96 Ala. 447 | Ala. | 1892
The bill was filed by the appellee to enforce a common carrier’s lien upon certain property which had been transported by it, and which was then in its possession, and also to require the defendants (appellants) to interplead as to the ownership of the property. Certain causes of demurrer to the bill were overruled by the court, and before answers were filed or decree pro confesso taken, the court decreed that the defendant should interplead. Erom this decree the appeal is prosecuted. The bill shows that The Bethlehem Iron Company, a corporation organized under the laws of Pennsylvania, shipped and consigned to the Decatur & Nashville Improvement Company, to be delivered at Decatur, Alabama, a large quantity of rails, bolts, spikes, and fish-plates, particularly described in Exhibit A to the bill, and that, while said property was in the possession of the complainant as a common earner, the Bethlehem Iron Company exercised the right of stoppage in transitu, on the ground that the Decatur & Nashville Improvement Company had become insolvent, and notified and demanded of complainant that the property should be delivered to The
The bill sets up a lien upon the property in favor of complainant for ten thousand three hundred and ninety-two 02-100 dollars, claimed “on account of unpaid freight charges and demurrage,” and the prayer of the bill is that ■the decree for the delivery of the property to the proper owner be conditioned upon the payment of this sum to complainant, and, in default of its payment, that the lien be declared and the property sold by a decree of the court for its payment.
To entitle a party to the benefit of a bill of interpleader, he must negative any interest in himself in the matter in controversy, and shoAv that he is a mere stakeholder, that there is a doubt to whom the debt is due or duty belongs, so that he can not safely pay or render to the one, without risk of being liable for the same debt or duty to the other. In such case the plaintiff only asks that he be at liberty to pay the money to the party to whom it of right belongs, and may thereafter be protected against the claims of both. 2 Daniell Ch. Pl. §§ 1561, 1571; 3 Pom. Eq. § 1320; Story Eq. Pl. § 291; Conley v. Ala. Gold L. Ins. Co. 67 Ala. 475. As stated by Mr. Pomeroy, section 1325, “He must stand entirely indifferent between the conflicting claimants, and be ready and willing to surrender the thing in dispute or pay the debt. He can not mingle up a demand of his own upon the property or thing with the demand that the other persons shall interplead. The interest, however, which will defeat the relief must be in the thing or fund itself, which is the subject-matter of the controversy and of the suit. . . . Nor, it seems [he adds] will a charge, lien or claim upon
It is contended, however, that this is a bill in the nature of a bill of interpleader, and that such a bill lies by a party in interest to ascertain and establish his own rights, where there are other conflicting rights between third persons. This rule is thus stated in 2 Daniell’s Ch. Pr. § 1571, Story Ecp PI. § 291, and Pomeroy, supra; but the cases cited in support of the text, and the general principles declared by the text and authorities, do not authorize the application of the rule to eases like the present, where the complainant seeks to mingle up and enforce a demand of his own upon the property or thing, with the demand that the other persons shall interplead. There can be no bill of interpleader, or bill in the nature of a bill of interpleader, when the defendants contest and litigate with the plaintiff himself as to the validity and allowance of a claim set up by himself. Such a rule is at variance with the very nature and purpose of abill of interpleader. Under such circumstances, the complainant has a personal interest in the result of the suit, directly antagonistic to that of respondents. "We find a case cited in Ex'rs of Lozier v. Van Saun, 3 N. J. Eq. 325, where “the complainant, who was a stakeholder, offered to pay into court the amount in his hands, deducting the duty and commission which he estimated at a sum certain. The right to this deduction was disputed, and therefore the vice chancellor said there was a personal question between the complainant and one of the defendants. He was not an indifferent stakeholder.” We need not go so far in the present case. The offer in the present case to deliver the property is made upon the condition that complainant’s claim be admitted and paid, and, in default, that the property be sold. We make the further suggestion, if the property is sold by the decree of the court to satisfy the plaintiff’s demand, and a stranger becomes the purchaser, as he may, of what avail is the bill as a bill of interpleader for the protection of the plaintiff? Nothiug will have been accomplished by the respondents impleading each other.
It is contended by appellant that the statute (Code, § 1182) afforded complainant a cheap and adequate remedy at law to enforce his common carrier’s lien, and for this reason the bill is without equity, and should be dismissed. If complainant had an equitable remedy prior to the passage of the statute, the remedy remains unaffected by the statute. The rule which prevails in this State is that declared by Mr. Pomeroy, and is as follows : “Although a statute may confer a remedy for the enforcement of a right in a court of law, unless the statute contains negative words or other language expressly taking away a pre-existing equitable juris
As a bill of interpleader, or a bill in the nature of a bill of interpleader, in its present shape it is objectionable and subject to demurrer. We do not say it can not be amended, so as to give it equity as a bill in the nature of a bill of interpleader. The right of stoppage in transitu is a valuable right, and may have been properly exercised in this case. If the buyer of goods is insolvent at the time of the purchase and his insolvency is not known to the vendor at the time of the sale, or becomes insolvent after his purchase, the vendor has the right of stoppage, while they are in the hands of a carrier, in transit, or in store at the end of the journey, no actual delivery having been made to the purchaser, and no intervening rights having attached. The rule arises upon the insolvency of the buyer, and is based upon the principle of justice and equity that one man’s goods shall not be applied to another man’s debts, and is said to be an equitable extension of the vendor’s common-law lien and right to retain the goods until they are paid for. — 2 Benj. Sales, §§ 1229-31; Farrell v. R. & D. Railroad Co., 102 N. C. 390; 11 Amer. St. 760; Loeb v. Peters, 63 Ala. 248. The exercise of the right of stoppage does not displace the carrier’s lien. He may still retain possession until his freight charges and expenses are paid. — Penn. Railroad Co. v. American Oil Works, 126 Penn. St. 485; 12 Amer. St. Rep. 889. We do not know but that respondents have admitted the correctness of complainant’s demand and the extent of his lien for freight and charges, and the bill may be amended in this respect. The bill may be further amended so as to show that respondent Crass has such a claim to the property the subject-matter of controversy as to entitle complainant to require him and the other respondents to interplead. We do not know the facts of the case, and can not anticipate the action of complainant in this respect. He is entitled to the opportunity to amend his bill if he can.
Reversed and remanded.