In the light of this history of the claim of the La Abra
I. If, as insisted by the appellants, the above act of December 28, 1892, was not so approved by the President as to become under the Constitution a law, it would be unnecessary to consider any other question raised by the pleadings; for that act is the only basis of jurisdiction in the Court of Claims to render a judgment that would be conclusive between the parties and which could be reviewed by this court. We must therefore first consider whether that act is liable to the constitutional objection just stated.
The ground of this contention is that having met in regular session at the time appointed by law, the first Monday of December, 1892, and having on the 22d day of that month (two days after the presentation of the bill to the President) by the joint action of the two Houses taken a recess to a named day, January 4, 1893, Congress was not actually sitting when the President on the 28th day of December, 1892, by signing it formally approved the act in question. The proposition, plainly stated, is that a bill passed by Congress and duly presented to the President does not become a law if his approval be given on a day when Congress is in recess. This implies that the constitutional power of the President to approve a bill so as to make it a law is absolutely suspended while Congress is in recess for a fixed time. It would follow from this that if both Houses of Congress by their joint or separate action were in recess from some Friday until the succeeding Monday, the President could not exercise that power on the intervening Saturday. Indeed, according to the argument of counsel the President could not effectively approve a bill on any day when one of the Houses, by its own separate action, was legally in recess for that day in order that necessary repairs be made in the room in which its sessions were being held. Yet many public acts and joint resolutions of great importance together with many private acts have been treated as valid and enforceable which were approved by the President during the recesses of Congress covering the
Do the words of the Constitution, reasonably interpreted, sustain the views advanced for appellant?
That instrument provides:
"The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day." Art. I, § 4.
"Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting." Art. I, § 5.
"Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approves, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on the journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that
"Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary, (except on a case of adjournment,) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill." Art. I, § 8.
It is said that the approval by the President of a bill passed by Congress is not strictly an executive function, but is legislative in its nature; and this view, it is argued, conclusively shows that his approval can legally occur only on a day when both Houses are actually sitting in the performance of legislative functions. Undoubtedly the President when approving bills passed by Congress may be said to participate in the enactment of laws which the Constitution requires him to execute. But that consideration does not determine the question before us. As the Constitution while authorizing the President to perform certain functions of a limited number that are legislative in their general nature does not restrict the exercise of those functions to the particular days on which the two Houses of Congress are actually sitting in the transaction of public business, the court cannot impose such a restriction upon the Executive. It is made his duty by the Constitution to examine and act upon every bill passed by Congress. The time within which he must approve or disapprove
Much of the argument of counsel seems to rest upon the provision in relation to the final adjournment of Congress for the session, whereby the President is prevented from returning, within the period prescribed by the Constitution, a bill that he disapproves and is unwilling to sign. But the Constitution places the approval and disapproval of bills, as to their becoming laws, upon a different basis. If the President does not approve a bill, he is required within a named time to send it back for consideration. But if by its action, after the
Whether the President can sign a bill after the final adjournment of Congress for the session, is a question not arising in this case, and has not been considered or decided by us. We adjudge — and touching this branch of the case adjudge nothing more — that the act of 1892 having been presented to the President while Congress was sitting and having been signed by him when Congress was in recess for a specified time, but within ten days, Sundays excepted, after it was so presented to him, was effectively approved, and immediately became a law, unless its provisions are repugnant to the Constitution.
II. It is said that the present proceeding based on the act of 1892 is not a "case" within the meaning of that clause of the Constitution declaring that the judicial power of the United States shall extend to all cases in law and equity arising under that instrument, the laws of the United States, or treaties made or which shall be made under their authority. Art. III, § 2. This Article, as has been adjudged, does not extend the judicial power to every violation of the Constitution that may possibly take place, but only "to a case in law or equity, in which a right, under such law, is asserted in a court of justice. If the question cannot be brought into a court, then there is no case in law or equity, and no jurisdiction is given by the words of the Article. But if, in any controversy depending in a court, the cause should depend on the validity of such a law, that would be a case arising under the Constitution to which the judicial power of the United States would extend." Cohens v. Virginia, 6 Wheat. 264, 405. In the same case, Chief Justice Marshall declared a suit to be the prosecution by a party of some claim, demand or request in a court of justice for the purpose of being put in possession of a right claimed by him and of which he was deprived.
The principles announced in the above cases are illustrated by the opinion prepared by Chief Justice Taney for the case of Gordon v. United States, 2 Wall. 561, and printed in 117 U.S. 697. That case was brought to this court from the Court of Claims, and related to a demand asserted against the United States. The principal question was whether this court had jurisdiction to review the final order made in the court
Under the principles established in the cases above cited, the objections urged against the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims and of this court cannot be maintained, if the present proceeding involves a right which in its nature is susceptible of judicial determination, and if the determination of it by
The money in the hands of the Secretary of State was paid to the United States by Mexico pursuant to the award of the Commission. That tribunal dealt only with the two Governments, had no relations with claimants, and could take cognizance only of claims presented by or through the respective governments. No claimant, individual or corporate, was entitled to present any demand or proofs directly to the Commission. No evidence could be considered except such as was furnished by or on behalf of the respective governments. While the claims of individual citizens presented by their respective governments were to be considered by the Commission in determining amounts " the whole purpose of the convention was to ascertain how much was due from one government to the other on account of the demands of their respective citizens." And "each government, when it entered into the compact under which the awards were made, relied on the honor and good faith of the other for protection so far as possible against frauds and impositions by the individual claimants." Frelinghuysen v. Key, above cited. As between the United States and Mexico, indeed as between the United States and American claimants, the money received from Mexico under the award of the Commission was in strict law the property of the United States, and no claimant could assert or enforce any interest in it so long as the Government legally withheld it from distribution.
When the La Abra Company asked the intervention of the United States it did so on the condition imposed by the principles of comity recognized by all civilized nations, that it would act in entire good faith, and not put the government whose aid it sought in the attitude of asserting against the Mexican Republic a fraudulent or fictitious claim; consequently the United States, under its duty to that Republic, was required to withhold any sum awarded and paid on account of the Company's claim if it appeared that such claim was of that character. As between the United States and the
These considerations make it clear that the act of 1892 is not liable to the objection that it subjected to judicial determination a matter committed by the Constitution to the exclusive control of the President. The subject was one in which Congress had an interest, and in respect to which it could give directions by means of a legislative enactment. The question for the determination of which the present suit was directed to be instituted was whether the award made by the Commission in respect to the claim of the La Abra Company was obtained as to the whole sum included therein or as to any part thereof, by fraud effectuated by means of false swearing or other false and fraudulent practices on the part of the Company, or its agents, attorneys or assigns. It cannot, we think, be seriously disputed that the question whether fraud has or has not been committed in presenting or prosecuting a demand or claim before a tribunal having authority to allow or disallow it is peculiarly judicial in its nature, and that in ascertaining the facts material in such an inquiry no means are so effectual as those employed by or in a court of justice. The Executive branch of the Government recognized the inadequacy for such an investigation of any means it possessed, and declared that Congress by its "plenary authority" ought not only to decide whether such an investigation should be made, but provide an adequate procedure for its conduct and prescribe the consequences to follow therefrom. The suggestion that the question of fraud be committed to the determination of a judicial
It has been adjudged that Congress by legislation, and so far as the people and authorities of the United States are concerned, could abrogate a treaty made between this country and another country which had been negotiated by the President and approved by the Senate. Head Money cases, 112 U.S. 580, 599; Whitney v. Robertson, 124 U.S. 190, 194; Chinese Exclusion case, 130 U.S. 581, 600; Fong Yue Ting v. United States, 149 U.S. 698, 721. It is therefore difficult to perceive any ground upon which to question its power to make the distribution of moneys in the hands of the Secretary of State — representing in that matter the United States and not simply the President — depend upon the result of a suit by which the United States would be bound and in which the claimants to the fund in question could be heard as parties, and which was to be brought in a court of the United States by its authority, for the purpose of determining whether the La Abra Company, its agents or assigns had been guilty of fraud in the matter of the claim that it procured to be presented to the Commission. The act of 1892 is to be taken as a recognition, so far as the United States is concerned, of the legal right of the Company to receive the moneys in question unless it appeared upon judicial investigation that the
It remains, in our consideration of the question of jurisdiction, to inquire whether the judgment authorized by the act of 1892 to be rendered would be a final, conclusive determination, as between the United States and the defendants, of the rights claimed by them respectively, or only ancillary or advisory. In our opinion the act of Congress authorized a final judgment of the former character and therefore the judgment of the Court of Claims is reviewable by this court in the exercise of its appellate judicial power. If our judgment should be one of affirmance then the La Abra Company, and its legal representatives or assigns are barred of all claim, legal or equitable, to the money received by the United States from the Republic of Mexico on account of the award of the Commission. Such a determination would rest upon the broad ground that the United States in its efforts to protect the alleged rights of an American corporation had been the victim of fraud upon the part of that corporation, its agents or assigns, and was in law relieved from any responsibility to that corporation touching the claim in question
Much was said in argument about the interference by the act of 1892 with the discharge by the President of his constitutional functions in connection with matters involved in the relations between this country and the Republic of Mexico. For reasons already given this contention cannot be sustained. It is without support in anything done or said by the eminent jurists who have presided over the Department of State since the controversy arose as to the integrity of the claim made by the La Abra Company. On the contrary, those officers have uniformly insisted that the authority of Congress was plenary to determine whether the award in respect of those claims was procured by fraud practised on the part of that Company and whether in that event the Company should be barred of any claim to the moneys received from the Republic of Mexico. Upon this question the legislative and executive branches of the Government have acted in perfect harmony. The question arises under the Constitution of the United States and a treaty made by the United States with a foreign country, is judicial in its nature, and one to which the judicial power of the United States is expressly extended. Both branches of the Government were concerned in the enactment subjecting that question to judicial determination, and it cannot properly be said that the President by approving the act of 1892 or by recognizing its binding force surrendered any function belonging to him under the supreme law of the land.
It was also said in argument that the act of Congress in some way — not clearly defined by counsel — was inconsistent with the principles underlying international arbitration, a
We hold that the act of 1892 is not unconstitutional upon any of the grounds adverted to; that the Court of Claims had jurisdiction to render the decree in question; that such decree, unless reversed, is binding upon the parties to this cause; and that this court, in the exercise of its appellate power, has authority to reexamine that decree and make such order or give such direction as may be consistent with law.
III. The Court of Claims did not make a finding of facts. It is therefore contended on behalf of the United States that the appeal provided for by the act of 1892 does not authorize a reexamination of the evidence, as in equity cases generally; and that the present case comes within the rule prescribed by this court under the authority of the act of March 3, 1863, 12 Stat. 766, c. 92; Rev. Stat. § 708, providing that in connection
In its opinion on the demurrer to the bill the Court of Claims said: "The directions of the statute [the act of 1892] as to the character of the decree seem to be without doubt, and as the court in the trial of the cause is in the exercise of equity powers, it would find no difficulty in entering such a decree as will carry out the purpose of the statute." 29 C. Cl. 432, 522. In its opinion on the final hearing of the case the court below said: "This being a proceeding in equity, this court is not called upon to settle the facts by the finding of ultimate facts for the consideration of the Supreme Court, but the whole record is transmitted to that court, and the case is to be determined in the Supreme Court upon the law as it shall be adjudged and upon the facts as they shall be found by the decision of the Supreme Court. That would be so in a case of this kind arising under the ordinary jurisdiction of the Court of Claims, but it is especially true from the provisions of the statute giving us the special jurisdiction to determine the issues of this proceeding. The statute provides for a decree, and not for a money judgment." After citing Harvey v. United States, 105 U.S. 671, the court continued: "All the testimony being before the Supreme Court for the purpose of settling ultimate facts from such testimony, we have confined the limits of this opinion to questions of law, and the determination of the ultimate fact which is, whether the Company was compelled to abandon its mines because of the acts of the people of Mexico and the Mexican authorities." 32 C. Cl. 462, 515, 516.
In our judgment the Court of Claims properly interpreted the act of 1892. While that act does not, in express words, direct the Attorney General to institute a suit "in equity" or declare that this court on appeal should reexamine the entire case on both law and facts, a suit of that character was contemplated when Congress invested the Court of Claims with full jurisdiction to make "all interlocutory and final decrees therein as the evidence may warrant, according to the principles of equity and justice, and to enforce the same by injunction
We are of opinion that the appeal provided for in the act of 1892 was one under which it is our duty to determine the rights of the parties as in a case in equity. The provision in the act expressly empowering the court below in the event it was found that the award in question was fraudulently obtained as to the whole or any part of the sum included therein by the La Abra Company, to bar and foreclose all claims in law or equity on its part, together with the provision authorizing the court to render such interlocutory and final decrees as the evidence may warrant, according to the principles of equity and justice, and to enforce the same by injunction, imports such jurisdiction in the Court of Claims as may be ordinarily exercised by courts of equity as distinguished from courts of law,
IV. We come now to consider in the light of all the evidence whether the award in question was obtained by fraud effectuated by means of false swearing or other false and fraudulent practices on the part of the La Abra Company, its agents, attorneys or assigns.
In view of the exceptional character of the case, and that there may be no ground to misapprehend the basis upon which our decree will rest, we deem it appropriate to set forth in this opinion the principal facts bearing on the issue of fraud.
In its memorial presented to the Commission through the United States, the La Abra Company referred to the mines in Mexico of which it asserted ownership as being of extraordinary richness and historical interest.
It was stated in the memorial that after becoming the proprietor of those mines the Company with all possible dispatch proceeded to the working of them, and to that end sent intelligent agents to Mexico, employed miners, machinists and laborers, purchased mules, equipments, provisions, the best and most improved machinery which were transported on the backs of mules to the mines at heavy cost, and incurred other expenses necessary to the most extensive and successful working of the property; that they expended in the purchase of the mines and in their working the sum of three hundred and three thousand dollars, and as the result of this large expenditure were getting out a large amount of the richest ore and were in the act of realizing the extraordinary profit of a million dollars per annum when, by reason of unfriendly and illegal acts of the Mexican officials, they were compelled to abandon their mines, all their machinery and other property and over a thousand tons of ore obtained by the Company from the mines; that intense prejudice was constantly manifested by the civil and military authorities and by the Mexican populace against all Americans, and especially against those engaged in mining, this prejudice being intensified by the belief that the United States intended to annex Durango, Sinaloa and other States to its territory, and that the La
The memorial concluded by alleging that when the Company acquired the La Abra mines, though they were of immense richness, it was impossible from their neglected state to extract ores except by heavy expenditures; that in connection with the principal mines were buildings of great cost and other permanent structures, but owing to the abandoned condition of the mines they were of no present value; that the large expenditures made by the Company at the mines gave a very great value to them and to the buildings and other permanent structures, and they became and were of the value of
The memorial also stated that the Company had never received any indemnity for its claim, and its prayer was for an award against the Mexican Government for its damages with interest thereon.
It may be here observed that this memorial contained no hint or intimation that the abandonment by the Company of mining operations in Mexico was due in any degree to its inability or failure to supply the money necessary for the development of its property and to meet the expenses of mining operations.
That the La Abra Company ceased to work its mines in Mexico and practically abandoned them is undoubtedly true. But is it true that they did so in consequence of violence and outrages committed against it by the public authorities of the Republic of Mexico? The United States insists upon a negative answer to this question. It contends that the Company ceased to work its mines and abandoned its property for reasons wholly disconnected from anything done or omitted to be done by the authorities of Mexico and asserts that the La Abra Company suspended operations in that country not only because of want of funds necessary to develop its property, but because of the belief of stockholders that the mines were not of sufficient value to justify a larger expenditure of money;
The connection of the La Abra Company with these mines may be briefly stated as follows: In 1865 one Hardy went to the city of New York for the purpose of selling mining property in Mexico which he claimed to own or control and which constitutes part of the property now in question. He there met a person named Garth and exhibited to him some specimens of ore which he stated were taken from that property. Among those whose attention had been called to those mines — precisely at what time or in what way does not appear — was a person named Bartholow. Garth and Bartholow were sent to Mexico by New York capitalists to examine the mines. They were accompanied by Hardy and were joined by one who was reputed to be a California mining expert, named Griffith. The party arrived at the mines near Tayoltita, Mexico, in June, 1865. In his deposition taken June 22, 1874, Bartholow stated that after examining the property several mines with their improvements were purchased from the owners, Don Juan Castillo de Valle and Ygnacio Manjarrez, at the price of $57,000, gold coin. Twenty-two twenty-fourths of the La Abra mine, lying immediately contiguous to the mines purchased from de Valle and Manjarrez, were purchased from Hardy and one Luce, at the price of $22,000, gold coin. In the same deposition Bartholow stated: "We then reported said purchases, and all the facts exactly as they existed there, to said gentlemen, capitalists, all of whom were intimate acquaintances, and some of them personal friends and relatives of said Garth and myself, and thereupon they formed said Abra Silver Mining Company, and organized the same under the general mining laws of the State of New York, to work said mines in Mexico, which organization was perfected on the eighteenth day of November, 1865, and said mines and haciendas were duly conveyed to said company by said Garth and myself, we being amongst the very largest stockholders of the same. . . . After receiving the legal titles to all of
The successor of Bartholow as superintendent in charge of the mining property was Colonel Julian A. De Lagnel, formerly an officer in the Army of the United States. He had had no experience in mining, but was recognized by all —
During the entire period when Bartholow, De Lagnel and Exall were respectively superintendents at the mines, Garth was the executive officer and manager of the affairs of the Company at the city of New York, representing it in all correspondence with the different superintendents. Whatever omissions of duty were fairly chargeable against the Mexican authorities in respect of the Company's property necessarily occurred after Bartholow took charge at the mines and before Exall returned to New York. During that period of about three years there was a regular correspondence by letter between the respective superintendents and Garth in his capacity as representative of the Company at its chief office in New York. Neither the Commissioners nor the Umpire had those letters before them when the La Abra claim was examined by them. After the award in question, the letter-impression book in which the letters or reports of the superintendents were originally copied was discovered by Mexico and brought by its diplomatic representatives to the attention of the Department of State. Of the identity of that book, as containing the correspondence between the La Abra Silver Mining Company and its several Superintendents at the mines, no doubt can exist although it is insisted that some letters do
That there was before the Commission some evidence which, uncontradicted or unexplained, tended to support the allegations of outrage, violence and neglect of duty on the part of Mexican authorities may be admitted. That evidence came largely from Bartholow and Exall. But it is manifest that the Umpire could not possibly have reached the conclusion he did in respect to the La Abra claim if the letter book, giving detailed accounts from time to time of all that occurred at the mines while in charge of Bartholow, De Lagnel and Exall, had been in evidence when he rendered his decision. The reports made by the Company's superintendents as to the management of the property and of what occurred at the mines are utterly inconsistent with the statement that the Company's abandonment of mining operations and of its property was in consequence of the misconduct and violence of the Mexican authorities. Placing this letter book beside the evidence adduced before the Commission and the Umpire by the La Abra Company, it is clear that the material transactions and incidents which the Company's witnesses before the Commission detailed as establishing the charge against the Mexican authorities were misstated or grossly exaggerated. It now appears that much of the evidence upon which the Commission must have rested its conclusion was wholly without foundation and had its origin in a fraudulent purpose or plan to make it appear that the public authorities of Mexico were chargeable with a responsibility that could not fairly or justly be imputed to them.
Let us see how far this general statement is justified by the evidence adduced in the present case when examined in connection with the testimony brought before the Commission.
Now, when Bartholow's deposition was taken in 1874 he was asked whether the statements made by Nunez and Manjarrez and other witnesses for Mexico were true. He answered in the negative, saying they were wholly untrue. In response to an inquiry as to the circumstances of the murder of one of the employes of the Company in charge of mule trains or supplies, he then testified: "His name was William Grove; he was one of my most valued employes; he was murdered between the town of San Ignacio and Tayoltita; I afterwards recovered his body; it was badly mutilated by gunshot wounds, evidently produced by a volley of musketry. This occurred in January or February, 1866. At the time of the murder Mr. Grove was in the employ of the Abra Company as quartermaster, and was intrusted with the charge of one of our mule trains, used for transportation of supplies. Mr. Grove was murdered by soldiers of the Republican army. The train that was the special charge of Mr. Grove was taken possession of by the military authorities, with its entire outfit and supplies, all of which were totally lost to the Abra Company. The mule trains owned and worked by the Company, at that time, were three in number, aggregating about one hundred and fifty mules; the train so taken was one of the three here mentioned."
This was a very imposing statement in support of the charge in the Company's memorial as to the murder of one of its employes and the seizure of its property by the Mexican authorities. But the charge had no foundation in fact, if Bartholow's account of the affair as contained in his report made to the Company when all the circumstances were fresh in his mind was true. In his report to Garth as the representative of the La Abra Company, of March 7, 1866, — which
These letters were not before the Commission. If they had been, that body could not have attached any importance whatever to the statement in Bartholow's deposition of 1874 to the effect that the murder of Grove was committed by soldiers of the Republican Army, or to the charge in the Company's memorial that such murder "was made matter of boast by Mexican officials."
Another of the outrages alleged to have been committed
The same incident was described in an affidavit made in 1870 by a witness for the Company named Clark, who was a contractor for the Company while Bartholow was in charge of its property. He said that he knew "of other abuses of said Company by the military authorities aforesaid; that in the early part of 1866 an employe of said Company, whose name, deponent believes, was George Scott, (called `Scottie,') who was on his way from Mazatlan to the works of the Company in Durango, was met in the road by an armed party of
How differently this affair was regarded at the time by Bartholow is shown by his report to Garth, to be found in the letter book, under date of April 10, 1866. In that report Bartholow spoke of the difficulties he had met and overcome, and stated that a demand for taxes amounting to three or four thousand dollars had been easily met, after corresponding with the collector of taxes, by the payment of thirty dollars, and that there was no necessity of troubling General Corona with the matter. He proceeded: "In consequence of the unsettled state of the country and the presence of bands of robbers on and near the roads leading from here to the port, I have had a great deal of trouble to get money from time to time transported to pay my hands and other expenses, and in consequence I was, of course, unwilling to risk any very large sum at one time: yet, when we were getting timber and doing other work which required a great many Mexican laborers, we frequently needed $1000 per week, and of course all that the proceeds of the sales of goods did not supply had to be brought from Mazatlan, but I so managed it that we never had more than from $1500 to $2000 at risk at one time, and all came through safe except in one case. This
Can the statements in that report be reconciled with the declaration in the affidavit of Clark and in the deposition of Bartholow that the robbery of Scott was by the military authorities of the Republic under General Corona? We think not. The affair as described in that letter could never have been made the basis of a finding that would place the responsibility for this robbery upon the public authorities then holding control in Mexico.
We now refer to a matter occurring during the superintendency of De Lagnel. It was referred to in argument as the Valdespino forced loan. Alluding to this exaction in his deposition, taken in rebuttal while the case was being prepared for the Commission, and being asked whether it was paid by
Here we have a distinct assertion by the Company, through its witnesses, that this demand to pay $1200 was met by the Company. The fact was just the reverse, as must have been known to some of the representatives of the Company who were accredited by it to the Commission as witnesses having knowledge of the facts. On the day succeeding the receipt of Valdespino's letter Colonel De Lagnel wrote to the Gefe Politico of the San Dimas mines as follows: "In due time reached me your communication of yesterday in regard to a loan or tax which you exact from the residents of the district for the support of the forces of Colonel Valdespino, and having noticed the contents thereof I answer it forthwith. I send you part of the articles I have and which you ask me for, hoping that they be useful and acceptable to you. As regards the cash I am sorry to inform you that it is impossible for me to send you even a little, because I have not here the
If any additional evidence were needed to disprove the statement before the Commission that the Company by its agent had met and paid the levy of $1200 by Valdespino to be used in supporting his troops, it is found in De Lagnel's deposition taken in this cause. His attention being called to the reference in the letter book to this levy or forced loan, he said: "I received from the civil officer in San Dimas, and also at the same time from Colonel Valdespino, letters, both bearing on the same subject. He had come into the vicinity with a command of cavalry — Liberal cavalry — destitute. The mules were broken down by coming over the mountains. They wanted food and clothing and money, and they wrote to me, saying that they had apportioned it on the two mining companies, the one at San Dimas and the one with which I was connected, levying one quarter upon us, and the other half was to be borne by the citizens. I was advised to comply. They wanted $300, if I recollect right, in money. I didn't have the money to give them, and didn't intend to give it even if I had it. . . . I sent them a few goods — some stuff they wanted, blankets, and hats. I sent them some goods, cotton goods, and wrote a courteous note to each one of them, expressing regret that I could not comply with their wishes, and stating that we had no money, because the mines had never turned out a dollar. They wrote me an acknowledgment and sent a receipt for the goods and courteous acknowledgments. That was the end of it."
There are many other specific matters discussed in the elaborate briefs of counsel. To consider each of them and show the grounds upon which our conclusions rest would extend this opinion far beyond all proper limits. There were undoubtedly some unpleasant occurrences, such as the affair between Exall and Perez, a local judge, growing out of a misunderstanding by the latter of Exall's order to him to keep out of a particular room at the mines. But none of those occurrences had any real connection with the abandonment by the Company of its mining property in Mexico; and as is
What does the letter-impression book disclose as the real cause of the Company's abandonment of its mines?
In the reports made by Bartholow, the first superintendent, to Garth of February 6, March 7 and April 10, 1866, no statement is made which even by inference showed that any difficulties were in his way that had their origin in the acts or conduct of the public civil or military authorities of Mexico. On the contrary, one letter shows that he obtained military protection for the mill transported from Mazatlan to the mines, and another one that he had pleasant relations with the civil and military authorities of the locality.
Looking next at the reports of De Lagnel, the second superintendent, we find a letter of July 6, 1866, from him to Garth, showing that there was then a heavy outstanding indebtedness against the Company that compelled the superintendent not only to lessen expenditures, but to reduce the working force nearly one half, and pay the workmen for their services one half in cash and one half in goods. Under date of October 8, 1866, De Lagnel wrote: "I am troubled exceedingly that better success has not attended my efforts, but the rainy season has proven a sore trial to my patience and been a serious drawback. I have striven to meet your wishes and expectations, and regret that my success has not been commensurate with my efforts to serve you and discharge my duties. As to sending a successor, I deem it best to tell you now that no money could tempt me to remain in this country longer than next 1st March." On the 17th of November, 1866, De Lagnel wrote from Mazatlan to Garth: "Had nothing occurred to interrupt the work, I feel sure that at this time the mill would be in operation, and the proofs at last being developed. Unfortunately, I was unable in September or October to communicate with this place; and the ready money giving out at the hacienda, the workmen (not miners)
Under date of January 5, 1867, De Lagnel wrote again to Garth from Mazatlan: "In your latest letter, the 20 Nov'r, you there informed me that you can meet no further drafts upon you; yet I had already, about the 17 Nov'r, drawn on you as treasurer for the sum of seven thousand dollars. I wrote to you fully by the same mail, and hoped to be able to send the letter via Acapulco, and thus reach you before the draft. In this I was disappointed, and my letters having gone via S. Francisco will reach you at the same time that the d'ft comes in for payment. I trust that, despite what you say, you will find some way to satisfy the draft, for if it goes to protest it will be of incalculable injury to the best interests of the Co. To me the consequences of such a thing would be both mortifying and most embarrassing, but to the Comp'y's interest they would prove far more serious. It is therefore that I urge upon your serious consideration the interest at stake, and pray that a prompt settlement be given upon presentation."
De Lagnel was again in Mazatlan on February 5, 1867, and on that day wrote to Garth, saying: "I had hoped, and fully expected, to be able by this time to send forward some return for the outlay incurred by the Company in the prosecution of its enterprise; but am disappointed in not yet having succeeded in bringing on the water in sufficient quantity to drive all the machinery. . . . The supplies laid in during the past year being in great part exhausted, and a new supply
We come now to the period during which Exall was superintendent. His reports to Garth, as the representative of the Company, and Garth's letters to him, make it clear that its bankruptcy was all the time imminent, and that the time was near at hand when all work at the mines would be suspended, not because any obstacles were put in the way of the Company by the Mexican authorities, but solely because it was without money to employ in developing the property.
The first letter written by Exall shows that the financial situation at the mines was such as to require the utmost economy on the part of the Company's superintendent.
Under date of May 6, 1867, after De Lagnel departed for New York, Exall wrote: "I have, as far as I think safe, reduced the number of hands at the mines, keeping only a sufficient number to show that they are still being worked. I have a light force in the Christo; no improvement in the metal; a light force in the La Luz; the metal about the same. . . . I have discharged a greater portion of the Hacienda hands."
On the 10th of May, 1867, Garth wrote to Exall a letter in which, after expressing the hope that De Lagnel would soon arrive at New York, he said: "The affairs of the Company here are much embarrassed; a few of the directors have advanced all the money to carry on the operations and have been nearly ruined by it, and are not able to afford any further aid from here, and look anxiously to be reimbursed very soon from the products of the mine, and it is hoped that your best energies will be exerted to afford relief."
Again, under date of May 20, 1867, Garth wrote to Exall, and referring to De Lagnel's draft for $7500 said: "This draft
This was followed by a letter from Garth to Exall of date May 30, 1867, in which it was said: "We wrote to you on the 20th instant, informing you that we had nothing from you or Colonel De Lagnel, but that a draft drawn by Colonel De L. from Mazatlan, 10th April last, had been presented, and there being no funds on hand, and no means here of meeting it, that it was protested and returned not paid; it is hoped by the time it gets back you will be prepared to meet it. Since my last letter Colonel De Lagnel has arrived and made known to us something of the state of things with you. I must confess that we are amazed at the results; it seems to me incredible that every one should have been so deceived in regard to the value of the ore, and I can but still hope that the true process of extracting the silver has not been pursued, and that before this time better results have been attained. . . . All expenses
Garth wrote again, June 10, 1867: "We have not heard from you since Colonel De Lagnel left Mexico, but hope that you are well and getting along as well as could be expected. The account that Colonel De L. gave us of the quality of the ores on hand was most unexpected and a fearful blow to our hopes. We trust however that a fuller examination will show better results. We have in previous letters to you and to De Lagnel so fully informed you of the condition of affairs here that it is hardly necessary to say anything further on that subject. There is no money in the treasury, and we have no means of raising any, and a few of us have already advanced all that we can do, and you have been advised that the draft last drawn by De L., on 10th April, was returned protested, and I hope you will be able to take it up when it gets back promptly. Everything now depends upon you and upon your judgment, energy, prudence and good management of the resources in your hands, and we hope you will be able to command success."
So straightened were the circumstances of the Company at that time that it was sued in New York on promissory notes past due, (one of the notes being held by an assignee of Garth,) and it permitted judgment on them by default in July, 1867, for the sum of $53,653.50. Manifestly that suit was instituted with the consent, if not by the direction, of the officers of the Company who had charge of its affairs in New
By a letter of June 11, 1867, Garth was informed by Exall that he had been compelled to draw on him for $3000. The latter's letter of July 13, 1867, expressed regret that the draft made by De Lagnel before he left for New York could not be paid, and stated: "All your previous letters to me were to follow out the instructions given to Colonel De L. I took charge of affairs at a time when the expenditure of money was absolutely necessary to purchase supplies for the rainy season. Colonel De L. left me with only moderate means to buy these various supplies; pay't of sundry bills which were coming due, and pay of the workmen who had accounts of three, four and six months' standing."
On the 10th of July, 1867, Garth wrote to Exall: "I had this pleasure on 30th May and 10th June last, after the return of Colonel De Lagnel, and we had learned something of the condition of affairs in Mexico. In these, as well as in preceding letters, you were fully advised of the condition of the Company here; that there had been no funds in the treasury for a long time; that appeals had been made in vain for aid to the stockholders, and that the parties here who had made heavy advances to the Company were anxious for its return, and refused to make any further payments; and that the draft for $5000 drawn on me as treasurer by Colonel De Lagnel, on the 10th April last, had been protested and returned to California, and, we suppose, to parties in Mazatlan who advanced the money on it, and who would have to look to you for payment of same; and we expressed the hope that by that time you would have taken out sufficient money to meet it and all other expenses, and hoped soon to have a remittance of bullion from you to aid in payment of the large indebtedness here. . . . You will see, from all my letters, that no further aid can be given you from here, and that you must rely upon the resources you now have, and which, we think, ought to be ample to pay off the debts and to sustain you in current expenses, which you should cut down to the
Garth wrote again on the 20th of July, 1867: "The steamer is just starting, and I have only time to say that your letter of the 11th, by private hand, has been rec'd, advising us that you had drawn on me for $3000 gold. In former letters you will have learned the condition of things here, and that there is no money to pay same, and that former dr'ft of De Lagnel has been returned unpaid, and that you were urged to try and get along with what resources you had. These letters, no doubt, reached you in time to prevent your drawing, as no draft has been presented, and we hope by this time there is no necessity for doing so."
Under date of October 6, 1867, Exall wrote to Garth: "By this steamer I am in receipt of yours of 10th and 20th of July and 10th of August. I was much disappointed that my urgent demand for money was not favorably answered. I have complied with the requests in your various letters in reference to giving you exact information concerning affairs here. I now have to urge you to send me means. I have heretofore been keeping above water by using the stock which I fortunately had on hand; that is now entirely exhausted. I have neither money, stock or credit. This latter I would not use even if I had it, as in this country it is an individual obligation and no company affair. Now, you must either prepare to lose your property here or send me money to hold it (and that speedily) and pay off debts of the concern. I have worked as economically as possible and have cut down expenses to the lowest point. . . . I am working the mines with as few and as possible. What little good metal is taken out amounts to almost nothing. The $5000 draft of De Lagnel's was sent to a house in this place to be collected, with instructions
The same letter contains a statement as to the situation which contrasts most strangely with the charge that the Company was prevented from successfully working its mines by the conduct of the Mexican authorities. That statement was: "By next steamer will send you full statements of past months. The returns from Durango were small. I turned it over to E.P. & Co., as I was owing them. There is no difficulties about authorities, boundaries or anything else concerning the mines and hacienda, provided there is money in hand, and money must be sent. I hope I have urged this point sufficiently so that you may see fit to send me something to hold the mines. I should be sorry to see them lost on this account. Please telegraph me if you intend sending money? I fear that before I can get a reply to this something may have occurred. Of course, Colonel De Lagnel informed you the conditions and terms on which I took charge of affairs here, which was the same that he was getting, and if I had known at the time what difficulties I was going to have in procuring
On the 10th of October, 1867, Garth wrote to Exall: "I am very sorry to say that it is not possible to aid you from here, and that you must rely entirely upon the resources of the mines and mill to keep you going and to relieve you of debts heretofore contracted. It is not possible for us to direct any particular course for you, but only to urge you to try and work along as well as you can, cutting down expenses and avoid embarrassing yourself with debts. The Bank of California has again sent Colonel De Lagnel's draft here for collection, but it was not possible to pay same, and it will have to return to Mexico, and we do hope you will be able to make some satisfactory arrangement to pay it."
Under date of November 17, 1867, Exall wrote to Garth from Mazatlan: "Yours of the 30th September is just at hand, and contrary to my expectations, contains nothing of an encouraging nature. I expected after having previously written so positively in reference to the critical state of affairs with me, that you would have sent me by this mail some means to relieve me from my embarrassing position. I have in former letters laid before you the difficulties under which I was laboring and begged that you would send me means, and was relying much on the present mail, expecting that some notice would have been taken of my urgent demands for assistance to protect the property belonging to the Company. To add to my further embarrassment, Mr. Cullins, whose time expired on the 16th inst. — since my leaving Tayoltita — (I left there on the 10th for this point), intends to commence suit in the courts here for his year's salary. I am endeavoring to get him to delay proceedings until the arrival of the next steamer (don't know as yet if I will succeed in getting him to delay), when I hope you will have seen the necessity of acting
Still relief did not come to Exall and he again wrote to Garth from Mazatlan, under date of December 18, 1867, a most urgent letter. It is here given in full: "I arrived here a few days since. Received by steamer yours of October 10, informing me of your inability to send me the means to operate with and meet my obligations. I have in previous letters expressed the condition of affairs with me, and begged that you would do something. Thus far I have been able to protect your interests here, but affairs have gotten to such a point that I am unable to do so longer without money. Mr. Cullins, who I informed you in a former letter would leave, insisted upon doing so by this steamer. He demands a settlement, otherwise he will immediately commence suit, and had made preparations to do so. To keep the matter from the courts
Exall still failed to hear anything of an encouraging character from the Company. He again wrote most urgently to Garth on the 24th day of January, 1868, as follows: "I came down to meet steamer from San Francisco, in hopes of receiving letters from you; I received none, and now, being entirely
The situation had become financially so discouraging to Exall that he determined to leave the mines and return to New York. So under date of February 26, 1868, he wrote to James Granger, who sometimes called himself Santiago Granger and who was at the mines, this letter: "As circumstances are of such a nature as to compel me to leave for San Francisco, and probably for New York to inquire into the intentions of this company, I place in your hands the care and charge of the affairs of the La Abra S.M. Co.; together with
From the above and other evidence in the record it is certain that before the La Abra Company ceased to work the mining property it had become utterly bankrupt, and that its abandonment of all operations at the mines was due to its inability from want of funds to carry them on and to the belief, founded upon the experience of two years and more, that the mines, if not entirely worthless, were not of sufficient value to justify its owners in proceeding further in their development. If the proper working of the mines while Bartholow, De Lagnel and Exall were successively in charge of them was prevented by the acts or omissions of duty on the part of the public authorities of Mexico, surely that fact would have been disclosed by the letters or reports made to the Company by its several superintendents. The demand made during that time by the Company's representatives in charge of the mines was not for military or civil protection, but for the money needed to develop the property and to meet the debts incurred at the mines during the progress of the work there. We do not doubt that the situation was accurately described by Exall when in the above letter to Garth of October 6, 1867, he reported that "there are no difficulties about authorities, boundaries or anything else concerning the mines and hacienda, provided there is money on hand, and money must be sent;" and when in his letter of November 17, 1867, he endeavored to impress Garth with "the necessity of acting decidedly and sending means to prosecute the works and pay off the debts of the Company, or abandoning the enterprise at once." In that condition of affairs, it is not strange that Exall in the letter of January 24, 1868, just before he left Mexico for New York, wrote to Garth: "I am owing considerable and no means of paying. What is your intention? Is it to let your interests here go to the dogs? You have either to do this or send money out to protect them." We have seen that Garth, as the representative of the Company, in
One point in connection with the letter-impression book cannot be passed without notice. It is contended that what passed between Garth and the superintendents in charge of the property, in the form of letters or reports by the latter to the former, was not admissible in evidence against the Company.
Upon a careful scrutiny of all the evidence we are of opinion that so far from the Mexican Government being legally responsible for the losses falling upon the Company, its investment was without profitable results, because the Company did not have or did not furnish to its superintendents at the mines the funds required for their successful development, and did not find the property to be as valuable as they had supposed. All this is apparent from the reports made from time to time to the Company by its superintendents, duplicate originals of which are to be found in the letter-impression book which was not before the Commission. The identity of that book is fully established and the Mexican Republic is not fairly chargeable with negligence in not having discovered it sooner. It is certain that that Government, within a reasonable time after it received the book, delivered it to the Department of State, and called attention to the important and vital facts disclosed by it, so that the United States could take such action as its sense of duty suggested.
Our conclusion is that the question stated in the act of 1892 — whether the award in question "was obtained as to the whole sum included therein, or as to any part thereof, by fraud effectuated by means of false swearing or other false
The decree below is
Affirmed.
MR. JUSTICE GRAY did not hear the argument on the facts and took no part in their consideration. MR. JUSTICE McKENNA took no part in the decision.
FootNotes
II. JOINT RESOLUTIONS: 1869, 16 Stat. 368, No. 5; Id. No. 6; 1872, 17 Stat. 637, No. 1; 1878, 20 Stat. 487, No. 1; Id. No. 2; Id. No. 3; 1883, 23 Stat. 265, No. 3; 1885, 24 Stat. 339, No. 2; Id. No. 3; 1893, 28 Stat. 577, No. 7; 1894, 28 Stat. 967, No. 2.
III. PRIVATE ACTS: 1873, 18 Stat. 529, c. 2; 1874, 18 Stat. 529, c. 4; 1879, 21 Stat. 531, c. 3; 1880, 21 Stat. 601, c. 11; Id. c. 12; Id. 602, c. 13; Id. c. 14; 1884, 23 Stat. 615, c. 6; 1885, 24 Stat. 653, c. 1; Id. c. 2; 1886, 24 Stat. 881, c. 10; 1887, 24 Stat. 882, c. 17; Id. c. 18; Id. 883, c. 19; Id. 884, c. 20; 1888, 25 Stat. 1251, c. 9; Id. c. 10; Id. 1252, c. 11; Id. c. 12; Id. c. 13; Id. c. 14; Id. c. 15; Id. 1253, c. 16; Id. c. 17; 1894, 28 Stat. 1022, c. 13; Id. c. 16; Id. c. 17.
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