Zimmermann v. Sutherland, 180
| Decision Date | 16 May 1927 |
| Docket Number | No. 180,180 |
| Citation | 47 S.Ct. 625,71 L.Ed. 1034,274 U.S. 253 |
| Parties | ZIMMERMANN et al. v. SUTHERLAND, Alien Property Custodian, et al |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Messrs. Charles E. Hughes and Joseph M. Hartfield, both of New York City, and Thomas P. Littlepage, of Washington, D. C., for appellants.
Mr. Samuel R. Wachtell, of New York City, for appellee Wiener Bank-Verein.
The Attorney General, Messrs. William D. Mitchell, Sol. Gen., of Washington, D. C., George R. Farnum, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Dean Hill Stanley, of Washington, D. C., for appellee Sutherland.
This is a suit to reach and apply property in the hands of the Alien Property Custodian or the Treasurer of the United States, seized as property of the Wiener Bank-Verein, as allowed by the amendment of the Trading with the Enemy Act of June 5, 1920, c. 241; 41 Stat. 977 (Comp. St. § 3115 1/2 e). The appellants were the plaintiffs. Before the late war they were depositors in the Wiener Bank-Verein, and on April 6, 1917, had on deposit 2,063,799.03 kronen. The war intervened and after the cessation of hostilities the plaintiffs demanded the amount of said kronen on deposit as of April 6, 1917, at the average call rate of exchange of the month preceding the outbreak of war between the United States and Austria-Hungary, viz., 11.18 United States cents for each Austrian krone. The General Civil Law of Austria, § 1425, provided that if a debt could not be paid because of dissatisfaction with the offer or other important reasons the debtor might deposit in court the subject-matter in dispute, and that if legally carried out and if the creditor was informed, this measure should discharge the debtor and place the subject-matter delivered at the risk of the creditor. The creditor not being satisfied with what the Bank was willing to do, the Bank, on April 1, 1920, deposited the amount stated to be due in the proper court, with interest at 2 1/2 per cent., and notified the plaintiffs. It relies upon the deposit as a defense, and the Circuit Court of Appeals held it to be one, 7 F.(2d) 443, overruling the decision of the District Court which allowed a recovery at the rate of exchange on August 12, 1919, on the ground that the plaintiffs showed that they wanted their money, although they made no adequate demand, on that day. Zimmerman v. Miller, 2 F. (2d) 629.
The decision of the Circuit Court of Appeals was right, and in view of the recent case of Deutsche Bank Filiale Nurnberg v. Humphrey, 272 U. S. 517, 47 S. Ct. 166, 71 L. Ed. 383, November 23, 1926, does not need extended...
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