an accounting officer and other subordinate executive officers to perform the duty imposed on them by statute. Ibid. 8. The opinions of the Attorneys-General touching the relation of the President towards the administrative officers of the Departments and Bureaus reviewed. Ibid. gregate of certain expenses which was less than the aggregate, in fact, of the several items of expense therein enumerated: Held that the amount equal to all the items was appropriated, and that an erroneous addition of said items produced no effect upon the law. Opinion of March 13, 1839, 3 Op. 419. 2. The expenses incurred on account of the negroes taken out of the Amistad cannot be defrayed from the appropriation of March 3, 1819, in the act entitled "An act in addition to the acts prohibiting the slave trade." Opinion of April 11, 1840, 3 Op. 510. 3. The appropriation for repairs, improvements, and new machinery at Harper's Ferry Armory, made by the act of August 8, 1846, chap. 95, cannot, nor can any portion of it, be applied to the purchase of the lands described in the estimate made at the Ordnance Office. Although a portion of the appropriation was asked for with a view to the purchase of lands, Congress saw fit to specify the purposes for which it granted it, among which the purchase of lands is not included. Opinof Sept. 18, 1846, 4 Op. 533. 9. It is competent to the President to enter-ion tain an appeal from the head of a Department which concerns the authority of a subordinate officer in the Department. Opinion of May 15, 1876, 15 Op. 94. 10. Where a statute imposes a particular duty upon an executive officer, and he has acted (performed the duty according to his understanding of the statute), there is no appeal from his action to the President or to any other executive officer, unless such appeal is provided for by law. Opinion of May 2, 1879, 16 Op. 317. APPOINTMENT. 4. The contract for embankment in the navy-yard at Memphis is not within the true meaning of the proviso in the naval appropriation act of March 3, 1843, chap. 83. Opinion of April 20, 1849, 5 Op. 89. 5. Where an appropriation was made by Congress expressly for opening or improving a maritime channel by a particular method mentioned: Held that the specification is not to be so construed as to defeat or control the general object. Opinion of April 11, 1853, 6 Op. 19. 6. In the absence of any specific appropriations for the object, the expense of transporting prisoners held for trial by the authorities of the United States in China is a lawful charge See ARMY, II; MARINE CORPS, III; NAVY, on the general appropriations for defraying the II; OFFICE, I. APPROPRIATIONS. I. Generally II. Transfer of. III. Unexpended balances. I. Generally. 1. Where an appropriation act (that of March 3, 1839, chap. 93) expressed a sum for the ag judicial expenses of the Government. Opinion of June 28, 1853, 6 Op. 59. 7. The incidental expenses attending the purchase, care, preservation, and transportation of provisions and clothing for the Navy are not chargeable to the specific appropriations for provisions and clothing made by the act of March 3, 1853, chap. 102. Opinion of June 22, 1854, 6 Op. 569. 8. Under the act of March 3, 1859, chap. 83, appropriating for the payment to the State of Minnesota, for expenses incurred by Captain Starkey's company of Minnesota Volunteers, June 30, 1865 9. Where an act of Congress (that of February 20, 1847, chap. 14) authorized the Secretary of War to report how much was due to a claimant, not exceeding $25,000, and directed the amount to be paid out of the Treasury, and the then Secretary of War reported as due to the claimant the sum of $18,000, which was paid: Held that the appropriation was exhausted when the amount awarded was paid, and that a succeeding Secretary had no jurisdiction to award the claimant an additional amount. Opinion of July 20, 1860, 9 Op. 451. 10. The rules by which officers in charge of appropriations are to be governed in applying the fund of one year to pay the debts of a previous year stated. Opinion of Sep. 18, 1862, 10 Op. 344. 11. By the terms of the act of March 3, 1865, chap. 127, "making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department," &c., for the year ending June 30, 1866, the appropriations therein made for the relief and support of certain refugee Indians and for payment of interest on non-paying stock held in trust for Indian tribes can be rightfully drawn upon by the Secretary of the Interior before the commencement of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1866. Opinion of March 22, 1865, 11 Op. 171. 12. The appropriations made by the acts of April 16, 1862, chap. 54, and July 16, 1862, chap. 182, for the purposes of facilitating the colonization of persons of African descent, cannot be used to pay the salary of the "Commissioner of Colonization" for services rendered after the passage of the act of July 2, 1864, chap. 210. Opinion of June 2, 1865, 11 Op. 241. Opinion of Oct. 30, 1865, 11 14. Claims allowed under the act of July 4, 1864, chap. 240, are not payable from appropriations made for the fiscal year 1870-'71, none of those appropriations seeming to be for that object. Opinion of July 27, 1870, 13 Op. 289. 15. Appropriations which, in terms, are for the service of the year 1870-'71 cannot be used for any other purpose than the payment of the expenses incurred for the service of that year. Ibid. 16. Nor can money be taken, by counter requisitions, from such appropriations to settle old accounts. Ibid. 17. Permanent appropriations are those made for an unlimited period; indefinite appropriations are those in which no amount is named. Ibid. 18. The appropriations made by the acts of June 15, 1864, chap. 124, and March 3, 1865, chap. 81, "for supplies, transportation, and care of prisoners of war," are in terms applicable to none but prisoners of war. Opinion of May 14, 1872, 14 Op. 41. 19. By the words " prisoners of war," as used in those acts, are meant persons of the enemy who are captured and detained by our forces; and therefore Union soldiers who were captured by the rebels and afterward escaped or were paroled are not within the scope of the appropriations mentioned. Ibid. 20. Accordingly, where persons of the latter description were supplied with necessaries of life and otherwise aided by a private party, who presents a claim against the Government for reimbursement of his outlays and compensation for his services: Held that the claim, however meritorious it may be, cannot be paid out of either of those appropriations. Ibid. 21. By act of March 3, 1871, chap. 113, an appropriation was made to meet (inter alia) the expenses of publishing specifications and drawings required by the Patent Office during the 13. The 20 per centum increase of compen-year ending June 30, 1872. The appropriation sation allowed by section 3 of the act of June 25, 1864, chap. 147, to the employés of the several Departments for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1866, is not payable from the appropriation made by that section, such appropriation terminating with the fiscal year ending was to be disbursed by the Superintendent of Public Printing, under whose direction the execution of the work mentioned was then placed; but by the act of March 24, 1871, chap. 5, the Joint Committee of Congress on Printing was authorized to transfer the direction of |