Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Co. v. United States
United States Supreme Court
250 U.S. 123 (1919)
The United States (plaintiff) sued Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Company (defendant) to recover three unpaid dividends on the government's stock, after the company had already paid fourteen previous dividends. At trial, the government introduced Treasury Department record books, compiled under statutory authority, recording the fourteen prior payments but no record of the three payments in dispute. The company objected that the books were inadmissible without certification; the government prevailed, and the appellate court affirmed. The company sought Supreme Court review.
Whether public records required by law to be kept are admissible as evidence under an exception to the hearsay rule, including as proof that an event not recorded did not occur.