Case: NASHVILLE, CHATTANOOGA AND SAINT LOUIS RAILWAY COMPANY v. THE UNITED STATES
Abbreviation: Nashville, Chattanooga & Saint Louis Railway Co v. United States
Decision Date: 1885-01-26
Docket Number: 
Citation: 20 Ct. Cl. 526
Volume: 20
Reporter: United States Court of Claims Reports
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction: United States
Parties: NASHVILLE, CHATTANOOGA AND SAINT LOUIS RAILWAY COMPANY v. THE UNITED STATES.
Judges: Mr. Justice Gray delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court, January 26, 1885.
Pages: 526–527

Head Matter:
NASHVILLE, CHATTANOOGA AND SAINT LOUIS RAILWAY COMPANY v. THE UNITED STATES.
(19 C. Cls. R., 476; 113 U. S. R., 261.)
On the claimant’s Appeal.
The claimant performs mail service before the war. The defendants bring a suit in equity to enforce certain demands. A compromise is effected and a decree entered by consent. It embraces matters not the subject of litig'ation; among others “ mail service ” rendered “prior to the 1st day of Jane, 1871.”
The court below decides—
(I.) When a decree is properly an adjudication, it is a settled rule that it must conform to the allegations in the pleadings.
(2.) When a decree entered" by consent is properly a settlement of a controversy, its terms will not he restrained to matters alleged in the pleadings, hut will he construed to iuclude all matters which the parties intended should he a subject of settlement and compromise.
(3.) Where a decree entered by consent embraces various matters not the subject of litig'ation, and, among' other, mail service rendered “prior to the 1st day of June, 1871,” it must be held that mail service rendered before the rebellion was included in the settlement.

Opinion:
The judgment of the court below is affirmed on the following grounds: (1) A decree in equity, by consent of parties, and" upon a compromise between them, is a bar to a subsequent suit upon a claim therein set forth as among the matters compromised and settled, although not in fact litigated in the suit in which the decree was rendered. (2) A decree in a suit in equity by the United States against a railroad corporation in Tennessee, appearing upon its face to have been by consent of parties, and confirming a compromise of all claims between them before June 1,1871, including any claim of the corporation against the United States for mail service, is a bar to a suit by the corporation in the Court of Claims for mail service performed before the war of the rebellion, although at the time of the decree payment to it of any claim was prohibited by law because of its having aided the rebellion.
Mr. Justice Gray delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court, January 26, 1885.