David Josiah Brewer

“ That means simply that when a sale has not been closed by the payment of the consideration into the Treasury of the United States, and while the transaction is in process of administration, and the consideration is still in the hands of the department charged with the duty of making the sale, it can correct a mistake in the amount of the consideration received, and that it is not necessary to turn the entire amount into the Treasury and leave the party to some other remedy directly against the government. ”

“ If, for instance, the owner of a large body of land placed certain prices on different tracts thereof, and his agent, dealing with a purchaser of one of those tracts, charged him more than the price fixed by the principal, the purchaser paying the extra price without protest, and the principal accepting such payment, the transaction would not thereafter be open to inquiry in the courts, and the purchaser could not recover the extra sum which he had paid to the agent. ”

“ If may be said that this is an extreme case, and that the fee is for the personal services of the officer; but under the present provisions of the statutes, generally speaking, all fees for the services of officers belong to the government, and are available only in payment, so far as they go, of their salaries. It may also be said that no one would go to the trouble of suing for such a trifle as 25 cents, but if there are 10,000 cases of that kind the aggregate is no inconsiderable sum. ”

“ The conclusion we draw from these cases (and no others in respect to the ruling of the Land Department are referred to) is different from that drawn by counsel. That Congress has power in all cases to waive the question of voluntary payment, and provide that any mistake shall be corrected and any excess of payment refunded by the officer receiving it, or recovered by an action in the court of claims, is undoubted ”

“ When it is demanded it is required. If he pays without objection, notice, or protest it is simply in response to the call upon him for the particular sum, and, as we have heretofore said, between individuals it would be regarded as a voluntary payment.
Our attention has been called by counsel to certain opinions of this court, and some expressions therein, disconnected from the facts, doubtless land countenance to their contention. Those cases may be placed in two classes: First, those in which something was purchased from the government which the purchaser wanted or must have ”

“ Every officer or agent who neglects or refuses to comply with that provision shall be subject to be removed from office and to forfeit any part or share of the moneys withheld, to which he might otherwise be entitled. ”

“ Rep. 246, and following, that which shows the facts as understood by the court, and the language upon which the contention is here made:
'It appears that prior to June 30, 1866, the leading manufacturers of matches (among whom was William H. Swift, who, upon the organization of the claimant corporation 1870, became one of its largest stockholders and treasurer) made repeated protests to the officers of the Internal Revenue Bureau against its method of computing commissions for proprietary stamps sold to those who furnished their own dies and designs ”