Clarkson v. Stevens

• Decision Date: 27 November 1882
• Citation: 106 U.S. 505,1 S.Ct. 200,27 L.Ed. 139
• Parties: CLARKSON and others v. STEVENS and others
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

106 U.S. 505

1 S.Ct. 200

27 L.Ed. 139

CLARKSON and others v. STEVENS and others.

November 27, 1882.

Walter N. Clarkson and F. W. Stevens, for plaintiffs in error.

John P. Stockton and Leon Abbett, for defendants in error.

MATTHEWS, J.

The controversy in this case arises between the plaintiffs in error, who are, with others, heirs at law of Robert L. Stevens deceased, and the state of New Jersey, and involves the title to an uncompleted ship-of-war known as the Stevens battery.

The claim of the plaintiffs in error is founded on a resolution of congress approved July 17, 1862, (12 St. 628,) as follows:

'A resolution releasing to the heirs at law of Robert L. Stevens, deceased, all the right, title, and interest of the United States in and to Stevens battery.

'Resolved, by the senate and house of representatives of the United States of America, in congress assembled, that all the right, title, and interest of the United States in and to Stevens battery be, and the same hereby are, released and conveyed to the heirst at law of the and conveyed to the heirs at law of the representatives.'

Robert L. Stevens died in 1856, having his domicile in New Jersey, and by his will constituted his brother, Edwin A. Stevens, who was one of his heirs at law, and whom he made one of his executors, his sole residuary devisee and legatee.

Edwin A. Stevens died August 7, 1868, and by his will, conceiving himself to be the owner of the unfinished vessel, of which he had been in possession since the death of his brother, and claiming as his residuary legatee, he directed his executors to complete it on his general plan, at a cost not exceeding $1,000,000, and then to offer it to the state of New Jersey as a present. The executors, after having expended $919,915.49 upon the vessel, found that they could not finish it for the amount of money to which they were limited, and discontinued the work. In the mean time the state of New Jersey had accepted the bequest, and the consent of congress thereto was given in the following resolution, approved July 1, 1870:

'A resolution giving the consent of congress to the reception of a certain bequest by the State of New Jersey under the will of the late Edwin A. Stevens.

'Whereas, Edwin A. Stevens, who was in his life-time the owner of the ship known as the Stevens battery, originally commenced under contract for the United States government, and upon the building of which large sums of money were spent by his brother and himself, did, by his last will and testament, (the United States having previously relinquished all claims to said ship,) leave the same to be finished by his executors, at an expense not exceeding the sum of $1,000,000, and when finished to be offered to the state of New Jersey as a present, to be by her received and disposed of as the said state shall deem proper; and

'Whereas, doubts have been suggested as to the right of the said state to accept the said bequest without the consent of congress, under the prohibition of the tenth section of the first article of the constitution of the United States; therefore,

'Resolved, by the senate and house of representatives of the United States of America, in congress assembled, that the consent of congress is hereby given that the state of New Jersey shall receive and dispose of the said ship according to the terms and conditions of said bequest.'

A bill in equity was filed in the chancery court of New Jersey by the executors of Edwin A. Stevens, asking for a construction of the will in certain particulars, including the question arising upon this bequest to the state of New Jersey. The attorney general appeared on behalf of the state, and filed an information by way of a cross-bill, to which the heirs at law of Robert L. Stevens were made parties, as claiming an adverse title. A final decree was made, establishing the title of the state, which was affirmed on appeal by the court of errors and appeals. To reverse that decree the present writ of error is prosecuted, the question presented being one, which, as it arises under a law of the United States, and the decision thereon of the state court being in denial of the title claimed under the authority thereof, falls within the jurisdiction of this court.

To determine the proper construction and legal effect of the resolution of congress of July 17, 1862, it becomes necessary to trace from its origin the history of the Stevens battery.

An act of congress 'authorizing the construction of a war-steamer for harbor defense,' approved April 14, 1842, enacted 'that the secretary of the navy be and he is hereby authorized to enter into a contract with Robert L. Stevens for the construction of a war-steamer, shot and shell proof, to be built principally of iron, upon the plan of the said Stevens: provided the whole cost, including the hull, armament, engines, boiler, and equipment, in all respects complete for service, shall not exceed the average cost of the steamers Missouri and Mis- sissippi;' and $250,000 was thereby appropriated towards carrying the law into effect. 5 St. at Large, 472.

In pursuance of this law, on February 10, 1843, the secretary of the navy entered into a contract with Robert L. Stevens for the construction of a war-steamer for harbor defense, which recited his proposal, describing the vessel, and containing certain specifications as to its construction, with a covenant on his part that he would faithfully build and construct the steamer conformably to the plan submitted, and complete the same within two years, provided congress should make the further appropriations necessary for the purpose within a reasonable period.

According to the plan proposed the war-steamer was to be shot and shell proof against the artillery then in use on board vessels-of-war, viz., from 18-pounders to 64-pounders; to be propelled by submerged machinery, called Stevens' circular shells; to have greater speed than any of our steam vessels-of-war then built; the whole engine to be out of the way of shot from any vessel of an enemy; and with other specifications as to the character of the material and the dimensions and relations of the parts, which are important to be noticed only so far as to show that the proposed vessel was to be constructed upon a plan original and novel, and with the expectation of results not previously obtained in any naval construction.

On November 14, 1844, the secretary of the navy and Stevens entered into an explanatory contract, which recited that the stipulations of the former had been found to be too loose and indefinite as to the details of its execution, and that the parties considering themselves bound by so much thereof as related to the dimensions, power, ability to resist shot and shell, and other qualities and arrangements of the vessel, and the amount to be paid therefor, entered into further stipulations modifying and explaining the same. The time for the completion and delivery of the vessel was extended two years from the date of the new contract. Many additional specifications as to the details of construction were inserted. It was agreed that if the cost of making any models or patterns used in the construction should be included in bills paid by the United States in the course of the work or at its completion, they should become the property of the United States.

It was also agreed that the secretary of the navy should appoint some person, whom Stevens should admit within his establishment for building said vessel, whose duty it should be to receive and receipt for, on account of the navy department, all materials delivered therein for constructing said steamer; which materials, when so received and receipted for, should be distinctly marked with the letters U. S. and should become the property of and belong to the United States; and it should be his further duty to certify all accounts, presented and certified by Stevens, for materials and labor, which should form the evidence on which payment should be made; but the authority of such inspecting officer, it was understood, should not extend to a right to judge of the quality or fitness of the materials or workmanship, but merely as to the cost thereof; 'it being understood,' the contract proceeds, 'that the quality and fitness thereof, with other matters concerning the performance of the contract, are to be inspected and determined in the manner hereinafter provided for.'

It was thereupon further stipulated that, before the final payment for the said war-steamer should be made, a certificate should be rendered to the navy department that in her construction, armament, and equipment, all the provisions of the contract had been fully performed by Stevens, which certificate should be given and signed by persons appointed to examine the vessel,—one by Stevens, one by the secretary of the navy, and, in case of disagreement, a third by the other two,—the decision of the majority to be conclusive. It was also agreed that Stevens, in lieu of other security for the faithful performance of the contract on his part, should make to the United States a mortgage, which should be a first lien on all the land, docks, wharves, slips, and all their appurtenances belonging to and embraced within the establishment at Hoboken, New Jersey, at which the war-steamer was to be constructed, with ample power to enter upon and sell the same in case of failure on the part of the said Stevens to fulfill his part of the contract, or so much thereof as should be necessary to complete any deficiencies on his part.

The secretary of the navy agreed to pay, as the price of the said war-steamer when fully completed and delivered at the navy-yard at Brooklyn, in conformity with the contract the sum of $586,717.84, the supposed mean cost of the steamers Missouri and Mississippi, or any additional sum that might afterwards be ascertained as properly included in that cost, to be indorsed on the contract 'as the...