Ozbolt v. Lumbermen's Indemnity Exchange
Ozbolt v. Lumbermen's Indemnity Exchange
Opinion of the Court
This suit was filed April 1, 1916. On November 15, 1916, the court 'sustained the defendant’s plea of privilege, and changed the venue to the district court of Harris county; and the plaintiffs have appealed from that order. The transcript was filed in this court on the 27th day of January, 1917. Appellee has filed a motion to dismiss the appeal for the following reasons, as stated in the motion:
“It appears from plaintiff’s petition that all the plaintiffs reside in ‘Gerova, Croatia, Hungary, in the empire of Austria-Hungary.’ On the 7th day of December, A. D. 1917, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United *253 States of America in Congress assembled, declared that a state of war does exist between the United States of America and the imperial and royal Austro-Hungarian government, and the same was on that day approved by the President of the United States of America at 5:03 o’clock p. m., of all which, as a fact, this court will take judicial notice. It appearing that all the plaintiffs, appellants herein, are alien enemies, appellee begs to suggest to the court that neither the people nor the courts of the United States of America, nor any state thereof, will render any aid or assistance to them, and appellee, therefore, now moves that this appeal be dismissed.”
Not only does the record fail to show that the plaintiffs are aliens, but it also fails to show that they are citizens of and owe allegiance to the government of Austria-Hungary; and therefore, if it be conceded that they are aliens, it does not appear that they are alien enemies. An alien enemy is one who owes allegiance to an adverse, belligerent nation. Dorsey v. Brigham, 177 Ill. 250, 52 N. E. 303, 42 L. R. A. 809, 69 Am. St. Rep. 228.
The term “residence” is not synonymous with citizenship; and an averment of residence is not an equivalent of an averment of citizenship for purposes of jurisdiction of the United States courts. Citizenship is a status or condition, and is the result of both act and intent. 7 Words and Phrases, page 6152. “A citizen is one who, as a member of a nation or of the body politic of the sovereign state, owes allegiance to and may claim reciprocal protection from its government. While the word ‘citizen’ is capable of more meanings than one, it is not a convertible term with ‘inhabitant’ or ‘resident.’ ” ' 7 Cyc. p. 133. See, also Ex parte Blumer, 27 Tex. 734.
Motion overruled.
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Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.