Kraft v. State

8 Ill. Ct. Cl. 118, 1934 Ill. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 54
Court of Claims of Illinois·Decided June 19, 1934·No. No. 1677·Published

Opinions

Mr. Justice Linsoott

delivered the opinion of the court:

The petitioner filed his claim with the clerk of the court on November 12, 1930, alleging that the State of Illinois is indebted to Mm in the sum of Ten Thousand Nine Hundred Thirty-five Dollars and Seventy-nine Cents ($10,935.79) for money paid and expended by him for the use of the State of Illinois. He avers that during the years of 1923 to 1928 inclusive, he was a Colonel of the 202nd Coast Artillery of the Illinois National Guard, commanding the Regiment, and that as such officer he found it necessary, in order to protect the properties of the State of Illinois and to carry on the work of the regiment, to purchase from time to time, certain goods, wares, merchandise, supplies and equipment for the enlisted men of the regiment and for a certain Armory belonging to the State of Illinois, located at the southeast corner of Thorndale Avenue and Broadway in the City of Chicago and known as the Broadway Armory. He also avers that the above mentioned sum of money was paid by him from his own funds and/or funds to which he was lawfully entitled in making the purchases, and that all of said purchases were for Armory supplies and equipment with the exception of Three Hundred Fourteen Dollars and Sixty Cents ($314.60) which was expended for supplies for the enlisted men in the regiment.

The petitioner also avers that it was absolutely impossible to carry on efficiently the work of said regiment and/or to protect the properties and interests of the State of Illinois without purchasing said goods, etc.; that the said State of Illinois has accepted and enjoyed the benefit of such purchases, and is, therefore, liable for the reimbursement to your petitioner; and the bill of particulars is attached to the complaint.

On December 20, 1930, an amended petition or declaration was filed, substantially the same as the first one, but the bill of particulars attached thereto is for the sum of Ten Thousand Nine Hundred Sixty-one Dollars and Forty-nine Cents ($10,961.49). There is one, however, noticeable exception. It is averred in this amended petition that the sums of money claimed by the petitioner had all been paid by him from his own funds, and/or funds to which he was lawfully entitled, and that all of the purchases were for the said Armory with the exception of Nine Hundred Eleven Dollars and Sixty-four Cents ($911.64) which was expended for supplies for the enlisted men in said regiment. The bill of particulars contains numerous items and supplies of one kind or another, and we are at a loss to know just what this means, and because of such uncertainty, we cannot consider it, and we do not find that there is anything in the evidence to throw light upon this proposition.

On January 30, 1934, by leave of court, an amendment was filed to the amended petition. This fixes the damages at the sum of Fifteen Thousand Three Hundred Thirty-four Dollars and Eighty-six Cents ($15,334.86), which was arrived at by figuring five (5) per cent, interest for each calendar year for the sum mentioned in the amended declaration, which amounted to Four Thousand Three Hundred Seventy-three Dollars and Thirty-seven Cents ($4,373.37).

To support these contentions, the claimant filed his deposition which was taken January 27, 1931, and thereafter introduced oral argument. It appears from the evidence that claimant had been a resident of the City of Chicago for quite a period of years and was on that date, 49 years old. His military experience consisted of a few months over thirty-one years of continuous service, that is, in the Federal and State service. During that period he had received a Certificate of Merit which was a recognition similar to a War Cross, issued during the late war. He had served in various insurrections in Central America; in Nicaragua, and the Panama Revolution in 1911; went to the border in 1916 and to France in 1917, and stayed there until sometime during the year 1919. He was discharged from the World War with the rank of captain; had been wounded during his military service, seven times, twice in the World War. When he returned from the World War, he helped organize the American Legion for about two years. He testified that he organized about thirty-eight posts that are still existing in Cook County and in 1921 started organizing the present 202nd Coast Artillery, and was made Colonel of that regiment in 1923, it being a regiment of National Guard Troops.

The following appears on page 5 of his deposition:

“Q. And you resigned when?

A. Resigned March 24, 1930.

Q. That was following the Board of Inquiry, or Efficiency Board?

A. Yes.”

Just what this had to do with the questions involved here, has been left unexplained. Later on he was asked:

“Q. During your time with the Marine Corps or in the Federal service during the World War were you ever charged with any withholding of funds or anything of that kind?

A. No, never reprimanded in my life by a superior officer.

Q. You were honorably discharged, and other than this Board of Inquiry your service has been without any question, is that right?

A. Always has.”

Just what the Board of Inquiry had to do with the resignation of the claimant is still a matter of doubt and conjecture.

It appears from his evidence that he received a salary of $175.00 per month from the State, up and until January 1,1927 when he resigned as custodian of the Armory. Proof is submitted that he applied this monthly salary to the Armory in making improvements therein and bettering the conditions. It is also shown that there were four different funds from which money was drawn for the military service, either by way of improvement to the armory or pay to the men. One was the Armory Rental Fund, which is derived from the armory sub-rentals to civilian organizations; two: the State fund, appropriated by the State to the Adjutant General’s Department; three: the National Guard Commission Fund, made up of donations from patriotic citizens; four: the Federal appropriation to the National Guard.

This court has not been supplied with an itemized statement of these funds, but it appears that the claimant also bought a number of circus seats for the armory and received rentals therefrom; that the Armory was rented for $100.00 per night for wrestling matches and $50.00 per night for basketball games, and there were other miscellaneous charges for rental.

It appears from the evidence that the claimant did expend large sums of money for the use and benefit of his regiment, particularly the Armory, but the court is at a loss to know why he resigned in the face of what we are led to believe was to be a military investigation of his activities. Nothing further appears from the record except that which would glorify an honorable patriotic record. That this claimant was led to believe that he would be reimbursed for these expenditures, appears from his testimony and an affidavit of Colonel Inglesh. An affidavit was filed with this court on June 13, 1934 from one Jules F.

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Kraft v. State, 8 Ill. Ct. Cl. 118, 1934 Ill. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 54 (Ill. Super. Ct. 1934).

8 Ill. Ct. Cl. 118 (Kraft v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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