23 Tracts of Land v. United States‪.‬

These proceedings were instituted in the District Court by the United States to condemn perpetual easement to flood 23 tracts of land in connection with the construction and maintenance of certain dams and reservoirs in the Muskingum River Valley as part of a flood control project for the Ohio River Basin. The appellant, C. A. Basquin, who was a lessee of one of the tracts involved with an oral option to purchase, filed an answer claiming the right as the owner of that tract to defend the action. The District Judge sustained the Governments contention that the appellant was not the proper party to assert the claim for compensation, from which ruling the appellant has appealed. The ruling involves a construction of the Anti-Assignment Statute, R.S. § 3477, 31 U.S.C.A. § 203.