Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/290/163.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 23:05:12+00:00

Document:
FUNKHOUSER v. J. B. PRESTON CO.
[290 U.S. 163, 164] Appeal from the Court of Appeals of the State of New York.
Mr. George Link, Jr., of New York City, for appellants. [290 U.S. 163, 165] Mr. Jeremiah A. O'Leary, of New York City, for appellee.
While it is the duty of this Court, where the contract clause is invoked, to determine for itself what the contract is and whether it has been impaired, 2 we find nothing requiring us to reach a conclusion different from that of the Court of Appeals. The statute in question concrns the remedy and does not disturb the obligations of the contract. Sturges v. Crowninshield, 4 Wheat. 122, 200; League v. Texas, 184 U.S. 156, 158 , 22 S.Ct. 475; Waggoner v. Flack, 188 U.S. 595 , 601-603, 23 S.Ct. 345, 348; Bernheimer v. Converse, 206 U.S. 516, 530 , 27 S.Ct. 755; Henley v. Myers, 215 U.S. 373, 385 , 30 S.Ct. 148. Compare Shriver v. Woodbine Bank, 285 U.S. 467, 474 , 52 S.Ct. 430. The contractual obligation of appellants was to take and pay for the described articles, and the law, in force when the contract was made, required that in case of breach appellants should make good the loss sustained by the appellee. The ascertainment of that loss, and of what would constitute full compensation, was a matter of procedure within the range of due process in the enforcement of the contract. 'To enact laws providing remedies for a violation of contracts' and 'to alter or enlarge those remedies from time to time,' was within the competency of the Legislature. Waggoner v. Flack, supra. The mere fact [290 U.S. 163, 168] that such legislation is retroactive does not bring it into conflict with the guarantees of the Federal Constitution (League v. Texas, supra, page 161 of 184 U.S., 22 S.Ct. 475), and when the action of the Legislature is directed to the enforcement of the obligations assumed by the parties and to the giving of suitable relief for nonperformance, it cannot be said that the obligations of the contract have been impaired. The parties make their contract with reference to the existence of the power of the state to provide remedies for enforcement and to secure adequate redress in case of breach. Henley v. Myers, supra.
Without attempting to review the numerous, and not harmonious decisions upon the allowance of interest in the case of unliquidated claims,3 it is sufficient to say that the subject is an appropriate one for that the subject is an appropriate one for legislative action in order to provide a definite rule. The statutory allowance is for the purpose of securing a more adequate compensation by adding an amount commonly viewed as a reasonable measure of the loss sustained through delay in payment. It has been recognized that a distinction, in this respect, simply as between cases of liquidated and unliquidated damages, is not a sound one. 4 Whether the case is of the one class or the other, the injured party has suffered a loss which may be regarded as not fully compensated if he is confined to the amount found to be recoverable as of the time of breach and nothing is added for the delay in obtaining the award of damages. Because of this fact, the rule with respect to unliquidated claims has been in evolution ( Faber v. New York, supra), and in the absence of legislation the courts have dealt with the question of allowing interest according to [290 U.S. 163, 169] their conception of the demands of justice and practicality. Miller v. Robertson, 266 U.S. 243, 258 , 45 S.Ct. 73. 'The disinclination to allow interest on claim of uncertain amount seems based on practice rather than theoretical grounds.' Williston on Contracts, vol. 3, 1413. Whether there shall be a definite rule is a matter within the legislative discretion, as is that of providing for interest upon judgments. Morley v. Lake Shore Railway Co., 146 U.S. 162, 168 , 13 S.Ct. 54; Missouri & Arkansas Co. v. Greenwood Dist. of Sebastian County, 249 U.S. 170, 173 , 39 S. s.Ct. 202.
The decisive point in the instant case is that the provision for the enlarged remedy was consistent with the substantial rights of the parties under their contract and cannot be regarded as an unreasonable exercise of legislative power.
[ Footnote 2 ] Jefferson Branch Bank v. Skelly, 1 Black, 436, 443; Mobile & Ohio R.R. Co. v. Tennessee, 153 U.S. 486, 492 , 493 S., 14 S.Ct. 968; Louisiana Railway & Navigation Co. v. Behrman, 235 U.S. 164, 170 , 171 S., 35 S.Ct. 62; Appleby v. City of New York, 271 U.S. 364, 380 , 46 S.Ct. 569; Coombes v. Getz, 285 U.S. 434, 441 , 52 S.Ct. 435; Shriver v. Woodbine Bank, 285 U.S. 467, 475 , 52 S.Ct. 430.
[ Footnote 3 ] See Sedgwick on Damages (9th Ed.) vol. I, 312-315; Williston on Contracts, Vol. III, 1413. Compare Restatement of the Law of Contracts, American Law Institute (1932), vol. 1, 327.
[ Footnote 4 ] See Bernhard v. Rochester G. I. Co., 79 Conn. 388, 398, 65 A. 134, 8 Ann.Cas. 298; Sedgwick on Damages, supra, 315.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.