Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 49 Part 1.djvu/1095

 1050 Rights, both legal and equitable, to be settled. Offse ts allowed. Su its may be jo ined or presented separately. Evidence. Access to official rec- ords. Attorneys' fees, etc. , by co urt d ecree . Contract require- ment. Provisos. Sta te attorn eys. No pay allowed when compensated by State. Ma xim um allow- ance. 74T H CONGRESS. SESS. I. CH. 832 . AUGUST 30, 1935. States to pay said Indians any money or other property due jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the Court of Claims, with the said right of either party to appeal, to hear and determine all legal and equitable claims, if any, of said Indians against the United States, and to enter judgment thereon. SEC. 2. If any claim or claims be submitted to said courts they shall settle the rights therein, both legal and equitable, of each and all of the parties thereto, notwithstanding lapse of time or statutes of limi- tations, and any payment which may have been made upon any claim so submitted shall not be pleaded as an estoppel, but may be pleaded as an offset in such suits or actions, and the United States shall be allowed credit for all sums heretofore paid or expended for the bene- fit of said Indians or any band thereof, including gratuities, and that laches shall not be pleaded as a defense thereto. The claim or claims of the Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin or band or bands thereof may be presented separately or jointly by petition, subject however, to amendment, suit to be filed within five years after the passage of this Act ; and such action shall make the petitioner or petitioners party p laintif f or pla intiffs and the United States party d efendant, and any band o r bands of said Indians or any other I ndians or band of Indians the court may deem necessary to a final determination of such suit or suits may be joined therein as the court may order. Such petition, which shall be signed by the attorney or attorneys em- ployed by said Indians or any bands thereof, or by the State of Wisconsin in their behalf, shall set forth all the facts on which the c laims f or recov ery are based a nd said petitio n shall be sign ed by the attorney or attorneys so employed, and no other verification shall be necessary. Official letters, papers, documents, and public records, or certified co pies thereof, may be used in evidence, and the depart- m ents of the Gov ernment shall g ive to the atto rney or attorne ys of said Indians or bands thereof access to such treaties, papers, cor- respondence, or records as may be needed by the attorney or attorneys for said tribe or bands of Indians. SEC. 3. Upon final determination of such suit, cause, or action, the Court of Claims shall decree such fees and necessary expenses as it shall find reasonable and proper to be paid the attorney or attorneys e mployed therein by sai d tribe or band s of Ind ians un der cont racts negotiated and approved as provided by existing law, and in no case shall the fee decreed by said Court of Claims be in excess of the amounts stipulated in the contracts approved by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the Secretary of the Interior, and no attorney shall have a right to represent the said Indians or any band thereof in any suit, cause, or action under the provisions of this Act until said contract shall have been so approved : Provided, That any attorney appearing for said Indians under any law of the State of Wisconsin authorizing him to prosecute such claims against the Federal Govern- ment shall not be required to file a contract of employment, and no compensation shall be allowed such attorney where he is so compen- sated by the State. The State shall be allowed out of any judgment r ecovere d such n ecessar y and pr oper ex penses a s the c ourt may find to have been incurred by the attorney so employed. The fees decreed by the court to the attorney or attorneys of record, except such as shall be employed by the State, shall be paid out of any sum or sums recovered in such suits or actions, and no part of such fees shall be taken from any money in the Treasury of the United States belonging to such tribe or bands of Indians in whose behalf the suit is brought Provided fu rther, That in no ca se s hall the fees decr eed b y sa id co urt amount to more than 5 per centum of the amount of the judgment recovered in such cause, to be paid only to contract attorneys, if
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