United States v. One Zumstein Briefmarken Katalog 1938

24 F. Supp. 516, 1938 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1978
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 2, 1938
DocketNo. 6
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 24 F. Supp. 516 (United States v. One Zumstein Briefmarken Katalog 1938) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. One Zumstein Briefmarken Katalog 1938, 24 F. Supp. 516, 1938 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1978 (E.D. Pa. 1938).

Opinion

MARIS, Circuit Judge.

On September 11, 1937 the Collector of Customs at Philadelphia seized and the United States by the libel now before me seeks the forfeiture of a book described as a Zumstein Postage Stamp Catalogue, 1938 Edition, lately imported from Switzerland into this country through the mails. The seizure was based upon the Government’s contention that its importation was unlawful because it contained illustrations of foreign postage and revenue stamps reproduced in violation of the law. The importer has intervened in the proceeding, contending that the stamp illustrations contained in the book are entirely lawful, and he claims possession of it.

An examination of the seized book discloses that it is the 21st annual edition of a catalogue of the postage stamps of European countries published by Zumstein & Cie, of Bern, Switzerland. It is written in German, and appears to list and [518]*518describe the postage stamps issued by each of the countries of Europe. It contains a vast amount of information with regard to these stamps and was evidently published for philatelic purposes, that is, for the use of those persons, of whom there are a vast number in this country as well as in the countries of Europe, who pursue as a hobby the collection and study of stamps and of the dealers who supply their wants. Upon the cover of the book is an illustration of a Swiss postage stamp printed in green and throughout its pages appear illustrations in black and white of the various types of European stamps described therein. Among these illustrations are those of a number of stamps of Great Britain and its European colonies which indicate on their face that they are available for “Postage and Revenue.” No illustrations of any stamps of the United States appear in the book.

I do not understand that it is contended by the Government that the illustrations of stamps contained in the book are forged or counterfeit stamps. Certainly in order to constitute it a forgery or a counterfeit an illustration of a stamp must have been made in imitation of the original with a view to deceive. Here there is no suggestion of an intent to deceive, the stamp illustrations contained in the book being obviously designed to assist in the identification and study of genuine stamps and not to serve as substitutes for them. Consequently it must be held that Section 220 of the Criminal Code, 18 U.S.C. § 349, 18 U.S.C.A. § 349, which prohibits the forging or counterfeiting of postage or revenue stamps of any foreign government or knowingly uttering or using any such forged or counterfeit stamps, can have no application to the illustrations contained in the seized book. The same must be said of Section 172 of the Criminal Code, 18 U.S.C. § 286, 18 U.S.C.A. § 286, which directs that all counterfeits of any obligation or other security of any foreign government shall be forfeited to the United States, even if it should be held that the stamps illustrated were obligations or securities of foreign governments, a point to be discussed later.

The only other penal statute to which I have been referred as bearing on the question before me is Section 161 of the Criminal Code, 18 U.S.C. § 275, 18 U.S. C.A. § 275. So far as pertinent it provides that “Whoever * * * shall make or engrave, or cause or procure to be made or engraved, or shall assist in making or engraving, any plate, stone, or other thing in the likeness or similitude of any plate, stone;- or other thing designated for the printing of the genuine issues of the obligations of any foreign government, bank, or corporation; or whoever shall print, photograph, or in any other manner make, execute, or sell, or cause to be printed, photographed, made, executed, or sold, or shall aid in printing, photographing, making, executing, or selling, any engraving, photograph, print, or impression in the likeness of any genuine note, bond, obligation, or other security, or any part thereof, of any foreign government, bank, or corporation; or whoever shall bring into the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof any counterfeit plate, stone, or other thing, or engraving, photograph, print, or other impressions of the notes, bonds, obligations, or other securities of any foreign government, bank, or corporation, shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”

Does this section render unlawful the .making, selling or importing of the stamp illustrations appearing in the seized book? If it does, the importation of the book was unlawful and it is subject to seizure and 1 forfeiture under Section 593(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, 19 U.S.C. § 1593(b), 19 U.S.C.A. § 1593(b), unless the illustrations were excepted from the provisions of Section 161 by the Act of March 3, 1923, 42 Stat. 1437, 18 U.S.C. § 350, 18 U.S.C.A. § 350, or its amending Act of January 27, 1938, 52 Stat. 6, 18 U.S.C.A. § 350, both of which acts will be discussed ■later. If, on the other hand, Section 161 does not render these illustrations unlawful it must be concluded that they are entirely lawful since my researches have failed to disclose any other statute which would prohibit them. The Government points out, however, that Section 161 makes it unlawful to make, sell or import prints or impressions in . the likeness of obligations or other securities of a foreign government, and it seized the book because it contended that the stamps illustrated therein were obligations or other securities of the governments which issued them. The claimant, on the other hand, contends that the stamps illustrated are in fact neither obligations nor securities. Thus arises the fundamental question in the case.

[519]*519To determine this question it becomes necessary to consider the meaning of the words “obligation” and “security” as used in Section 161. Since, as we shall see, the Criminal Code does not define them, they must be given their ordinary and usual meaning. De Ganay v. Lederer, 250 U.S. 376, 39 S.Ct. 524, 63 L.Ed. 1042. In Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition, “obligation” is defined as “a formal and binding agreement or acknowledgment of a liability to pay a certain sum or do a certain thing.” “Security” is defined in the same work as “an evidence of debt or of property, as a bond, stock certificate, or other instrument, etc.; a document giving the holder the right to demand and receive property not in his possession.” When used, as they are in Section 161, in the clause- — -“note, bond, obligation, or other security,” — it becomes clear that the obligations referred to are such only as may be described as securities, and that the securities mentioned are restricted to those of the same general nature as notes, bonds and obligations under the doctrine of ejusdem generis, which is particularly applicable to penal statutes. First Nat. Bank of Anamoose v. United States, 8 Cir., 206 F. 374, 46 L.R.A.,N.S., 1139. It is thus seen that the underlying thought in each case is that of a written instrument evidencing an indebtedness on the part of the issuing government.

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24 F. Supp. 516, 1938 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1978, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-one-zumstein-briefmarken-katalog-1938-paed-1938.