delivered the opinion of the court.
The Union Pacific Railroad Company, conceding the right of the government to retain
one-half
of the compensation due it for the transportation of the mails, military and Indian supplies, and apply the same to reimburse the government for interest paid by it on bonds issued to the corporation to aid in the construction of its railroad and telegraph line, seeks to establish. by this suit its' claim to the other moiety. The United States, on the other hand, having paid interest on these bonds in excess of the sums credited to the company for services
In construing an act of Congress, we are not at liberty to recur to the views of individual membersán debate, nor to con- ' sider the motives which influenced them to vote for nr agаinst its passage. The act itself speaks the will of Congress, and this is to be ascertained from the language used. But courts, in construing a statute, may with propriety recur to the history of the times when it was passed; and this is frequently necessary, in order to ascertain the reason as well as the meaning of particular provisions in it.
Aldridge
v. Williams,
Many of the provisions in the original act of 1862 are outside of the usual course of legislative action concerning grants to railroads, and cannot be properly construed without reference to the circumstances .which existed when it was passed. The war of the rebellion was in progress; and, owing to complications with England, the country had become alarmed for the safety of out Pacific possessions'. The. loss of them was feared-in case those, complications should result in an open
This enterprise was viewed as a national undertaking for national purposes; and the public mind was directed to the end in view, rather than to the particular means of securing it. Although this road was a military necessity, there were other reasons active at the time in producing an opinion for its completion besides the protection of an exposed frontier. There was a vast unpeopled territory lying between the Missouri and Sacramento Rivers which was practically worthless without the facilities afforded by a railroad for the transpоrtation of persons and property. With its construction, the agricultural and mineral resources of this territory could be developed, settlements made where settlements were possible, and thereby the wealth and power of the United States largely increased; and. there was also the pressing want, in time of peace even, of an improved and cheaper method for the transportation of the mails, and of supplies for the army and the Indians.
It was in the presence of these facts that Congress undertook to deal with the subject of this railroad. The difficulties in the way of building it were great, and by many intelligent pеrsons considered insurmountable.
The policy of the country, to say nothing of the supposed want of constitutional power, stood in-"the way of the United States taking the work into its own hands. Even if this were not so, reasons of economy suggested that it were better to enlist private capital and enterprise in the project by offering the requisite inducements. Congress undertook to do this, in order to promote- the construction and operation of a work deemed essential to th'e security of great public interests.
It is true, the scheme contemplated profit to individuals; for, without a reasonable expectation of this,.,-capital could not be obtained, nor. the requisite skill and enterprise. But this consideration does not jn itself ehange the relation of the parties to this suit. This might have been so if the government; had incоrporated a company to advance private interests, and agreed to aid it on account of the supposed incidental advantages, which the public would derive from tjie completion of the projected railway. But the primary object of the government was to advance its own interests, and ft endeavored to engage individual co-operation as a means to an end, — the securing á road which could be used for its own purposes. The obligations, therefore, which were imposed on the company incorporated to build it,
It has been observed by this court, that the title of an act, especially in congressional legislation, furnishes little aid in the construction of it, because the body of the act, in so many cases, has no reference to the matter specified in the title.
Hadden
v.
The
Collector,
If it had been equally explicit in the provision regarding the bonds' to be issued in aid of the company, there would have been no occasion for this suit. But even in this particular, looking to the. motives which prompted the act and to the objects intended to be effected by it, we do not think there is any serious difficulty in getting at the true meaning of Congress. The act itself was an experiment. It must be considered in the nature of .a proposal to enterprising men to engage in the
The proffered aid was in lands and interest-bearing bonds of the United States. There is no controversy about the terms' on which the lands were granted; and the only point with which we have to deal relates to the nature and extent of the obligation imposed by Congress on the company to pay these bonds. It is not doubted that the government was to be reimbursed, both principal and interest; but the precise question for decision is, whether the company was required to pay the interest before the maturity of the principal.
The solution of this question depends upon the meaning of the fifth and sixth sections of the original act of 1862, and the fifth section of the аmendatory act of 1864. The fifth section' of the original act contains the undertaking of the government, and the sixth defines the obligation of the company. By the fifth it is provided, that, on the completion of the road in séetions of forty miles, there shall be issued and delivered to the company a certain number of interest-bearing bonds of the United States, maturing thirty years after date, with interest payable semi-annually. And “ to secure the repayment to the United States, as ‘ Hereinafter provided,’ of the amount of said bonds, together with all interest thereon which shall have been paid by the United States,” it is further provided that the issue and delivery of the bonds shall constitute a first mortgage on the property of the company,, with a right reserved to the government to declare a forfeiture and take possession of the road and telegraph line in .case “ of the refusal or failure of the company to redeem said bonds,'or any part of them, when requested to do so by the Secretary of the Treasury, in accordance with the ¡provisions of the act.” The manifest purpose of this section is to take a lien on- the property of the corporation for the ultimate redemption of the bonds, principal and interest; but the manner and time of redemption are left for further provision.
That the government was expected in the first instance to ■pay the interest is clear enough; for the mortgage was taken to
“ Sect. 6. And be it further en'aeted, That the grants aforesaid are made upon condition that said company shall pay said bonds at maturity, and shall keep said railroad and telegraph line in repair and use, and shall at all. times transmit despatches over said telegraph line, and transport mails, troops, and munitions of war, supplies and public stores, upon said railroad, for the government, whenever required to do so by any department thereof; and that the government shall at all times have the preference in the use of the same for all the purposes aforesaid (at fair and reasonable rates of. compensation, not to exceed the amounts paid by private parties for the same kind of service) ; and all compensations for services rendered for the government shall be applied to the payment of said bonds and interest until the whole amount is fully paid. • Said company may also pay the United States, wholly or in part, in the same or other bonds, treasury notes, or other evidences of debt against the United. States, to be allowed at par; and after said road is ■ completed, until said bonds and interest are paid, at least.' fivp.-.percentum of the net earnings of said road shall also be annually applied to thе payment thereof.”
Leaving out of consideration the parts of this section not pertinent to the present inquiry, there are three things, and three only, which the corporation is required to do concerning the bonds in controversy. 1st. To pay said bonds at maturity. 2d. To allow the government to retain .the compensation due the corporation for services rendered, and apply the same to the payment of the bonds and interest until the whole amount is fully paid. 8d. To pay over to the government, after, the road shall have been fully completed, five per cent of the net earnings of the road, to be appropriated to the payment of the bonds and interest.
If the language used is taken in its natural and obvious sense, there can be no difficulty in arriving at the meaning of the condition “ to pay said bonds at maturity.” As commonly understood, the word “ maturity,” in its application to bonds and other, similar instruments, refers to the timé fixed for their payment, which is the termination of the period they have to run. The bonds in question were bonds of the United States, promising to pay to the holder of them one thousand dollars thirty years after date, and the interest every six months. This obligation the government was required to perform; and, as the bonds were issued and delivered to the corporation to be sold for the purpose of raising money to construct its road, it is insisted that Congress must have meant to impose a. corresponding obligation on the corporation. In support of this construction, it is sought to.give to the word “maturity” a double signification, applying'it to each payment of interest as it falls due, as Avell as to the principal. But this' is extending, contrary to all legal rules,' the operation of Avords by a forced construction beyond their real and ordinary meaning. Courts cannot supply omissions in legislation, nor afford relief because they are supposed to exist. “We are bound,” said Justiсe Buller in an early case in the King’s Bench, “ to take the act of Parliament as 1;bey have made‘-it: a casus omissus can in no case be supplied by a-court óf' hvw, for. that Avould be to make laws; nor can I ■conceive, that, it is .our province to consider whetheri=gajajgp. laiv^ tliak lias been .passed be' tyrannical ...ormuk”. Jone v. Smart, 1 T. R. 44-52.
The failure to perform that condition is a cause of forfeiture. If the natural meaning of the words be adopted as the true meaning, there can be no forfeiture until the bonds themselves have matured. On the contrary, if the construction contended for be allowed, the grant is subject to forfeiture on each occasion that six months’ interest falls due and is not met by the corporation.. It would, re quire a pretty large inference to draw from the language used authority to vary in a particular so essential the -terms of* a condition assumed by the corporation when it assented to the act. Besides this, when Congress, imposed this condition, it well knew that the undertaking of the government bound' it to pay interest every six months, and the principal at thet-time the bond matured. With this knowledge, dealing as it did with the relations, the company was to bear to the government on the .receipt of these bonds, it would, had it intended to pxact the- payment of interest before their maturity, have declared its purposе in unequivocal language. But if the
T i views presented on the provision for retaining the compensation are equally applicable to the provision, that, after the road is completed, five per cent1' of its net earnings shall
In addition to all that has been said, there is enough in the scheme of the act; and in the purposes contemplated by it, to show that Congress never intended to impose on the corporation the obligation to -pay current interest. The act, as has ■been stated', was passed in the midst of - war, when the means for national defence were deemed inadequate, and the public mind was alive to the necessity of uniting by iron bands the destiny of the. Pacific and the Atlantic States. Confessedly the .undertaking was beyond the ability of unaided private capital. Only by the helping hand of Congress could the problem, difficult of solution under the most favorable circumstances, be worked out. Local business, as a source of profit, could not be expected while the road was in course of construction, on account • of the character. of the country it traversed; and whether, whеn completed, it would prove valuable as an investment, was a question for time to determine. But vast as was the work, limited as were the private resources to build it, the growing wants as well as the existing and future military necessities of the country demanded that it be completed. Under .the .stimulus of these considerations Congress acted, not for the benefitof private persons, nor in their interest, but for an object deemed essential to the- security as well as to the prosperity of the nation. ' .
Compelled as it was to incorporate a private company to accomplish its object, it proffered the' terms on whiсh it woiild lend.its aid. If deemed too liberal now, they were then considered, with the lights before it, not more than sufficient to engage the attention of enterprising men, who, if not themselves possessing capital, were in a' position to command the use of it. • These ■ terms looked to ultimate security rather than im
Of necessity there were risks to be taken in aiding with money or bonds an enterprise unparalleled in the history of any free people, the completion of which, if practicable at all, would require, as was supposed, twelve years. But these risks were commоn to both parties. Congress was obliged to assume its share, and' advance the bonds, or abandon the enterprise ; for clearly the grant of lands, however^ valuable after the road was finished, could not be available as a resource for building it.
If the. road were a success, in addition to the benefits it would confer on the United States, the corporation would be in a situation to repay the advances for interest and the principal when due. If, on the contrary, it proved to be a failure, subjecting the private persons who invested their capital in it to a total loss, there would be left the entire propеrty of the corporation, of which immediate possession could be taken by the government on a declaration of forfeiture.
The circumstances under which the act of 1862 was passed, the purposes to be accomplished by it, and its scope and effect, are inconsistent with ■ the position assumed by ' the appellant. ' '
Notwithstanding the favorable terms proposed by Congress, the enterprise languished. The effect of this was the amendatory act of 1864. By it the grant of lands was dpubled, a second in lieu of a first mortgage accepted, by. the government, and a provision inserted that “ only one-half of' the сompensation for services rendered for the government by said companies (meaning this and the auxiliary companies incorporated at the
This provision was, without doubt, intended merely to modify the original act, so as to. allow the government to retain only one-half of such compensation, instead of all. ■ That act applied the wnole compensation “to pay the bonds and interest;” and it cannot be supposed that Congress intended to relinquish the right thereby secured to makе the application in the first place to the interest, and then to the principal. The purpose could have been. nothing more than to surrender the right to retain the whole of the companies’ earnings for services to the' government, and to accept, in lieu of it, the right to retain the’ half. This very material change was intended, doubtless, as a substantial favor to the companies; but, on the principle contended for by the appellant, it would be of no value. Of. what possible advantage could it be to them to receive one-half of their earnings, if they were subject to a suit to recover it back as soon as it was paid ? And this is the effect of the provision, if they are debtors to the government on every semi-annual payment of interest. They could not, in the nature of things, have accepted the stipulation with an understanding that any such effect would be given it.. If the government consents to diminish its security, so that only half of the money due for services is to be applied to the payment of the interest or principal, what is' to become of the other half ? There is no implication that the government shall keep it; and, if not, who is to get it ? Assuredly the companies who have earned it.
It is very clear that the Congress of 1864 did not suppose, in making this concession, that it would be barren of results; but, as the rights of the parties have been settled by the construction given to the original provision on this subject, it is unnecessary to consider the question further.
The practice for a series of years was in conformity with the views .we have taken of the effect of the charter, until the Secretary of the Treasury withheld the payment of the money earned by the companies for services rendered the government. His action brought the subject to the attention of Congress; and the act of March 3, 1871 (16 Stat., p. 525, sect. 9), was
Another act was subsequently passed,-by virtue of which this suit was instituted by the appellee. Act of March 3, 1873, 17 Stat., p. 508, sect. 2. It is contended that this act repeals that portion of the charter of the company which contains the. provisions we have discussed. But, manifestly, its purpose' was very different. Although it directs the Secretary of the Treasury to withhold all payments to the companies on account of freights and transportation, it at the same time аuthorizes any company thus affected to bring suit in the Court of Claims for “ such freight and transportation; ” and in such suit “ the right of such company to recover the same upon the law and the facts shall be determined, and also the rights of the United States upon the merits of all the points presented by it in answer thereto by them.” This means nothing more or less than the remission to the judicial tribunals of the question, whether this company, and others similarly situated, have the right to recover from the government one-half of what they earned by transportation; and this question is to be determined upon its merits.
The merits of such a question are determined when the effect .of the charter is ascertained and declared. It is hardly necessary to say that it would have been idle to authorize a suit, had Congress intended to repeal the provision on which alone it could be maintained.
Counsel have dwelt with special emphasis upon the consequences which would result from a decision adverse.to the appellant. We.cannot consider them in disposing of the questions arising upon this record. The rights of the parties rest upon a statute of the United States. Its words, as well as its reason, spirit, and intention, leave, in our opinion, no room for doubt as to its true meaning. We cannot sit in. judgment upon its wisdom or policy. When we have interpreted its provisions, if Congress has power to enact it, our duty in connection with it is ended. Judgment affirmed.