Wells v. Roper, No. 103
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
| Citation | 38 S.Ct. 317,246 U.S. 335,62 L.Ed. 755 |
| Docket Number | No. 103 |
| Parties | WELLS v. ROPER, First Assistant Postmaster General of the United States |
| Decision Date | 18 March 1918 |
v.
ROPER, First Assistant Postmaster General of the United States.
Messrs. Daniel Thew Wright and T. Morris Wampler, both of Washington, D. C., for appellant.
Mr. G. Carroll Todd, Assistant to the Attorney General, for appellee.
Mr. Justi e PITNEY delivered the opinion of the Court.
This was a suit in equity brought in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia for an injunction to restrain Daniel C. Roper, First Assistant Postmaster General, from annulling a contract theretofore made between plaintiff and the Postmaster General acting for the United States, and from interfering between plaintiff and the United States in the proper performance and execution of the contract by plaintiff. The Supreme Court sustained a
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motion to dismiss the bill, its decree to that effect was affirmed by the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia (44 App. D. C. 276), and plaintiff appeals to this court.
The contract was made February 14, 1913, and by it plaintiff agreed for a stated compensation to furnish, during a period of four years a number of automobiles (with chaffeurs) specially equipped according to specifications for use in collecting and delivering mail at Washington, D. C. One of its provisions (the third) was a stipulation that:
'Any or all of the equipments contracted for herein may be discontinued at any time upon ninety days' notice from the said party of the first part,' meaning the Postmaster General.
Another was:
'18. That all acts done by the First Assistant Postmaster General in respect of this contract shall be deemed and taken, for all purposes, to be the acts of the Postmaster General, within the meaning and intent of this contract.'
Plaintiff expended considerable sums of money and incurred substantial obligations in providing automobiles and other special equipment necessary for the performance of the contract, and continued to perform it for nearly two years. Then the Postmaster General, acting under a provision of an appropriation act approved March 9, 1914 (chapter 33, 38 Stat. 295, 300), by which he was authorized in his discretion to use such portion of a certain appropriation as might be necessary 'for the purchase and maintenance of wagons or automobiles for and the operation of an experimental combined screened wagon and city collection and delivery service,' determined it to be in the...
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Banco de Espana v. Federal Reserve Bank, No. 370-372.
...be maintained against a public officer who has done no more than breach a contract between plaintiff and the sovereign. Wells v. Roper, 246 U.S. 335, 38 S.Ct. 317, 62 L.Ed. 755; United States ex rel. Goldberg v. Daniels, 231 U.S. 218, 34 S.Ct. 84, 58 L.Ed. 191; Louisiana v. Jumel, 107 U.S. ......
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Jeffries v. Olesen, No. 15779.
...the Government, see Larson v. Domestic & Foreign etc. Corp., 1949, 337 U.S. 682, 69 S.Ct. 1457, 93 L.Ed. 1628; Wells v. Roper, 1918, 246 U.S. 335, 38 S.Ct. 317, 62 L.Ed. 755; State of Louisiana v. McAdoo, 1914, 234 U.S. 627, 34 S.Ct. 938, 58 L.Ed. 1506; Belknap v. Schild, 1896, 161 U.S.......
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Weeks v. Goltra, No. 6871.
...capacity, should have been upheld and sustained. As said by Mr. Justice Pitney, delivering the opinion of the court in Wells v. Roper, 246 U. S. 335, 38 S. Ct. 317, 62 L. Ed. 755: "That the interests of the government are so directly involved as to make the United States a necessary pa......
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Land v. Dollar, No. 207
...of government officials which would alter or terminate the contractual obligation of the United States to pay money. See Wells v. Roper, 246 U.S. 335, 38 S.Ct. 317, 62 L.Ed. 755; Mine Safety Co. v. Forrestal, 326 U.S. 371, 66 S.Ct. 219. It is not an attempt to get specific performance of a ......
-
Banco de Espana v. Federal Reserve Bank, No. 370-372.
...be maintained against a public officer who has done no more than breach a contract between plaintiff and the sovereign. Wells v. Roper, 246 U.S. 335, 38 S.Ct. 317, 62 L.Ed. 755; United States ex rel. Goldberg v. Daniels, 231 U.S. 218, 34 S.Ct. 84, 58 L.Ed. 191; Louisiana v. Jumel, 107 U.S. ......
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Jeffries v. Olesen, No. 15779.
...sue the Government, see Larson v. Domestic & Foreign etc. Corp., 1949, 337 U.S. 682, 69 S.Ct. 1457, 93 L.Ed. 1628; Wells v. Roper, 1918, 246 U.S. 335, 38 S.Ct. 317, 62 L.Ed. 755; State of Louisiana v. McAdoo, 1914, 234 U.S. 627, 34 S.Ct. 938, 58 L.Ed. 1506; Belknap v. Schild, 1896, 161 U.S.......
-
Weeks v. Goltra, No. 6871.
...capacity, should have been upheld and sustained. As said by Mr. Justice Pitney, delivering the opinion of the court in Wells v. Roper, 246 U. S. 335, 38 S. Ct. 317, 62 L. Ed. 755: "That the interests of the government are so directly involved as to make the United States a necessary party a......
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Land v. Dollar, No. 207
...of government officials which would alter or terminate the contractual obligation of the United States to pay money. See Wells v. Roper, 246 U.S. 335, 38 S.Ct. 317, 62 L.Ed. 755; Mine Safety Co. v. Forrestal, 326 U.S. 371, 66 S.Ct. 219. It is not an attempt to get specific performance of a ......