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Show 1WAR SUITS RLED flCMNSTjMTl Court of Claims Will Be Enlarged En-larged fo Handle Billion in Demands WASHINGTON. Feb. 14.- Million of dollars and pi-omlses of billion-, me represented in the great tide 61 lawsuits which ? I. -ginning to poui into the I'nited States court of clalmi as one of the results of the world war I The court was expressly created to de liermlne legal cnntroversles betweei private ritlxens and the government1 The attorn- g.-neral n.ivs thi amount of war claims Is enormous nnd that Indications are the influx of case has only begun. Actions upon claim I involving approximntely $124,000,004 have already been filed. Thc ultimate aggregate of claims. It lx estimated, will reach between tio and three billion bil-lion dollars, The personnel of the department de-partment of Justice having charge of the defense of these actions haa been ' doubled to enable it to cope with the flood of new litigation IMMI 'vsr DELM liv These wnr claims are brought Into the court by plaintiffs having claims against all departments of the government. govern-ment. The war department has , :.ln- ia-.ol.ing appi oxliiKitelv $3 -000,000.000. The bureau of internal revenue now has pending claims for refunds and rebates aggregating $630.- j'om.ni... -n. -.bippio.- I., .n.l h.,s . an- I ellatlons f contracts involving over 1 ;suo.ouo.uoo. I'laims for putent in-ifrlngement in-ifrlngement are estimated by the attorney attor-ney general at 1100,000.000 The railroad rail-road administration has differences with the railroads amounting to approximately ap-proximately ITf.O.OOO.OOO. There arc also claims proportionately proportionate-ly large In amount arising from the housing corporation, the war risk bureau, bu-reau, and the food and fuel administrations, adminis-trations, and it is known that there is 1 Urc.' amount Of other claims of miscellaneous mis-cellaneous character which have not yet been filed. I In preparation for tho disposition of this new business the court of claims I has so cleared Its dockets that not onlv ipendlng suits but actions based upon these war claims are receiving linjns-jdlate linjns-jdlate .attention and all cases are Ms-I Ms-I nosed of as rapidly a.s thev ,r, pie. sented ine of the first and most im-(portant im-(portant cases, affecting claims estl-imited estl-imited at $100,000,000. was begun on Maj 16, isl'O. Judgemenl was ren-jdered ren-jdered June ll'O, and an appeal was argued In the l. t-' supreme court Ion January 7th. in is:os s "The volume of important adjudications adjudica-tions In the court of claims during the pnst fiscal year." says the attorney general, "if equalled, has certainly never been exceeded. Since tlu original ori-ginal act of February id, iss;. prn-idlng prn-idlng a forum 111 which citizens of th" United Suites might have their claims against thP government adludl-cated, adludl-cated, the duties of the court of claims have xteadilv increased under legislation enacted irom time to time enlarging its scope, until today t is recognized that its Importance Is not exceeded by any other tribunal. Every conceivable Issue between the citizens and their sovereign founded upon contract, con-tract, express or Implied. Is presented to that court, and in addition under the so-called Dent act of March 2 1910. agreements entered into during the war of on Informal nature mri' bt brought to the court of claims for award of fair and just compensation The small percentage of the decisions of the court of claims reversed by the supreme court of th0 I'nited Btates testifies lo the . haraiter of n,r ,... clsions rendere.l ' AmonK the claims already filed In the court are $60.0o.ooo for shipping J20.000.000 for railroad requisition-' lfC.000.t00 for patent Infringement L I2.J00 000 for aircraft engine., . guns. $2,000,000 for transportation of troops and supplies; and $2.600.00o In suits commenced by the pocking companies. |
