Morrison Waite

“ Natural justice certainly requires that, if the defendant has the benefit of payments as discharging his liability to the county, he should reimburse the plaintiff, whose assignor made the payments. If we were to take any other view, it appears to us that we should attach more importance to the form than the substance of things. ”

“ All we have to consider is whether it was the real ground of decision, and not used to give color only to a refusal to allow the bar of the decree. It cannot be doubted that if Chapman and Stryker had, after the rendition of the decree, got from the homestead company permission to use its payments as a defense to the actions brought against them for the taxes, and in consideration thereof had promised to repay what had been advanced for that purpose, a new cause of action would have arisen, to which the decree would not have been a bar. ”

“ Where, therefore, such payment is made by a third person, the tax-payer has a right to ignore the payment if he chooses to do so. But if he chooses not to ignore, but to claim the benefit of it, we see no reason why we may not regard him as treating the act of payment as done for him ”