310 WRIGHT— POWER TO MEET RESPONSIBILITIES. 



tends to claims presented by aliens whose governments will recipro- 

 cate, not founded on tort, or treaty. ^^ The decisions of this court 

 or of the Supreme Court, if appeal is taken, are considered final and 

 Congress always appropriates theref or.*^^ The Court of Claims may 

 also consider any claim presented to it by Congress and make a 

 report thereon, which however is not binding."'^ Under the Tucker 

 Act of 1887 and subsequent amendments the Federal District Courts 

 enjoy concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of Claims in claims 

 not exceeding $10,000.*'^ 



Congress has often set up special courts or commissions to 

 settle particular claims. Of this character may be mentioned 

 commissions to liquidate the claims settled by the treaty with Spain 

 of 1819, claims settled by the Alabama Arbitration of 1871. and 

 claims settled by the Spanish treaty of 1898. Sometimes special 

 jurisdiction is conferred to settle particvilar claims. So the Court 

 of Claims was given jurisdiction to settle the French Spoliation 

 claims, the courts were given jurisdiction to settle various specified 

 types of claims arising out of the Civil War, and by an act of i860 

 the federal courts were given jurisdiction to settle the claim of one 

 Repentigny to a tract of land in Michigan founded on an ancient 

 French grant. The act expressly provided in this case that the 

 decision should be based on " (i) the law of nations, (2) the laws 

 of the country from which the title was derived, (3) the principles 

 of justice, and (4) the stipulations of treaties."'* 



148. By International Courts. 



National courts are bound by national law if expressed in un- 

 mistakable form, and may not be free to apply international law 

 and treaty. All international claims, whether decided upon by 

 national courts or not, if not satisfactorily settled, may be presented 

 to the President through the Department of State.'^° As we have 



"5 Judicial Code of 1911, sees. 136, 145, 153, 155; 36 Stat. 1135, Willoughby, 

 op. cit., p. 982. 



66 U. S. V. New York, 160 U. S. 615; In re Sanborn, 148 U. S. 226; Wil- 

 loughby, p. 1275. 



"■^ Judicial Code of 1911, sec. 151. 



68 Ibid., sec. 24, par. 20. 



69 U. S. V. Repentigny, 5 Wall. 211 (1866). 

 "6 Supra, sec. 12. 



