John Thomson Press, & Manufacturing Co v. United States

57 Ct. Cl. 200, 1922 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 482, 1922 WL 1837
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedApril 3, 1922
DocketNo. 11-A
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 57 Ct. Cl. 200 (John Thomson Press, & Manufacturing Co v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
John Thomson Press, & Manufacturing Co v. United States, 57 Ct. Cl. 200, 1922 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 482, 1922 WL 1837 (cc 1922).

Opinion

Graham, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court.

The facts in this case do not require any full or detailed discussion. They are fully set forth in the findings.

The plaintiff entered into a formal written contract to manufacture 800,000 3-inch projectiles according to the terms and conditions of the contract and specifications, which contract and specifications the plaintiff has attached to its petition and made part thereof. Prior to the time the contract was entered into two methods were being used for preparing the cavities of these projectiles. Aside from the production in some Government operated shops, the extent of which production is not indicated, where the forge finishing process of making the cavity was being used, all [209]*209independent contractors with the Government manufacturing shells were using the machine finishing process. In the machine finishing process the original cavity was made smaller than the required size and afterwards reamed out by machinery. By the forged finishing process the cavity at the time of the forging was made larger and practically of the size required for use, the cavity being treated after-wards.

Before deciding which process it would use, the plaintiff’s representative visited the plant of the American Steel & Foundry Company, another contractor, which at the time was manufacturing shells by the machine finishing process, and discussed the methods with the representative of that company, and was informed of the fact that it had previously tried to produce shells by the forged finished process and that it had proven unsatisfactory and had been abandoned and the machine finishing process adopted, the forge finishing process not having produced satisfactory results. With this knowledge the plaintiff decided, apparently, to take its chance and use the forge finishing process, it being the cheaper and easier method of manufacture. Under the specifications it was permissible for the contractor to use this method of production as it saw fit. The method was not dictated by the Government. What the Government required was results and the production of shells of the kind and character called for by the specifications. It was for the plaintiff to meet these requirements of the specifications by such instrumentalities and methods as it saw fit. It knew from the terms of its contract that it was required to produce shells which would pass inspection and satisfy the judgment and decision of the Government’s inspector as to whether they met the requirements of the contract. It knew that it was not to be its view of the character of the shells produced and their conformity to the requirements of the specifications that was to decide the matter, but the judgment of the inspector. Had this plaintiff used the machine finishing process as the American Steel & Foundry Company was using it, it seems reasonably certain that this suit would hot be here. In signing [210]*210this contract the plaintiff knowingly put itself completely in the hands of the Government, and while the provisions of the contract may seem to be hard and one-sided, as far as the plaintiff is concerned, it is not for the court to make a different contract for it. The contract must be enforced according to its terms as the court finds it. Carnegie Steel Co. v. United States, 240 U. S. 156 , Day v. United States, 245 U. S. 159.

About a month after the plaintiff began production the shells being produced were rejected by the inspector as not satisfactory. This rejection was made after the inspector had consulted his superior officer. The plaintiff continued to produce shells of the kind rejected in the face of the decision of the inspector and was then ordered to suspend operations by notice promptly given, as provided in the contract. The power to suspend was given by the contract. A few days later the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, who .had immediate charge of the work at this plant, visited the plant and approved of the action of the inspector and his superior, both as to the rejection of shells and suspension of operations.

It seems desirable first to briefly consider certain provisions of the contract and specifications. The contract required the plaintiff to produce and deliver projectiles possessing certain required qualities as to material, structure, and finish, both exterior and interior. The specifications for 3-inch projectiles were as follows:

“ Three-inch projectiles are to have a smooth machined finish on the exterior, but the cavity may have a forged finish if the finish is fairly smooth and free from tears and ridges.”

That is to say, the exterior should be machine .finished but the cavity might be forged finished if the plaintiff decided to use that process. But whatever the process used the finish of 'the cavity must be—

1. Fairly smooth.

2. Free from tears and ridges.

The word “ tears ” as used here seems apparently to mean openings or cracks in the surface, and “ ridges ” to mean protuberances or excrescences which tended to make the surface [211]*211uneven or rough, the two together meaning a roughness or lack of smoothness due to their existence. In any event, whatever meaning may be given to the words, whether the shells contained tears and ridges, either or both, or whether the “ finish ”. was “ fairly smooth,” within the meaning of the specifications, was clearly a matter of opinion and judgment derived largely from a sense either of sight or touch, or both, and a certain knowledge of the character of finish that was needed in order that the shell might effectively accomplish its purpose. It was clearly not a question that could be precisely and definitely determined as in the case of the length of the shell which could be ascertained by measurement. It was a matter about which it was possible for two capable and experienced and honest experts to entertain different opinions. The Government was at war and shells were urgently needed to carry it forward. Apparently to meet these needs and anticipating that there might arise a difference of opinion between the plaintiff and the Government as to whether the shells produced and offered for acceptance were of the kind desired and met the requirements of the specifications, the contract provided for the determination of this question fully and finally by the Government requiring that the shells must satisfy the judgment of the Government’s inspector who had the light to reject them and to suspend their manufacture in case the shells offered were not satisfactory and did not in his opinion meet the requirements of the specifications in every particular, including the question as to whether the “ finish ” of the cavities was “ fairly smooth ” or free from “ tears and ridges.”

It may be well here to briefly refer to other requirements of the contract and specifications which show the full control given the Government over the operations under this contract.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
57 Ct. Cl. 200, 1922 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 482, 1922 WL 1837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-thomson-press-manufacturing-co-v-united-states-cc-1922.