by John Marshall Harlan

“ When New York had succeeded in raising 30,000 soldiers to be employed in suppressing the Rebellion, the United States, well knowing that the national existence was imperiled, and that the earnest co-operation and continued support of the states was required in order to maintain the Union, solemnly declared by the act of 1861 that 'the costs, charges, and expenses properly incurred' by any state in raising troops to protect the authority of the nation would be met by the general government. ”

“ The obligation of the United States to indemnify the state on account of such payment is quite as great as it would be if the transaction had occurred between the state and some corporation from which it borrowed the money. It is not the case of the state taking money out of one pocket to supply a deficiency in another over which it had full power; for, although the moneys brought into its treasury by the collection of taxes were under its control, the state was without power to manage and control taxes collected for the canal fund, except as provided in its constitution and laws. ”

“ The claim of New York, being for money and founded on an act of congress, was within the general jurisdiction of the court of claims. If not barred by limitation, it could, in the discretion of the secretary of the treasury, have been transmitted or certified to the court of claims, under the Bowman act, after its passage, for a finding of facts or law; and that court, when the Tucker act came into operation, could, under its thirteenth section, have rendered a final judgment, sending, however, to the treasury department a report of its proceedings. ”