Brown, Adm'x, Etc. v. United States

Citations

• 113 U.S. 568

Syllabus

<p>In case of ambiguity, in a statute, contemporaneous and uniform executive construction is regarded as decisive.</p> <p>The provisions of the act of August 3, 1861, ch. 42, § 23, 12 Stat. 291, relating to the retirement of officers of the navy, having been uniformly held, by the officers charged with their execution, to be applicable to warrant officers, are now held to be so applicable.</p> <p>The act of July 15, 1870, 16 Stat. 821, did not abolish the furlough pay list; and an order after the passage of that act retiring a naval officer on furlough pay was made m pursuance of law.</p> <p>The administrator of a retired naval officer cannot, in order to recover from the United States an increase in the compensation of his intestate, take advantage of an alleged defect in the proceedings by which he was retired, and which he acquiesced in without objection during his lifetime.</p> <p>§ 1588 Rev. Stat. does not apply to officers retired on furlough pay.</p> <p>Officers of the navy on the retired list are not entitled to longevity pay. Thornley v. United States, ante, 310, affirmed.</p>