United States v. Malhame & Co.

25 C.C.P.A. 423, 1938 CCPA LEXIS 22
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedMarch 7, 1938
DocketNo. 4136
StatusPublished

This text of 25 C.C.P.A. 423 (United States v. Malhame & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Malhame & Co., 25 C.C.P.A. 423, 1938 CCPA LEXIS 22 (ccpa 1938).

Opinion

LeNroot, Judge,

delivered tbe opinion of tbe court:

On January 25, 1937, this court rendered a decision in Appeals Nos. 4001 and 4005, reported in 24 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 448, T. D. 48911. In these appeals tbe dutiable value of certain clotb-bound prayer books and certain leather-bound prayer books was involved. Export value was involved with respect to tbe clotb-bound books, and cost of production with respect to tbe leather-bound books. We affirmed tbe judgment, tbe subject of tbe appeals, as to tbe export value of the clotb-bound books, and reversed it with respect to tbe leather-bound books, our opinion stating that tbe case would be remanded to the Customs Court for further proceedings consistent with our views expressed in said opinion. Judgment was entered by [424]*424us in accordance with said decision, and in due course we issued our mandate to the United States Customs Court, pursuant to said judgment. Said mandate reads as follows:

Mandate
UNITED STATES COURT OF CUSTOMS AND PATENT APPEALS
At a session of said court continued and held at the city of Washington, pursuant to adjournment, on this 25th day of January A. D. 1937.
* * * * % # *
The United States, Appellant, v. Malhame & Co., Appellee. Customs Appeal No. 4001. Malhame & Co., Appellant, v. The United States, Appellee. Customs Appeal No. 4005.
Said appeals having heretofore been brought on to be heard before the court and due consideration thereon having been had, it is:
Ordered that the judgment of the United States Customs Court be, and the same is hereby, affirmed, insofar as it relates to-cloth-bound prayer books, and that said judgment be, and the same is hereby, reversed insofar as it relates to leather-bound prayer books; and said cause is remanded to said court for further proceedings consistent with the views expressed by this court herein.
* * * * * *
I, Arthur B. Shelton, Clerk of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, do hereby certify that the above is a true and correct copy of the order made in the above-entitled case on the 25th day of January A. D. 1937.
Witness my hand and the seal of this court this 31st day of March A. D. 1937.
[seal] ' Arthur B. Shelton,
Clerk.

On August 25, 1937, the Customs Court, First Division, rendered a judgment in said cause which reads as follows:

Judgment in Conformity With Mandate of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals
This cause having eome;on for hearing before this Court and a judgment having been rendered in favor of the United States with respect to cloth-bound books and in favor of Malhame & Co., as to leather-bound books (Reappt. Decision 3811), and the said parties having thereafter appealed from said judgment to the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, and the said United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals having transmitted to this Court its mandate, by which it appears that the judgment of this Court insofar as it relates to cloth-bound books is affirmed, and insofar as it relates to leather-bound books is reversed, the cause being remanded to this Court for further proceedings consistent with the views expressed by the said United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals,
Now, in conformity with the said mandate of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, it is hereby
Ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the original judgment of this Court in this case, insofar as it relates to the cloth-bound books, shall stand as made; and it is
Further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the original judgment of this court in this case, insofar as it relates to the leather-bound books, be and the [425]*425same hereby is vacated and set aside, and the following judgment substituted therefor:
It is ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the decision of the court below, insofar as it relates to the leather-bound books, be and the same is hereby reversed and the case is remanded to said court for the purpose of permitting the parties to introduce evidence to establish the cost of production of such books, if such evidence is available.
Chas. P. McClelland,
Geo. Stewart Brown,
United States Customs Court, First Division.
Dated at New York, N. Y., this the 25th day of August 1937.

A memorandum was filed by the court to accompany said judgment, which memorandum reads as follows:

Memorandum to Accompany Judgment Issued in Conformity With Mandate of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals
McClelland, Presiding Judge: There are two classes of merchandise covered by these suits, viz; cloth-bound prayer books and leather-bound prayer books. As to the former the proper value was determined by the single Judge sitting in reappraisement to be the appraised value, and his decision was affirmed on appeal by this division of the Court, and on further appeal by the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, so that so far as such books are involved, the issue has been finally determined.
The appraiser returned the leather-bound prayer books as entireties at the United States value thereof. Paragraph 1410 of the Tariff Act of 1930, however, in effect requires that leather-bound books be appraised as two entities, the covers and the printed pages separately, and such was the holding of the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals in United States v. John Wanamaker, 20 C. C. P. A. 381, T. D. 46185.
When the case came before Judge Dallinger as single Judge he at first held the appraisement as to the leather-bound books null and void because the appraiser had not appraised the covers and the pages separately, but later, by agreement of the parties, a rehearing was granted and Judge Dallinger then found that cost of production was the proper basis of value of such books, and also that the cost of production had been sufficiently established by the plaintiff by means of an affidavit marked Exhibit 22.
On appeal to this division taken by both parties, Judge Dallinger’s decision was affirmed. On appeal to the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals that Court in T. D. 48911 found that Exhibit 22 was not sufficient evidence upon which to base a finding of cost of production, and therefore reversed this court’s decision with respect to the leather-bound prayer books.
Counsel for the Government have submitted a proposed judgment to be issued by this division affirming the appraised value as to the leather-bound prayer books. The appraisement, however, has been shown to be clearly erroneous because the appraiser returned the books as entireties.

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Bluebook (online)
25 C.C.P.A. 423, 1938 CCPA LEXIS 22, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-malhame-co-ccpa-1938.