Ulysses White v. United States

• Citation: 191 U.S. 545,24 S.Ct. 171,48 L.Ed. 295
• Decision Date: 21 December 1903
• Docket Number: No. 75,75
• Parties: ULYSSES S. G. WHITE, Appt. , v. UNITED STATES
• Court: United States Supreme Court

191 U.S. 545

24 S.Ct. 171

48 L.Ed. 295

ULYSSES S. G. WHITE, Appt.,

v UNITED STATES.

No. 75.

Argued November 12, 13, 1903.

Decided December 21, 1903.

Messrs. William B. King and George A. King for appellant.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 545-548 intentionally omitted] Assistant Attorney General Pradt and Mr. John Q. Thompson for appellee.

Mr. Justice Day delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal from the judgment of the court of claims dismissing the petition of the claimant. Upon hearing, that court made the following findings of fact:

'I. The claimant, Ulysses S. G. White, was, on the 9th day of January, in the year 1877, appointed a civil engineer in the Navy from civil life. He remained such civil engineer and was such at the time of the passage of the Navy personnel act of March 3, 1899.

'II. The claimant, by reason of service in the Army, amounting to six years, seven months, and twenty-one days, previous to his entry into the Navy, reached the maximum pay of his grade, $3,500, May 19, 1885, under Revised Statutes, §§ 1478, 1556 (U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, pp. 1033, 1067). Thus the amount of pay received by him between the 9th of January, 1877, and the 19th of May, 1885, was as follows:

                     Three years and 130 days, at $2,700
                      per annum....................... $9,061 64
                 
                     Five years, at $3,000 per annum.. 15,000 00
                                                      ----------
                      Total.......................... $24,061 64
                 

'If he were, upon the date of his appointment, credited, for computing his pay, with five years' service, and entitled to be paid from that date, he would receive pay at the following rates:

                     Three years and 130 days, at $3,000
                      per annum...................... $10,068 49
                 
                     Five years, at $3,500 per annum.. 17,500 00
                                                     -----------
                      Total.......................... $27,568 49
                 

The claim arises under the act of March 3, 1899, commonly known as the Navy personnel act. The act is entitled 'Chapter 413. An Act to Reorganize and Increase the Efficiency of the Personnel of the Navy and Marine Corps of the United States.' 30 Stat. at L. 1004 (U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 1072). Section 13 of the act provides:

'That after June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, commissioned officers of the line of the Navy and of the Medical and Pay Corps shall receive the same pay and allowances, except forage, as are or may be provided by or in pursuance of law for the officers of corresponding rank in the Army: Provided, That such officers when on shore shall receive the allowances, but fifteen per centum less pay than when on sea duty; but this provision shall not apply to warrant officers commissioned under section twelve of this act: Provided further, That when naval officers are detailed for shore duty beyond seas they shall receive the same pay and allowances as are or may be provided by or in pursuance of law for officers of the Army detailed for duty in similar places: Provided further, That naval chaplains who do not possess relative rank shall have the rank of lieutenant in the Navy; and that all officers, including warrant officers, who have been or may be appointed to the Navy from civil life shall, on the date of appointment, be credited, for computing their pay, with five years' service. And all provisions of law authorizing the distribution among captors of the whole or any portion of the proceeds of vessels, or any property hereafter captured, condemned as prize, or providing for the payment of bounty for the sinking or destruction of vessels of the enemy hereafter occurring in time of war, are hereby repealed: And provided further, That no provision of this act shall operate to reduce the present pay of any commissioned officer now in the Navy; and in any case in which the pay of such an officer would otherwise be reduced he shall continue to receive pay according to existing law: And provided further, That nothing in this act shall operate to increase or reduce the pay of any officer now on the retired list of the Navy.'

The part of the statute particularly under consideration in this case, and upon the interpretation of which the right of the claimant depends, is contained in the 3d paragraph: 'And that all officers, including warrant officers, who have been or may be appointed to the Navy from civil life, shall, on the date of appointment, be credited, for computing their pay, with five years' service.'

It is the contention of the claimant that he comes within the terms of this proviso, and, as an officer appointed to the Navy from civil life, is entitled, as of the date of his appointment, to be credited with five years' service, having been appointed January 9, 1877, and by previous service in the Army entitled, under another statute (22 Stat. at L. 473, chap. 97, U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 1071), to a credit of six years, seven months, and twenty-one days, reaching the maximum pay of $3,500.00 on May 19, 1885.

The reading of the statute is not altogether clear, and we are to arrive at the meaning of Congress by such aids as may be legitimately resorted to in order to determine the effect and purpose of the lawmaking power in the language used. The statute is part of a voluminous act to reorganize and increase the efficiency of the personnel of the Navy and Marine Corps of the United States. In the title, the language used looks to the future; it contemplates a readjustment of rank and pay. It is true that the title of the act may not control the plain language of the enacting clauses, but, nevertheless, we may look to the declared scope and purpose of the act as evidenced by its title whenever it becomes necessary, in view of the use of language incapable by itself of exact construction. Church of Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U. S. 457, 462, 36 L. ed. 226-229, 12 Sup. Ct. Rep. 511.

Chief Justice Marshall, in United States v. Fisher, 2 Cranch, 358-386, 2 L. ed. 304-313, said:

'Where the intent is plain, nothing is left to construction. Where the mind labors to discover the design of the legislature, it seizes everything from which aid can be derived; and, in such case, the title claims a degree of notice, and will have its due share of consideration.' Coosaw Min. Co. v. South Carolina, 144 U. S. 563, 36 L. ed. 542, 12 Sup. Ct. Rep. 689; Church of Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U. S. 462, 36 L. ed. 229, 12 Sup. Ct. Rep. 511.

The part of the statute relied upon by the claimant is incorporated by means of a proviso. Through the diligence of the learned counsel representing the claimant, it is exhibited in the appendix to their brief, that in this statute as originally reported, § 16 of the Navy personnel act (H. R. 10,403, 53d Congress, 3d session), there was no such proviso. As reported in the Senate, January 1, 1899, the first proviso was added. The other provisos were added as the bill was reported to the Senate, February 2, 1899, and included the one now under consideration; and it is argued that not only does this proviso contain independent matter, but that it was introduced into the bill and intended to be enacted as such. It is undoubtedly true that in congressional legislation provisos have been included in statutes which are really independent pieces of legislation; but...