Section 2
SEC. 2. It shall he the duty of said court upon due notice to the claimants and to the representative of the Navy Department as hereinafter provided, to determine the ownership, identification, and value of the cascoes in question, as well as their status and use prior to the time of seizure, and whether or not, under the guise of trading, they were so disposed as to be of service to or were actually used by the insurgents, and whether in any other manner they or their owners continued to aid the insurrectionary movement, and to determine what sums, if any, ought to be paid to the several claimants. The court may receive all evidence heretofore taken by the board of officers on claims in respect in the claims aforesaid, and such other competent evidence as the parties may tender.