United States v. Langston
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
| Writing for the Court | HARLAN |
| Citation | 118 U.S. 389,6 S.Ct. 1185,30 L.Ed. 164 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES v. LANGSTON. Filed |
| Decision Date | 10 May 1886 |
Page 390
Atty. Gen. Garland and Asst. Atty. Gen. Watson, for the United States. Geo. A. King, for appellee, John M. Langston.
Mr. Justice HARLAN, after stating the facts in the foregoing language, delivered the opinion of the court.
From September 28, 1877, until July 24, 1885, the claimant, John M. Langston, held the office of minister resident and consul general of the United States at the republic at Hayti. At the time he entered upon the discharge of his duties it was provided by statute as follows: 'There shall be a diplomatic representative of the United States to each of the republics of Hayti and Liberia, who shall be appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, and shall be accredited as minister resident and consul general. The representative at Hayti shall be entitled to a salary of $7,500 a year, and the representative at Liberia to a salary not exceeding $4,000 a year.' Rev. St. § 1683. The sum of $7,500 has been annually appropriated for the salary of the minister to Hayti, from the creation of the office until the year 1883. 12 St. 534, 569; 13 St. 139, 424; 14 St. 225, 414; 15 St. 58, 321; 16 St. 219, 417; 17 St. 142, 417; 18 St. 67, 321; 19 St. 170, 233; 20 St. 92, 267; 21 St. 134, 339.
In the act making appropriations for the consular and diplomatic service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1879, it is provided 'that the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated for the service of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1879, out of any money in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated, for the objects hereinafter expressed, namely: * * * For minister resident and consul general to Hayti, $7,500. * * * And the salaries provided in this act for the officers within named, respectively, shall be in full for the annual salaries thereof from and after July 1, 1878; and all laws, and parts of laws, in conflict with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.' 20 St. 91, 92, 98. Similar provisions were in the diplomatic and consular appropriation act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880. Id. 267, 274. A like sum was appropriated for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1881, and June
Page 391
30, 1882, but the appropriation acts for those years did not repeat the declaration contained in the acts for the fiscal years of 1879 and 1880, to the effect that 'the salaries provided in this act for the officers within named, respectively, shall be in full for the annual salaries thereof,' etc. 21 St. 133, 134, 339.
In the diplomatic and consular appropriation act of July 1, 1882, certain sums were appropriated 'for the service of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1883, out of any money in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated, for the objects therein expressed,' one of them being 'for ministers resident and consuls general to Loberia, Hayti, Switzerland, Denmark, and Portugal, at $5,000 each, $25,000.' 22 St. 128. The same act provided that 'hereafter the secretary of state shall, in the estimates for the annual expenditures of diplomatic and consular service, estimate for the entire amount required for its support, including all commercial agents, and other officers, whether paid by fees or otherwise, specifying the compensation to be allowed or deemed advisable in each individual case.' Id...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Coleman v. Kansas City, 38151.
...Secs. 91, 93 and 94, Art. IV, Charter; Andrew Geddes v. United States, 38 Ct. Cl. 428; United States v. Langston, 21 Ct. Cl. 10, 118 U.S. 389, 6 S. Ct. 185; Collins v. United States, 15 Ct. Cl. 22. (7) The charter contemplates that revenue payable in one fiscal year may not be collected unt......
-
Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill, 76-1701
...not necessarily entitled to significant weight in determining whether a prior statute has been superseded. See United States v. Langston, 118 U.S. 389, 393, 6 S.Ct. 1185, 1186, 30 L.Ed. 164 (1886). But these precedents are inapposite. There was no effort here to "bootstrap" a post-enactment......
-
Me. Cmty. Health Options v. United States, 18-1023
...directly by statute, without also providing details about how it must be satisfied. Consider, for example, United States v. Langston , 118 U.S. 389, 6 S.Ct. 1185, 30 L.Ed. 164 (1886). In that case, Congress had enacted a statute fixing an official's annual salary at "$7,500 from the date of......
-
Friends of the Earth v. Armstrong, 73-1223 and 73-1278 to 73-1283.
...to be paid to officials whose salary was fixed by a prior statute. The Court in Dickerson also referred to United States v. Langston, 118 U.S. 389, 6 S.Ct. 1185, 30 L.Ed. 164, which was an action to recover an unpaid balance of salary. The statute in Langston provided payment of $7,500 per ......
-
Coleman v. Kansas City, No. 38151.
...Secs. 91, 93 and 94, Art. IV, Charter; Andrew Geddes v. United States, 38 Ct. Cl. 428; United States v. Langston, 21 Ct. Cl. 10, 118 U.S. 389, 6 S. Ct. 185; Collins v. United States, 15 Ct. Cl. 22. (7) The charter contemplates that revenue payable in one fiscal year may not be collected unt......
-
El Paso Cnty. v. Trump, EP-19-CV-66-DB
...or repeal § 284 and § 2808 in order to limit border barrier funding to the amount appropriated in the CAA. See 734 F.2d at 1558 (citing 118 U.S. 389, 6 S.Ct. 1185, 30 L.Ed. 164 (1886) ). In Langston , the salary of the minister to Haiti was originally fixed at the sum of $7,500. 118 U.S. at......
-
Friends of the Earth v. Armstrong, No. 73-1223 and 73-1278 to 73-1283.
...to be paid to officials whose salary was fixed by a prior statute. The Court in Dickerson also referred to United States v. Langston, 118 U.S. 389, 6 S.Ct. 1185, 30 L.Ed. 164, which was an action to recover an unpaid balance of salary. The statute in Langston provided payment of $7,500 per ......
-
Moda Health Plan, Inc. v. United States, 2017-1994
...may incur a debt independent of an appropriation to satisfy that debt, at least in certain circumstances.In United States v. Langston , 118 U.S. 389, 6 S.Ct. 1185, 30 L.Ed. 164 (1886), Congress appropriated only five thousand dollars for the salary of a foreign minister, though a statute pr......