Miller v. Robertson

Background

A U.S. citizen (the assignee of the Mammoth Copper Mining Company) sued to recover money he said was owed after German enemy merchants (doing business as Beer, Sondheimer & Company) refused to accept zinc ore under a sale contract. The written deal covered the mine’s production, set a formula price tied to spelter, required shipments in roughly equal weekly amounts, and included a clause that suspended obligations for delays caused by “vis major.” After the buyers declined some March shipments, the seller resold the ore and obtained a money judgment in the lower courts, which the government officials named in the suit appealed.

Reasoning

The central question was whether money for breach of this sale contract is a “debt” that a non-enemy may pursue under Section 9 of the Trading with the Enemy Act. The Court said yes: the statute is remedial and should be read broadly to allow ordinary contract-damage claims. The opinion also rejected the buyers’ other defenses. The Court found the contract valid and mutual, held the seller did not break the weekly-shipment term, found the resale was made in good faith, and declined to reduce damages by profits of a separate smelting company. It affirmed awarding damages and interest (from the date of demand in 1916). The Court also approved deducting any freight savings the seller actually realized on resale.

Real world impact

This ruling lets U.S. parties who lost money dealing with enemy-owned firms press ordinary breach-of-contract claims against seized enemy property and recover damages and interest when warranted. It confirms limits on what a successful claimant may collect—no windfall for extra freight or another company’s profits.