American Electric Construction Co. v. United States

This is a petition to review a final determination of the War Contracts Relief Board of the United States Navy r*epartment, denying a claim of the petitioners for the settlement of alleged war contract losses. The government has moved to dismiss on the ground that the petition was not timely filed.

A brief history of the statute in question will serve to point up the merit of the conclusion which the court has reached.

Section 6 of the Act of August 7, 1946, 60 Stat. 902 , provided that any claimant, dissatisfied with the decision of a government agency upon a claim for war contract losses, could, within six months, file a petition for relief in any Federal District Court of competent jurisdiction.

By the Act of June 25, 1948, 62 Stat. 869 , the Congress revised, codified and enacted into law Title 28 of the United States Code, “Judiciary and Judicial Procedure”. The new codification of Title 28 was set forth in Section 1 of the Act of June 25, 1948. Subsequent sections of the Act dealt with certain miscellaneous aspects of judicial procedure not encompassed in Title 28. Among these miscellaneous provisions was Section 37, 62 Stat. 992 , which amended Section 6 of the Act of…