Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“ The denial of interest for the time covered by the war seems to us wrong. The cause of action had accrued before the war began, Young v. Godbe, 15 Wall. 562, 21 L. Ed. 250, and after it had accrued the question was no longer one of excuse for not performing a contract, but of the continuance of a liability for damages that had become fixed. The obligation of a contract is subject to implied exceptions, but when a liability is incurred by wrong or default it is absolute. ”

“ Interest is due as one of its incidentals, and inability to pay it no more excuses from that than it does from the principal amount. Of course while the damages remain unpaid interest during one time is as necessary as interest during another to effect the indemnification to which the delinquent is held by the law. ”

“ We take up the second question first as the principles that govern it have some bearing upon the matter of interest also. We are of opinion that the Courts below were right in holding that the plaintiffs were entitled to recover the value in dollars that the mark had when the account was stated. The debt was due to an American creditor and was to be paid in the United States. When the contract was broken by a failure to pay, the American firm had a claim here, not for the debt, but, at its option, for damages in dollars. ”