[DOWNLOAD] "Jones Et Al. v. Shore's Executor Et Al. the United States v. Jones Et Al." by United States Supreme Court * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Jones Et Al. v. Shore's Executor Et Al. the United States v. Jones Et Al.
- Author : United States Supreme Court
- Release Date : January 01, 1816
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 77 KB
Description
Swann, for Jones et al. The whole body of embargo laws shows, that the collector is, ex officio, to receive penalties and forfeitures; and that he who is to receive, is to have his distributive share as his property of right, and to make the division among the other persons entitled. The term collector means the officer of the law, invested with legal immortality. Official obligations do not attach to the person of the individual, but to the office.1 a The penalty may be released by the treasury at any time before the collector receives it. Wirt, for Shore's executor et al. The question is, whether, of these two officers, he who supports all the labour and inconvenience shall be entitled to the reward. The death of Mr. Shore did not discontinue his office; his deputy exercised the duties, as by law he was authorized to do, until the rendition of the judgment. The reason of the law is its soul; the intention of the legislature must be regarded; it must have been their motive to stimulate the zeal and exertions of the officers of the customs by an adequate incentive. Policy rendered it more essential in the embargo laws than in the ordinary revenue laws, and the reward was, therefore, attached to the incumbent who detected the offence, and prosecuted. The question is stricti juris, and must be determined Pinkney, in reply. The argument drawn from an equitable construction, according to relative merit, is unsatisfactory. The law holds out a contingent prospective reward; if the officer dies, it is gone, and the policy of the law is sufficiently satisfied. But the letter of the law is clear and peremptory; the penalty is given to the officer where it was incurred, and not to the seizing officer. At what epoch will you stop in fixing the character of the person entitled? At the seizure? the prosecution? or the rendition of the judgment? At neither: for the word 'recovered' is the emphatic expression, and it is recovered when adjudged and received. Every other construction is arbitrary and fictitious. The president's power of pardoning is a conclusive argument; if the right vested, it could not be thereby devested. The provision, as to officers wishing to become witnesses, signifies nothing. They have an interest; not a vested and absolute interest, but contingent upon the recovery, and if they think fit to sacrifice it, they may be witnesses. The collector did not live in his deputy; the law merely casts the responsibility upon his estate as to the acts of the deputy.