'This action is brought by the assignee of Robert Erwin, under the provisions of the following act of congress, (19 St. at Large, c. 51,) which became a law February 5, 1877, without the president's approval:
"An act for the relief of Robert Erwin.
"Be it enacted, etc., that the court of claims may take jurisdiction under the provisions of the act of March 12, 1863, entitled 'An act to provide for the collection of abandoned property and for the prevention of frauds in insurrectionary districts within the United States,' of the claims of Robert Erwin, of Savannah, Ga., for property alleged to have been taken from him, which claims were by accident or mistake of his agent or attorney, and without fault or neglect on his part, as is claimed, not filed within the time limited by said act.'
'The petition, which was filed February 17, 1886, alleges, as the cause of action, that 'the said Robert Erwin, then a citizen of the state of Georgia, on the twenty-first day of December, 1864, was the exclusive owner, in his own right, of 283 bales of upland cotton, stored in the said city of Savannah, which, on or about that day, was seized and captured by persons duly authorized and acting in behalf of the United States, and the proceeds of the sale made thereof, amounting, as is believed, and it is here charged, to the net sum of $49,618.39, were paid into the treasury of the United States, pursuant to the provisions of the act of congress approved March 12, 1863, (chapter 120,) commonly called the 'Captured and Abandoned Property Act.' And on or about the first day of July, 1865, he was also the owner, exclusively, and in his own right, of another lot of 261 bales of sea-island cotton, then stored at and in the warehouse of Evans & Parnell, in the town of Thomasville, in said state of Georgia, which, on or about that day, was also so seized and captured by persons duly authorized and acting in behalf of the United States, was removed to and stored at the government cotton-press in the city of Savannah, where it remained in the custody of said agents of the United States until in the month of August following, when it was by them forwarded, upon the schooner Enchantress, to Simeon Draper, the United States treasury agent in the city of New York, by whom it was subsequently sold for the account of the United States; and the proceeds thereof, amounting, as is believed and it is here charged, to the net sum of $119,857.34, were duly accounted for by Simeon Draper, and were paid into the treasury of the United States in conformity with the said captured and abandoned property act. On the thirty-first day of December, 1868, the firm of Erwin & Hardee, of which said Robert Erwin was a member, filed their petition in bankruptcy under the provisions of the acts of congress relating thereto, in pursuance of which, on the fifteenth of January, 1869, they were duly adjudged bankrupts. And in the proceedings had in such bankruptcy one Robert H. Footman was appointed and qualified as assignee of said Erwin & Hardee, and proceeded in the administration of the trust until February 23, 1877, when, uypon his resignation thereof, your petitioner, the claimant, was appointed to succeed him, and was duly qualified as assignee of said bankrupts, and the claimant now avers that under and in virtue of the assignment in bankruptcy of the when, upon his resignation thereof, your & Hardee, and each of them, an of the proceedings had in the court in that regard, the claims of said Erwin, hereinbefore mentioned, against the United States, and for which this suit is prosecuted, became and now are vested in the claimant, who is now duly qualified and acting as assignee of said bankrupt, as is hereinbefore alleged.'
'The defendants file a motion to dismiss for want of jurisdiction, and also a general demurrer, under each of which three objections are raised against the claimant's petition: '1. It is argued that the act under which the suit is brought was, in the words of the title, 'for the relief of Robert Erwin,' and not for his creditors through the assignee in bankruptcy previously appointed, and that the latter acquired no rights thereby, both because the act was not intended for him (Strong v. Hopkins, 2 Paine, 584,) and because the right to sue was a valuable right or privilege acquired after the appointment of the assignee, and did not pass by the assignment.
'2. It is also argued that an assignee in bankruptcy has no right to keep the estate open, and bring actions nine years after his appointment. Rev. St. § 5057; Bailey v. Glover, 21 Wall. 346; Walker v. Towner, 4 Dill. 165.