Case: NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY v. THE UNITED STATES
Abbreviation: National Lead Co. v. United States
Decision Date: 1920-03-01
Docket Number: 
Citation: 55 Ct. Cl. 514
Volume: 55
Reporter: United States Court of Claims Reports
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction: United States
Parties: NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY v. THE UNITED STATES.
Judges: 
Pages: 514–515

Head Matter:
NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY v. THE UNITED STATES.
[Not reported in C. Cls. R.; 252 U. S., 140.]
Judgment was rendered in favor of the defendants in the court below. On appeal the judgment was affirmed, and the 'Supreme Court decided:
Section 22 of the act of August 27, 1894, c. 349, 28 Stat. 509, provides: “That when imported materials on which duties have been paid are used in the manufacture of articles manufactured or produced in the United States, there shall be allowed on the exportation of such articles a drawback equal in amount to the duties paid on the materials used, less one per centum of such duties,” to be paid under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe. Where linseed was imported subject to a specific duty of 20 cents per bushel of 56 pounds, and made into linseed oil and oil cake, a byproduct weighing more but worth less than the oil, held, that the drawback on the oil cake, which alone was exported, should be computed on the basis of the respective values of the two products and not according to their respective weights.
Much weight is given to a contemporaneous and long-continued construction of an indefinite or ambiguous statute by the executive department charged with its administration.
The repeated reenactment of a statute without substantial change may amount to an implied legislative approval of a construction placed upon it by executive officers.

Opinion:
Mr. Justice Clakke
delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court March 1, 1920.