Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 15.djvu/108

 76 FORTIETH CONGRESS. Sess. H. Ch. 71. 1868. m{W¤r¤•y-s¤¤· additional clerks of the fourth class, and one clerk at a salary not P°,nw;,:¥,`d,_ exceeding two thousand dollars, in his office. ttomn clerks. Sec. 6. And be itfurtlur enacted, That it shall also be the duty of mQ';‘:;°:!{;i§‘;f" the said Attorney-General and his assistants, in all cases brought against ,,,;,,,,,,6,,,i,, the United States in said court of claims founded upon any contract sui? ¤g¤i¤¤¤ the agreement, or transaction with any executive department, or any bureau: officer, or agent 'of such department, or where the matter or thing on to eau on de- which the claim is based shall have been passed upon and decided by any P¤S’¤°¤;¤· 8*:; department, bureau, or officer intrusted by law or department regulations b,,,,,?,:; g;?,,; with the settlement and adjustment of such claims, demands, lor accounts, finrnish stew- to transmit to said department, bureau, or officer, as aforesaid, a printed Q}°$°‘Q_E:;_;‘;g_ copy of the petition filed by the claimant in such case, with a request em. that the said department, bureau, or officer to whom the same shall be so transmitted as aforesaid, will furnish to said Attorney-General all facts, circumstances and evidence touching said claim as is or may be in the possession or lmowledge of the said department, bureau, or officer; and Statsmsntto it shall be the duty of the said department, bureau, or officer to whom °°“"““‘ "’h“*i such petition may be transmitted and such request preferred as aforesaid, without elay, and within a reasonable time to furnish said Attorney-General with a full statement of all the facts, information, and proofs which are or may be within the knowledge or in the possession of said department, bureau, or officer, relating to the claim aforesaid. Such m:&‘§*A£;°:· sltatement shall also contain a reference to or description of all official pm, oeumenits or papers, 1f' any, as may or do furnish proof of facts referred to m said statement, or t at may bo. necessary and proper for the defence of the United States against the said claim, together with the department, office, or place where the same is kept or may be procured. And if the decgsms of said claim shall have been passed upon and decided by the said depart-» gspsvtmwh ment, bureau, or officer, the statement or answer to be transmitted to °’ said Attorney-General, as hereinbelbre provided, shall succinctly state the reasons and principles upon which such decision shall have been Coiiézmlmts of beset? C:11 all cases where such decision shall have been made upon any zctcotod ngregs, Gl um guy} section orrclausetof such act, the same shall speci ca y. 1 any prevnous IH erpretation or construction shall have) been given to such act, section, or clause, by the said department or ureau transmitting such statement, the same shall be set lbrth succinctly in said statement, and a copy of the opinion filed if any shall be annexed to such statement and transmitted with the, same to the m‘;l;°:f*;sgl: sttorrgey-Ggnerall aforesaid. And where any decision in the case shall ,,,;,,,,,,0 (Rpm_ ave cen asc upon any regulation of an executive department, or ment. where such regulation shall or may, 1H the opinion of the department, bureau, or officer transmitting such statement, have any bearing upon the claim in sulrt, the same shall be distinctly referred to and quoted in extenso in t re statement transmitted to said Attorney-General: Provided One stew however, That where there shall be pending in said court more than one ment to sutilce I f · for K mn of case, or a c ass o cases, the defence to which shall rest upon the same mm, facts, circumstances, and proofs, the said department, bureau, or officer shzgl onlly be required] so cgertgyl and transmit one statement of the same, an suc statement s a e e d to apply to all such classes of cases as nt made out, certified, and transmitted in each case respectively. ngxgztgicle Src. 7. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful Semin mw: for the head of any executive department, whenever any claim is made may send claim, upon said department involving disputed facts or controverted questions $in*;°3)¤g;°¥` of law, where the amount in controversy exceeds three thousand dollars, p,w,,{,cd' ip M or where the decision will affect a class of cases or furnish a precedent for theffuture action of any executive department in the adjustment of a mmm d c ass 0 cases, without regard to the amount involved in the particular there ggcgmm. C88i?, or where any authority, right, privilege, or exemption is claimed or
 * 1*- denied under the Constitution of the United States, to cause such claim,