Leaves of absence granted territorial judges from the dates of their appointments. Hon. John Titus... Chief justice...... Utah 5 15 Do. Hon. H. S. Hosmer. ..do.. Montana 7 Do. Hon. S. P. Williston.. Associate justice. ... do.. 30 Do. Hon. Thomas J. Drake do Utab Feb. June 3 15 Do. Hon. J. P. Slough. Chief justice. New Mexico Do. Jan. 20, 1864 Nov. 15, 1866 May 1, 1866 1, 1866 1, 1866 Oct. 16, 1866 1, 1866 1, 1866 Jan. 1, 1867 1, 1867 April 1, 1867 2 3 Do.. ...do ..do... Do. In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 12th instant, information in relation to the employment of an attorney to represent that department in the Court of Claims in certain cases pending in said court. APRIL 15, 1867.-Read, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and ordered to be printed. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, April 13, 1867. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a resolution adopted in the Senate on the 12th instant, in the following words: “Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to inform the Senate whether he, or any one by him authorized, has employed an attorney or solicitor to represent that department before the Court of Claims in certain cases pending in said court; if yea, what counsel or solicitor has been thus employed, and in what cases, what fee or fees has been or will be paid him for said services, and out of what fund, and under what law or authority, he has been thus employed.” In response thereto I have the honor to state that, after carefully considering the subject in all its aspects, it has seemed to me that in the trial of a large and important class of cases soon to be disposed of in the Court of Claims, the public interests imperatively demand that some assistance should be rendered to the solicitors representing the government therein; and I have thought it my duty, as the head of an executive department directly affected by the result of such suits, to afford such aid in the premises as I properly could. The cases to which I refer are those relating to property captured by the Union forces during the late rebellion, the proceeds of which—millions of dollars in amount—are now sought to be obtained through the Court of Claims. Many of the claims of this character are for large sums of money, and are being prosecuted with extraordinary vigor by an array of counsel combining talent, industry, and resources not often seen together, and who are generally incited to extra exertion by fees unusually large in amount, involving often a share of the amounts that in the event of success will be recovered by their clients. Considering the very large number of cases of this class, and the little time consequently allowed to the three solicitors of the court for the preparation of proper defences, it is unreasonable to expect them-able, vigilant, and faithful as they are acknowledged to be—to meet satisfactorily and successfully in all instances the influences and talent arrayed against them. |