McQuiddy v. King
McQuiddy v. King
Opinion of the Court
Laying aside other less important questions presented, the controlling inquiry is whether-the provisions of section- 3744 of the Code (1907) of Alabama is available to a judgment creditor of a national bank .to enforce the payment by a stockholder therein of his unpaid subscription to the capital stock of such a bank. In Davis v. Elmira Bank, 161 U. S. 275, 16 Sup. Ct. 502, 40 L. Ed. 700, it was said: “National banks are instrumentalities of the federal - government, created for a public purpose, and as such necessarily subject to the paramount authority of the United States. It follows that an attempt, by a state, to-define their duties or control the conduct of their affairs is absolutely void, wherever such attempted exercise of authority expressly conflicts with the laws of
In Easton v. Iowa, 188 U. S. 220, 23 Sup. Ct. 288, 47 L. Ed. 452, it was said: “Our conclusions, upon principle and authority, are that Congress, having power to create a system of national banks, is the judge as to. the extent of the powers which should be conferred upon such banks, and has the sole power to regulate and control the exercise of their operations; that Congress has directly dealt with the subject of insolvency of such banks by giving control to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Comptroller of the Currency, who are authorized to suspend the operations of the banks and appoint receivers thereof when they become insolvent, or when they fail to make good any impairment of capital; that full and adequate provisions have been made for the protection of creditors of such institutions by requiring frequent reports to be made of their condition, and by the power of visitation by federal officers; that it is not competent for state Legislatures to interfere, whether with hostile or friendly intentions, with national banks or their officers in the exercise of the powers bestowed upon them by the general government.”
Section 5141 of the Bevised Statutes of the' United States provides: “Section 5141. Whenever any shareholder, or his assignee, fails to pay any installment on the stock when the same is required by the preceding section to be paid, the directors of such association may sell the stock of such delinquent shareholder at public auction, having given three weeks’ previous notice thereof in a newspaper published and of general circu
There is no federal statute providing the remedy created by our section 3744; nor are we advised of any federal statute affording any other remedy against a delinquent stockholder than that defined in section 5141, ante.
The question is, whether the visiting of the provisions of our statute (section 3744) upon the federal creature and its stockholders would interfere with or embarrass the operation and effect of the statutory expression of the federal authority. The learned trial judge thus concisely and conclusively sets down in his opinion the
The decree is affirmed.
Affirmed.
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