Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 1.djvu/636

Judgment to be rendered at return term, except in certain cases.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That where suit shall be instituted against any person or persons indebted to the United States, as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the court where the same may be pending, to grant judgment at the return term, upon motion, unless the de-

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Alexander M‘Cormick dated March 11, and 17, 1811, for ten thousand dollars.” And on the 14th of May, of the same year, a charge was made “for warrant No. 2038, being in part for a bill of exchange in favour of Richard Smith, for twenty thousand dollars, twelve thousand eight hundred and thirty-two dollars and seventy-eight cents.” And one other warrant was charged June 22d, “for a bill of exchange in favour of Richard Smith, dated June 22, 1810, four thousand dollars; and also a warrant to Richard Smith, per order, for eight thousand dollars.” These items, the circuit court instructed the jury, were not sufficiently proved, by being charged in the account, and certified under the act of Congress. By the Court—The officers of the treasury may well certify facts which come under their official notice, but they cannot certify those which do not come within their own knowledge. The execution of bills of exchange and orders for money on the treasury, though they may be “connected with the settlement of an account” cannot be officially known to the accounting officers. In such cases, however, provision has been made by law, by which such instruments are made evidence, without proof of the handwriting of the drawer. The act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1797, makes all copies of papers relating to the settlement of accounts at the treasury, properly certified, when produced in court annexed to the transcript, of equal validity with the originals. Under this provision, had copies of the bills of exchange and orders, on which these items were paid to Smith and M‘Cormick, been duly certified and annexed to the transcript, the same effect must have been given to them by the circuit court, as if the original had been produced and proved. And every transcript of accounts from the treasury, which contains items of payments made to others, on the authority of the person charged, should have annexed to it a duly certified copy of the instrument which authorized such payments. And so, in every case, where the government endeavours by suit, to hold an individual liable for acts of his agent. The agency, on which the act of the government was founded, should be made to appear by a duly certified copy of the power. The defendant would be at liberty to impeach the evidence thus certified; and, under peculiar circumstances of alleged fraud, a court might require the production of the original instrument. This, however, would depend upon the exercise of the discretion of the court, and could only be enforced by a continuance of the cause until the original should be produced. United States v. Jones, 8 Peters, 375.

The following item in the treasury transcript was not admissible in evidence: “To accounts transferred from the books of the second auditor for this sum, standing to his debit, under said contract, on the books of the second auditor, transferred to his debit on those of this officer, forty-five thousand dollars.” The act of Congress, in making a “transcript from the books and proceedings of the treasury” evidence, does not mean the statement of an account in gross, but a statement of the items, both of the debits and credits, as they were acted upon by the accounting officers of the department. On the trial, the defendant shall be allowed no credit on vouchers, which have not been rejected by the treasury officers, unless it was not in his power to have produced them; and how could a proper effect be given to this provision, if the credits be charged in gross? The defendant is unquestionably entitled to a detailed statement of the items which compose his account. Ibid.
The defendant, in an action by the United States, where a treasury transcript is produced in evidence by the plaintiffs, is entitled to the credits given to him in the account; and in claiming those credits, he does not waive any objection to the items on the debit side of the account. He is unquestionably entitled to the evidence of the decision of the treasury officers upon his vouchers, without reference to the charges made against him. And he may avail himself of that decision, without, in any degree, restricting his right to object to any improper charge. The credits were allowed the defendant on the vouchers alone, and without reference to the particular items of demand which the government might have against him. And the debits, as well as the credits, must be established on distinct and legal evidence. Ibid.
The law has prescribed the mode by which treasury accounts shall be made evidence, and whilst an individual may claim the benefit of this rule, the government can set up no exemption from its operation. In the performance of their official duty, the treasury officers act under the authority of law; their acts are public, and affect the rights of individuals as well as those of the government. In the adjustment of an account, they sometimes act judicially, and their acts are all recorded on the books and files of the treasury department. So far as they act strictly within the rules prescribed for the exercise of their powers, their decisions are, in effect, final; for if an appeal be made, they will receive judicial sanction. Accounts, amounting to many millions annually, come under the action of these officers. It is, therefore, of great importance to the public, and to individuals, that the rules by which they exercise their powers, should be fixed and known. Ibid.
In every treasury account on which suit is brought, the law requires the credits to he stated as well as the debits. These credits the officers of the government cannot properly either suppress or withhold. They are made evidence in the case, and were designed by the law for the benefit of the defendant. Ibid.
O. made a contract with the government to supply the troops of the United States with rations within a certain district, and executed a bond and contract agreeably to the usages of the war department. The United States brought an action against O. on the bond, and gave in evidence the contract annexed to the bond, and a treasury statement, which showed a balance against O. The United States also gave in evidence another transcript to prove that O., under a previous account, had been paid a balance of nineteen thousand one hundred and forty-nine dollars and one cent, stated to be due to him, which was paid to his agent, under power of attorney, and the receipt for the same endorsed on the back of the account. The circuit court instructed the jury, that the second transcript was not evidence, per se, to establish the items charged to O. Held, that there was no error in this instruction. United States v. Jones, 8 Peters, 387.
The circuit court, on the prayer of the defendant, instructed the jury, that the transcript from the books and proceedings of the treasury, can only be regarded as establishing such of the items of debit, in the account stated in the said transcript, as are for moneys disbursed through the ordinary channels of the treasury department, where the transactions are shown by its books, and where the officers of the department must have had official knowledge of the facts stated: but that the transcript is evidence for the