Mallory v. Wheeler

138 N.W. 97, 151 Wis. 136, 1912 Wisc. LEXIS 270
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 29, 1912
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 138 N.W. 97 (Mallory v. Wheeler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mallory v. Wheeler, 138 N.W. 97, 151 Wis. 136, 1912 Wisc. LEXIS 270 (Wis. 1912).

Opinion

KebwiN, J.

Counsel for appellant relies upon ch. 120 of the Private and Local Laws of Wisconsin for 1870 as amended by ch. 471 of the Private and Local Laws of 1871 respecting the rights and duties of the public administrator for the city and county of Milwaukee, which authorizes investigation hy such public administrator for the discovery of goods and chattels in certain cases. The appellant contends that Governor Wheeler, the respondent, was bound to appear and answer in accordance with the citation, and that the court below was in error in holding to the contrary.

The case presents some interesting questions and is not free from difficulty. The state law referred to not only authorizes examination and inquiry, hut also authorizes the public administrator, in some cases referred to, to take charge of goods, chattels, credits, and estates of persons dying intestate. Oh. 120, P. & L. Laws of 1870 as amended, secs. 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.

Oh. 16, Supplement to P. & L. Laws of 1865, provides for the incorporation of the “Wisconsin Soldiers’ Home,” to be permanently located at Milwaukee. By acts of the state legislature of the state of Wisconsin and Congress of the United [140]*140States, all the property of the Wisconsin. Soldiers’ Home was transferred, turned over, and conveyed to the “National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers,” incorporated by act of Congress. But the acts recognize in the state and reserve to it the right to service of civil and criminal process within the territory ceded. Ch. 16, Supplement to P. & L. Laws of 1865; ch. 68, P. & L. Laws of 1867; Act of Congress of March 21, 1866, secs. 4825 to 4837 inclusive of the Bevised Statutes of the United States; ch. 275, P. & L. Laws of 1867; Act of Congress of March 3, 1901, ch. 853, 31 U. S. Stats, at Large, 1175; In re O’Gonnor, 37 Wis. 379.

Ch. 51, U. S. Stats, at Large (vol. 17, p. 417), approved January 23, 1873, provides for the change of the corporate name from “-The National Asylum for Disabled .Volunteer Soldiers” to “The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.”

On the part of the respondent it is insisted that Governor Wheeler, as governor of the National Home, was an officer of the United States and could not be called to answer under state laws for his acts and doings. Furthermore, that the management of the property 'and effects of deceased soldiers is exclusively under the control of Congress through a board of managers, under the federal statutes and rules and regulations made in pursuance thereof; that the inmates in said National Home are subject to the rules and articles of war the same as if they were in the army; that the governor of the Home, under direction of the board of managers, is engaged in the internal administration of a federal institution, hence the state legislature has no constitutional power to interfere with such management as is provided by Congress. Bespond-ent’s counsel contends that state courts have no authority to interfere with federal officers or agents in the performance of their duties, and cites In re Neagle, 135 U. S. 1, 10 Sup. Ct. 658; In re Loney, 134 U. S. 372, 10 Sup. Ct. 584; In re Waite, 81 Fed. 359; In re Fair, 100 Fed. 149.

[141]*141The general proposition to which the foregoing cases are cited may he admitted, but neither the proposition nor the cases cited rule the instant case. An examination of these cases will show that they involve a situation where there was interference with an officer of the United States or an agent acting under federal authority. Governor Wheeler was not-an officer of the United States. As a general rule an officer of the United States is one who holds his place by virtue of appointment by the President, by one of the courts of justice, or by the heads of departments authorized by law to make such appointment. 3 Cyc. 818; U. S. v. Mouat, 124 U. S. 303, 8 Sup. Ct. 505; U. S. v. Germaine, 99 U. S. 508; Babbitt v. U. S. 16 Ct. Cl. 202; Wood v. U. S. 15 Ct. Cl. 151.

Governor Wheeler does not derive his appointment from the President, from any court of justice, or any head of the federal departments authorized by law to make such appointment. He is appointed by the board of managers as the local manager or governor of the corporation in question. He reports to the board of managers, and the board of managers annually reports to Congress.

This court held in In re O’Connor, 37 Wis. 379, that the title to the premises occupied by the “National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers” in Milwaukee county is not in the' United States, but in a corporation created by Congress; that the corporation is in its nature a charitable institution and its rights and property are not in any just and legal sense the rights and property of the United States, and that it was not competent for the legislature of Wisconsin to abdicate its jurisdiction over this territory except where the lands are purchased by the United States for the specific purposes contemplated by the constitution.

Counsel for respondent relies strongly upon Ohio v. Thomas, 173 U. S. 276, 19 Sup. Ct. 453. Complaint was made in that case by the dairy commissioner against Governor Thomas of the Ohio branch of the National'Home for the al[142]*142leged violation of the act of the state legislature of Ohio in relation to the use of oleomargarine. The governor was convicted and sentenced to pay a fine and to imprisonment until the fine was paid. On writ of habeas corpus sued out in the circuit court of the United States he was discharged. It will be seen in this case that the prosecution under the state law directly interfered and conflicted with the duty of the governor under federal authority, and it was held that the state legislature had no constitutional power to interfere with the management as provided by Congress.

In In re Kelly, 71 Fed. 545, also relied upon by respondent and involving the Milwaukee institution, it was held that the management and officers are agencies of the United States and as such are exempt from any interference by the authorities, or courts of the state in their control, discipline, or government of the Homes or property.

In Boske v. Comingore, 177 U. S. 459, 20 Sup. Ct. 701, a United States collector of internal revenue was adjudged by a state court of Kentucky in contempt because he refused to file in the state court certain copies of reports which were in his custody as officer of the treasury department, basing his refusal upon a regulation of the treasury department which restricted the use for any purpose other than that specified. It was held that the collector had no authority to do otherwise than to refuse to comply with the order of the state court.

We think it quite clear that these cases do not reach the situation now before us. There was nothing in the order or citation in the instant case in violation of or inconsistent with the acts of Congress or rules 'and regulations governing the Home.

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Bluebook (online)
138 N.W. 97, 151 Wis. 136, 1912 Wisc. LEXIS 270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mallory-v-wheeler-wis-1912.