point on the highway where a cross road running east and west intersects the said highway, just at the south property line of the Arcadia High School, her husband stopped his wagon, due to the fact that he wished to make a left turn into the said cross road; that he stopped in order to allow a Civilian Conservation Corps truck, which was proceeding south on the said highway, to pass; that when she first saw the truck it was going at a very rapid rate of speed; that she noticed several little girls playing on the east side of the said highway; that one of them ran in front of the wagon, across the highway; that she was struck by the said Civilian Conservation Corps truck and carried a distance of some 75 feet before the truck came to a stop; that there was nothing to obstruct the view of the driver of the said truck.

STELLA HENDERSON.

Sworn to and subscribed before me, notary public, and the two undersigned competent witnesses.

Witnesses:

Notary Public.

B. F. DURRETT.
DAVID LYONS.

О

N. F. CLOWER AND ELIJAH WILLIAMS

JULY 5, 1939.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. McGEHEE, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 2056]

The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2056) for the relief of N. F. Clower and Elijah Williams, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill, as amended, do pass.

The amendment is as follows:

Strike out all the wording on page 1, lines 18 to 25, both inclusive, and on page 2, lines 1 to 6, both inclusive, and insert in lieu thereof the following:

Second Civil District, County of Shelby and State of Tennessee, to wit: Lot Number 42, Block 1, of W. O. Crump's Warford Avenue Subdivision, as shown in Plat Book 8, at page 205, of the Register's Office for the County of Shelby in the State of Tennessee, said land beginning on the north side of Calvert Avenue at the northwest corner of Branch Street forty (40) feet; thence north parallel with Branch Street one hundred twenty-five (125) feet; thence east parallel with Calvert Avenue forty (40) feet to the west side of Branch Street; thence south with said west line one hundred twenty-five (125) feet to the beginning, together with the hereditaments and appurtenances thereunto belonging.

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury for, and on behalf of, the United States of America, to execute to N. F. Clower, of Shelby County, Tenn., and to Elijah Williams, of Shelby County, Tenn., quitclaim deeds conveying any right, title, and interest of the United States of America in certain described real estate in Tennessee.

It is further provided that the clerk of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, at Memphis, be authorized and directed to satisfy of record the judgment obtained by the United States of America against N. F. Clower and Elijah Williams, as sureties on the forfeited bail bond of Robert Rhone, who was charged with violation of the United States Internal Revenue Act and who failed to appear as required by law, but who, subsequent to the first

setting of his trial and within the same term of court, made his appearance, stood trial on July 21, 1937, was convicted, sentenced, and has served his time and been discharged.

In compliance with the recommendation of the Attorney General, the bill further provides that as a condition precedent to the reconveyance of the property and the satisfaction of the judgment the claimants pay to the United States their proportionate share of the sum of $167.96, said sum representing costs and expenses incurred by the Government.

The facts will be found more fully described in Senate Report No. 335, which is appended hereto and made a part of this report. Also appended hereto is a letter from the Treasury Department, dated June 2, 1939, and addressed to Hon. Ambrose J. Kennedy, chairman of this committee, wherein the amendment as made in this bill is suggested. It will be noted that the Treasury Department favors the passage of the bill as amended.

[S. Rept. No. 335, 76th Cong., 1st sess.]

The files of the Department of Justice show that on June 16, 1937, Robert Rhone was indicted on a charge of operating a still in violation of the internalrevenue laws; that he was released on bond in the sum of $1,000 on which N. F. Clower and Elijah Williams were sureties; that defendant failed to appear on the date set for his arraignment and on June 24, 1937, the bond was forfeited. Judgment was entered against the sureties on November 8, 1937, in the sum of $1,000 with costs.

In July 1938 certain real property belonging to the sureties was sold in execution of the judgment. The United States bid it in for the sum of $960, of which the sum of $710 was paid for the Williams property and the sum of $250 for the Clower property. After applying this amount to the judgment there remained a balance due of $205.46 which is still unsatisfied. The bill proposes that the United States reconvey the property to claimants and cancel the balance due on the judgment.

On July 19, 1937, less than a month after the default, the defendant was produced by the sureties for trial. He was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment in a penitentiary for a term of 2 years. He was subsequently released on a writ of habeas corpus, the court holding that the count of the indictment on which he was convicted was void.

The Attorney General states that "I find no objection to the enactment of the bill, if it is amended to provide that as a condition precedent to the reconveyance of the property and the satisfaction of the judgment the claimants pay to the United States the sum of $167.96," the amount of costs and expenses incurred by the United States.

The following letter from the Attorney General is appended hereto and made a part of this report as follows:

Hon. M. M. LOGAN,

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL,
Washington, D. C., April 19, 1939.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Claims,

United States Senate, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR SENATOR: I have your letter of April 5, requesting my views concerning the merits of the bill (S. 2056) to provide that the United States shall convey to N. F. Clower and Elijah Williams title to certain real property located in Shelby County, Tenn.; and to provide for the satisfaction of the judgment secured against them as a result of the forfeiture of a bail bond filed in a criminal proceeding against Robert Rhone in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

The files of this Department show that on June 16, 1937, Robert Rhone was indicted on a charge of operating a still in violation of the Internal Revenue laws. He was released on bond in the sum of $1,000 on which N. F. Clower and Elijah Williams were sureties. The defendant failed to appear on the date set for his arraignment and on June 24, 1937, the bond was forfeited. Judgment was entered against the sureties on November 8, 1937, in the sum of $1,000 with costs.

In July 1938 certain real property belonging to the sureties was sold in execution of the judgment. The United States bid it in for the sum of $960, of which the sum of $710 was paid for the Williams property and the sum of $250 for the Clower property. After applying this amount to the judgment there remained a balance due of $205.46 which is still unsatisfied.

The pending bill proposes to provide that the United States shall reconvey the above-mentioned property to N. F. Clower and Elijah Williams and cancel the balance of $205.46 due on the judgment.

On July 19, 1937, less than a month after the default, the defendant was produced by the sureties for trial. He was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment in a penitentiary for a term of 2 years. He was subsequently released on a writ

of habeas corpus, the court holding that the count of the indictment on which he was convicted was void.

I am informed that Clower is 84 years of age and that the property includes his home.

The Government incurred costs and expenses in this matter aggregating the sum of $167.96.

In view of the foregoing consideration, I find no objection to the enactment of the bill, if it is amended to provide that as a condition precedent to the reconveyance of the property and the satisfaction of the judgment, the claimants pay to the United States the above-mentioned sum of $167.96.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to S. 2056, for the relief of N. F. Clower and Elijah Williams, which passed the Senate May 4, 1939, was introduced in the House of Representatives, and is now pending before your committee. The bill authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Treasury to execute quitclaim deeds to Clower and Williams, covering certain lands in Shelby County, Tenn., sold to the United States under execution.

From the records of this Department and information supplied by the Department of Justice it appears that the parcels of real estate in question were scheduled by Clower and Williams as sureties upon a bail bond given to secure the appearance of one Robert Rhone in criminal case No. 5198, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. From a copy of a letter dated December 22, 1938, from the United States attorney's office in Memphis, it appears that Rhone failed to appear for arraignment on the indictment as required on June 24, 1937, that a forfeiture of the bail bond was declared, that Clower and Williams very shortly thereafter apprehended the defendant and delivered him into the custody of the court, that Rhone pleaded not guilty on July 19, 1937, and that a jury trial on July 21, 1937, resulted in his conviction. The United States attorney's office has advised that Clower and Williams are uneducated Negroes past middle age, Clower being 84, of very limited means, that the property sold to the Government is worth less than $1,000, the principal amount of the bond, and that the property acquired from Clower includes his home and another parcel, the rent of which constitutes his only means of support.

The sale of Clower's property took place on July 9, 1938, and Williams' property was sold on July 30, 1938, both sales being pursuant to designations by this Department of agents to bid at the execution sales on behalf of the United States under section 3470 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (U. S. C., title 31, sec. 195). The judgment and costs totaled $1,165.46. The Clower property was bid in by the United States for $710 and the Williams property for $250, the sum of these amounts being credited upon the judgment and costs. The judgment debtors jointly offered $200 for release of the property, but this sum was insufficient either to permit redemption under the Tennessee statute or under section 3751 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (U. S. C., title 40, sec. 306). There is some doubt as to whether this Department might properly offer its interest in the property for public sale prior to the execution of deeds by the United States marshal, but even if this might be done, a public sale might result in a conveyance to an outside party offering more than the judgment debtors can afford, thus complicating their efforts to clear the title to the property.

H. Repts., 76-1, vol. 542