United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Southern Pacific Co. v. Denton, 146 U.S. 202 (1892)

Southern Pacific Company v. Denton

No. 403

Submitted November 7, 1892

Decided November 21, 1892

146 U.S. 202

Syllabus

Under the Act of March 3, 1887, c. 373, § 1, as corrected by the Act of August 13, 1888, c. 866, a corporation incorporated in one state only, and doing business in another state, is not thereby liable to be sued in a circuit court of the United States held in the latter state.

The want of the requisite citizenship of parties to give jurisdiction to a circuit court of the United States, when apparent on the face of the petition, may be taken advantage of by demurrer.

An objection to the jurisdiction of a circuit court of the United States for want of the requisite citizenship of the parties is not waived by filing a demurrer for the special and single purpose of objecting to the jurisdiction or by answering to the merits upon that demurrer being overruled.

The right of a corporation, sued in a circuit court of the United States, to contest its jurisdiction for want of the requisite citizenship of the parties is not affected by a statute of the state in which the court is held, requiring a foreign corporation, before doing business in the state, to file with the secretary of state a copy of its charter, with a resolution authorizing service of process to he made on any officer or agent engaged in its business within the state and agreeing to be subject to all the provisions of the statute, one of which is that the corporation shall not remove any suit from a court of the state into the circuit court of the United States, nor by doing business and appointing an agent within the state under that statute.

A statute of a state which makes an appearance in behalf of a defendant, although in terms limited to the purpose of objecting to the jurisdiction of the court, a waiver of immunity from jurisdiction by reason of nonresidence is not applicable to actions in a circuit court of the United States held within the state under Rev.Stat. § 914.

Motion to dismiss or to affirm. The case is stated in the opinion.

Page 146 U. S. 203