Flanagan v. Alexander

The plaintiffs were partners in the distilling business, and had fifty barrels of whisky in bond under the charge of the United States revenue officer, on which the United States taxes were a lien and unpaid. Fox, one of the plaintiffs, made an arrangement with the Alexanders, defendants, to pay the United States taxes and take the whisky as commission merchants and sell the same, and after reimbursing themselves for the taxes and charges on the whisky, to credit the net proceeds on an individual indebtedness of Fox to them.

Under this arrangement the defendants paid the United States taxes…