Smith Courtney Co. v. United States

Citations

• 46 Ct. Cl. 262
• 1911 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 111
• 1910 WL 932

Syllabus

<p>On the defendants’ Demurrer.</p> <p>The contract on which this suit is brought provides that the claimant shall be paid for certain articles sold and delivered upon the presentation of the customary bills and the proper evidence of the delivery, inspection, and acceptance of the said articles and in 10 days after the warrant shall have been passed by the Secretary of the Treasury. For some of the articles sold and delivered the warrant is not passed until more than a year after the delivery and acceptance of the articles. The action is not brought until more than six years after the delivery of the goods, but within six years after the passing of the warrant.</p> <p>Z It is elementary that a right of action accrues and the statute of limitations, begins to run when and only when a period of credit, if any, expires.</p> <p>II.The statute does not begin to run at the time when the goods were approved and accepted by the proper officers of the Government, if the contract provides that payment shall not be made until “ within ten days after the warrant shall have been passed by the Sea'etary of the Treasury; ” and the Secretary is entitled to reasonable time after the delivery, for his examination of the customary bills and proper evidence of the delivery, inspection, and acceptance of the articles.</p> <p>III. Where the petition alleges that 30 days was a reasonable period for the Secretary of the Treasury to examine the papers and pass upon the merits of the claim, the fact of reasonable time is admitted by a demurrer.</p> <p>IV. An auditing officer of the Government can not hold an account for examination beyond a reasonable time. What effect his doing so will have on the running of the statute of limitations, if any, query.</p>