Under the Naturalization Act of June 29, 1906, 34 Stat. 596, c.
3592, fees may not rightfully be charged against the United States
by a clerk of a federal court for making triplicate copies of
declarations of intention, or for attaching the seal of the court
thereto, pursuant to the direction of the Bureau of Immigration and
Naturalization. The Naturalization Act, by the affirmative
provisions of §§ 12 and 13 defining duties and fees, and by the
express prohibition against additional charges contained in § 21,
precludes any right of the clerk which might otherwise exist under
Revised Statutes, § 828, to charge fees against the United States
for the services here in question.
50 Ct.Clms. 413 affirmed.
The case is stated in the opinion.
MR. CHIEF JUSTICE WHITE delivered the opinion of the Court.
The question for decision is, did the court below err in
rejecting the claim of the plaintiff, who is the appellant,
Page 242 U. S. 5
to recover an amount based upon his asserted right as Clerk of
the United States District and Circuit Courts for the District of
Rhode Island to be paid fees for making, on the direction of the
Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, triplicate copies of
original declarations of intention for naturalization, and
attaching the seal of the court to the same?
The solution of the inquiry depends upon a consideration of §§
12, 13, and 21 of the Naturalization Act of June 29, 1906, 34 Stat.
596, c. 3592, and the relation to those provisions of § 828,
Rev.Stat.
By § 12, it is provided that it shall be the duty of the clerk
of every court exercising jurisdiction in naturalization
matters
"to keep and file a duplicate of each declaration of intention
made before him and to send to the Bureau of Immigration and
Naturalization at Washington, within thirty days after the issuance
of a certificate of citizenship, a duplicate of such certificate,
and to make and keep on file in his office a stub for each
certificate so issued by him. . . . It shall also be the duty of
the clerk of each of said courts to report to the said Bureau,
within thirty days after the final hearing and decision of the
court, the name of each and every alien who shall be denied
naturalization, and to furnish to said Bureau duplicates of all
petitions within thirty days after the filing of the same, and
certified copies of such other proceedings and orders instituted in
or issued out of said court affecting or relating to the
naturalization of aliens as may be required from time to time by
the said Bureau."
By § 13, provision is made for the following fees:
"For receiving and filing a declaration of intention and issuing
a duplicate thereof, one dollar. For making, filing, and docketing
the petition of an alien for admission as a citizen of the United
States and for the final hearing thereon, two dollars, and for
entering the final order and the issuance
Page 242 U. S. 6
of the certificate of citizenship thereunder, if granted, two
dollars."
In their ultimate analysis, all the arguments for reversal must
come to one or the other or both of the following propositions: (a)
that the declarations of intention were not proceedings in
naturalization covered by § 12, and therefore the services rendered
were outside of that section, and governed not by the enumeration
of fees in § 13, but by the general provisions of § 828,
Rev.Stats., authorizing a charge by clerks of ten cents per folio
"for a copy of any entry or record, or of any paper on file," and a
fee of twenty cents "for affixing the seal of the court to any
instrument, when required," or (b) if the declarations of intention
of which triplicate copies were furnished were proceedings in
naturalization and within the requirements of § 12, payment for
such copies was not embraced by the fees enumerated in §13, and
therefore the charge for them must be considered as being provided
for in § 828, Rev.Stats.
But we are of opinion that both of these propositions are
incompatible with §§ 12 and 13, and, moreover, that to sanction
them would disregard the express prohibition of § 21, which is as
follows:
"That it shall be unlawful for any clerk of any court of his
authorized deputy or assistant exercising jurisdiction in
naturalization proceedings, or to demand, charge, collect, or
receive any other of additional fees or moneys in naturalization
proceedings save the fees and moneys herein specified."
We are of opinion the conclusion stated clearly follows from the
the prohibition of this section for the following reasons: first,
if, on the one hand, it be assumed that the duty to furnish the
copies charged for was expressly commanded by § 12, the right to
charge for them would be clearly prohibited by § 21, even if no
provision for payment was embraced in the fees enumerated in §
13,
Page 242 U. S. 7
since it is apparent from the text that the purpose of the
statute was to permit fees to be charged for the services expressly
provided for in § 12 only when such fees were enumerated and
authorized by § 13 -- a conclusion which is additionally apparent
since § 12 unmistakably imposes duties for which no fees are
provided in § 13, but which are covered by the prohibition of § 21.
Second, if, on the other hand, it be assumed that there is no
express provision for furnishing the copies in § 12, but that such
duty only arose in consequence of the general provision of that
section requiring clerks to furnish
"certified copies of such other proceedings and orders
instituted in or issued out of said court affecting or relating to
the naturalization of aliens as may be required from time to time
by the said Bureau,"
it is equally clear that the prohibition of § 21 would be
applicable, since it was plainly intended to prevent resort to
extraneous legislation for the purpose of supporting the right to
charge a fee for services embraced within the general terms of § 12
when no fee was provided for such services by § 13.
Affirmed.