Cargo, while being carried free on an Army transport, was
damaged by water used to put out a fire. Insurers of the cargo
having claimed contribution from the Government, and the Judge
Advocate
Page 287 U. S. 460
General having advised that the claim was valid, the officer of
the Quartermaster Corps who was responsible for the operation of
the vessel engaged a private firm to prepare a general average
statement for a reasonable compensation.
Held that the
contract was authorized even if the Government was not liable for
general average, since that question was not free from doubt and
the duty of preparing the statement lay on the officer, and, in
discharging it, he was entitled to have the assistance of general
average adjusters.
74 Ct.Cls. 331 reversed.
Certiorari to review a judgment rejecting a claim against the
United States for services and expenses in preparing a general
average statement.
MR. CHIEF JUSTICE HUGHES delivered the opinion of the Court.
The material facts as found by the Court of Claims are these: in
December, 1918, fire broke out on the United States Army Transport
Logan bound from San Francisco to Manila with a general
cargo belonging to various owners. The
Logan was under the
operation, management, and control of the United States. The cargo
consisted in part of military supplies for American troops in
Siberia and the Philippine Islands, supplies belonging to the
government of the Philippine Islands, supplies belonging to the
American Red Cross, and a small amount of personal property of
officers of the United States Army, all of which was being
transported free of charge. In extinguishing the fire, some of the
cargo was damaged by water, and some or all of the cargo was
covered by insurance against general average losses.
Page 287 U. S. 461
In August, 1922, the general superintendent and administrative
officer of the Army Transport Service of the Quartermaster Corps
requested the petitioner, a corporation doing business as average
adjuster and insurance broker, to prepare "a statement of general
average in order that the responsibility of the various parties
concerned may be determined." Attached to this request was a
communication from the Acting Judge Advocate General of the United
States to the Quartermaster General which referred to the claim of
the marine underwriters for contribution in general average, and
stated:
"The claim being a valid one, it is therefore recommended that
prompt steps be taken to ascertain the amount due the insurance
company by way of contribution in general average. For this
purpose, it is recommended that the matter be referred to a general
average adjuster."
Petitioner accordingly made its investigation, and prepared and
submitted to the general superintendent of the Army Transport
Service at San Francisco the usual general average statement. For
this service and incidental disbursements, petitioner made the
"usual, customary and reasonable charge," and, upon disallowance of
the claim by the Comptroller General, petitioner brought this
suit.
The Court of Claims held that the government was not liable to
contribute in general average, and that, in consequence, none of
its officers had authority to contract for the preparation of a
general average statement. The Court of Claims dismissed the
petition, and this Court granted certiorari.
The Solicitor General, while not formally confessing error, and
while reserving the question whether the government was liable to
contribute in general average, is in accord with petitioner's
contention that the proper officer of the government was authorized
to employ petitioner for the purpose stated. We are of the opinion
that this view is correct. In the circumstances, petitioner's
right
Page 287 U. S. 462
did not depend upon the determination of the liability of the
government to contribute in general average. The question of that
liability could not be regarded as free from doubt. The cargo
underwriters had made claim for contribution, and the Judge
Advocate General of the Army had advised that the claim was valid.
On receiving this information, it was the duty of the officer
responsible for the operation of the vessel to prepare the general
average statement in order that the basis for adjustment might be
available.
Ralli v. Troop, 157 U.
S. 386,
157 U. S. 400.
That duty, in this instance, apart from the question of the
liability of the government for general average, as to which it is
not now necessary to express an opinion, lay with the general
superintendent and administrative officer of the Army Transport
Service, and, in order that he might properly perform it, he was
entitled to avail himself of the assistance of general average
adjusters.
Judgment reversed.