Clark v. United States

• Citation: 102 U.S. 322,26 L.Ed. 181
• Parties: CLARK v. UNITED STATES
• Decision Date: 01 October 1880
• Court: United States Supreme Court

102 U.S. 322

102 U.S. 322

26 L.Ed. 181

CLARK v. UNITED STATES.

October Term, 1880

APPEAL from the Court of Claims.

This is a suit by James S. Clark and Edward Fulton, partners under the name and style of J. S. Clark & Co., to recover from the United States the sum of $10,000 alleged to have been extorted from the petitioners in December, 1864, by Col. Harai Robinson, then acting provost-marshal-general for the Department of the Gulf.

The court below found the following facts:—— I. On the 26th of October, 1864, the Secretary of the Treasury signed and delivered to the claimants the paper of that date, annexed to the petition; and on the same day Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, signed the order of that date, accompanying said paper, and also annexed to the petition.

II. On the 16th of November, 1864, the claimants delivered to George S. Denison, the acting collector of customs at New Orleans, a bond, duly executed, with proper and sufficient sureties, in the sum of $250,000, as required by the aforesaid paper signed by the Secretary of the Treasury.

III. On the 13th of December, 1864, on the United States ship 'Choctaw;' off Bayou Sara, La., John J. Cornwell, lieutenant-commander of the United States navy, commanding the second and third districts of the Mississippi River, issued the following order, addressed to naval officers between Bayou Sara and New Orleans: 'Pass the steamer 'Sciota,' Captain Owesney, with a cargo of three hundred and thirty-six (336) bales of cotton, to New Orleans, without molestation. The cotton was taken on board at Bayon Sara by my consent.'

IV. On the arrival of the steamer 'Sciota' at New Orleans, she and her cargo were seized by the United States military police, under the control of Col. Harai Robinson, then acting as provost-marshal-general of the Department of the Gulf, of which department Gen. S. A. Hurlbut was then in command.

V. After the seizure of the 'Sciota' and her cargo, General Hurlbut issued a special order, stating that, by direction of the major-general commanding the military division west of the Mississippi, the cotton brought by the steamer 'Sciota' should be disposed of as follows: A certain number of bales (number not shown) to be given to the claimants; the remainder to be turned over to O. N. Cutler, the United States purchasing-agent; and that the claimants, should give bonds for their appearance when required. On said Robinson's receipt of said order he sent for the claimants, and they appeared before him, and gave bonds; at which time they did not exhibit to him any papers in relation to the shipment of cotton. It was not the province of said Robinson to have anything to do with the receiving or disposing of the cotton.

VI. On or about the 21st of December, 1864, in the evening, after office hours, and claimants called on the said Robinson at his dwelling, and showed him the papers aforesaid, dated Oct. 26, 1864, signed by the Secretary of the Treasury and the President, which the said Robinson had not before seen or had any knowledge of, and the claimants asked him what he thought of that permit. He told them he thought it was a sweeping one; that it covered all ground. They answered that, notwithstanding that permit, the cotton aboard the 'Sciota' had been seized and detained, and themselves put under bond. He asked how that could be. They answered that the permit was of no account unless signed by the major-general commanding the department. He asked them if they had presented it to the general commanding. They said yes, and it had been refused. He then advised them to go to General Canby, who commanded the military division west of the Mississippi, and show the permit to him. They replied, 'You know that is useless by the very order which put us under bond: it states by order of the general commanding the military division west of the Mississippi.' They further said they were satisfied that it could not be done except by money; that money was wanted; and that they were willing to pay most liberally to have it signed; that that would cover and release their cotton. They said they would pay $10,000 to have that presidential permit indorsed, and their cotton released. He then told them to leave the permit with him, and he would see about it.

The next day the said Robinson took the permit to General Hurlbut, and told him the parties wished to have it signed by him. General Hurlbut replied, 'Yes, I have seen this permit before. I have refused to sign it.' Robinson then said, 'General, these men have offered a large amount of money to get this permit indorsed; there's money in it.' Hurlbut perused the permit carefully, and said, 'You must take that to Mr. Denison, and have him certify that the proper bonds have been filed by these parties, Clark and Fulton.' Robinson took the permit to said Denison, and advised him of the wishes of General Hurlbut. Denison then indorsed on the permit the following certificate:——

'CUSTOM-HOUSE, COLLECTOR'S OFFICE,

'NEW ORLEANS, LA., NOV. 16, 1864.

'I certify that J. S. Clark and E. Fulton have delivered to me a bond, duly executed, with proper and sufficient sureties, in the sum of $250,000, as required by the foregoing authority from the Secretary of the Treasury.

[SEAL.]

'GEO. S. DENISON,

'Sp. Ag't of Treasury Dep't & Act'g Collector of Customs.'

Robinson then took the permit back to Hurlbut, who placed on it the following indorsement:——

'HEADQ'RS DEP'T GULF, Dec. 23, 1864.

'The above executive order will be obeyed and respected by all military officers within this department.

'S. A. HURLBUT, M. G. C.'

That day, or the next, the claimants handed Robinson, at his dwelling, $5,000; and subsequently, on the same day, he handed that money back to them, stating to them that it did not suit him to receive it in that manner. They asked him how he would receive it. He told them he would receive it through Denison, the collector of the port. The next morning Denison handed him an envelope with $5,000 in it, out of which Robinson took $2,000 or $3,000 and gave it to General Hurlbut, and laid away the balance in the provost-marshal-general's office.

After that money was given to Robinson, the claimant Clark saw him again, and said to him, 'Now I have the permit indorsed, see if you can get my cotton released; see if General Hurlbut will give an order releasing or justifying the release of my cotton.' Robinson then saw Hurlbut and stated the facts to him, and Hurlbut then wrote the following paper:——

'HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF,

'NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 24, 1864.

'Pursuant to executive order of his exc'y the President of the United States, J. S. Clark and E. Fulton are permitted to bring the number of bales of cotton in said order mentioned from Ratcliff's Landing, on the Miss. River, 25 miles above Bayou Sara, on the steamer 'Sciota,' provided the same is received under protection of a gunboat. The taking of any passengers or freight to be landed at any point, or the payment of anything but United States treasury notes, will work forfeiture of steamer and cargo. The cotton returning on the boat will be reported and identified by Mr. O. N. Cutler and the prov. mar. gen'l.

'S. A. HURLBUT, M. G. C.'

The claimants then paid Robinson another $5,000, which was disposed of in the same manner as the first.

Afterward, and prior to the thirteenth day of February, 1865, they paid Robinson the further sum of $3,000, of which he gave $1,000 to General Hurlbut, and the rest was disposed of by Robinson in the provost-marshal-general's office.

Besides the moneys so received by Robinson from the claimants, other moneys were paid him by C. A. Weed & Co., the amount of which does not appear, and also the sum of $1,000 was paid him by the Courtney.

Of the whole amount paid him by all those parties, $8,000 went into the hands of General Hurlbut, who returned the same amount to Robinson on or about the 4th of April, 1865. With the remainder of said whole amount, or a part of it, Robinson purchased gold coin, which he deposited in the First National Bank of New Orleans, taking therefor certificates of deposit in favor of different officers of the bank, which they indorsed over to him, to the amount of $7,602.25.

VII. In January, 1865, a special commission in New Orleans was appointed by the Secretary of War, with the sanction of the President, and was in session there until May 5 following.

On the 13th of February, 1865, that commission placed the said Robinson in solitary confinement, and the same day stopped the payment of said certificates of deposit; and the amount of them, in gold coin, was afterward turned over by the commission to the Secretary of War, by whom the same was put as a special deposit in the Treasury Department until the 16th of June, 1869, when, at the request of the Secretary of War, the same was covered into the treasury.

That commission also took $8,000 from said Robinson, which was likewise turned over to the Secretary of War, by whom it was, with the addition of $40 interest, accrued on compound interest notes, paid into the treasury on the 10th of June, 1869.

VIII. The money paid as aforesaid by the claimants to said Robinson was paid by them with the corrupt motive and purpose on their part of procuring official action whereby their cotton should be released.

The following additional finding was allowed at the request of the claimants.

It does not appear that there were any interviews between the claimants and the said Robinson upon any subject, nor any offer of the payment of any sum or sums of money by them to the said Robinson, for any purpose, until after the seizure, by the United States military police, of the claimant's steamer 'Sciota' and the cargo of cotton thereon, which had been shipped from Bayou Sara, La., under the pass and supervision of Lieut.-Com. John J. Cornwell, of the United States steamship 'Choctaw,' on the thirteenth day of December, 1864.

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