Arnson v. Murphy
| Citation | 3 S.Ct. 184,27 L.Ed. 920,109 U.S. 238 |
| Parties | ARNSON and another v. MURPHY, Collector, etc |
| Decision Date | 19 November 1883 |
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
Lewis Sanders, for plaintiff in error.
Sol. Gen. Phillips, for defendant in error.
This action was brought May 8, 1879, by the plaintiffs in error, in the supreme court of New York, to recover money alleged to have been illegally exacted by the collector for customs duties, and was removed by the defendant by writ of certiorari to the circuit court of the United States for that district. On the trial it appeared that the several amounts alleged to have been illegally exacted were paid under protest, duly made, on various dates from April 26, 1871, to November 29,* 871; that within 90 days from the date of each payment an appeal from the decision of the collector had been duly taken to the secretary of the treasury, and that no decision by that officer, in any of the cases, had been rendered prior to the commencement of this action; and that this suit was not brought until after 90 days had elapsed from the date of the latest appeal, and not until after the lapse of more than six years from the expiration of that period. The defendant pleaded in bar, besides other defenses, that the cause of action sued upon did not accrue within six years before the commencement thereof, that being the limitation prescribed by the statute of New York, then in force, for actions upon contracts, obligations, or liabilities, express or implied, other than those upon judgments or decrees of courts of the United States, or of courts of any state or territory within the United States, and those upon sealed instruments. The court thereupon directed a verdict in favor of the defendant, to which exception was duly taken, and for that alleged error the judgment thereon is now brought into review.
The cause of action arose under the act of June 30, 1864, (13 St. 202,) the fourteenth section of which is now section 2931 of the Revised Statutes. It distinctly provides that on the entry of any merchandise, the decision of the collector of customs at the port of importation and entry, as to the rate and amount of duties to be paid on such merchandise, and the dutiable costs and charges thereon, shall be final and conclusive against all persons interested therein, unless the owner, importer, consignee, or agent of the merchandise shall, within 10 days after the ascertainment and liquidation of the duties by the proper officers of the customs, give notice in writing to the collector on each entry, if dissatisfied with his decision, setting forth therein, distinctly and specifically, the grounds of his objections thereto, and shall, within 30 days after the date of such ascertainment and liquidation, appeal therefrom to the secretary of the treasury. The decision of the secretary on such appeal shall be final and conclusive, and such merchandise shall be liable to duty accordingly, unless suit shall be brought within 90 days after the decision of the secretary of the treasury on such appeal, for any duties which shall have been paid before the date of such decision on such merchandise, or costs or charges, or within 90 days after the payment of duties paid after the decision of the secretary. 'No suit shall be maintained in any court for the recovery of any duties alleged to have been erroneously or illegally exacted, until the decision of the secretary of the treasury shall have been first had on such appeal, unless the decision of the secretary shall be delayed more than ninety days from the date of such appeal in case of an entry at any port east of the Rocky mountains, or more than five months in case of an entry west of those mountains.'
The common-law right of action to recover back money illegally exacted by a collector of customs as duties upon imported merchandise, rested upon the implied promise of the collector to refund money which he had received as the agent of the government, but which the law had not authorized him to exact; which had been unwillingly paid, and which, before payment to his principal, he had been notified he would be required to repay; and involved a corresponding right on his part to withhold from the government, as an indemnity, the fund in dispute. The manifest public inconveniences resulting from this situation induced congress, by the act of March 3, 1839, c. 82, (5 St. 348, § 2,) to alter the relation between these officers and...
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