Findlay

(after stating the facts as above). [1] 1. When this case on the bond was first heard by the court below the evidence consisted of the bond in suit; its execution and delivery ; the determination by the Acting Secretary of Commerce and Labor that the principal on the bond had incurred penalties amounting to $7,960; the notice of such determination; demand for payment of the sum found due; and the failure to pay. After the case had been submitted the court reached the conclusion that the bond could not, on its face, be sustained as a common-law obligation. The court thereupon upon its own motion opened the case and received evidence over Hie objection of the plaintiff in error of the negotiations and proceedings leading up to1 the giving of the bond for the purpose of interpreting the sense in which the parties understood the terms of the bond. In other words, the court was of opinion that the condition of the bond was open to interpretation, and that, it was its duty, in order to decide upon its meaning, to look not only to the language employed, but to the subject-matter and surrounding circumstances. _ This was in accordance with the rule declared by the Supreme Court in Barreda…