David Berg Industrial Alcohol Co. v. Sugar Products Co.
David Berg Industrial Alcohol Co. v. Sugar Products Co.
Opinion of the Court
delivered the following opinion:
This is a suit commenced May 7, 1918, by the filing'of a complaint. On the same day an order of attachment was made, bond fixed, and served in due course. No return of service of the defendant or his agent has been made. On May 11 a demurrer was filed and on May 17 a motion to quash summons because the parties are nonresidents, and also to quash service of summons upon the firm of Sobrinos de Ezquiaga as agents of the defendant. The matter was argued and submitted on May 20. . Because of the amount involved and of the jurisdictional .questions raised the matter must be considered in detail. -
1. It is generally stated that jurisdiction, that is to say, the right of the court to hoar and determine a suit, depends upon' the. two questions of subject-matter and person. Bruce v. Strickland, 47 Ala. 192; Goodman v. Winter, 64 Ala. 410, 411, 38 Am. Rep. 13. Jurisdiction of*a person may be obtained by consent and defects may be waived, but this not true of lack of jurisdiction of the subject-matter. Burns v. Henry, 67 Ala. 209, 210; Morgan v. Farned, 83 Ala. 367, 3 So. 798. In the Federal court jurisdiction attaches upon service of process, not
2. In a court of general jurisdiction there are therefore the two elements of person and subject-matter to be considered. This applies fully to state courts. Federal courts, however, are established by virtue of the Constitution of the United States, which is a grant of powers, specific and implied, and acts of Congress passed in pursuance thereof. There are therefore special matters of jurisdiction connected with the organization of the court itself which have to be taken into account. Of course this is measurably true of state courts, because they are also established by law, but under the division of powers between state and nation the jurisdiction of Federal courts is more limited than that of state courts. Under the Federal Constitution the judicial power extends to certain specific subjects which are exclusively in Federal courts, and also to cases in law and equity “between citizens of different states.” Congress has not seen proper to use this power to its full limit. There are certain limitations connected with attachment of property of nonresidents which have received special attention. The general rule is that the state, and of course state courts, has jurisdiction of all property within state limits, and this has been made by legislation to include the attachment of property witji-in the state, although owned by nonresidents. Pennoyer v. Neff, 95 U. S. 714, 24 L. ed. 565. Under this, while a state
■ 3. Federal practice, pleadings, and forms and modes of procedure in civil causes shall conform as near as may be to those existing at the time in like causes in courts of record of the state. Eev. Stat. § 914, Comp. Stat. 1916, § 1531. In particular it is provided as to attachments by Eev. Stat. § 915, as follows: In common-law causes in the circuit and district courts the plaintiff shall be entitled to similar remedies, by attachment or other process, against the property of the defendant, which are now provided by the laws of the state in which such court is held for the courts thereof; and such circuit or district courts may, from time to time, by general rules, adopt such state laws as may be in force in the states where they are held in relation to attachments and other process: Provided, That similar preliminary affidavits or proofs, and similar security, as required by such state laws, shall be first furnished by the party seeking such attachment or other remedy.
The Supreme Court by Eev. Stat. § 917, is given the power to regulate the practice of Federal courts, and the district courts may under Eev. Stat. § 918 “regulate their own practice as may be necessary or convenient for the advancement of justice and the prevention of delays in proceedings.”
In Simon v. Southern E. Co. it is declared that jurisdiction of Federal courts cannot be lessened or increased by .state stat
4. The local statute of Porto Rico, of March 1, 1902, under which this court is acting in the present case, provides that after the filing of a complaint in any case embargo may be laid by order of court for the protection of the prospective judgment. Compilation of P. R. Codes 1911, p. 849. And rules 25 and 27 of this court are designed to carry out these principles and' are as follows:
“25. In all civil actions, other than equity, admiralty or bankruptcy, the pleadings and procedure, unless otherwise provided by law, shall conform as near as may be to the pleadings and procedure in the courts of Porto Rico as the same shall exist at the time in question; Provided, however, That no equitable relief or defense, shall be entertained in an action at law.” [6 Porto Rico Fed. Rep. XLVI].
“27. Process of attachment shall not issue against the prop*472 erty of any defendant wbo is not personally served with summons in this district. But if the object of the suit be to enforce or remove a right in or to specific real property owned or claimed by a defendant, attachment may issue against any property of such defendant in the same manner as attachments are authorized by the local law; Provided, however, That in the case of an absent defendant service may be obtained upon him by publication in the manner provided by the act of Congress.”
It will be observed that attachment shall not issue unless the deféndant is personally served or is brought in by publication in the manner prescribed by act of Congress. This raises several questions which must be settled in order to determine the present issue. One is, Is the relation of this court to the local courts the same as that of a Federal court to a state court? Again, when is a defendant to be considered as served personally ? And do these rules require service before attachment ?
5. The condition of Porto Pico as territory of the United States, or, as it is sometimes expressed, a territory unincorporated in the United States, brings up many questions which cannot always be solved by precedent; for precedents connected with a territory which is definitely incorporated into the Union, and therefore on the way to statehood, may not be applicable to a community even of American citizens which technically at least have not been declared by Congress to be on the way to incorporation as a state. Nevertheless by declaring the Porto Picans to. be American citizens it nmst be taken that the policy of the United States is to Americanize Porto Pico, that.is, to assimilate it gradually to American institutions. This case and all cases must be decided upon that theory. It is true that a result is that this Federal court stands in a somewhat different
Congress has organized this court under the territorial power, but has necessarily done so on the same principles that are set out in connection with the judicial power. It may be doubted whether Congress could have acted otherwise, but at all events it has not acted otherwise.
The defendant herein is not an inhabitant of this district, and so the question is whether he is to be considered as herein “found at the time of serving the writ,” which is sometimes expressed as being “personally served.” The contention of the defendant on its special appearance in the case at bar is that it is a citizen of Pennsylvania, and the contract upon which it is sued and upon which the attachment is sued out is one to be performed in Pennsylvania. The correspondence annexed to the motion is not always clear as to where the molasses contracted for is to be delivered, but at least it is clear that it is not to be delivered in Porto Rico. In a case specially relied upon by the defendant it was held that under such circum
It has also been held on an appeal from this court that where a succession is involved attachment does not lie against an individual heir,, and vice versa. Laborde v. Ubarri, 214 U. S. 173, 53 L. ed. 955, 29 Sup. Ct. Rep. 552. The question, therefore, is whether service of an agent is personal service under Rev. Stat. § 139, Comp. Stat. 1916, § 1033.
7. What is the meaning of personal service, or in the case of a corporation, what must concur to give Federal courts jurisdiction in personam? Service upon the president of the corporation when temporarily within the district is not sufficient. Groldey v. Morning News, 156 U. S. 518, 39 L. ed. 517, 15 Sup. Ct. Rep. 559. The elements of service are said to be as follows: “(1) It must appear as a matter of fact that the corporation is carrying on its business in the state where it is served with process; (2) that such business is transacted or managed by some agent or officer appointed by and representing the corporation in such state; and (3). the existence of some local law making such corporation, or foreign corporations generally, amenable to suit there, as a condition, express or implied, of doing
8. It has been held that a Federal court tapes an attachment case on removal' from a state court in the condition in which it finds it, and that if there has been a service of attachment good under the local statute it will remain good in the Federal court and will be enforced. Clark v. Wells, 203 U. S. 164, 51 L. ed. 138, 21 Sup. Ct. Rep. 43. ' The present is not a case of removal but of an original suit, but the principle throws light upon the case at bar. Except so far as the nature of the courts require it, it would not be well to construe proceedings begun in the United States court, under a local statute to be invalid which have been valid if begun under the same statute in the local court. This suit if removed from a local court would be valid. It is true that even in such case a judgment entered on service for publication can be enforced only against the property attached; and where a final judgment is entered it will be held to be modified and made collectable only from the attached property, and will not, no matter what its phraseology, be considered as a personal judgment absolute in terms. It would
The result, therefore, is that the motion to quash summons and service is denied, the motion to quash writ of attachment and levy is denied, and that the demurrer alleging lack of jurisdiction of this court is overruled.
It is so ordered.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- DAVID BERG INDUSTRIAL ALCOHOL COMPANY v. SUGAR PRODUCTS COMPANY
- Status
- Published