Robinson v. Oregon Short Line Railroad
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Robinson v. Oregon Short Line Railroad
Opinion of the Court
The defendant, a foreign railroad corporation, appeals from an order denying its motion to- set aside the service of summons. The action was brought in Douglas county. Service was made in Henne-pin county upon a freight soliciting agent of the defendant. Two questions are for consideration: (1) Whether jurisdiction is acquired by service upon a soliciting freight agent; and (2) whether, if so, jurisdiction is acquired when such service is made outside the county in which the action is pending.
, We do not see that Archer-Daniels Linseed Co. v. Blue Ridge Despatch, 113 Minn. 367, 129 N. W. 765, or North Wisconsin C. Co. v. Oregon Short Line R. Co. 105 Minn. 198, 117 N. W. 391, is particularly forceful in support of this contention. The service in these cases was made prior to the 1913 amendment. The Areher-Daniels case was begun in Bamsey county and service was made upon the soliciting agent in Hennepin county. The North Wisconsin Cattle Company case was brought in Hennepin county and service was attempted under B. L. 1905, § 4109, or G. S. 1913, § 7735, as it was before the 1913 amendment. We do not understand that service in either was sustained as a service upon a “ticket or freight agent” under B. L. 1905, § 4110, G. S. 1913, § 7736.
It is true that in the Areher-Daniels case the opinion recites a service under B. L. 1905, § 4110 (G. S. 1913, § 7736). This is an apparent inadvertence. An examination of the record shows that the service was under the preceding section. The opinion discusses the question of jurisdiction as dependent upon whether the railroad was doing business in Minnesota. Subsequent cases have treated it so. The action was in Bamsey county and the service in Hennepin. If it had been sought to sustain it under B. L. 1905, § 4110, it. would not have escaped notice that the action was in one county and the service in another and therefore invalid as recently held. Hatinen v. Payne, 150 Minn. 344, 185 N. W. 396.
In passing we may say that we do uot see force in the plaintiff’s -claim that he is entitled to a trial in Douglas county under G. S. 1913, § 7721, providing that an action against a foreign corporation “may be begun and tried in any county which the plaintiff shall designate.” If the construction which the defendant urges is the correct one, namely, that the limitation of G. S. 1913, § 7736, as to the.place of service upon a ticket or freight agent applies to a
íhe language of the 1913 amendment is plain. If the legislature had intended to apply the limitation of section 7736, it likely would have expressed a clear purpose to that effect. We hold that the amendment to R. L. 1905, § 4109, subd. 3, quoted in paragraph 1, and now a part of Gr. S. 1913, § 7735, authorizes service upon a foreign railway corporation the same as upon any other corporation, and that the service is not restricted, as is the service provided for in Gr. S. 1913, § 7736, R. L. 1905, § 4110, upon a ticket or freight agent, to a service within the county in which the action is begun.
Order affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- JAMES H. ROBINSON v. OREGON SHORT LINE RAILROAD COMPANY
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published