such deficiency and the amount thereof. Said notification shall be deemed sufficient if maled at the post office in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, addressed to said sureties, respectively, and directed to the respective post offices where said obligors may reside, if known; but a failure to give or mail such notice shall not discharge the surety or sureties upon such bond.— Sec. 1, act of Aug. 8, 1888 (25 Stat., 387). 34. Release of suretics.—If, upon the statement of the account of any official of the United States, or of any officer disbursing or chargeable with public money by the accounting officers of the Treasury, it shall thereby appear that he is indebted to the United States, and suit therefor shall not be instituted within five years after such statement of said account, the sureties on his bond shall not be liable for such indebtedness.-Sec. 2, ibid. SURETY COMPANIES AS SURETIES. 35. Bonds executed by, accepted as surety.-Whenever any recognizance, stipulation, bond, or undertaking conditioned for the faithful performance of any duty, or for doing or refraining from doing anything in such recognizance, stipulation, bond, or undertaking specified, is by the laws of the United States required or permitted to be given with one surety or with two or more sureties, the execution of the same or the guaranteeing of the performance of the condition thereof shall be sufficient when executed or guaranteed solely by a corporation incorporated under the laws of the United States or of any State having power to guarantee the fidelity of persons holding positions of public or private trust, and to execute and guarantee bonds and undertakings in judicial proceedings. Sec. 1, act of Aug. 13, 1894 (28 Stat., 279). 36. Approval of, by whom; discrimination forbidden.-That such recognizance, stipulation, bond, or undertaking be approved by the head of department, court, judge, officer, board, or body executive, legislative, or judicial required to approve or accept the same. But no officer or person having the approval of any bond shall exact that it shall be furnished by a guarantee company or by any particular guarantee company.—Ibid. 37. Agents to be appointed in judicial districts where surety undertaken.— No such company shall do business under the provisions of this act beyond the limits of the State or Territory under whose laws it was incorporated and in which its principal office is located nor beyond the limits of the District of Columbia, when such company was incorporated under its laws or the laws of the United States and its principal office is located in said District, until it shall, by a written power of attorney, appoint some person residing within the jurisdiction of the court for the judicial district wherein such suretyship is to be undertaken, who shall be a citizen of the State, Territory, or District of Columbia, wherein such court is held, as its agent, upon whom may be served all lawful process against such company, and who shall be authorized to enter an appearance in its behalf.-Sec. 2, ibid. 38. Copy of power of attorney to be filed with clerk of court.-A copy of such power of attorney, duly certified and authenticated, shall be filed with the clerk of the district court of the United States for such district at each place where a term of such court is or may be held, which copy, or a certified copy thereof, shall be legal evidence in all controversies arising under this act.-Ibid. 39. Vacancies; service of process.-If any such agent shall be removed, resign, or die, become insane, or otherwise incapable of acting, it shall be the duty of such company to appoint another agent in his place, as hereinbefore prescribed, and until such appointment shall have been made, or during the absence of any agent of such company from such district, service of process may be upon the clerk of the court wherein such suit is brought, with like effect as upon an agent appointed by the company. The officer executing such process upon such clerk shall immediately transmit a copy thereof by mail to the company, and state such fact in his return. A judgment, decree, or order of the court entered or made after service of process as aforesaid shall be as valid and binding on such company as if served with process in said district.—Ibid. 40. Jurisdiction of United States courts.--Any surety company doing business . under the provisions of this act may be sued in respect thereof in any court of the United States which has now or hereafter may have jurisdiction of actions or suits upon such recognizance, stipulation, bond, or undertaking in the district in which such recognizance, stipulation, bond, or undertaking was made or guaranteed, or in the district in which the principal office of such company is located. And for the purposes of the act such recognizance, stipulation, bond, or undertaking shall be treated as made or guaranteed in the district in which the office is located, to which it is returnable, or in which it is filed, or in the district in which the principal in such recognizance, stipulation, bond, or undertaking resided when it was made or guaranteed.-Sec. 5, ibid, p. 280. 41. Forfeiture of rights on failing to pay judgments.-If any such company shall neglect or refuse to pay any final judgment or decree rendered against it upon any such recognizance, stipulation, bond, or undertaking made or guaranteed by it under the provisions of this act, from which no appeal, writ of error, or supersedeas has been taken for thirty days after the rendition of such judgment or decree, it shall forfeit all right to do business under this act.-Sec. 6. ibid. 42. Companies estopped from denying power.-Any company which shall execute or guarantee any recognizance, stipulation, bond, or undertaking under the provisions of this act shall be estopped, in any proceeding to enforce the liability which it shall have assumed to incur to deny its corporate power to execute or guarantee such instrument or assume such liability.-Sec. 7. ibid. 43. Penalty for failing to comply with provisions.-Any company doing business under the provisions of this act which shall fail to comply with any of its provisions shall forfeit to the United States for every such failure not less than five hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, to be recovered by suit in the name of the United States in the same courts in which suit may be brought against such company under the provisions of this act, and such failure shall not affect the validity of any contract entered into by such company.-Sec. 8, ibid. 44. Copy of charter to be filed with Secretary of Treasury.—Every company, before transacting any business under this act, shall deposit with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States a copy of its charter or articles of incorporation, and a statement, signed and sworn to by its president and secretary, showing its assets and liabilities. If the said Secretary of the Treasury shall be satisfied that such company has authority under its charter to do the business pro vided for in this act, and that it has a paid-up capital of not less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, in cash or its equivalent, and is able to keep and perform its contracts, he shall grant authority in writing to such company to do business under this act.—Sec. 3, act of Mar. 23, 1910 (36 Stat., 241). 45. Reports to be filed.-Every such company shall, in the months of January. April, July, and October of each year, file with the said Secretary of the Treasury a statement, signed and sworn to by its president and secretary, showing its assets and liabilities, as is required by section three of this act.--Sec. 4, ibid. 46. Revoking authority, inquiries, etc.-The said Secretary of the Treasury shall have the power, and it shall be his duty, to revoke the authority of any such company to transact any new business under this act whenever in his judgment such company is not solvent or is conducting its business in violation of this act. He may institute inquiry at any time into the solvency of said company and may require that additional security be given at any time by any principal when he deems such company no longer sufficient security.—Ibid. 47. Premiums limited.-Until otherwise provided by law no bond shall be accepted from any surety or bonding company for any officer or employee of the United States which shall cost more than thirty-five per centum in excess of the rate of premium charged for a like bond during the calendar year nineteen hundred and eight.-Act of Aug. 5. 1909 (36 Stat., 125). 48. Same. No part to be paid by United States.-Hereafter the United States shall not pay any part of the premium or other cost of furnishing a bond required by law or otherwise of any officer or employee of the United States.Ibid. BONDS-CONTRACTORS'. TO SECURE PAYMENT FOR LABOR AND MATERIAL IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC WORKS. 49. Penal bond to include security for labor, etc.-Hereafter any person or persons entering into a formal contract with the United States for the construction of any public building, or the prosecution and completion of any public work, or for repairs upon any public building or public work, shall be required, before commencing such work, to execute the usual penal bond, with good and sufficient sureties, with the additional obligation that such contractor or contractors shall promptly make payments to all persons supplying him or them with labor and materials in the prosecution of the work provided for in such contract.-Act of Aug. 13, 1894 (28 Stat., 278), as amended by act of Feb. 24, 1905 (33 Stat., 811). 50. Rights of persons, corporations, etc.-Aud any person, company, or corporation who has furnished labor or materials used in the construction or repair of any public building or public work, and payment for which has not been made, shall have the right to intervene and be made a party to any action instituted by the United States on the bond of the contractor, and to have their rights and claims adjudicated in such action and judgment rendered thereon, subject, however, to the priority of the claim and judgment of the United States. If the full amount of the liability of the surety on said bond is insufficient to pay the full amount of said claims and demands, then, after paying the full amount due the United States, the remainder shall be distributed pro rata among said interveners.-Ibid. 51. Action on bond for labor or material furnished; jurisdiction.—If no suit should be brought by the United States within six months from the completion and final settlement of said contract, then the person or persons supplying the contractor with labor and materials shall, upon application therefor, and furnishing affidavit to the department under the direction of which said work has been prosecuted that labor or materials for the prosecution of such work has been supplied by him or them, and payment for which has not been made, be furnished with a certified copy of said contract and bond, upon which he or they shall have a right of action, and shall be, and are hereby, authorized to bring suit in the name of the United States in the circuit court of the United States in the district in which said contract was to be performed and executed, irrespective of the amount in controversy in such suit, and not elsewhere, for his or their use and benefit, against said contractor and his sureties, and to prosecute the same to final judgment and execution.-Ibid. 52. Time limit.-Where suit is instituted by any of such creditors on the bond of the contractor it shall not be commenced until after the complete performance of said contract and final settlement thereof, and shall be commenced within one year after the performance and final settlement of said contract, and not later.-Ibid. 53. Creditors limited to single action.-Where suit is so instituted by a creditor or by creditors, only one action shall be brought, and any creditor may file his claim in such action and be made party thereto within one year from the completion of the work under said contract, and not later.—Ibid. 54. Judgment where bond is inadequate.-If the recovery on the bond shall be inadequate to pay the amounts found due to all of said creditors, judgment shall be given to each creditor pro rata of the amount of the recovery.—Ibid. 55. Payment by sureties on bond.-The surety on said bond may pay into court, for distribution among said claimants and creditors, the full amount of the sureties' liability, to wit, the penalty named in the bond, less any amount which said surety may have had to pay to the United States by reason of the execution of said bond, and upon so doing the surety will be relieved from further liability.-Ibid. 56. Personal notice to creditors; publication of.—In all suits instituted under the provisions of this act such personal notice of the pendency of such suits, informing them of their right to intervene as the court may order, shall be given to all known creditors, and in addition thereto notice of publication in some newspaper of general circulation, published in the State or town where the contract is being performed, for at least three successive weeks, the last publication to be at least three months before the time limited therefor.-Ibid. CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES. PROSECUTION OF CLAIMS. 57. Subpanas to witnesses.-Any head of a department or bureau in which a claim against the United States is properly pending may apply to any judge or clerk of any court of the United States in any State, District, or Territory to issue a subpoena for a witness, being within the jurisdiction of such court, to appear at a time and place in the subpoena stated before any officer authorized to take depositions to be used in the courts of the United States, there to give full and true answers to such written interrogatories and cross-interrogatories as may be submitted with the application, or to be orally examined and crossexamined upon the subject of such claim.-Sec. 184, R. S. 58. Witnesses' fees.-Witnesses subpoenaed pursuant to the preceding section shall be allowed the same compensation as is allowed witnesses in the courts of the United States.-Sec. 185, R. S. 59. Compelling testimony.—If any witness, after being duly served with such subpoena, neglects or refuses to appear, or, appearing, refuses to testify, the judge of the district in which the subpoena issued may proceed, upon proper process, to enforce obedience to the subpoena or to punish the disobedience in like manner as any court of the United States may do so in case of process of subpoena ad testificandum issued by such court.-Sec. 186, R. S. 60. Professional assistance; how obtained.-Whenever any head of a department or bureau having made application pursuant to section one hundred and eighty-four, for a subpoena to procure the attendance of a witness to be examined, is of the opinion that the interests of the United States require the attendance of counsel at the examination, or require legal investigation of any claim pending in his department or bureau, he shall give notice thereof to the Attorney General, and of all facts necessary to enable the Attorney General to furnish proper professional service in attending such examination, or making such investigation, and it shall be the duty of the Attorney General to provide for such service.-Sec. 187, R. S. 61. Evidence to be furnished by the departments in suits pending in the Court of Claims. In all suits brought against the United States in the Court of Claims founded upon any contract, agreement, or transaction with any department, or any bureau, officer, or agent of a department, or where the matter or thing on which the claim is based has been passed upon and decided by any department, bureau, or officer authorized to adjust it, the Attorney General shall transmit to such department, bureau, or officer a printed copy of the petition filed by the claimant, with a request that the department, bureau, or officer shall furnish to the Attorney General all facts, circumstances, and evidence touching the claim in the possession or knowledge of the department, bureau, or officer. Such department, bureau, or officer shall, without delay and within a reasonable time, furnish the Attorney General with a full statement, in writing, of all such facts, information, and proofs. The statement shall contain a reference to or description of all such official documents or papers, if any, as may furnish proof of facts referred to in it, or may be necessary and proper for the defense of the United States against the claim, mentioning the department, office, or place where the same is kept or may be procured. If the claim has been passed upon and decided by the department, bureau, or officer, the statement shall succinctly state the reasons and principles upon which such decision was based. In all cases where such decision was founded upon any act of Congress or upon any section or clause of such act, the same shall be cited specifically; and if any previous interpretation or construction has been given to such act, section, or clause by the department, bureau, or officer the same shall be set forth succinctly in the statement, and a copy of the opinion filed, if any, shall be annexed to it. Where any decision in the case has been based upon any regulation of a department or where such regulation has, in the opinion of the department, bureau, or officer transmitting such statement, |