United States v. Landram

• Decision Date: 19 April 1886
• Citation: 6 S.Ct. 954,30 L.Ed. 58,118 U.S. 81
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. LANDRAM. Filed
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

118 U.S. 81

6 S.Ct. 954

30 L.Ed. 58

UNITED STATES v. LANDRAM.

Filed April 19, 1886.

Sol. Gen. Goode, for the United States.

Green B. Raum, for appellee, William J. Landram.

WOODS, J.

By section 2 of the act of March 1, 1879, entitled 'An act to amend the laws relating to internal revenue,' (chapter 125, 20 St. 327,) the twelfth section of the act of February 8, 1875, (chapter 36, 18 St. 307,) was amended so as to read as follows: 'Each collector of internal revenue shall be authorized to appoint, by an instrument in writing under his hand, as many deputies as he may think proper, to be compensated for their services by such allowances as shall be made by the secretary of the treasury upon the recommendation of the commissioner of internal revenue. Allowances shall also be made in like manner for salary and office expenses of collectors, all of which shall be in lieu of the salary and commissions heretofore provided by law: provided, however, that the salaries of collectors shall be fixed at two thousand dollars each per annum where the annual collections amount to twenty-five thousand dollars or less, and shall, by the secretary, on the recommendation of the commissioner, be graduated up to the maximum limit of four thousand five hundred dollars; which latter sum shall be allowed in all cases where the collections amount to one million of dollars or upward: * * * provided, that the secretary of the treasury, on the recommendation of the commissioner of internal revenue, be authorized to make such further allowances, from time to time, as may be reasonable, in cases in which, from the territorial extent of the district, or from the amount of internal duties collected, it may seem just to make such allowances; but no such allowance shall be made if more than one year has elapsed since the close of the fiscal year in which the services were rendered. But the total net compensation of a collector shall not in any case exceed four thousand five hundred dollars a year, and no collector shall be entitled to any portion of the salary pertaining to the office unless such collector shall have been confirmed by the senate, except in cases of commissions to fill vacancies occurring during the recess of the senate.'

By section 5 of the same act it was provided as follows: 'That section 3314 of the Revised Statutes shall be amended by striking out all after said number and substituting the following: 'The books of tax-paid stamps issued to any collector shall be charged to his account at the full value of the tax on the number of gallons represented on the stamps and coupons contained in said books; and every collector shall make a monthly return to the commissioner of internal revenue of all tax-paid stamps issued by him to be affixed to any cask or package containing distilled spirits on which the tax has been paid, and account for the amount of the tax collected; and when the said collector returns to the commissioner of internal revenue any book of marginal stubs, which it shall be his duty to do as soon as all the stamps contained in the book when issued to him have been used, and accounts for the tax on the number of gallons represented on the stamps and coupons that were contained in said book, there shall be allowed to the collector a commission of one-half of one per centum on the amount of such tax in addition to any other commission by law allowed: provided, that the total net compensation of collectors as fixed by this title shall not be thereby increased." This so-called amendment was simply a re-enactment of section 3314 without any change whatever.

While these sections were in force, to-wit, during the five fiscal years beginning with July 1, 1879, and ending with June 30, 1884, William J. Landram, the appellee, was the collector of internal revenue for the Eighth district of Kentucky. During that period he received a salary as follows: For the years ending, respectively, on June 30, 1880, and June 30, 1883, $3,000 for each year; for the years ending, respectively, June 30, 1881, and June 30, 1882, $2,875 for each year; and for the year ending June 30, 1884, $4,375. During each of the years above mentioned Landram collected a large amount of taxes on distilled spirits by the sale of tax-paid stamps, on which, limiting his total net compensation for each year to $4,500, the commissions for the whole five years to which he would have been entitled, on the assumption that section 3314 of the Revised Statutes still remained in force, would amount to $4,724.78. The accounting officers of the treasury refused to allow him this sum, or any part of it. He therefore brought his suit against the United States in the court of claims to recover it. Upon a finding of the...