McKnight v. United States

On both parties Appeals. The claimants bring their action on a certificate of a balance found due by the Comptroller of the Treasury, the requisition of the Secretary of War for funds to pay the same, and the warrant issued thereon by the Secretary of the Treasury. There is no proof to establish the facts oxi which the Comptroller acted. The defendants seek to recover back a payment made by the Treasury on the same accounting to the claimants as assignees of the claim. The court below holds: (1) That certificates and orders made previous to the issue of drafts for the payment of claims by the Treasury are mere departmental proceedings, from which parties acquire no new rights; (2) That accounts and balances stated and certified by the accounting officers are neither conclusive nor prima facie evidence of the indebtedness of the government, nor can an action be brought upon them; (3) That though the assignment of the claim was void under the Act 26th February, 1853 (10 Stat. L., 170; Bev. Stat., § 3477), yet if the Treasury recognized the assignment and paid the assignee the amount found due, no action will lie to recover it bach. Judgment accordingly, dismissing both the petition of the claimants and the counter-claim of the defendants. Both parties appeal. The judgement of the court below is affirmed on substantially the same grounds.