Branch v. Macon & B. R.

The complainant has filed the present bill, in which he prays for an injunction to prevent the said sale, and the appointment of a receiver to take possession of and sell the said road and property, under the direction of this court The ground of the application is the apprehension that, in accordance with the legislative resolution of March 6, 1875, the second issue of bonds is to be repudiated, and that no part of the proceeds of said railroad will • be appropriated to the sale of his bonds. The ground on which the complainant claims a right to have the railroad and other property of the company seized and applied to the payment, as well of the second issue of bonds as of the first, is the well known principle of equity, that a security given by way of indemnity to a surety may be reached and applied directly to the payment of the debt, and the surety cannot prevent such application. In other words, that the creditors will, in equity, be subrogated to the rights of the surety in reference to the security by which the debtor has indemnified him. The great difficulty in this case arises from the fact that the surety is the state of Georgia, and that the said state is, by its agents and officers, in possession of the property given .by way of indemnity. In order to effect the objects of this bill, the state must not only be displaced and the bondholders subrogated in its stead in reference to the property in question, but the courts must dispossess the state of the actual possession of that property. Of course this court has only co-ordinate jurisdiction with the state courts in this matter, and can only do what the state courts themselves could do in the exercise of general equity jurisdiction. The supreme court of this state has recently held, in the case of Printup v. Cherokee R. Co., 45 Ga. 365, that the courts of this state have no power to take a railroad out of the possession of the state. As the question is one of general consideration, not depending upon any special statutory law of the state of Georgia, this court as a court of equal and co-ordinate jurisdiction, would not feel absolutely bound by that decision, but would only give it such regard as the respect due to the. learned court which made it would properly require. We are of opinion, however, that the decision has many considerations of weight in its favor. While it is true that in the cases of Osborn v. U. S. Bank, 9 Wheat. [22 U. S.] 738, and Davis v. Gray, 16 Wall. [83 U. S.] 232, the supreme court of the United States sustained suits against state officers for the recovery or protection of property belonging to the complainants or their trustees, in which the state had no interest or right, and the pretensions of the agents, in behalf of the states, were unconstitutional and void, we think no case can be found in which any court has assumed jurisdiction to interfere with property in the possession of the state, and admitted to have come rightfully into its possession. In this case, the railroad in question is as much in possession of the state itself as is the state house, or any other property belonging to it. And then the title, by which the complainants seek to have this court take possession of the property and wrest it out of the hands of the state, is one which admits the title of the state, and is, in truth, none other than that of the state itself, to which the complainant seeks to be subrogated.

The court is asked to make a decree, operating directly upon the rights of the state, and transferring them to the complainant and the other bondholders. It is not merely the possession of its agents, but the actual right and title of the state itself, which are sought to be affected and transferred. We think this cannot be done without making the state a party to the suit, which cannot be done. The state has provided a security for its own indemnity, to be managed in its own way, by its own officers and agents. Can such a security be taken out of its hands, at the instance of the creditors ulti*17mately to be benefited? . Can tbe state be charged as trustee for those creditors, and compelled to give up the trust fund, by a court which has no jurisdiction over it? It seems to us that the difficulties of the case are insurmountable. Again, the state evidently intends to question the validity of the bonds of the second issue, and, if liable only for the first issue, is interested in having the indemnity fund applied to the satisfaction of that issue. To sustain the complainant’s case, the court would be compelled to decide upon the state’s liability on its guaranty of the second issue of bonds, without having it as a party before it, and, if satisfied of such liability, would have to decide to that effect, because the complainant and his co-bondholders have no claim against the railroad except through the equities arising from a valid guaranty of their bonds by the state. The court is called upon, therefore, to adjudicate directly upon the state’s liability on the guaranty, without having any jurisdiction over it, as a party, and having decided in favor of that liability, it is then called upon to dispose of the fund which the state has taken for its indemnity. The case, therefore, involves a direct adjudication of the rights and liabilities of the state, and an ultimate execution of property in its possession, the state, at the same time, denying its liability and insisting upon its right to maintain its lawfully acquired possession. It seems to us that this is asking the court to go further than any court has ever yet gone, except where legislation has been adopted, authorizing the state to be sued in the same manner as a private party. At all events the right of the complainant is, to our view, so doubtful that we do not feel authorized to exercise the extraordinary powers of this court sought to be put into operation. Without attempting, therefore, to point out to the complainant what other remedy he has, except to rely upon the good faith of the state of Georgia, we feel compelled to deny the motion for an injunction and the appointment of a receiver.