The Washington union., 1858-06-27
MARsHALS's FEES md EMoLgp1kNTS-
DECISION or THE ATTORNEY GEN
ERdL - e. /. M
Arm&xKY GssxRAE's OFfIcE,
J,,ua % lSh4

June 22, 1858
SIR msrsha may retain for himself six thousand
dollars per out of his fees besides the expenses Of
his Office and reasonable compensation to his deputies
Does the law require him to be charged with all the fees
which accrued To him during the period covered by his
account only with such he actually receyedf The
act of ls42 re-enacted in 1888, must furnish the an
swer.
There nothing in that law which speaks Of fees
ceiyed which makes any difference between collected
and unoolIected fees He Is commanded to make soni-
annual return of what Not of the money he has
received during the previous half year, but " Of
the fees and emolumcuts Of his Office" Can it DO
said that he has obeyed this command If his ac-
count makes mention of outstanding fees 2 The
same words used with similar absence Of all
qualification when he is told where to look for his
expenses and his compassionate must get them from
g the fees and cmoumcnts Of his Office" But the clause
which requires payment Of the surplus is stronger still
He is ordered to pay into the treasury not the surplus Of
cash actually received but surplus of the fees and
emoluments of his Office which his half yearly return
shall show to exist do not how language like this
be made TO anything short of all the fees and
cmolpments which accrued If you say that il is con-
fined to those fees only which the marshal has in his
pocket at the date Of his account you ntpolae into the
statute what Congress never put there and am very
clearly OF opinion that you have right to take any
such liberties with tho written law of the land.
1t is contended that rigid enforcement of the statute
will operate the marshal with severity which ought
to be avoided by liberal construction. 1t does not
strike Justice requires that the rights of both
pIOt3cUfu--tilObe
well the officer is the right Of the government to
have all the fees collected and the collection Of them
is duty most plainly devolved upon the marshal. If
he fails to perform that duty he is bound by equity and
law to make good the whole loss occasoncd by his neg
gencc 1t universal rule that every officer, agent
trustee should be charged with the money which he
might and should have received just the If he
had in fact received it, Upon this principle, if
the law ad required him to be charged only with his
receipts would have included collectabe fees oustand
ing for officer is conclusvely presumed to have
ceived what it his legal duty to recover No COL
ecor of the has been allowed to aver his
own omission to collect it as reason why the
government should lose it.
In of the districts, the fees which the marshal is
entitled to receive of the Treasury for services to the
will amount to much his expenses and
personal compensation 1t would be fragrant wrong to
let him take his maximum out Of the treasury and refuse
to collect what IL coming from private parties These
fees part Of the public revenue much customs
upon imported goods The marshal alone Is chargcabc
with the duty of collecting them. Nobody else do
it, If he neglects 1t they are lost iretrievably He
go out of office and hand his bills OF costs
to the United States for the United States has other
agent who can collect them One marshal is not bound
to collect the fees which accrued to his predecessor but
the officer to whom they accrued may collect them after
his term expires we'll before If the marshal is not
to be charged with outstanding fees he may leave unco
lected large portion Of them he pcases and
cover them afterwards for his though he receives
his full maximum compensation when he makes his
turn.
These remarks confined TO the very you have
submitted to where the marshal gives reason for
refusing to be charged with the fees and emoluments
of his Office except the naked fact that he did not
ceive certain portion of them. There is not
allegation that he made the slightest effort to collect them
If he would show that he tried to collect the and that
in doing so, he had used all due and proper diligence,
he would have had different The law
quires mpossiblites, Furnishes for failing to
do what it does not cannot give him the power to do
think therefore, that while he is chargeabe with all
the fees and emoluments of his Office he may entite him
self to credit for such of them he shows that he
could not by reasonable effort which no might
have made. But the fact that the fees uncoeca-
BILE must be made to appear b. evidence satisfactory to
the accounting officers before the credit be lawfully
given. Very respectfully, Yours, &C.,
as ). S. BLACK,
Hon. j. THOMPSON, Secretary of the Interior.