United States Trask v. Wanamaker

Decision Date03 January 1893
Docket NumberNo. 1,232,1,232
PartiesUNITED STATES ex rel. TRASK v. WANAMAKER, Postmaster General
CourtU.S. Supreme Court

Petition by Elizabeth Trask for a writ of mandamus to John Wanamaker, postmaster general of the United States. The writ was denied, and a writ of error was taken to this court. Dismissed.

The relator's case, as stated by the court below, was as follows:

'She became postmaster at Emporia, Kansas, on October 1, 1864, and so continued to and including June 30, 1870. During the whole of the biennial term ending June 30, 1866, the returns of the office paid to the United States amounted to $1,567.98; the commissions on which, under the act of April 22, 1854, if allowed, would have amounted to $863.99. The salary allowed for the seven quarters of this period during which the relator was postmaster was $580. During the biennial term ending June 30, 1868, the returns of the office amounted to $2,230.73, besides $73 box rents, commissions upon which, under the said act of 1854, if allowed, would amount to $1,270.37, while relator was paid a salary for the same period of $800. For the biennial term ending June 30, 1870, the returns of the office amounted to $6,312.53, besides $230 box rents, upon which commissions, under said act of 1854, if allowed, would amount to $3,139.33, while the relator was paid the salary for the same biennial term of $1,580.

'The petitioner thereupon claims that it became the duty of the postmaster general, under section 8 of the act of June 12, 1866, to readjust said salary at the end of each biennial term, because the same was ten per cent. less than it would have been in commissions under said act of 1854, and to allow the difference between the salary paid and said commissions.

'The relator further sets forth that on June 9, 1883, and February 17, 1884, the postmasters general of those dates issued orders in which they construed the statutes relating to readjustment of salaries; that they caused to be entered upon the forms described in those orders the sum of $1,567.98 as amount of the postal receipts at the relator's post office during the biennial term ending June 30, 1866, and the salary of said office for the whole of the said term, computed on the basis of the act of 1854, as $863.99, and the relator's proportion thereof for seven quarters of that term as $755.99; that they caused to be entered on said forms the sum of $2,230.73 as the amount of relator's postal receipts for the biennial term ending June 30, 1868, and the sum of $1,270.37 as relator's salary for the same term; and the sum of $6,312.53 as the amount of relator's postal receipts for the biennial term ending June 30, 1870, and the sum of $3,139.83 as the salary of the relator for the same term; also that the postmaster general prepared and transmitted to the committee on post offices and post roads a statement of the total amount of the relator's readjusted salary, due and unpaid for the whole time between October 1, 1864, and June 30, 1870, showing the amount so due the relator to be $2,175.57, but afterwards withdrew that statement, and an error therein was corrected, and an entry was made, showing the correct amount due the relator to be $2,206.19.

'The...

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7 cases
  • Risley v. City of Utica
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York
    • April 1, 1909
    ... 168 F. 737 RISLEY v. CITY OF UTICA et al. United States Circuit Court, N.D. New York. April 1, 1909 . [168 F. 738] . ...514, 6 Sup.Ct. 849, 29 L.Ed. 990; United States ex rel. v. Wanamaker, 147 U.S. 149, 150, 13 Sup.Ct. 279, 37 L.Ed. 118; Wheless v. City. of ......
  • Bingham v. United States
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • December 9, 1935
    ...41, 32 L.Ed. 370; Miles v. Connecticut Life Ins. Co., 147 U.S. 177, 181, 182, 183, 13 S.Ct. 275, 37 L.Ed. 128, compare dissent 147 U.S. 188, 13 S.Ct. 279; Commonwealth v. Whipple, 181 Mass. 343, 63 N.E. 919; Pingrey v. National Life Insurance Co., 144 Mass. 374, 382, 11 N.E. After having de......
  • United States State of South Carolina v. Seymour
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • May 14, 1894
    ...of this court. See, also, U. S. v. Addison, 22 How. 174; Smith v. Whitney, 116 U. S. 167, 173, 6 Sup. Ct. 570; U. S. v. Wanamaker, 147 U. S. 149, 13 Sup. Ct. 279. The matter in dispute in this case is not the right to the trade-mark, but the right to have it registered; the registration is ......
  • In re Schneider. No. ____
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • March 14, 1893
    ...S. 571, 12 Sup. Ct. Rep. 842. See, also, Railroad Co. v. Grant, 98 U. S. 398; Dennison v. Alexander, 103 U. S. 522; U. S. v. Wanamaker, 147 U. S. 149, 13 Sup. Ct. Rep. 279. ...
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