Pugh v. United States
Pugh v. United States
Opinion
delivered the opinion of the court.
The destruction of property complained of was during the war and in one of the States engaged in the rebellion, and the presumption, in the absence of inconsistent allegations, is that it was by the military forces of the United States. It is clear that a petition for compensation for injuries of this character could not be sustained in the Court of Claims, for the demand plainly grows “ out of the destruction or appropriation of or damage to property by the army or navy engaged in the suppression of the rebellion,” and is excluded from the cognizance of that court by the express terms of the act of July 4th, 1864.
But it is insisted that the'court had at least jurisdiction of the case made by the petition in respect to the leasing of the plantation, under the amendment to the Captured and Abandoned Property Act made by the second and third sections of the act of July 2d, 1864. These sections provide for leasing abandoned lands by the agents of the Treasury Department, and the payment of the net amounts of rents collected into the Treasury. But the petition in this case makes the leasing an incident only to the unlawful appropriation and spoliation of the plantation. It does not allege any leasing by the agents of the Treasury Department, or that any rents were collected by them or paid into the Treasury.
It is plain, therefore, that the petition does not state a case within the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims. If the petitioner has any claim upon the government he must seek relief from Congress.
The decree dismissing the petition must be
Affirmed.
Reference
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- A petition to the Court of Claims setting forth— First. That the United States, during the late civil war, illegally, violently, and forcibly took possession of the petitioner’s plantation, in one of the rebellious States, on the false pretext that it had been abandoned by the owner, and held it until January, 1866, during which time the United States, and the agents placed in charge of the plantation, destroyed and carried away the property of the petitioner to the value of $42,508 ; Secondly. That the United States, during the same period, rented the plantation to sundry persons who made large crops, worth $15,000 or $30,000 ; does not present a case within the present jurisdiction of that court. The case made by the first allegation is barred by the act of J uly 4th, 1864, which excludes claims growing “ out of the destruction or appropriation of or damage to property by the army or navy engáged in the suppression of the rebellion.” The second, because presenting the leasing of the properly no otherwise than as an incident to the unlawful appropriation and spoliation of the plantation; and therefore not within the second and third sections of the act of July 2d, 1864, which provide for leasing abandoned lands by the agents of the Treasury Department, and the payment of the net amounts into the Treasury.