Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 3.djvu/501

 t9e FEDSBAIJ BEPOBTEB. �this act, and declares he ehall forfeit and pay to the United States the sum of $2,000, etc. So that the language of the act of 1863, taking the whole statute together, was general, and operated in every case where the offence described was committed, namely: where there was a false or fraudaient claim presented, and the person who presented it knew that it was false or fraudaient. �But whatever view we may take of the original statute, and even if it be admitted that the ofïence described in the act of 1863 was limited to certain classes, that language, found in the original statute, is omitted in the Eevised Statutes, and the lan- guage becomes general : "Every person who makes, or causes to be made, or presents, or causes to be presented, for pay- ment or approval, to or by any person or officer in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States, any claim upon or against the govemment of the United States, or any depart- ment or officer thereof, knowing such claim to be false, ficti- tious, or fraudulent," shall be guilty of the ofFence charged, and shall be subject to punishment therefor. �This language is general. It is, in fact, of universal ap- plication to the class of offences here described. It is not limited to any department, whether pension agencies or other- wise. Neither is it limited to the case of an offence commit- ted by a person in the military or naval service of the United States ; but the offence described is this : Any person soever who makes, or causes to be made, or presents to any ofiScer or person in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States any claim which he knows to be false or fraudulent, for the payment of money, commits the offence. So that there can be no doubt that this applies as well to the case of a claim of a pensioner, as to any other claim whatever. The language is general in its scope and meaning; and to say that under the legislation of congress in its original form, and as incorporated in the Eevised Statutes, that it doesnotinclude a false claim presented by a person as a pensioner, demanding money as a pensioner, is restricting the language used beyond its fair meaning. �Then the only other question ia whether what was done ����