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Davidson v.

309.

CHAPTER XIV.

BONDS AND UNDERTAKINGS.

Distinction. Sec. 478. BONDS.-A bond, when required or referred Mitchel, 34 L. R., to, in the provisions of this code, shall be understood to signify an obligation in a certain sum or penalty, subject to a condition, on breach of which it is to become absolute and to be enforceable by action.

Sec. 479. UNDERTAKINGS.-An undertaking shall be understood to signify an agreement entered into by a party to a suit or proceeding, with or without sureties, upon which a judgment or decree may be rendered in the same suit or proceeding against said party and his sureties, if any, the said party and sureties submitting themselves to the jurisdiction of the court for that purpose.

U. S. v. Ma- Sec. 480. ACTIONS ON BONDS.— -A bond in a penal loney, 4 D. C. App., 505; U. S. sum, containing a condition that it shall be void on the v. Boyd, 8 D. C. App., 440; 8 D. C. payment of a certain sum of money, or the performance App., 552; 11 D. of an act, or of certain duties, shall have the same effect

C. App., 44.

Goff v. U. S.,

22 D.C. App., 512;

21 D.C. App., 369;

for the purpose of maintaining an action upon it as if it contained a covenant to pay the money or perform the act or the duties specified in the condition. But the damages to be recovered for a breach, or successive breaches, of the condition, as against the sureties therein, shall not exceed the penalty of the bond.

Sec. 481. BOND TO UNITED STATES BY OFFICERS.22 D.C. App., 543; Whenever a bond is executed to the United States by 23 D.C. App., 153; any fiduciary or public officer, conditioned for the per31 D.C. App., 476; formance of certain duties, in the performance of which S. C. 166, U. s. private persons are interested, any such persons] per50 L. Ed., 437; 80n, aggrieved by a breach of such condition, shall be 18 D.C. App., 516. entitled to maintain an action thereon in his own name

3 D. C. App., 277;

571; 200 U.S., 197;

Morse v. U. S., 29 D. C.App., 433.

against the obligor and his sureties to recover damages for the injury suffered by him in consequence of such breach; and it shall be the duty of the custodian of such bond to furnish a certified copy thereof to said party for the purpose aforesaid on payment of the legal fees therefor. Sec. 482. BONDS OF TRUSTEES.-If any person appointed by order or decree of the court to the office of trustee or to any other fiduciary office shall give bond, with surety or sureties, for the due performance of his duties, he shall not be allowed to discharge said bond by receipts, releases, or acquittances from himself, as attorney for parties interested, to himself as such trustee or other fiduciary; but the funds or estate for the due application whereof he is responsible shall be considered as remaining in his hands, and said bond shall continue in force as against both principal and sureties until said funds or estate shall be fully accounted for and paid over or delivered to the parties interested therein, or their attorney, other than said trustee or other fiduciary duly authorized to receive the same.

CHAPTER XV.

CONDEMNATION OF LAND FOR PUBLIC USE.

Seufferle v.

Stat., 267, 484;

Sec. 483. LAND FOR United STATES AND DISTRICT OF commissioners, COLUMBIA. Whenever land in the District is needed for 28 D. C. App., 94; 32 D. C. App., 81; the use of the United States, or by the Commissioners of R. 8. D. C., secs. the District for sites of schoolhouses, fire or police sta- 252, 286; Comp. tions, or for a right of way for sewers, or for any other 26 Stat., 412. municipal use authorized by Congress, and the same can not be acquired by purchase from the owners thereof at a price satisfactory to the officers of the Government authorized to negotiate for the same, application may be made to the supreme court of the District by petition in the name of the United States or of said Commissioners, as the case may be, for the condemnation of said land or said right of way and the ascertainment of its value.

Sec. 484. PETITION, WHAT TO SHOW. Such petition shall contain a particular description of the property selected, with the names of the owners thereof and their residences, so far as the same may be ascertained, together with a plan of the land to be taken.

Sec. 483.
32 D. C. App.,

Sec. 485. CITATION TO OWNERS.-The said court, holding a district court of the United States, shall thereupon 81, etc. cite all the owners and other persons interested to appear in said court, at a time to be fixed by the court, to answer said petition; and if it shall appear to the court that there are any owners or other persons interested who are under disability, the court shall give public notice of the time at which it will proceed with the matter of condemnation; and at such time, if it shall appear that there are any persons under disability who have appeared or who have not appeared, the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for each such person, and shall thereupon proceed to appoint three capable and disinterested commissioners to appraise the value of the respective interests of all persons concerned in such lands, under such regulations as to notice and hearing as shall seem meet.

Sec. 486. CONDEMNATION AND PAYMENT.-Such commissioners shall thereupon, after being duly sworn for the proper performance of their duties, examine the premises and hear the persons in interest, who may appear before them, and return their appraisement of the value of the interests of all persons, respectively, in such land; and when such report, or the verdict of the jury hereinafter provided for, shall be confirmed by the court, the President of the United States, in cases of condemnation for the use of the United States, shall, if he thinks the public interest requires it, cause payment to be made out of the money appropriated by Congress therefor to the respec

Fowler

v.

Moore, 38 L. R., 219.

Secs. 491a-491g; Albemarle St.

32 D. C. App., 81;

tive persons entitled, according to the judgment of the court; and in case any of such persons are under disability or can not be found, or neglect to receive the payment, the money to be paid to any of them shall be deposited in the Treasury to their credit, unless there be some person lawfully authorized to receive the same under the direction of the court; and when such payments are so 'made, or the amounts belonging to persons to whom payment shall not be made are so deposited, the said lands shall be deemed to be condemned and taken by the United States for the public use.

Sec. 487. JURY.-If any of the parties interested, or the guardian ad litem appointed for any such person who may be under disability, shall be dissatisfied with the appraisement of the commissioners, the marshal shall be directed to summon a jury of seven disinterested men, not related to anyone interested, to meet and view the premises, giving the parties interested at least six days' notice of the time and place of meeting.

Sec. 488. BENEFITS. The marshal shall summon the jury and administer an oath to them that they will, without favor or partiality to anyone, to the best of their judgment, decide what damage each owner will sustain by reason of the taking of his land for any of the objects aforesaid. In making their decision, the jury shall take into consideration, whenever a part only is taken, the benefit to the remainder of the tract, and shall give their verdict accordingly.

Sec. 489. The jury having been upon the premises and, after hearing the parties, having assessed the damages, shall make out a written verdict, to be signed by them, or a majority of them, and attested by the marshal, who shall return the same to the court, where it shall be recorded. The verdict of the jury may be excepted to by any party interested, and may be set aside by the court for good reasons, and a new jury directed to be summoned.

Sec. 490. If the finding of the commissioners to appraise should not be objected to by the parties interested, and,' in cases of condemnation for the use of the District, the Commissioners of the District are satisfied therewith, or if the verdict of the jury is confirmed by the court and is satisfactory to the Commissioners of the District, the said Commissioners shall pay the amount awarded by the jury out of the appropriation made therefor, or deposit the same in the same manner as directed in section four hundred and eighty-six, aforesaid, and thereupon the land condemned shall become and be the property of the District.

Sec. 491. It shall be optional with the Commissioners ext., 36 L. R., 218; to abide by the verdict of the jury and occupy the land 38 L. R., 219; 37 appraised by them, or, within a reasonable time to be fixed L. R., 184, 290. by the court in its order confirming the verdict to abandon the same, without being liable to damage therefor. (32 Stat., Part I, p. 530.)

Subchapter I.—CONDEMNATION OF LAND FOR STREETS.

Sec. 491a. Whenever land is needed for the opening, extension, widening, or straightening of any street, avenue, road, or highway in the District of Columbia, authorized by Congress, the Commissioners of the District of Columbia may institute, in the supreme court of the District of Columbia, sitting as a district court, by petition, a proceeding in rem for the condemnation of the land needed.

Sec. 4916. Such petition shall contain a particular description of the land to be condemned and the names of the owners of the fee of said land and their residences, so far as the same may be ascertained, together with a plan of the land to be taken.

Sec. 491c. The said court shall cause public notice of not less than twenty days to be given of the institution of such proceeding, by advertisement in three daily newspapers published in the District of Columbia, which notice shall warn and require all persons having any interest in the proceeding to appear in court at a day to be named in said notice, and to continue in attendance until the court shall have made its final order ratifying and confirming the award of damages and the assessment of benefits by the jury herein provided for; and in addition to such public notice said court shall cause a copy of said notice to be served by the United States marshal for the District of Columbia, or his deputies, upon such owners of the land to be condemned as can be found by said marshal, or his deputies, within the District of Columbia, and upon the tenants and occupants of the same. The said court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for any person interested in the proceeding who may be under disability.

Sec. 491d. After the return of the marshal and the filing of proof of publication of the notice provided for in the preceding section said court shall cause a jury of five experienced, judicious, disinterested men, who shall be freeholders within the District of Columbia, not related to any person interested in the proceeding and not in the service or employment of the District of Columbia or of the United States, to be summoned by said marshal, to which jury the court shall administer an oath or affirmation that they are not interested in any manner in the land to be condemned, and are not related to the parties interested therein, and that they will, without favor or partiality, and to the best of their judgment, ascertain the damages each owner of land to be taken may sustain by reason of the opening, extension, widening, or straightening of said street, avenue, road, or highway, and the condemnation of the land needed for the purpose thereof, and to assess the benefits resulting therefrom as hereinafter provided.

Sec. 491e. The court, before accepting the jury, shall hear any objections that may be made to any member thereof, and shall have full power and authority to pass upon any such objections, and to excuse any juror or cause any vacancy 81254°-11- -9

in the jury, when empaneled, to be filled; and after the jury shall have been organized and shall have viewed and examined the land and premises affected by the condemnation proceeding they shall proceed, in the presence of the court, to hear and receive such evidence as may be offered or submitted on behalf of the District of Columbia and by any person or persons having any interest in the proceeding. When the hearing is concluded, the jury, or a majority of them, shall return to the court, in writing, their verdict, setting forth the amount found to be due and awarded to the owners of the land to be condemned as damages by reason of said opening, extension, widening, or straightening of said street, avenue, road, or highway, under the provisions hereof, and the lots, pieces, or parcels of land benefited by said opening, extension, widening, or straightening, and the amounts of the assessments for the benefits against the

same.

Sec. 491f. If a part only of any lot, piece, or parcel of ground is to be condemned, the jury, in determining its value, shall not take into consideration any benefits that may accrue to the remainder thereof from said opening, extension, widening, or straightening of said street, avenue, road, or highway, but such benefits shall be considered by the jury in determining what assessment shall be made or levied against such part of such lot, piece, or parcel of land as may not be taken as hereinbefore provided.

Sec. 491g. That of the amount found to be due and awarded as damages for and in respect of the land to be condemned for said opening, extension, widening, or straightening, plus the costs and expenses of the proceeding, such amount shall be assessed by the jury as benefits, and to the extent of such benefits against the lots, pieces, or parcels of land on each side of the street, avenue, road, or highway to be opened, extended, widened, or straightened, and against any and all other lots, pieces, or parcels of land which the jury may find will be benefited by the opening, extension, widening, or straightening, as the jury may find said lots, pieces, or parcels of land will be benefited; and in determining the amounts to be assessed against said lots, pieces, or parcels of land the jury shall take into consideration the respective situations and topographical conditions of said lots, pieces, or parcels of land, and the benefits and advantages they may severally receive from the opening, extension, widening, or straightening of the street, avenue, road, or highway. And where part of any lot, piece, parcel, or tract of land has been dedicated for the opening, extension, widening, or straightening of the street, avenue, road, or highway, the jury, in determining whether the remainder of said lot, piece, parcel, or tract is to be assessed for benefits, and the amount of benefits, if any, to be assessed thereon, shall also take into consideration the fact of such dedication and the value of the land so dedicated. If the total amount of the damages awarded by the jury and the costs and expenses of the proceeding be in excess of

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