Source: http://supreme.nolo.com/us/120/169/case.html
Timestamp: 2019-09-18 01:29:42
Document Index: 36972686

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 823', '§ 1', '§ 833', '§ 828', '§ 823', '§ 1']

UNITED STATES V. HILL, 120 U. S. 169 - Volume 120 - 1887 - Full Text - US Supreme Court Center - USSC Cases - Nolo
US Supreme Court Center > Volume 120 > UNITED STATES V. HILL, 120 U. S. 169 (1887) > Full Text
(1) The provision in § 823, taken from § 1 of the Act of February 26, 1853, c. 80, 10 Stat. 161, that the fees to clerks shall be "taxed and allowed" applies prima facie to taxable fees and costs in ordinary suits between party and party prosecuted in a court, and there is no specification of naturalization matters in the fees of clerks.
This suit was brought by the United States against Hill and Russell on said bond by a writ dated December 4, 1884, claiming $22,000 damages. The declaration alleges as a breach of the bond that Hill "has not properly accounted for
The blank used for the report of clerks' fees and emoluments, and the oath appended to the report, and the certificate
On the foregoing facts and statutes, it was contended by the United States before the circuit court, held by the circuit judge and the district judge, that the sums received as fees in naturalization proceedings were "fees and emoluments" within the meaning of § 833, and ought to have been included by the clerk in his returns, on the ground that they were received for services rendered by the clerk in his official capacity, and he was therefore bound to account for them whether they were or were not chargeable under § 828, prescribing fees for clerks. The circuit court held that the action
The opinion of the circuit court, which accompanies the record and is reported in 25 F. 375, gives the following statement as to the former and the existing legislation of Congress on the subject, and as to the action of the courts and of the executive departments of the government:
Viewing the whole subject in the light in which it appears on the face of the statute in regard to the fees of the clerk, we are met by the fact that § 823 of the Revised Statutes, taken from § 1 of the Act of February 26, 1853, c. 80, 10 Stat. 161, provides that "the following, and no other, compensation shall be taxed and allowed" to clerks of the district courts. This applies prima facie to taxable fees and costs in ordinary suits between party and party prosecuted in a court. There is no specification of naturalization matters in the fees of clerks. From as early as December, 1839, the practice, set forth in the agreed statement of facts, has obtained in the District Court in Massachusetts of charging the fees of one dollar and two dollars as gross sums in naturalization proceedings, without any division for specific services, according to any items of the fee bill. The Act of March 3, 1841, before referred to, the first one on the subject of returns, implied that there should be reports of "fees and emoluments" by the clerk to the Secretary of the Treasury. The Act of May 18, 1842, provided for semiannual returns to that officer, and included specifically fees and emoluments under the Bankrupt Act. But the clerk never has included in these returns his fees and emoluments for naturalization proceedings, and his action from 1842 to and including 1884 has been with the knowledge of the successive district judges, to whom his accounts have been semiannually exhibited. From 1842 to 1849, these accounts went to the Secretary of the Treasury; from 1849 to 1870, to the Secretary of the Interior, and since 1870, they have gone to the Attorney General. From 1856, the statute has required that these accounts, before going forward, "shall be examined and certified by the district judge," and that after being sent to the several heads of the departments, they shall be subject to revision
In Edwards' Lessee v. Darby, 12 Wheat. 206, 25 U. S. 210, it was said:
To the same effect are United States v. Dickson, 15 Pet. 141, 145 [argument of counsel -- omitted]; United States v. Gilmore, 8 Wall. 330; Smythe v. Fiske, 23 Wall. 374, 90 U. S. 382; United States v. Moore, 95 U. S. 760, 95 U. S. 763;
United States v. Pugh, 99 U. S. 265, 99 U. S. 269; Hohn v. United States, 107 U. S. 402, 107 U. S. 406, and Five Percent Cases, 110 U. S. 471, 110 U. S. 485. In the case of Brown v. United States, 113 U. S. 568, the same doctrine was applied, the cases in this Court on the subject being collected and it being said that a "contemporaneous and uniform interpretation" by executive officers charged with the duty of acting under a statute "is entitled to weight" in its construction, "and in a case of doubt, ought to turn the scale." A still more recent case on the subject is United States v. Philbrick, ante, 120 U. S. 52, where this language is used:
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