Commercial Trust Co of New Jursey v. Miller

• Decision Date: 10 April 1923
• Docket Number: No. 575,575
• Citation: 43 S.Ct. 486,262 U.S. 51,67 L.Ed. 858
• Parties: COMMERCIAL TRUST CO. OF NEW JURSEY v. MILLER, Alien Property Custodian
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

262 U.S. 51

43 S.Ct. 486

67 L.Ed. 858

COMMERCIAL TRUST CO. OF NEW JURSEY

v MILLER, Alien Property Custodian.

No. 575.

Argued April 10, 1923.

Decided Apr l 23, 1923.

Mr. Selden Bacon, of New York City, for appellant.

Mr. James A. Fowler, of Knoxville, Tenn., for appellee.

Mr. Justice McKENNA delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is a suit under the Trading with the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917, and the amendment of November 4, 1918, 40 Stat. 411, 1020 (Comp. St. Ann. Supp. 1919, § 3115 1/2 a et seq.). It was commenced by Francis P. Garvan as Alien Property Custodian. He ceasing to be such, Thomas W. Miller was appointed his successor, and substituted as petitioner.

Section 7 of the act provides that, 'if the President shall so require, any money or other property * * * held for the benefit of an enemy,' without license 'which the Prsident after investigation shall determine * * * is so held, shall be conveyed, transported, assigned, delivered, or paid over to the alien property custodian.'

The act has received exposition in Central Trust Co. v. Garvan, 254 U. S. 554, 41 Sup. Ct. 214, 65 L. Ed. 403, and Stoehr v. Wallace, 255 U. S. 239, 41 Sup. Ct. 293, 65 L. Ed. 604, and what it authorizes, and the conditions of the exercise of its authorization determined.

Whatever problems the act presents those cases resolve. They decide that the President's power may, under section 5¹ of the act (Comp. St. 1918, Comp. St. Ann. Supp. 1919, § 3115 1/2 c), be delegated to and be exercised by the Custodian, and that the determination of the Custodian is conclusive whether right or wrong. And it may be exercised by forcible seizure of the property or by suit and, if by suit, the suit is purely possessory and must be yielded to; the right of any claimant being postponed to subsequent assertion. And it was decided that the Custodian acquires by suit 'nothing but the preliminary custody, such as would have been gained by seizure. It attaches the property to make sure that it is forthcoming if finally condemned and does no more.' In other words, and in comprehensive description, the act may be denominated an exercise of governmental power in the emergency of war and its procedure is accommodated to and made adequate to its purpose, but securing as well, the assertion of opposing or countervailing rights 'by a suit in equity unembarrassed by the President's executive determination,' and if the claimant 'prevails' the property 'is to be forthwith returned to him.'

These are the determining generalities, and the Circuit Court of Appeals applying them, affirmed the decree of the District Court, adjudging, ordering and decreeing that the Commercial Trust Company of New Jersey 'do forthwith convey, transfer, assign, deliver and pay to Thomas W. Miller, as Alien Property Custodian, all of the money and other property held by it under a certain trust agreement entered into on January 30, 1913,' between the company and Frederick Wesche and Helene J. von Schierholz. A list of the moneys and other property was attached to the decree.

It was recited in the trust agreement that the property which consisted of bonds, was held 'for the joint account of said Frederick Wesche and Helene J. von Schierholz, and to collect the interest to become due and payable on said bonds' for their joint account, and to deliver the bonds from time to time as requested, to either 'or to the survivor of them, it being understood that the said bonds and the said interest money to be collected thereon are to be held and collected and delivered or paid over to either the said Frederick Wesche or to the said Helene J. von Schierholz, or to the survivor of them.'

In addition to the above, the following may be quoted from the opinion of the Circuit Court of Appeals:

'The Trust Company, in compliance with the provisions of the act, made a report in December, 1917, that it held stocks, bonds, mortgages, securities and money, of the value of about $600,000, in trust, as to both principal and interest, for the joint account of Frederick Wesche, of Paris, France, and Helene J. vo Schierholz, of Plaue, Germany, to be delivered and paid to either upon his or her sole demand, or to the survivor.

'Upon investigation the Alien Property Custodian determined that Wesche was a neutral and von Schierholz an alien enemy not holding a license from the President, and demanded surrender of the securities. Because the neutral had power upon his sole order to withdraw the whole property, the Trust Company thought the Alien Property Custodian had no right to it and accordingly declined to yield possession. Because the alien enemy had like power upon her sole order to withdraw the whole property and acquire its possession, the Alien Property Custodian thought he had a right to it and accordingly demanded it. The question is, Which was right?'

The court answered the Custodian by virtue of his power under the act and the efficacy of its exercise. This appeal disputes the answer, and the contention is that the power was not exercised as required because the Custodian had not made an investigation which justified in any way 'any determination that the property was all (italics counsel's) enemy property, or seizure of all (it...