Sachs Mercantile Co. v. United States

78 Ct. Cl. 801, 1934 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 377, 1934 WL 2080
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedFebruary 5, 1934
DocketNo. 17638, Congressional
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 78 Ct. Cl. 801 (Sachs Mercantile 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
Sachs Mercantile Co. v. United States, 78 Ct. Cl. 801, 1934 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 377, 1934 WL 2080 (cc 1934).

Opinion

Williams, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

At an auction sale held by the Navy Department at the Navy supply depot at Brooklyn, N.Y., on October 15, 1924, the plaintiff was the highest bidder on 443,782 pairs, more or less, of white Navy trousers, for which it had submitted a bid of eighty-three cents per pair. Plaintiff’s bid was accepted by the Navy Department and it thereafter received as a result of said bid and sale 360,494 pairs of trousers, for which it paid the Government the sum of $299,210.02. Subsequently, on March 27, 1925, plaintiff purchased from the Navy Department 2,800 additional pairs of trousers at ninety-three cents per pair, making its total purchases 363,294 pairs at a total cost of $301,814.02.

On May 1, 1928, a bill for the relief of the plaintiff company (S. 1689) was introduced in the Senate of the United States, authorizing an appropriation of $196,154.21 to be paid to the plaintiff company for loss sustained by it growing out of the purchase of the trousers.

On January 28, 1929, by Senate Resolution 315, Senate bill 1689 was referred to this court under the provisions of section 151 of the Judicial Code (title 28 U.S.C. sec. 257), which provides:

“ Whenever any bill, * * * is pending in either House of Congress providing for the payment of a claim against the United States, legal or equitable, * * * to any person, the House in which such bill is pending may, for the investigation and determination of facts, refer the same to the Court of Claims, which shall proceed with the same in accordance with such rules as it may adopt and report to [811]*811such House the facts * * *: Provided, however, That if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court upon the facts established, that under existing laws or the provisions of this chapter, the subject matter of the bill is such that it has jurisdiction to render judgment or decree thereon, it shall proceed to do so, * * * and shall report its proceedings therein to the House of Congress by which the same was referred to said court.”

The claim being founded upon a contract with the Government of the United States, comes within the general jurisdiction of the court as defined in section 145 of the Judicial Code (title 28 U.S.C. sec. 250), and is one upon which the court has jurisdiction to render judgment.

The claim as presented to Congress, and as set forth in the petition was for $196,154.21. Three items constitute the amount claimed, (1) direct loss on the sale of the trousers, that is the difference between the purchase price and the amount received by plaintiff upon the sale and disposition ■of the trousers, and (2) the overhead or operating expenses of the plaintiff in conducting its business attributable to the transactions involved, and (3) the loss of anticipated profits. During the taking of the testimony the plaintiff withdrew the item of the claim for anticipated profits and now bases its right to recover on the first two items stated.

Plaintiff’s direct loss growing out of the sale of the trousers is established beyond question and is $68,073.47. The proof as to the indirect loss growing out of the overhead expenses of the plaintiff in the conduct and operation of its business directly attributable to the purchase and sale of the trousers is not altgether satisfactory. However, it is based on the uncontradicted testimony of the plaintiff’s auditor as to such costs as they are reflected by the plaintiff’s books. While the United States would in no event be liable to reimburse plaintiff for this cost and expense, even if plaintiff were otherwise entitled to recover, we have deemed it proper to make a finding as to this expense in view of the fact it was included in the claim submitted to Congress by the plaintiff. We have therefore found (finding XI) that the overhead expenses of plaintiff during the period that applied to the transactions on white trousers purchased from the Navy, in-[812]*812eluding all charges, salaries, commissions, traveling expenses, advertising, freight, shipping, storage, alterations, insurance, rent, light and electricity, printing, telephone and telegraph, general expenses, legal accounting, interest, and bad debts, were $77,588.70.

The contract in this case is one of offer and acceptance, the advertisement, bid and acceptance constituting the contract between the parties. It is elementary that one who makes an offer to enter into a contract may do so on any terms that he may see fit to make, as long as they are not illegal, and that if the offer is accepted its terms are binding on both parties. The Government, by printed catalogue No. 565-A, advertised a sale of clothing by public auction at the Navy supply depot, Brooklyn, New York, on Wednesday, October 15, 1924, at 10 a.m., eastern standard time. The conditions and terms of sale were set out in detail in the catalogue, the pertinent provisions of which are stated in finding IV. The terms and conditions of sale as set forth in the catalogue constitute a material part of the offer of sale, and the plaintiff in submitting its bid necessarily accepted these terms and conditions and predicated its bid upon them. They are binding upon it.

Paragraph 8 of the conditions and terms of sale reads:

3. All material listed in this catalogue will be offered for sale by auction ‘ as is and if is ’ without recourse. The description is based on the best available information, but no warranty or guaranty is given by the Navy as to the exact quantity, quality, condition, weight, size, or description, or that the same is in condition to be used for the purpose for which it was originally intended, or may be intended or desired to be used by the purchaser. No claim for allowance upon any of the grounds aforesaid will be considered after the property is knocked down to a bidder by the auctioneer. In every case where samples of the lots are shown, these samples to the best of the Navy’s belief are true and fair, but bidders are cautioned that they must make examination of lots before the sale and no allowance will be made on account of any difference between the sample and lot.”

Paragraph 4 reads:

“ 4. Full opportunity for actual physical inspection of the material listed is offered to prospective bidders for one week [813]*813prior to date of sale (Sunday excepted). Failure on the part of any purchaser to inspect the material will not constitute grounds for any claim for adjustment or rescission of contract.”

This court since the close of the World War has considered many claims growing out of the sale of surplus property by the Army and Navy Departments. We have uniformly held that in the case of sale, such as was made here, where the advertised terms of the sale are that the property is sold. “ as is ” and “ where is ”, and where no warranty or guaranty is given as to the exact quantity, quality, condition, weight, size, or description, or that the same is in condition to be used for the purpose for which it was originally intended, or may be intended or desired to be used by the purchaser, recovery cannot be had against the Government on any grounds other than shortage in delivery of the property sold. Triad Corp. v. United States, 63 C.Cls. 151; S. Brody v. United States, 64 C.Cls. 538; Silberstein & Son v. United States, 69 C.Cls. 412.

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Bluebook (online)
78 Ct. Cl. 801, 1934 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 377, 1934 WL 2080, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sachs-mercantile-co-v-united-states-cc-1934.