it is expressly provided that if the contractor "fail to commence with the performance of the work on the day specified herein, or shall, in the judgment of the engineer in charge, fail to prosecute faithfully and diligently the work in accordance with the specifications and requirements of this contract, then, in either case, the party of the first part, or his successor legally appointed, shall have power, with the sanction of the Chief of Engineers, to annul this contract by giving notice in writing to that effect

and upon the giving of such notice, all money or reserve percentage due or to become dueby reason of this contract shall be and become forfeited to the United States. ." The engineer in charge is thereupon authorized, if an immediate performance of the work, "be, in his opinion, required by the public exigency, to proceed to provide for the same .", as prescribed in § 3709, Revised Statutes.

Following clause A are three other clauses dealing with changes in the work, cost of extra work and liabilities for labor and material furnished. Then comes clause B, which reads as follows:

"It is further understood and agreed that in case of failure on the part of the party of the second part to complete this contract as specified and agreed upon, that all sums due and percentage retained, shall thereby be forfeited to the United States, and that the said United States shall also have the right to recover any or all damages due to such failure in excess of the sums so forfeited and also to recover from the party of the second part, as part of said damages, whatever sums may be expended by the party of the first part in completing the said contract, in excess of the price herein stipulated to be paid to the party of the second part for completing the same."

That there was no abandonment of the contract by the plaintiffs in error is too plain to need discussion. Large expenditures were made to get ready, and further exten

234 U.S.

Opinion of the Court.

sions of time were sought both before and after notice of annulment. The explanation of the failure to get ready lies in the obvious fact that the contract was larger than the financial capacity of the contractor, and the United States was plainly within its contract right in putting it off the job and in reletting the work.

What is the measure of recovery against the contractor where the Government "annuls" the contract for failure to commence the work upon a stipulated day? The right to "annul," that is, to prohibit the contractor from going on under the contract, is plainly conferred in two distinct cases by clause A,-first, when the contractor fails to begin upon the day stipulated, and, second, when, having commenced the work, the contractor fails, "in the judgment of the engineer in charge to prosecute the work faithfully and diligently." In either case the same section specifically declares that upon the giving of the notice of annulment, "all money or reserve percentage due or to become due to the contractor shall be and be

come forfeited to the United States."

It is therefore obvious that if the right to annul this contract depends upon clause A, the measure of damages recoverable in this action is limited by that clause to the forfeiture of all moneys or retained percentages due or to become due under the contract. United States v. O'Brien, supra. This is plainly conceded in the brief of the Solicitor General.

To escape confession of error in the judgment below, in so far as the United States was permitted to recover the excess cost of reletting the job, it has been argued that the right to annul the contract did not arise out of clause A, but was "a right inherent" in this and every other contract when time is of the essence, and that when there was, as in this case, a breach of an express agreement to begin the work upon a certain day, the right to annul was complete; and upon annulment the right to

recover all actual damages followed. Of course, this socalled "inherent right" to annul a contract with the consequent right to recover all actual damages as for a complete breach, are rights supposed to arise not out of any express agreement but out of the common law. But the assumption that aside from clause A an agreement to begin such a work on a particular day would be such a vital term of the contract as to justify the other party in an immediate annulment if the work was not so begun is seriously challenged. The vital character of time to the contract would depend upon its nature and particular circumstances. These might be such that time would not be of the essence of the contract at all. Any resort to the contract here involved as making time the essence of the agreement must include clause A, which expressly determines the consequences. Such an appeal to the contract would naturally result detrimentally to the argument here made, since the contract while making time vital provides also for the consequence of a breach in that respect. The benefit and the burden of clause A must hang together.

But we need not deal with the consequences as if clause A had been omitted. The right might have been inherent or not so vital as to justify the rigor of annulment. Both parties elected to deal with the matter by express stipulation and that should be and is the end of it. In such a situation there would be no justice in straining the contract for a construction which would limit its application to cases where the right of annulment would not exist without it. This contract was prepared in advance of the bidding by the United States. The bidder was required to dig with strict reference to its terms. One term was that the work should begin with a plant and force of definite capacity on or before a particular day. Another was that if this term was not complied with the United States might annul the contract and that as a consequence

of such annulment all money earned under it should be forfeited. This foi feiture is not made dependent upon the existence of any actual damage. Thus damages were by stipulation liquidated. That such damages may be in this instance inadequate may be true, but the fact affords no ground for frittering away the agreement by fanciful distinctions which never entered the head of either party to it.

The plain purpose was to obtain for the United States the right to take the contract from a bidder who should break his agreement at its threshold and let the work to another, possibly for a better price. At any rate the right to annul for a breach in respect of the time of beginning was a valuable right, and for it the Government stipulated and liquidated the damages in the event of its exercise. The contractor would not only lose his contract, but also would forfeit everything due him. The agreement settled the right and all the consequences of its exercise.

There is nothing in the case of United States v. O'Brien, supra, which would justify the limitation that the United States would now have us place upon this plain provision of the contract. The contract in that case was a dredging contract. The work was to begin on a day named and be completed on another. The contract was according to form 19 and included the two clauses, A and B, above set out. The work was begun on time. The first member of clause A was therefore eliminated from any consideration. The dredging did not progress to the satisfaction of the engineer in charge who elected to stop the contractor from going on, when, confessedly, time enough remained. to complete the work within contract time. The United States, under these circumstances, sought to recover the excess cost of completing the work, but this court held that such excess cost could only be recovered under clause B for a failure to complete according to the terms of the agreement. There had been no breach of the agreement,

as time remained to finish the work had the contractor not been prohibited from going on because the engineer in charge was not satisfied with the progress of the job. But the right to annul for the latter reason was a right conferred by clause A, with the damages limited as therein provided. The United States was precluded from the rule of damages prescribed by clause B, and being forced to justify under clause A was held bound by the limitation of that clause.

The right to annul is expressly conferred by clause A for a failure to begin on the stipulated day. The United States resorted to that clause for its authority and pursued the procedure therein pointed out. It is plainly bound by the limitation of damages therein prescribed.

For the error in not so confining the recovery, the judgment is reversed and a new trial awarded.

ATLANTIC COAST LINE RAILROAD COMPANY v. STATE OF GEORGIA.

ERROR TO THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE
OF GEORGIA.

No. 24. Argued April 17, 1913.-Decided June 8, 1914.

The existence of difference of opinion as to which is the best form of necessary safety device does not preclude the exercise of legislative discretion; and so far as the question is simply one of expediency the legislature is competent to decide it.

The criticism that a police statute requires a carrier to comply with conditions beyond its control and, therefore, deprives it of its property without due process of law, is not open in this court if the state court has construed the statute as not so requiring the carrier. The state court having held that the term "railroad company" as used