23 Neb. 552 | Neb. | 1888
This action was brought by the plaintiff against the defendants, to enjoin a certain judgment.
Plaintiff alleges in its petition, “ That it is a corporation ■duly organized, and doing business under the laws of the .state of Illinois; that the defendant, Joseph P. Manning, .is a constable, duly qualified, in and for the county of Douglas, and state of Nebraska, and that the defendants, Francis M. Barker and Henry M. Parrish, were, at the times hereinafter mentioned, partners, doing business as
“And plaintiff further says that it is a foreign corporation, and is not a corporation within and under the laws of the state of Nebraska; that its railroad terminates at Council Bluffs, Iowa; that the office mentioned in the return of service endorsed by said constable on the summons issued Dec. 31, 1881, was not at that time, has not been, and is not now, the office of said plaintiff for any purpose except that said Harry Duel has at the same for sale and sells tickets for transportation over the plaintiff’s lines, as well as the lines of other railroads; that W. J. Davenport is the general agent of the plaintiff; that he resides in the city of Council Bluffs, Iowa; that his office is there; the records, books, correspondence, etc., pertaining to his duties as such officer are kept there and there only; that said Davenport comes to the city of Omaha, remains a few hours, and returns to the said city of Council Bluffs;
“Wherefore plaintiff prays that said judgment may be declared void, and that an order of injunction may issue restraining and enjoining the said Joseph P. Manning, constable, from proceeding any further under said execution, and the said defendants, Henry M. Parrish and Francis M. Barker, partners, as Parrish and Barker, or either of them, .from selling, assigning, or transferring said judgment, and from enforcing or attempting to enforce said judgment in any manner or degree whatever.”
The testimony tends to show that, in the years 1881 and 1882, one ~W. J. Davenport, who resided in Council Bluffs, was the general managing agent of the plaintiff at the Bluffs, and also at Omaha; that one Harry Duel was the ticket agent at Omaha for the plaintiff, the Chicago & Northwestern, and the Chicago & Rock Island railways, selling tickets for each of said railways. He claims that he was employed by them jointly, but that is not material in this case, as he evidently was the agent of each of said lines. The pool was dissolved in 1884, and Duel continued in the service of the plaintiff. The testimony also shows that Davenport was in Omaha a few hours each day, and that he kept his office in Omaha in Duel’s office; that the ordinary practice, where suits were brought against the plaintiff in Omaha, was to serve the notice on Duel. It also appears that many of these actions have been brought against the plaintiff, Duel stating that Manning alone had served about one hundred such notices upon him’. No objections seem to have been made in any of those cases to the authority of Duel.
Sec. 912 of the code provides: “A summons against a corporation may be served upon the president, mayor, chairman of the board of directors or trustees, or other chief officer, or if its chief officer be not found in the county, upon its cashier, treasurer, secretary, clerk, or managing agent; or if none of the aforesaid officers can be found, by a copy left at the office or usual place of business of such corporation, with the person having charge thereof.”
These are general provisions applicable to all corporations, having an office or usual place of business in this
These sections originally were 9 and 11 of an act “of the jurisdiction and procedure before justices of the peace,” etc., approved Jan. 13, 1860, no change having been made in said sections since they were passed.
Section 912 applies to any corporation doing business in this state and having an office therein, except where there are special provisions to the contrary. It is the policy of our law to afford redress through our courts to any person aggrieved, whether a natural person or a corporation, and to apply the remedy, as far as possible, at the place where the injury was sustained. If a foreign corporation has an office for business in this state, for the transaction of business, seeking thereby to promote its own interest, such office will also be its place of business where a summons may be served upon it, and a party aggrieved will not be required to go into another jurisdiction to enforce his rights against it. It must take the burden with the benefit. The service, therefore, was sufficient to have required the plaintiff to appear and answer.
2d. The petition wholly fails to state a case for equitable relief. It is said that the plaintiff has a defense to the action, but no facts are stated showing in what the alleged defense consists. This is necessary in order that the facts may be put in issue, and a mere statement of a conclusion is not sufficient to authorize the granting of an injunction. Had a demurrer been filed to the petition, it should have been sustained.' But even if the allegations
Judgment affirmed.