Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 8.djvu/155

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA V. GILLESPIE. 141 �testate estates." Eev. St. N. J. 395. I express no opinion now on the question so much discussed at' the hearing, wliether the statute has any application to the case under consideration ; but if it does apply, it is quite clear that the applieant can get no relief in the present proceedings, if admitted as a defendant, without materially changing the structure of the bill and introducing into the contro- versy new issues, which the complainant has not asked the court to consider. �It is not claimed that the applieant is a necessary party to the bill as filed, or that the court cannot give complete relief therein without its presence. No allegation is made against it, and no relief is prayed for in regard to it. The suggestion is that in a certain event, to-wit, in the event of the said Lewis dying and leaving no relations entitled to the administration and the assets of the estate, the surrogate of the county may grant letters of administration to some fit person, who shall hold the property in trust for the poor of the city of Hoboken, if no kin capable of inheriting the estate can be found. This necessarily inTolves the inquiry into a new question, not at all pertinent to the pending suit, in regard to the right of in- heritance of the intestate's kin, and one, which is of no importance to the complainant. Its only concern is to ascertain from some com- petent tribunal whether the bequest of the testator of his estate for the payment of the national debt is a valid bequest ; and if so, what amount of money is in the hands of the executors to be applied for the purpose. �While the United States are not entitled to any greater right in their own courts than the humblest citizen, they are entitled to the same rights ; and I know of no principle or precedent which compels litigants, against their express protest, to open the doors of a pend- ing controversy to outside parties, that the latter may incorporate into the suit new matters and issues iu which the complainant has no possible interest. �The application is refused. ��� �