Brock v. Northwestern Fuel Company/Opinion of the Court

by John Marshall Harlan

United States Supreme Court

130 U.S. 341

Brock  v.  Northwestern Fuel Company

The act of 1875 declares that no circuit or district court shall have 'cognizance of any suit founded on contract in favor of an assignee, unless a suit might have been prosecuted in such court to recover thereon if no assignment had been made, except in cases of promissory notes negotiable by the lawmerchant, and bills of exchange.' 18 St. 470. It does not appear that the What Cheer Land & Coal Company, the plaintiffs' assignor, could have brought suit on the contract in question if no assignment had been made. The record does not show of what state it is a corporation. The allegation that it was 'doing business in the state of Iowa' does not necessarily import that it was created by the laws of that state. But, if that allegation were held sufficient to show it was an Iowa corporation, the result would be the same, because, in that case, it would appear that the parties to the original contract were all citizens of Iowa, and consequently that the assignor could not have sued the defendants in the circuit court of the United States. The judgment is reversed upon the ground that it does not appear, affirmatively, from the record that the circuit court had jurisdiction, (Metcalf v. Watertown, 128 U.S. 588, ante, 173,) and the cause is remanded for further proceedings in accordance with law.

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