Work v. United States Rives, 272

• Decision Date: 02 March 1925
• Docket Number: No. 272,272
• Citation: 45 S.Ct. 252,69 L.Ed. 561,267 U.S. 175
• Parties: WORK, Secretary of the Interior, v. UNITED STATES ex rel. RIVES
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

267 U.S. 175

45 S.Ct. 252

69 L.Ed. 561

WORK, Secretary of the Interior,

v UNITED STATES ex rel. RIVES.

No. 272.

Argued Nov. 25 and 26, 1925.

Decided March 2, 1925.

Mr. Merrill E. Otis, of St. Joseph, Mo., and the Attorney General, for appellant.

Mr. Leslie C. Garnett, of Washington, D. C., for appellee.

Mr. Chief Justice TAFT delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is an appeal under section 250 of the Judicial Code, par. 6 (Comp. St. § 1227), from a judgment of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, affirmed by the Court of Appeals, granting a mandamus compelling the Secretary of the Interior to consider and allow a claim for net losses suffered by Logan Rives, the relator, in producing and preparing to produce manganese at the instance of the government for war purposes, under section 5 of the Dent Act (March 2, 1919, ch. 94, 40 Stat. 1272, being Comp. St. Ann. Supp. 1923, § 3115 14/15 e).

Relator's petition shows that he incurred losses aggregating $55,204.15, but that the Secretary awarded him only $23,047.36, refusing to allow him, among other items, $9.600 which he had to expend in obtaining a release from a contract to buy land containing manganese, after the land had lost most of its value because of the Armistic. The mandamus asked is to compel consideration and allowance of the claim for this particular item.

The Secretary's answer avers that the relator received and accepted the $23,047.36 awarded March, 1920, but refused to waive any right to further award under any subsequent legislation which might provide for further payment. The answer further denies that the Secretary refused to consider the claim, but avers that he did so fully and rejected it. The relator demurred to the answer and on that demurrer judgment followed and the writ issued.

Mandamus issues to compel an officer to perform a purely ministerial duty. It cannot be used to compel or control a duty in the discharge of which by law he is given discretion. The duty may be discretionary within limits. He cannot transgress those limits, and if he does so, he may be controlled by injunction or mandamus to keep within them. The power of the court to intervene, if at all, thus depends upon what statutory discretion he has. Under some statutes, the discretion extends to a final construction by the officer of the statute he is executing. No court in such a case can control by mandamus his interpretation, even if it may think it erroneous. The cases range, therefore, from such wide discretion as that just described to cases were the duty is purely ministerial, where the officer can do only one thing which on refusal he may be compelled to do. They begin on one side with Kendall v. United States, 12 Pet. 524, 9 L. Ed. 1181, in which Congress directed the Postmaster General to make some credit entries in an account found to be just by the Solicitor of the Treasury. This court held that the duty was ministerial with no discretion and required the Postmaster General to make the entries. On the other side is Decatur v. Paulding, Secretary of the Navy, 14 Pet. 497, 599, 10 L. Ed. 559, 609. Congress there provided for general naval pensions by general act, and by resolution of the same day granted a special pension for the widow of Commodore Decatur. She received the pension under the general law and then applied for the special pension, which was refused by the Secretary of the Navy, on the ground that she was given an election of one of two funds and she had elected. She sought by mandamus to compel the Secretary, who under the law administered the Naval Pension fund, to allow the special pension. This court held that Congress intended the Secretary to construe the statutes and to allow the pensions accordingly, and that although the court might, as a matter of legal construction, differ from his conclusion, it could not by mandamus or injunction constrain him in his exercise of his discretion. Between these two early and leading authorities illustrating the extremes are decisions, in which the discretion is greater than in the Kendall Case and less than in the Decatur Case, and its extent and the scope of judicial action in limiting it depend upon a proper interpretation of the particular statute and the congressional purpose.

The Dent Act was passed by Congress in an effort to do justice and equity to the many persons who could not obtain from the government compensation for supplies or services furnished or losses incurred in helping the government during the war, because of a lack of enforceable contracts or equities. As to supplies and services furnished, there was to be a settlement made by the Secretary of War, and if this did not satisfy the claimant, he was given a right under section 2 to sue in the Court of Claims to recover greater compensation. Section 3 gave the Secretary power to settle fairly and equitably claims of foreign governments and their nationals for supplies and services rendered to the American Expeditionary Forces whether by contract entered into in accordance with applicable statutory provisions or not. By section 4, the Secretary was given power to protect subcontractors in his awards.

By section 5, provision was made, not to pay for supplies or services rendered directly to the government, but to relieve a class of persons who were invited by the government to invest money in the production and preparing for the production of certain metals or materials difficult to obtain, and needed for the war, and who had thereupon incurred expense therein and had suffered losses because of the coming of the Armistice and the consequent destruction of the market for such metals.

The said Secretary was to make adjustments and payments in each case as he should determine to be just and equitable; and the decision of the Secretary was to be 'conclusive and final.' There were five provisos: The first imposed a limit of total expenditure under the act. The second limited claims to those filed within three months after the passage of the act.

The third proviso declared:

'That no claim shall be allowed * * * by said Secretary unless it shall appear to the satisfaction of the said Secretary that the expenditures so made or obligations so incurred by the claimant were made in good faith for or upon property which contained * * * manganese * * * in sufficient quantities to be of commercial importance.'

The fourth proviso was:

'That no claims shall be paid unless it shall appear to the satisfaction of said Secretary that moneys were invested or obligations were incurred subsequent to April 6, 1917, and prior to November 12, 1918, in a legitimate attempt to produce * * * manganese * * * for the prosecution of the war, and that no profits of any kind shall be included in the allowance of any of said claims, and that no investment for merely speculative purposes shall be recognized in any manner by said Secretary.'

The fifth proviso declared that the settlement of any claim under the section should not bar the government through any authorized agency or any congressional committee thereafter duly appointed from the review of such settlement, nor the right to recover any money paid by the government to any party under the section if the government had been defrauded.

The last paragraph of the section declared 'that nothing in this section shall be construed to confer jurisdiction upon any court to entertain a suit against the United States,' and closed with a proviso that in determining the net losses of any claimant, the Secretary should take into consideration and charge to him the then market value of any ores or minerals on hand belonging to him, and the salvage or usable value of his machinery or other appliances claimed to have been purchased to comply with the request of the government.

On November 23, 1921, after the first award in this case, section 5 was amended (chapter 137, 42 Stat. 322) by adding another proviso that all claimants who in response to the request of any government agency mentioned in the act expended money 'in producing or preparing to produce' managnese, and had mailed their claims in time 'if the proof in support of said claims clearly shows them to be based upon action taken in response to such request * * * shall be reimbursed such net losses as they may have incurred and are in justice and equity entitled to from the appropriation in said act. If in claims passed upon under said act awards have been denied or made on rulings contrary to the provisions of this amendment, or through miscalculation, the Secretary of the Interior may award proper amounts or additional amounts.'

This amendment was brought about on the recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior, because he had felt obliged, under section 5 as it was, to reject some 600 claims for failure within the time limit to show a direct personal request or demand upon the claimant by the government authorities named in the act and a response thereto by the claimant and because the Comptroller had refused to pay any changed award of the Secretary made after a rehearing or to correct miscalculation.

It is urged that the refusal of the Secretary to...