Doss v. Tyack/Opinion of the Court

by Robert Cooper Grier

United States Supreme Court

55 U.S. 297

Doss  v.  Tyack

8. The best reason, perhaps, for setting aside the decree dismissing the bill is, that the Judge erred in listening to the application and granting the order to dismiss it. At the time of the application it had been fully shown by the bill, answers, affidavits, and depositions taken, what the character of the transactions were between Newell and McGreal. In addition to this, the complainants had asked, in the bill, that the property of the firm might be given to the creditors. They had asked for the appointment of a receiver, and prayed that the property might be delivered over to him. They had executed an assignment on their part to the receiver, that he might the better collect the assets. The creditors had paid a consideration for the protection of their interest through this suit. It was too late, therefore, for the complainants to recall what they had done. Hunt v. Rousmanier's Administrators, 5 Cond. Rep. 401.

9. What the complainants had done was equivalent to the execution of a power of attorney, coupled with an interest; and had all the effect of a contract or deed, with a trust ingrafted on the instrument. It was not revocable even by the death of the party. The trust had been created; the trust-fund had been placed in the hands of the receiver under the order of the court; and no imposition on the complainants, nor collusion on their part, should have been permitted by the court to work a devastavit on the property placed in the custody of the court for the benefit of the creditors. The doctrine implied in the language of the court, in the case of Williamson v. Wilson, (1 Bland. 418,) well applies to this case.

In aid of this would also come the rule, 'That a naked license is not revocable where it has been once acted on, or where an encouragement to spend money has been given, and the expenditure has taken place.'

Even in an action at law, where one man says to another, 'Bring the suit in my name; let the property recovered by applied to the discharge of my indebtedness to you,' has always been held to operate as an equitable assignment, not revocable. Canfield v. Munger, 12 Johns. Rep. 346. The creditor has also, in such case, the right to continue the name of the assignor as a party to the suit, notwithstanding the nominal plaintiff should attempt to countermand the license.

10. In general, persons not parties to a suit in equity, cannot come in and ask for relief or protection. There are exceptions, however, to this rule. Creditors are quasi parties to a suit brought for the dissolution of a copartnership, an accounting, and the distribution of the partnership property. They are entitled to come in under the decree for distribution, and prove up their demands before the master; and they thus become incidentally the objects of protection by the court. In the case of a creditor's bill suit, it is not necessary that all the creditors should be made parties complainants. It is sufficient that one creditor files the bill, with the suggestion that others who voluntarily come in and share the expenses, may participate of the proceeds on distribution. All the creditors, thus contributing, are entitled to equal favor, and it would not be insisted that collusion, between the complainant and defendants on the record, would be allowed by the court to work a defeat of the objects of the bill, by hastily dismissing the cause.

11. The bill in this case sets forth the names of the creditors prayed to be made the beneficiaries, and the respective amounts due each. The answer of the defendant, Newell, admitted them as stated in the bill. It is insisted, that this alone gave the demands of the creditors the effect of a judgment and lien on the assets in the hands of the receiver, the same as on a decree for an accounting, and the report of a master as to amounts due creditors, in a case where they had not been in form made parties to the suit. In such case, after decree for accounting, and the establishment of the demands of creditors on reference to a master, the suit cannot be dismissed by the consent of complainants and defendants. Lashley v. Hogg, 11 Vesey, Jr. 602. What the creditors were entitled to by way of decree, as shown by the bill and answer, it is urged, could not be defeated by the fraud or collusion of the parties named as complainants and defendants on the record.

12. There is a large class of suits in equity where the power of the court must of necessity extend far beyond the immediate parties named as complainants and defendants. Of this class, are the bill for dissolution and accounting-the creditor's bill; bills against insolvent corporations, and others, where the proceedings are attended with the distribution of assets that have assumed the aspect and nature of trust property. The parties named in such suits as complainants, are considered as the representatives of all the interests that may be beneficially affected by the decree. After they have brought the matters into court, and invoked its aid and power, it would be too late to withdraw the subject-matter of litigation from the court. Were it otherwise, there would often be no remedy, from the impossibility to make parties. The most a court of equity could possibly do, under a sound discretion, would be, to allow a complainant, acting in bad faith, to retire from the suit on terms, in the mean time retaining the fund, and allowing others to come in, whose fidelity could be better depended upon, in carrying the trust property to a fair distribution.

13. Copartnership property (more especially in cases of insolvency) is strictly regarded as trust property, and the creditors of the copartnership, the cestuis que trust, or beneficiaries; and this, independent of any instrument or agreement making an assignment, or declaring the trust; hence the uniform practice of courts of equity in extending protection to their interests.

14. In the case at bar, it will be seen that the copartnership property had been placed, and tied up, on the application of complainants, for more than one year, in the hands of the receiver, in a condition that made it invulnerable to the creditors, except through distribution by the court. It was in the custody of the law, and could not be levied on. The remedy of the creditors against the property was suspended. The dismissal of the bill and delivery of the copartnership property to Doss, would have given the effect of having used the court to delay the creditors, and then, of prostituting its powers to defeat them. It is believed that courts of equity have power to exempt themselves from being used as instruments for such purposes.

15. It may be said, perhaps, that the case at bar is sui generis; that there is no precedent, in all respects, applicable to the questions involved in the motion to dismiss this cause in the court below. If so, it is respectfully submitted whether principles, applicable to the circumstances of this case, should not be declared, as well for the benefit of courts of original jurisdiction, as for the instruction of solicitors and counsel respecting their rights, duties, and responsibilities.

Mr. Justice GRIER delivered the opinion of the court.

A short history of the facts of this case, extricated from the numerous allegations of the pleadings and the mass of testimony contained in the record, will better exhibit its merits than a more formal abstract of the pleadings and proofs.

The appellees, who were complainants below, entered into articles of agreement with Samuel Newell, one of the respondents below, on the 25th of September, 1847, in which they engaged to form a copartnership under the form and style of William Tyack & Co., in New York, and Stewart, Newell & Co., in Galveston, Texas. 'The nature of the business to be transacted by said firm to be a commission, general, and auction business.' The parties each to contribute towards the capital stock the sum of five thousand dollars, within ninety days; the capital to be augmented as the business required; Newell, 'in consideration of his expense and labor in paving the way for the contemplated business, as well as his influence in the State of Texas, to be entitled to one fourth of the profits, and the balance to be equally divided between the three partners. Tyack and Murray to take charge of the business in New York, and Newell in Galveston.

At the time these parties entered into this contract of partnership, their several ability to perform their agreement of advancing capital and supporting the credit of the firm, as shown by the pleadings and evidence, would appear to be as follows: Tyack was worth, in all, probably twenty thousand dollars; Murray had nothing, and owed about five thousand dollars; Newell, while resident in Texas, 'had become interested in a claim belonging to Alexander Edgar, to a league of land,' on which it was supposed that the city of Galveston was built. He had come to New York, at this time, with a power of attorney from Edgar, to form a stock company of persons, who were to have an interest in this litigated claim. He had divided it into one thousand shares, to be sold at one hundred dollars each, payable in instalments. He was to have half of all the money received for the stock, over twenty thousand dollars. A few persons had been persuaded to subscribe for some of this stock, and among others, Tyack and Murray had each agreed to take a few shares; and Tyack was appointed treasurer of the company under the name of 'The Galveston Land Company.' Newell's property or capital consisted in the anticipated profits of this speculation, and some stock in another company, called the 'Wilson Joint Stock Land Company.'

The partners soon afterwards commenced business on about four or five thousand dollars, advanced by Tyack. Murray had nothing, and Newell's stocks would produce nothing in the market; those who had before subscribed for it, refusing to pay, on the plea or suspicion that it was good for nothing, as the citizens of Galveston had probably a better title to the land than the company. Thus the source from which Newell's capital was anticipated, wholly failed.

In the mean time a stock of goods was purchased for the house in Texas, costing about twenty thousand dollars, for the payment of which Newell had drawn bills on Tyack & Co. for some seventeen thousand dollars, which Tyack had accepted, in expectation of remittances of cotton or other produce from Texas, by Newell, to meet the bills at maturity. The business expected to be transacted by Tyack & Co. in New York, was the disposal of these consignments from the Texas house-of cotton and other merchandise purchased with the funds of the firm in Texas.

In March, 1848, the acceptances in New York being near maturity, and the consignments received from Newell to meet these large liabilities, amounting only to about eight hundred dollars, Tyack, to avoid impending bankruptcy, if possible, called together the creditors of the firm and made a statement of its situation. In consideration of the creditors agreeing to give further time on the acceptances about to mature, Tyack & Murray executed a power of attorney to William E. Warren, an agent chosen by the creditors, authorizing him to take possession of the property and effects of the firm in Texas, and secure them for the benefit of the creditors. Warren was authorized by the creditors to act for them, and to collect, secure, or compromise their claims, in any way he thought best; with instructions to proceed to Texas, and examine into the state of the firm, and if it was found that there was any probable prospect that the firm could eventually pay their debts, to make any reasonable arrangement for that purpose, and suffer Newell to continue the business: on the contrary, if Newell could hold out no such prospect, or if he was found to be wasting the goods of the firm, and appropriating them to any other purpose than the regular mercantile business of the firm, the agent was instructed to get possession, by all legal means, of the partnership assets, and hold them or dispose of them in the best manner for the interests of the creditors and all concerned.

In pursuance of this authority, Warren proceeded to Galveston. He there found the assets in Newell's possession insufficient to pay the debts, and that the firm was hopelessly insolvent; and moreover, that Newell had appropriated a portion of the assets of the firm to the payment of his personal debts, incurred in his land stock speculations, and was unwilling to comply with any reasonable terms of compromise, to secure the creditors, or save his partner, Tyack, from insolvency and ruin.

Warren then instituted proceedings in the State Court on behalf of Tyack and the creditors, and obtained an injunction and a writ of seizure against Newell, on which the sheriff took possession of the property of the firm. On the 10th of July, 1848, on motion of Newell's counsel, the court, for some reason, set aside the injunction and writ of seizure. The counsel for Tyack and the creditors, immediately discontinued their proceedings in the State Court, and commenced proceedings in the District Court of the United States. While the bill for that purpose was being prepared, and application being made for an injunction and the appointment of a receiver, Newell and one Peter McGreal proceeded in hot haste from the court house, got possession of the goods from the sheriff, and had the following instrument of writing executed:

'Received, Galveston, July 10, from S. W. Doss, of Brazoria, the following amounts: Two thousand dollars, in good notes, mortgages, liens, and judgments, and seven thousand seven hundred and fifty-three dollars in lands, full payment of the stock of goods, wares, and merchandise now in our store in Galveston.

STEWART NEWELL.

'Recap.-Cash, $2,000; Notes, $2,000; Lands, $7,753-Total, $11,753.

'In presence of John Warrin, Isaac D. Knight.'

No notes, judgments, or liens, were in fact assigned by McGreal to Newell, nor any conveyances of land made; but McGreal gave his written promise to assign and convey securities and lands to that amount within thirty days. The production of the two thousand dollars cash, was also dispensed with, as the parties appear to have been in too great haste to be particular. The answer of Newell attempts to account for the cash as follows:

'This defendant states, that the said first payment in cash of $2,000, mentioned in said receipt, was secured and made to this defendant by Peter McGreal, Esq., the agent of said Doss; that a portion of said sum of $2,000, to wit, about $1,200, was paid by the said McGreal, agent as aforesaid, to Benjamin C. Franklin, Joseph A. Swett, and John B. Jones, in pursuance of, and in accordance with, an order given by this defendant to said McGreal for that purpose; that forty-two dollars and fifty cents were paid upon the order of this defendant to J. A. Sauters for rent of said store, due by said firm; and the balance, to wit, about seven hundred and fifty dollars, was directed by this defendant to be paid over or secured to Isaac D. Knight, to be by him held to the use of the firm of S. N. & Co., to be paid over for the said use upon the order of this defendant, in like manner as the said book debts and other choses in action assigned to said Franklin, as above mentioned.'

What right Franklin, Swett, and Jones had, to receive this money, or how, or why it was paid to them, (if it was paid,) or how Knight, the brother-in-law of Newell, became a trustee for the creditors of the firm, the answer does not disclose.

McGreal appears also to have treated Newell with the same unbounded confidence which Newell had reposed in him. He took the goods on trust, as to quantity and quality; required no invoice or schedule, being content with one which the sheriff had made; and immediately commenced to pack them up and seek for assistance and means for carrying them off. The transaction commenced after twelve o'clock in the day, and by twelve o'clock at night, a large portion of the goods were put on board the sloop Alamo, which set sail before morning. In the mean time the bill in this case had been filed, and a receiver appointed, who, on the following day, (11th July,) was enabled by means of a writ of assistance, to arrest the sloop and get possession of the goods.

It is unnecessary to enumerate all the charges of the bill, and the answers thereto, as it is amply sufficient for the purposes of the decision in this case, that the facts we have already stated were either admitted by the answers, or undeniably proved.

The plaintiff in error, Stephen W. Doss, who claims to be the owner of the goods, thus alleged to have been purchased by Peter McGreal, was made a party to the suit. Both he and Newell deny, in their answer, all fraud in the transaction, and Doss avers, 'that the said transaction was made in the regular mode of conducting such business, and at a time when there was no lawful restraint existing to prevent the sale and delivery of the goods.'

On this case the court below, at the March term, 1850, rendered a decree for the complainants, dissolving the partnership, setting aside the sale to McGreal, or Doss, as fraudulent, and ordering the receiver to pay over the proceeds of the goods, (which had been previously sold by order of the court,) to the creditors of the firm.

But, in order rightly to apprehend the points relied on by the counsel for appellants, in claiming a reversal of the decree, it will be necessary to state some of the intermediate proceedings in the case, as exhibited by the record. During the pendency of the suit, Newell and McGreal had gone to New York, and persuaded Tyack & Murray to revoke the power of attorney given to Warren, and to execute one to the respondents' counsel, authorizing them to dismiss the bill; and a motion was made by them, for this purpose, in August, 1848. This motion was resisted, on the ground that the firm was wholly insolvent; that the power to Warren was given on a contract with the creditors, and for a valuable consideration, and was, therefore, irrevocable; as it would be a fraud in Tyack to dismiss the proceedings, for the benefit of the creditors, after the great trouble and expense incurred by them for the purpose of protecting Tyack from ruin. Notwithstanding these objections, the court ordered the suit to be dismissed; but, some days after, at the same term, vacated and set aside this order or decree, on proof, that the revocation of the power to Warren, and the order given to discontinue or dismiss the proceedings, were obtained from the complainants by gross misrepresentation and fraud. Afterwards, an issue was ordered, on prayer of respondents' counsel, to try the question of fraud. This issue was tried before a jury, who rendered a verdict that 'the sale was fraudulent.' Whereupon, the respondents moved for a new trial, on the ground that the verdict was given 'under a misconstruction and misunderstanding of the charge of the court.' This motion was founded on an affidavit of some of the jurors that, 'on their retirement, they did not inquire into the right and power of Doss to purchase, nor of the question of fraud on Doss's part, but only into the right and power of Newell to make the sale.'

We are now prepared to examine the points relied upon for the reversal of this decree.

They are, 1st. That the court had no power to set aside the order or decree, dismissing the bill, unless, on a new and original bill, filed for the purpose. 2d. That, on this certificate of the jury, the court should have granted a new trial on the question of fraud.

1. As regards the first point, we perceive no error in the action of the court, except in their first order dismissing the suit. It did not require an original bill, to authorize the court to vacate an order or decree, at the same term in which it was made, on discovering that they have committed an error, or that the consent of the complainants to such dismissal was obtained by the fraud of the respondents, or their agents. In fact, under such circumstances, it cannot be said that the act was done by the consent or will of the complainants, at all. The court, in vacating the decree, were correcting an error both of fact and of law; and, during the term at which it was rendered, they had full power to amend, correct, or vacate it, for either of these reasons.

2. The second point is equally without foundation. It is true, that the answers of the respondents denied fraud in the abstract, but they admitted all the facts and circumstances necessary to constitute it in the concrete. The general denial of the answer, only showed that the definition of fraud was much narrower, in the estimation of the respondents, than in that of courts of law and equity. In this case, a verdict was wholly unnecessary, to inform the conscience of the Chancellor; and, the verdict being perfectly correct, the court very properly refused to set it aside, on any representation from jurors thus obtained.

Any argument to vindicate the correctness of the verdict and the decree of the court below, after the exhibition of the merits of this case, which we have given, would be entirely superfluous.

The decree of the District Court of Texas, is therefore affirmed.

This cause came on to be heard, on the transcript of the record, from the District Court of the United States for the District of Texas, and was argued by counsel. On consideration whereof, it is now here ordered, adjudged, and decreed, by this court, that the decree of the said District Court in this cause be, and the same is hereby, affirmed, with costs.

Notes