Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation v. United States

Citations

• 56 Ct. Cl. 471
• 54 Ct. Cl. 131

Syllabus

<p>Judgment was rendered in favor of the United States in the court below. On appeal the judgment was affirmed, and the Supreme Court decided:</p> <p>Personal property of Army officers transported for them when changing stations on Government bills of lading at Government expense, pursuant to Army Regulations, is not property of the United States within the meaning of the railroad land-grant acts and is not entitled to the special-freight rates which those acts allow to the Government.</p> <p>Where a railroad company for a long period, exceeding the period of the statute of limitations, made a uniform practice of charging on its books and billing and collecting the reduced land-grant rates for transportation of property of Army officers on which it was entitled to claim the higher commercial rates, acquiescing without protest in the practice and decisions of Government officials, which treated the property as publie property to which the lower rates were applicable, held that its conduct was inconsistent with any intention to reserve its right to more than it collected and that it could not recover more in the Court of Claims.</p>