same, and to cross-examine the witnesses produced by claimants, and to perform such other duties as may be required of them by said commissioners, who may discharge them at any time. The said agents shall be allowed their actual and necessary traveling expenses; the expenses paid out in investigating claims, procuring witnesses, and taking testimony, and six dollars per day while employed in the discharge of their duties; of all which, at the end of each month, they shall make a statement in detail, specifying the amounts by them paid out, to whom paid, when and where and for what purpose, and the number of days employed in their duties, and shall transmit the same, duly certified, to the commissioners. But no claim where the amount exceeds ten thousand dollars shall be examined, decided, and reported by the commissioners to Congress, except the testimony on behalf of the claimant in such case shall have been taken orally before the commissioners or some one of them personally, or shall have been taken previous to the third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, to be used in the Court of Claims or before some Department of the Government. SEC. 6. That it shall be the duty of the said commissioners of claims to receive, examine, and consider the justice and validity of such claims as shall be brought before them of those citizens who remained loyal adherents to the cause and Government of the United States during the war, for stores or supplies taken or furnished during the rebellion for the use of the Navy of the United States, in the same manner and with the like effect as they are now required by law to do in the case of stores or supplies taken or furnished for the use of the Army. RULES AND REGULATIONS. 1. Every claim must be stated in a petition addressed to the commissioners of claims under the act of Congress of March 3, 1871, Washington, D. C., and no claims prepared in any other manner will be received. 2. The petition must first state the full names of all the claimants, their present residence, and their residence when their claims accrued. 3. The petition must next state who was the original owner of the claim, who now are owners thereof or interested therein, and when and upon what consideration such persons became so interested. 4. An account of the property taken or furnished should then be stated by items, the items being numbered in succession, and the total value of the several items being stated at the foot of the account. 5. The various acts required to be set forth in the petition must be stated, with time and place, clearly, concisely, fully, as to all material circumstances, and not argumentatively. 6. In setting forth the facts to be stated in the petition, the claimant must always distinguish between the facts which he states of his own knowledge and those which he states upon information and belief. He must say as to the first that he avers them of his own knowledge; and as to the last, that he states them upon information and belief. 7. The petition must state that the claimants are citizens who remained loyal adherents to the cause and the Government of the United States during the war, and were so loyal before and at the time of the taking or furnishing of the property for which claim is made. 8. The petition must state, with as much particularity and exactness as the claimant's knowledge or means of information will enable him to do, the kind, quantity, quality, and value of the stores or supplies taken or furnished during the rebellion for the use of the Army of the United States for which payment is claimed: and, if TAKEN, the name or names of the person or persons taking the property, and whether they were officers or soldiers of the United States, and to what company or regiment they belonged, and, if officers, their rank, and where they were then stationed, and the name of the officer in command of the United States forces in the district in which the property was taken, to what place or station the property was removed, and for the use of what person, company, regiment, or military organization in the service of the United States it was taken, and whether any voucher, receipt, or other writing was given therefor by the persons taking the property. If a voucher or other writing was given, the original, or a copy of it, must be annexed to the petition; but if not within the control of the claimants, it must be averred where the original paper is, or is believed to be, and the substance of it must be set forth. The time and place of the taking, and all the material circumstances thereof, must be particularly stated." If the property was FURNISHED for the use of the Army of the United States, the petition must state the name or names of the person or persons to whom furnished, and whether they were officers or soldiers of the United States, and to what company or regiment, or other military organization, they belonged, and, if officers, their rank, and where they were stationed, and the name of the officer in command of the United States forces in the district in which the property was furnished, and whether any voucher, receipt, or other writing was given therefor by the person receiving the property. If a writing was given, the original, or a copy of it, must be annexed to the petition; but if not within the control of the claimant, it must be averred where the writing is, or is believed to be, and the substance of it must be set forth. The time and place of the furnishing, and also the material circumstances thereof, must be particularly stated. 9. If the claim is for the use or loss of vessels or boats while employed in the military service of the United States, the petition must describe the vessel or boat, its place of registry, name, size, kind, condition, and value, when first taken by the Government. If the claim is for the use of the boat, the petition must state, with as much exactness as the knowledge or information of the claimant enables him to do, by whom the boat was first taken for the use of the Government, and when and where taken, and for what particular use in the first instance, stating the name of the person taking, and whether an officer of the United States, and his rank and place in the service of the Government, and how long it was used, and who had command, and what was the just value of such use, and whether there was any agreement as to the price or terms of such use, and if so, whether in writing, and if in writing, a copy of it, or the substance of it, must be furnished. If the claim is for the loss of a boat, the petition must further state when and where lost, and the value of the boat when lost. 10. The petition must state whether the claim has been heretofore presented to any officer, agent, or Department of the Government, or to Congress, or to any committee thereof, and what decision or action, if any, has been had in regard to the same. 11. The petition must be signed by the claimant or claimants, and duly verified. The verification must be also signed by the claimant or claimants, and duly attested, and shall be in the following form: A-B, [and CD,] being duly sworn, [each for himself,] deposes and says, that he is [one of] the petitioner [8] named in the foregoing petition, and who signed the same; that the matters therein stated are true of deponent's own knowledge, except as to those matters which are stated on information and belief, and, as to those matters, he believes them to be true. And deponent further says, that he did not voluntarily serve in the confederate army or navy, either as an officer, soldier, or sailor, or in any other capacity, at any time during the late rebellion; that he never voluntarily furnished any stores, supplies, or other material aid to said confederate army or navy, or to the confederate government, or to any officer, department, or adherent of the same, in support thereof, and that he never voluntarily accepted or exercised the functions of any office whatsoever under, or yielded voluntary support to, the said confederate government. 12. There must be appended to the petition the names and residence of the witnesses by whom the claimants expect to prove the facts alleged, specifying separately: 1st. The names and residence of the witnesses who will be relied upon to prove loyalty. 2d. The names and residence of those to prove the other facts alleged in the petition. 13. The post-office address of the claimants and of their counsel must be appended to the petition. 14. Each petition should bear a suitable indorsement of the name and address of the claimant, the various classes of property embraced in the claim, and the amount claimed. The name and address of the attorney, should there be one in the case, must be noted beneath the indorsement. 15. All papers pertaining to a claim which have been used before any Department or office of the Government, and returned to the claimant, must accompany the petition addressed to the commissioners of claims, or be filed with it before the case is taken up for consideration. Any other papers in possession of the officers of the Government will be called for by the commissioners upon receipt of a descriptive application from the claimant or attorney to that effect. 16. What are known as ex-parte affidavits cannot be accepted as evidence before the commissioners, but testimony heretofore intended for use before the Court of Claims, and taken under the rules of that court, will be received. 17. The clerk of the commissioners shall receive all petitions for the allowance of claims, and enter upon a register the date of presentation, number, name, and residence of claimants, subject-matter, and amount of claim. 18. After a petition has been entered upon the register, it shall not be taken from the custody of the clerk, except by special order of the commissioners. 19. Application can at any time be made, verbally or in writing, to the clerk, to have cases upon the register set for hearing before the commissioners, the applicant in each case stating the dates most convenient to claimant, to assist the commissioners in fixing the time for the desired examination. 20. [In each case all testimony offered in support of a claim, whether relating to the loyalty of the claimant or the alleged facts, shall, if practicable, be given before the commissioners at Washington; but whenever, in consequence of the smallness of the claim, the poverty of the claimant, the remoteness of the witnesses, or their inability, from any cause, to attend before the commissioners, or for any other good reason, it is desired that the testimony of the claimant or witnesses be taken at or near their places of residence, a written application must be filed with the clerk of the commissioners. This application must contain a separate, full, and detailed statement of what each particular witness is prepared to aver of his or her own knowledge, and must be explicit as to all matters of time, place, and circumstance, or it will not be entertained. It must also state the name and address of each witness, the particular causes of the inability of the claimant to produce his witnesses before the commissioners at Washington, and designate the points most convenient for the taking of the desired testimony. All testimony taken as herein provided will be obtained at the cost of the claimant, who will be notified of the manner and place wherein the testimony is to be taken.-Obsolete.] [Rule 20, as revised and amended.] Claimants whose claims do not exceed five thousand dollars in all may take their testimony before a special commissioner appointed by this board, without making application to the commissioners at Washington; but their petition must have been duly presented and filed with the clerk, and the number of the case obtained. The application must be in writing, and a proper form can be procured from the clerk of the commissioners or from any special commissioner. The commissioner will preserve the application, and after taking the depositions of the witnesses named therein, will affix the application to the depositions, and forward it, with them, to the clerk. Where the amount of a claim exceeds five thousand dollars, and does not exceed ten thousand dollars, if the claimant wishes to take depositions, an application must be filed with the clerk of the commissioners, stating the name and residence of the claimant, the number and amount of the claim, the name and residence of each witness, and the time and place at which the claimant wishes to have the depositions taken. The application must be properly folded and indorsed, with the date of the application, the number, title, and amount of the claim, the proposed time and place for taking the testimony, giving county and State, and the name and address of the attorney. As special agents on behalf of the Government may be directed to attend at the taking of the depositions, ample time must be allowed therefor; consequently, such applications must be filed with the clerk at least forty days before the time named in the application for taking the testimony. The commissioners will issue special orders appointing the time, place, and commissioner for taking the testimony upon such application, and will, so far as possible, consult the desire and convenience of the claimant; but if the time and place named in the application be such that an agent on behalf of the Government cannot attend, the commissioners will appoint some other time and place for the purpose. 21. Questions as to jurisdiction, proof of loyalty and facts, rules of evidence, and all other matters relating to the business of the commission, will be decided only as they arise in cases actually under consideration, and not upon hypothetical cases, or such as are not under hearing. 22. Whenever the proofs in a case have been completed to the satis faction of the claimant or counsel, written notice must be given by such claimant or counsel to the clerk of the commissioners, or to the special commissioner before whom the testimony is taken, that the case is completed and is submitted to the commissioners for decision. PETITION. To the Honorable Commissioners of Claims, Under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1871, Washington, D. C.: The petition of [] respectfully represents: 1 Give full names of all the petitioners. That-he ent at or near [2] at or near [3] That-he -ha at pres and that-he-resided when this claim accrued a claim against the United States for property [4] for the use of the Army of the United States during the late rebellion, at (or near), in the county of, and State of That the said claim, stated by items, and excluding any and all items of damage, destruction, and loss (and not use) of property; of unauthorized or unnecessary depredations by troops and other persons upon property, or of rent or compensation for the use or occupation of buildings, grounds, or other real estate, is as follows: Date. No. of Quantities and articles. Value. Total.... That the property in question was taken or furnished for the use of a portion of the Army of the United States, known as1 —, and commanded by -, and that the persons who took or received the property, or who authorized or directed it to be taken or furnished, were the following: given for -; all this on or about the day of - in the year 186—. That+ voucher, receipt, or other writing the property "Taken," or "furnished." Describe the organization as fully and particularly as possible. -State as well as can be done the place to which the property was conveyed. State as fully and minutely as possible the particular persons or commands using the property, and to what particular uses it was applied, or intended to be applied. If any vouchers or written papers were given, attach the originals or copies, or state where the originals are to be found, and give the substance of them. |