of the judgment, if any, to be entered in said action. The proceeds of the judgment, less the amount deductible for attorneys' compensation and the amount deductible for necessary and proper expenses, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Indians having rights in the Quinaielt Reservation as established under the treaty of July 1, 1855, and January 25, 1856 (12 Stat. 971), the Executive order of November 4, 1873, and any subsequent Acts of Congress: Provided, That the plaintiff in the aforesaid pending action may amend its petition to conform to this Act and the Act of August 13, 1946 (Public, 726, Seventy-ninth Congress)." Approved July 24, 1947. (See 102 C. Cls. 822.) LEGISLATION Relating to THE COURT OF CLAIMS XXVII [PUBLIC LAW 324-80TH CONGRESS] [CHAPTER 446-1ST SESSION] [H. R. 3690] AN ACT To amend the Federal Tort Claims Act. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 410 (a) of the Federal Tort Claims Act (Public Law 601, Seventy-ninth Congress, title IV) is hereby amended so that it shall read as follows: "SEC. 410. (a) Subject to the provisions of this title, the United States district court for the district wherein the plaintiff is resident or wherein the act or omission complained of occurred, including the United States district courts for the Territories and possessions of the United States, sitting without a jury, shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear, determine, and render judgment on any claim against the United States, for money only, accruing on and after January 1, 1945, on account of damage to or loss of property or on account of personal injury or death caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of any employee of the Government while acting within the scope of his office or employment, under circumstances where the United States, if a private person, would be liable to the claimant for such damage, loss, injury, or death in accordance with the law of the place where the act or omission occurred. Subject to the provisions of this title, the United States shall be liable in respect of such claims, to the same claimants, in the same manner, and to the same extent, as a private individual under like circumstances, except that the United States shall not be liable for interest prior to judgment, or for punitive damages: Provided, however, That in any case wherein death was caused, where the law of the place where the act or omission complained of occurred, provides, or has been construed to provide, for damages only punitive in nature, the United States shall be liable for actual or compensatory damages, measured by the pecuniary injuries resulting from such death to the persons, respectively, for whose benefit the action was brought, in lieu thereof. Costs shall be allowed in all courts to the successful claimant to the same extent as if the United States were a private litigant, except that such costs shall not include attorneys' fees." SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect as of August 2, 1946, and, notwithstanding the provisions of section 420 of the Federal Tort Claims Act, no claim which accrued on or after January 1, 1945, and prior to the date of enactment of this Act on account of death caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of any employee of the Government shall be barred by reason of such provisions if (a) the law of the place where such act or omission occurred provides, or has been construed to provide, only for damages punitive in nature, and (b) suit on such claim is instituted pursuant to part 3 of the Federal Tort Claims Act not later than August 2, 1948. Approved August 1, 1947. (See 106 C. Cls. xvii.) CASES DECIDED IN THE COURT OF CLAIMS July 1, 1947, to January 31, 1948, and other cases not heretofore published. A. M. LANDMAN, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE FIVE [No. 46964. Decided May 5, 1947]* Estate tax; inclusion within gross estate of land allotted to full-blood Creek Indian and transferred by death.-In a suit by plaintiff, as the superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians, to recover estate taxes assessed against the estate of Punskee Field, a full-blood Creek Indian who died intestate on June 5, 1940; it is held that under the provisions of Section 4 of the Act of May 10, 1928, and prior acts, the inclusion within decedent's gross estate of the 160 acres allotted to the decedent in accordance with the Creek Agreement (31 Stat. 861) and subsequent amendatory acts, and duly recorded as required by the statutes, was erroneous; and plaintiff is entitled to recover so much of the estate tax assessed which resulted from the wrongful inclusion in decedent's gross estate of the value.of the allotted lands. See Landman, Supt. v. United States, 103 C. Cls. 199. Same; Indian tax exemption liberally construed; immaterial that statute exempting allotted lands from taxation does not mention estate or inheritance taxes.-In the case of Oklahoma State Tax Commission v. United States, 319 U. S. 598, it was held that the fact that the Federal statutes granting tax exemptions on Indian allotted lands do not mention inheritance or estate taxes, is unimportant, since, contrary to the general rule, Indian tax exemptions are to be liberally construed. Same; Oklahoma Tax Commission case controlling as to Federal as well as to State taxes.-In the Oklahoma Tax Commission case, the tax under consideration was a State tax; the tax levied in the case at bar is a Federal tax, but this is immaterial, since the Petitions for writs of certiorari denied. 1 Reporter's Statement of the Case 109 C. Cls. two taxes are identical in character; both are estate taxes levied upon transfers of property by death. Same; income from oil royalties and resulting investments not exempt.-With respect to the property of the decedent comprising the oil royalties derived prior to April 26, 1931, directly from the 160 acres of allotted land, and hence also the securities and other property into which the royalties were converted; it is held that under the decision in the Oklahoma Tax Com mission case, and the applicable statutes, treaties and agreements, the oil royalties and the funds and securities derived therefrom are not exempt from estate taxes and plaintiff is not entitled to recover on this item of the claim in the instant case. The Reporter's statement of the case: Mr. Huston Thompson for the plaintiff. Mr. John W. Hussey, with whom was Mr. Assistant Attorney General Douglas W. McGregor, for the defendant. Messrs. Robert N. Anderson and Fred K. Dyar were on the brief. The Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians sues on behalf of the estate of Punskee Field, deceased, a restricted full-blood Creek Indian, to recover $6,847.18 estate tax assessed and collected by defendant. The estate of Field consisted, at the date of his death on June 5, 1940, of his allotment of 160 acres of land and the oil and gas royalty interest therein, and, also, certain cash and U. S. Treasury bonds and real estate which had been purchased in part with the decedent's direct income in the form of royalties from oil and gas produced from the 160 acres of allotted land. Plaintiff claims that the 160 acres of allotted land including the royalty interest therein, and the direct income in the form of oil and gas royalties which had been derived from such allotted land up to April 26, 1931, are exempt from the Federal estate tax. The court, having made the foregoing introductory statement, entered special findings of fact as follows: 1. Plaintiff is a citizen of the United States and a resident of Muskogee, Oklahoma, and is the duly appointed and acting Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians, and has under his supervision and jurisdiction the affairs |