204 A.D. 491 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1923
The action was brought to recover the value of certain goods damaged while in the custody and possession of the New York Central Railroad Company while under Federal control, and the action is one which, prior to Federal control, could have been brought against the carrier.
At the time the action was commenced, on or about December 18, 1919, Walker D. Hines was Director-General of Railroads, and he was named as a party defendant. On or about the 26th of June, 1920, John Barton Payne, Director-General of Railroads, as agent, was substituted by order of this court in place of Walker D. Hines as Director-General of Railroads, pursuant to section 206 of the Transportation Act, approved February 28, 1920. Under the same provision of said Transportation Act, James C. Davis, Director-General of Railroads, was designated as agent on March 28, 1921, succeeding John Barton Payne, who on that date resigned. The motion at bar was made in November, 1922, more than one year after March 28, 1921, when James C. Davis was appointed, and was opposed by James C. Davis, Director-General of Railroads, as agent, upon a special appearance, objecting to the jurisdiction of the court to make such substitution, on the ground that the same was not moved within a period of twelve months following his designation, and, therefore, that under section 1594 of the United States Compiled Statutes the action had abated. Upon that ground the motion was denied by the Special Term.
The Jurisdictional Act of February 8,1899 (30 U. S. Stat. at Large, 822, chap. 121; U. S. Comp. Stat. § 1594) reads as follows: “ No suit, action, or other proceeding lawfully commenced by or against
Section 10 of the Federal Control Act (approved March 21, 1918) provides as follows: “ Actions at law or suits in equity may be brought by and against such carriers and judgments rendered as now provided by law; and in any action at law or suit in equity against the carrier, no defense shall be made thereto upon the ground that the carrier is an instrumentality or agency of the Federal Government.” (40 U. S. Stat. at Large, 456, § 10.)
Section 206, subdivision a, of the Transportation Act, 1920, (approved February 28, 1920) provides as follows: “ Actions at law, suits in equity and proceedings in admiralty, based on causes of action arising out of the possession, use, or operation by the President of the railroad or system of transportation of any carrier (under the provisions of the Federal Control Act, or of the Act of August 29, 1916) of such character as prior to Federal control could have been brought against such carrier, may, after the termination of Federal control, be brought against an agent designated by the President for such purpose, * * *.” (41 U. S. Stat. at Large, 461, § 206, subd. a.)
It seems clear that said section 10 of the Federal Control Act, incorporated by reference in the said Transportation Act, 1920, and the provisions of the Transportation Act, 1920, to which attention is hereinafter called, prevent the provisions of the said section 1594 of the United States Compiled Statutes being availed of as a bar to the maintenance of this action. If no Federal control had intervened, the transportation company would have been the sole defendant, and said section 1594 would have had no application. The benefit of said section 1594 can be claimed only “ upon the ground that the carrier is an instrumentality or agency of the Federal Government.” Said section 10 of the Federal Control Act expressly prohibits the setting up of such claim by way of defense to “ any action at law or suit in equity against the carrier.” Said section 10
Respondent relies upon certain recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court, wherein the court dismissed for want of jurisdiction (Payne v. Industrial Board of Illinois, 258 U. S. 613; Payne v. Stevens, 257 id. 642; N. Y. L. J. Dec. 13, 1922), and in another instance (United States Railroad Administration v. Slatinka, --U. S.-; N. Y. L. J. Jan. 11, 1923; decided January 8, 1923) denied a petition for a writ of certiorari, “ because case abates for failure to substitute successor of petitioner within one year after petitioner vacated office.” It is to be noted that in each of these cases, no substitution of the successor agent having been made, the latter was not before the court. Furthermore, in each of these cases, the party seeking affirmative relief was the successor agent, and it was not a case where the relief was sought by a plaintiff against the carrier, so that the express language of section 10 of the Federal Control Act and of section 206 of the Transportation Act, 1920, did not apply, and the only statute which could be held applicable was said section 1594 of the United States Compiled Statutes. Said section 1594 was originally enacted to mitigate the hardship arising from the abatement of a cause of action growing out of the death, expiration of term, retirement, resignation or removal from office of an officer of the United States whose delinquency was personal and “ did not involve any charge against the Government whose officers they were. A proceeding against the Government would not lie.” (Thompson v. United States, 103 U. S. 480, 484, 485.) The Supreme Court of the United States, in a case decided on March 21, 1898, said: “ In view of the inconvenience, of which the present case is a striking instance, occasioned by this state of the law, it would seem desirable that Congress should provide for the difficulty by enacting that, in the case of suits against the heads of departments abating by death or resignation, it should be lawful for the successor in office to be brought into the case by petition, or some other appropriate method.” (United States ex rel. Bernardin v. Butterworth, 169 U. S. 600, 605.)
Following this, said act of February 8, 1899 (30 U. S. Stat. at Large, 822, chap. 121) came into being, and is also known as section 1594 of the United States Compiled Statutes. Assuming, however, that because of the recent decisions above noted, it has been held that the words of said section apply to the Director-General of
It follows that the order appealed from should be reversed, with ten dollars costs and disbursements, and the motion granted, with ten dollars costs.
Clarke, P. J., Dowling, Page and Merrell, JJ., concur.
Order reversed, with ten dollars costs and disbursements, and motion granted, with ten dollars costs.