United States v. Farden
Decision Date | 01 October 1878 |
Citation | 25 L.Ed. 267,99 U.S. 10 |
Parties | UNITED STATES v. FARDEN |
Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
APPEAL from the Court of Claims.
This was an action by Joseph S. Farden against the United States to recover pay for his services as acting collector of internal revenue for the second district of Alabama.
The Court of Claims found the following facts:——
1. On the twenty-third day of September, 1873, the claimant was deputy collector of Francis Widner, then collector of internal revenue for the second district of Alabama, when said Widner was suspended from office by K. R. Cobb, a supervisor of internal revenue, for fraud, and his action reported to the commissioner.
2. The commissioner thereupon sent the following telegram to J. C. Lotz, a revenue agent, and the order therein contained was immediately complied with:——
'WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 1873.
'J. C. LOTZ, Montgomery, Alabama,
'WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 26, 1873.
'SIR,—Under the provisions of the fortieth section, act of June 30, 1864, as amended by the first section, act of March 3, 1865, you are hereby directed to perform the duties of the office of collector of internal revenue for the second district of Alabama, viceFrancis Widner, suspended.
'This order will take effect from the 23d inst., and will continue in force until some person shall have been designated or appointed to the office and duly qualified according to law.
'You will receive this through the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, who is hereby directed to give you the necessary instruction with reference to the performance of your duties as prescribed by law.
'Deputy Collector, &c., Montgomery, Ala.'- 3. Said Widner died Oct. 16, 1873, and on the ninth day of November, 1873, P. D. Barker was appointed and commissioned as collector of said district, and took the oath of office and gave the bond required on the first day of December, 1873.
The following notice was sent to claimant by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and on the tenth day of December, 1873, and not before, said Barker took possession of the office, and all books, papers, and property pertaining thereto were then turned over to him:——
'WASHINGTON, Nov. 25, 1873.
'SIR,—Prelate D. Barker having been appointed collector of internal revenue for the second district of Alabama, and having duly qualified as such collector, I have to direct you to turn over and deliver to him all books, papers, and property pertaining to collector's office of said district whenever he shall present himself and request you to do so.
'Acting Collector, 2d Dist., Montgomery, Ala.'
4. The claimant performed the duties of collector of said district as such acting collector from Sept. 23 to Dec. 9, 1873, inclusive, under said orders set forth in the second finding.
5. The compensation fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury, in lieu of the salary and commissions prescribed by law, for the personal salary of the collector of said district was $3,000 a year, and of the deputy collector, $1,500 a year.
6. For the time from the 23d of September to the 15th of October, inclusive, the claimant has been paid $89.67, the compensation fixed for deputy collector, and no more; for the time between Oct. 15 and Nov. 30, 1873, inclusive, he has been paid the full compensation of collector; and for the first nine days in December he has been paid nothing.
The court found as a conclusion of law that the claimant was entitled to recover $163.05, that being the compensation of a collector from Sept. 23 to Dec. 9, 1873, inclusive, less the amount which had been paid to him.
The United States then appealed here.
The Solicitor-General for the United States.
The statutes which bear upon the question involved are as follows:——
.
Act of July 1, 1870; 16 id. 179.
The temporary suspension of the collector by the supervisor did not create a vacancy, nor forfeit his claim to compensation. The action of the supervisor may not have been ultimately sustained, upon a full investigation of the causes which prompted it. In that event, the suspended officer would re-enter upon the discharge of his duties. Such is not the case where a removal is made or a resignation accepted. The right of the incumbent to the salary thereupon ceases, inasmuch as his relations to the service are dissolved, and cannot be restored without a new appointment.
It has been urged that the parties acted upon 'the theory of an existing vacancy.' That cannot, however, affect the merits of the question, nor is the court bound by an officer's mistaken impression of the law or the facts.
The act of March 2, 1867, regulating the tenure of certain civil officers (14 Stat. 430), is cited by the learned court below. It is said that, under its provisions, the collector might have been suspended by the President in the recess of the Senate, that during such suspension he would not be entitled to pay, and that, under Wilcox v. Jackson (13 Pet. 498), the act of the head of a department is presumed to be the act of the President.
The collector being under the supervisory power of the Treasury Department, a notice to him from its head that he was suspended by the President would undoubtedly be regarded as conclusive proof of...
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