[93] See Sixth Annual Report American National Red Cross, 1910, p. 160.
The circumstances of seizure had varied. Often when the fire was almost upon a store somebody would assume authority and break it open to give the stock to the people. In such a case the stock would have been destroyed by fire and there was no justice in the claim for seizure except where the owner as a consequence lost insurance. Irresponsible individuals who had no connection with relief committees had seized goods and impressed vehicles. Those who suffered loss through such lawless acts were unfortunate, but they had no real claim to reimbursement from the relief funds.
The same may be said of the individuals, the business houses, and the transportation companies whose goods were stolen, not seized, from freight cars and warehouses. Many claims for regrettable losses which might have been legitimate if brought against state, city, or person, were unjust when brought against the relief funds. Fraudulent attempts were also made to collect from the relief funds for losses that had no connection with the relief work and for losses that had never occurred. It was a perplexing problem to deal with these thousands of claims, the difficulties of which were increased by the insistence of those with the least valid claims.
The last report of the Department of Bills and Demands dated March 16, 1907, gives the following figures:
TABLE 27.—DISPOSAL OF CLAIMS ACTED UPON BY THE DEPARTMENT OF BILLS AND DEMANDS, TO MARCH 16, 1907
| Disposal of claims | CLAIMS PRESENTED | |
|---|---|---|
| Number | Amount claimed | |
| Claims rejected as a whole | 1,164 | $451,369.59 |
| Claims cancelled, withdrawn, etc. | 101 | 13,269.54 |
| Claims donated | 18 | 10,528.20 |
| Claims approved in whole or in part | 9,669 | 2,242,003.00 |
| Total | 10,952 | $2,717,170.33 |
TABLE 28.—PAYMENTS UPON CLAIMS ACTED UPON BY THE DEPARTMENT OF BILLS AND DEMANDS, TO MARCH 16, 1907
| Disposal of claims | CLAIMS PRESENTED | PAYMENTS MADE | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Amount claimed | Amount | Per cent of amount claimed | |
| Claims approved in whole or in part | 9,669 | $2,242,003.00 | $1,501,781.52 | 67.0 |
| All claims | 10,952 | 2,717,170.33 | 1,501,781.52 | 55.3 |
After March 16, 1907, a few long pending and new claims were paid. Some law suits had been settled, and a few were still pending against the Corporation when this report was prepared.
It thus appears that the trustees of the relief funds paid over a million and a half dollars for expenditures, many of which they had not authorized and were unable to control. They tried to pay only such part of the claims as represented supplies and service used in relief work. Just claims were cut down as a rule, so that a comparatively small number of claims were paid in full.