United States ex rel. Birmingham Slag Co. v. Perry

HOLMES, Circuit Judge.

To decide this case, we must determine whether under Section 2 of the Miller Act, 49 Stat. 794, 40 U.S.C.A. § 270b, actual notice to a contractor that his subcontractor has failed to pay a claim for material furnished, when given by ordinary mail and not by registered mail, is sufficient to vest in the materialman a right of action on the contractor’s payment bond.

The question arose in this way: On June 30, 1938, the United States, acting through the Farm Security Administration, entered into a written contract with W. J. Perry, a general contractor, for certain…