Aycrigg

Having recovered judgment under a special act of Congress, infra, the plaintiffs in the three above-entitled causes seek to tax costs in the sum of $4,304.-25.

The books are virtually unanimous that, in order to subject the sovereign to liability for court costs, there must be clear and unequivocal statutory authorization. Such authorization is not to be inferred, however tempting the inference may be. It must be plainly spelled out.

To fix a cost-liability upon the Government, we must take the statute in question by its four corners, and ask ourselves, in the words of Shylock, “Is it so nominated in the bond?” And if the Court’s answer is once more Shylock’s, “I cannot find it; ‘tis not in the bond,” the successful private litigant must go forth without his costs.

1. The Applicable Statutes.

The present suits were brought under Private Law 35, April 21, 1949, 81st Congress, 1st Session, Chapter 86, 63 Stat. 1088 . That statute conferred jurisdiction upon this Court “to hear, determine, and render judgment upon the claims of all persons for reimbursement for damages and losses sustained as a result of a flood which occurred in December 1937 in levee district numbered 10, Yuba…