44 Pa. Super. 518 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1910
Opinion by
This is an appeal from an order discharging defendant’s rule to show cause why service of summons should not be set aside and writ quashed. As shown by the return, the writ was served by the sheriff of Fayette county (who was deputized by the sheriff of Allegheny county for the purpose) in the manner provided by sec. 5 of the Act of July 9, 1901, P. L. 614. The defendant’s petition upon which the rule to show cause was granted alleged that the defendant is a corporation chartered under the laws of the state of West Virginia, duly licensed to do business in Pennsylvania and having its principal office and place of business in the borough of Uniontown, county of Fayette, state of Pennsylvania; that all of the business of the corporation is transacted and all its property is situated in the counties of Fayette and Westmoreland; that it transacts no business in the county of Allegheny and has no property, agent or place of business in that county; and that the cause of action did not arise in that county. The only conflict' between the petition and the answer is as to the county where the cause of action arose, and as to that the averment of the answer is that it arose in Allegheny county, “as shown by plaintiff’s statement of claim and the depositions on file.” From the statement of claim and the depositions it appears that the plaintiff is a corporation organized under the laws of the state of New Jersey and duly qualified to do business in Pennsylvania; that its principal place of business was in Pitts-burg and its principal business was the selling of Roebling wire products; that the action was brought to recover interest on several invoices of goods, orders for which, with one exception, were given by the defendant to the plaintiff at the latter’s place of business in Pittsburg; that the plaintiff bought the goods to fill the orders from the manufacturers in New Jersey and had them shipped direct from the place of manufacture to the defendant at divers places in Fayette county designated by it; and that the terms of payment upon which the several invoices of goods
So far as concerns the question as to where the cause of action arose, the interest upon each invoice after the principal sum became due, must be regarded as being of the same nature as the principal debt. Thus viewing the case, it will be noticed that the cause of action was not the breach of an obligation to accept goods at the place agreed upon for delivery or to. pay for the same at the time and place of delivery. The defendant’s duty to pay did not become complete until the expiration of thirty days, and, as no place for payment was expressly agreed upon, it was not the plaintiff’s duty to go to the defendant’s place of business to receive payment, but the defendant was in default in not making payment at the plaintiff’s place of business. As to contracts the view has been expressed that the cause of action arises or .originates in the contract itself, and not merely in a breach of the obligation which it creates; while another view that has been maintained in well considered cases is, that whatever be the form of action, the breach of duty is substantially the cause of action. Whichever view be adopted, we think it could not be said, if the defendant were a natural person, that upon the defendant’s default a cause of action did not arise in Allegheny county, wherein the contract was made and the plaintiff’s place of business was situated, of which the courts of that county would have jurisdiction.
It is contended, however, that, notwithstanding the provisions of the act of 1901, no suit was authorized against the defendant corporation except in a county where the corporate property was in whole or in part situated, or where it transacted a substantial part of its business. If this were a domestic corporation, and the action had been instituted prior to the act of 1903, this contention would be sustained by Park Bros. Co. v. Oil City Boiler Works, 204 Pa. 453. After directing attention to the general common-law rule that a corporation could only be sued in the territorial jurisdiction where it had its legal
As to the propriety of the method of raising the question by motion to set aside the service and quash the writ, we refer to Park Bros. & Co. v. Oil City Boiler Works, 204 Pa. 453. It is suggested that the defendant is concluded because after its rule was discharged it interposed no further obstacle to final judgment. We are unable to adopt this view. If the defendant had brought the case here before final judgment, the objection might perhaps have been made, that the appeal was from an interlocutory order. At any rate, we cannot see that the defendant waived any
The order discharging the defendant’s rule is reversed; the rule is made absolute; the writ is quashed, and the service and all proceedings subsequent thereto are reversed and set aside.