221 F. 267 | W.D. Ky. | 1914
This action was brought in the Jefferson circuit court, and on petition of the defendant, which is a New York corporation, was removed into this court. Upon the filing of the transcript the defendant, specially appearing for that purpose, moved the court to quash the return on the summons, which was issued in due form before the removal and placed in the hands of the sheriff. As the sheriff might do under the state practice, he, in writing on the summons, made the following indorsement, to wit:
“X hereby appoint S. J.- Burks a special bailiff to execute this writ.
“A. M. Emler, S. J. C.,
“By Elmer Watson, D. S.”
Burks made return on the summons in this language:
“Executed on the within-named defendant, Louismann-Capen Company (a corporation), by delivering a true copy of the within summons to J. B. McIntosh, he being the chief officer and agent of the defendant, Louismann-Capen Company, in the state of Kentucky, Dec. 10, 1913. S. J. Burks, S. B.”
Accompanying said return, and pursuant to the Code of Practice, was the affidavit of Burks that he is a white male person over 16 years old, not interested in the action, and not related to any party thereto, and that his return was true. On February 19, 1904, this court permitted Burks to amend his return, and his amendment, duly sworn to, was that:
“He served the process herein upon J. M. McIntosh in the pity of Louisville, Jefferson county, Kentucky, on December 10, 1913; he being the chief officer and agent of the defendant herein in the state of Kentucky, and that his position with said company is that of managing agent for the state of Kentucky and Western representative. That at said time the defendant had no president, vice president, no secretary or librarian, no cashier or treasurer, and no clerk in Jefferson county, nor in the state of Kentucky.
“S. J. Burks.”
In support of its contention the defendant read three affidavits, namely:
First. That of Louis S. Kurtzman, who stated that he is the president of the defendant, that defendant has never taken out a license to do business in Kentucky, that it never had a place of business in that state, that it never had an authorized agent therein upon whom process could be served, and that it had never filed any statement with the Secretary of State designating any person as agent upon whom process upon it might be served. He stated furthermore that McIntosh was not, at the time of the service upon him, in charge of defendant's known place of business anywhere in Kentucky, for the reason that defendant had no sttcli place of business in Kentucky, and that said McIntosh was never a resident of Kentucky, but was a resident of Michigan, and was never an authorized agent of the defendant upon whom the process could be served under the laws of Kentucky.
Second. The affidavit of George C. Gordon stated that he was the defendant’s treasurer, and he further stated much the same things as liad the affiant Kurtzman, aud also that, the plaintiff being justly indebted to the defendant on account of a shipment of musical instruments by defendant to plaintiff, the defendant sent James B. McIntosh to Louisville, Ky., to try to collect the debt from plaintiff, that McIntosh was only acting for the defendant in Kentucky in a single transaction, that the musical instruments for which defendant made the claim referred to were shipped from the state of New York by the defendant to the plaintiff in Louisville, Ky., in pursuance of written orders sent by the plaintiff tt> the defendant, and that the presence of McIntosh in Kentucky on December 20, 1913, was for the purpose of collecting the money due thereon, and for no other purpose.
Third. In his affidavit James B. McIntosh stated that he has never at any time had any property, business office, or place of business in Kentucky, and never carried on or transacted any business for defendant in that state, and has never at any time resided in Kentucky. He also stated that the plaintiff was justly indebted to the defendant on or about December 10, 1913, and he was sent by defendant to Louisville, Ky., to try to collect that indebtedness from the plaintiff, and that while lie was there for- that sole purpose, and no other, the process herein was served oil him.
On his own behalf the plaintiff read his own affidavit, in which he stated that in December, 1913, the defendant did and that for a long
This being the substance o'f the testimony, we must determine whether there was such service of process on the defendant as gave it due notice of the nature and pendency of the action, and such as gives this court jurisdiction of the person of the defendant therein.
“In an action against a private corporation the summons may be served, in any county, upon the defendant’s chief officer, or agent, who may be found in this state; or it may be served in the county wherein the action is brought upon the defendant’s chief officer or agent who may be found therein.”
Said section 51 also provides (subsection 6) that:
“In actions against * * * a joint-stock company, the members of which reside in another state, engaged' in business in this state, the summons may be served on the manager, or agent of, or person in charge of, such business in this state, in the county where the business is carried on, or in the county where the cause of action occurred.”
The Court of Appeals of Kentucky, in International Harvester Co. v. Commonwealth, 147 Ky. 655, 145 S. W. 393, held that the words “joint-stock company,” contained in section 51, subsec. 6, of the Kentucky Code of Practice, included a private “corporation,” and indeed section 208 of the state Constitution seems to have required this construction, although ordinarily we should not supj/ose that a “joint-stock company” was necessarily a corporation. This court is bound by this interpretation, by the Court of Appeals, of the meaning of the words used in the Code, so far at least as the provision we have quoted is to be given consideration in determining the question before us.
Section 571 of the Kentucky Statutes is as follows:
“All corporations except foreign insurance companies formed under the laws of this or any other state, and carrying on any business in this state, shall at all times have one or more known' places of business in this state, and an authorized agent or agents thereat, upon whom process can be served and it shall not be lawful for any corporation to .carry on any business in this state, until it shall have filed in the office of the Secretary of State a statement, signed by its president or secretary, giving the location of its office or offices in this state, and the name or names of its agent or agents thereat upon whom process can be served; and when any change is made .in the location of its office or offices, or in its agent or agents, it shall at ohce file with the Secretary of State a statement of such change; and the former*271 agent shall remain agent for the purpose of service until statement of appointment of the new agent is filed; and if any corporation fails to comply with the requirements of this section, such corporation, and any agent or employe of such corporation, who shall transact, carry on or conduct any business in this state, for it, shall be severally guilty of a misdemeanor, and fined not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars for each offense.”
'Ehe Court of Appeals has held that the foregoing section does not annul the manner of serving process on corporations as prescribed by section 51 of the Code. Cumberland Co. v. Lewis, 108 S. W. 347, 32 Ky. Law Rep. 1300, and cases therein cited.
These being the statutory provisions found in the laws of Kentucky applicable to the motion to quash the return, and there being found in the federal statutes no statutory provision in the premises, the question of jurisdiction, after an interesting argument by counsel, has been very carefully considered by the court.
Our conclusion is that McIntosh was plaintiff’s agent in the business it carried on in Kentucky, the .agency existing by virtue of his being der fendant’s Western representative—a designation which, we think, means that he was defendant’s general agent in those parts of the country as-far West as this state. This conclusion seems to find support, not only in the cases from the Supreme Court already cited, but also in Herndon-Carter Co. v. Norris, 224. U. S. 496, 32 Sup. Ct. 550,
A very recent case, namely, that of Cain v. Commercial Publishing Co., decided by the Supreme Court on January 19, 1914, which has been called to our attention, does not seem to have any application to the question under consideration.
It results that the motion to quash must he denied and overruled.