The duties of chief supervisors are prescribed by statute. Rev. St. §§ 2020, 2026. Their fees are also fixed by statute. Id. § 2031. To entitle a supervisor to a valid claim against the government, he must make it appear that the services performed were required by the letter of the former sections, or were such as were actually and necessarily performed in the proper execution of the duties therein prescribed. It must also appear that his charges therefor are covered by the latter section, or, if they are not fixed in the very words of that section, that, by analogy to some other service, he is entined to make a corresponding charge. If the services are only performed for his own convenience, or are manifestly unnecessary or useless,-even if they be such as he judges proper himself,-they cannot be made the basis of a claim against the government.
The petitioner in this case made a claim for his services in the general elections of 1890 and 1892 in the aggregate sum of $35,611.73, of which but $4,265.13 appear to have been for disbursements. Of this very large amount there was disallowed but $5,334.35, an amount which was further reduced by the judgment in his favor of $678.10 to $4,656.25, which is the amount in dispute here.
If the petitioner be entitled by law to the further sum claimed for what are in the main clerical services, he must receive judgment for them; but, as the dates of the approval of his accounts show that his services did not extend over a period of more than six months, he has at least no reason to complain of the illiberality of the government.
The approval of the district court goes only to the facts that the services were rendered as stated in the accounts, and that, in certain matters of discretion, the discretion was properly exercised. U.S. v. Jones, 134 U.S. 483, 10 Sup. Ct. 615; U.S. v. Barber, 140 U.S. 177, 179, 11 Sup. Ct. 751. Neither of these cases requires the allowance of charges obviously unnecessary.
The items disallowed by the court below will be considered in their order:
1. Item 4. Drawing instructions to supervisors, relative to their duties, 106 folios, at 15 cents a folio, $15.90. As this charge was expressly allowed in U.S. v. McDermott, 140 U.S. 151, 154, par. 5, 11 Sup. Ct. 746, and in U.S. v. Poinier, 140 U.S. 160, 163, par. 3, 11 Sup. Ct. 752, we do not understand why the item was rejected. Apparently it was an oversight. The attorney general concedes the allowance in his brief.
2. Item 5. Making copies of applications from different cities for appointment as supervisors, to be annexed to the reports made to the judge, 1,950 folios, at 15 cents a folio, $279.50. Rev. St. § 2012, requires that the court, when opened, shall proceed to appoint and commission under the hand of the judge two resident citizens of each election precinct, who shall be of different political parties, etc., as supervisors. Section 2026 seems to contemplate that the judge shall obtain his information as to the competency of the persons receiving these appointments through the chief supervisor, who is charged with the duty of receiving the applications of all persons for appointments to such positions; of presenting such applications to the judge, and furnishing information to him in respect to the appointment of such supervisors. The law does not require or contemplate that the original applications shall be retained by the chief supervisor, but rather that they shall be presented to the judge, who may preserve them or not, as he sees fit. There is not the slightest necessity for making copies of them. The offices to be filled are purely temporary, and as soon as the election is held and the reports made the supervisors are functi officio. The office of the applications is even more temporary than that of the supervisors, since as soon as the appointments are made the applications have served the purpose for which they were intended. To speak of them as the official records of the chief supervisor is to dignify them with a title and importance entirely foreign to their real functions. To retain the originals and furnish the judge with copies is only to burden the government with an utterly useless expense. There is nothing to show that these copies were ordered by the court.