Professional Documents
Culture Documents
504
40 S.Ct. 372
64 L.Ed. 690
The bill alleges that, in order to injure complainant's president, towards whom
he entertained personal ill will, the Comptroller determined to destroy its
business, and to that end he had maliciously persecuted and oppressed it for
three years, in the following ways, among others: By often demanding special
reports and information beyond the powers conferred upon him by law; by
disclosing confidential and official information concerning it to banks,
members of Congress, representatives of the press, and the public generally; by
inciting litigation against it and its officers; by publishing and disseminating
false statements, charging it with unlawful acts and improper conduct and
reflecting upon its solvency; and by distributing to depositors, stockholders and
others alarming statements intended to affect its credit, etc., etc.and further
that, unless restrained, he would continue these and similar malicious and
oppressive practices.
3
'Sec. 24. The District Courts shall have original jurisdiction as follows: * * *
'Sec. 49. All proceedings by any national banking association to enjoin the
Comptroller of the Currency, under the provisions of any law relating to
national banking associations, shall be had in the district where such association
is located.'
'Sec. 51. Except as provided in the five succeeding sections, no person shall be
arrested in one district for trial in another, in any civil action before a District
Court; and, except as provided in the six succeeding sections, no civil suit shall
be brought in any district court against any person by any original process or
proceeding in any other district than that whereof he is an inhabitant; but where
the jurisdiction is founded only on the fact that the action is between citizens of
different states, suit shall be brought only in the district of the residence of
either the plaintiff or the defendant.'
10
11
12
13
The Act of February 25, 1863, establishing national banks (12 Stats. 665, 681,
c. 58):
14
'Sec. 59. And be it further enacted, that suits, actions, and proceedings by and
against any association under this act may be had in any circuit, district, or
territorial court of the United States held within the district in which such
assocaition may be established.'
15
16
'Sec. 57. And be it further enacted, that suits, actions and proceedings, against
any association under this act, may be had in any circuit, district, or territorial
court of the United States held within the district in which such association may
be established; or in any state, county, or municipal court int he county or city
in which said association is located, having jurisdiction in similar cases:
Provided, however, that all proceedings to enjoin the Comptroller under this act
shall be had in a circuit, district, or territorial court of the United States, held in
the district in which the association is located.'
17
In Kennedy v. Gibson (1869), 8 Wall. 498, 506 (19 L. Ed. 476) this court ruled
'Sec. 629. The Circuit Courts shall have original jurisdiction as follows: * * *
19
20
21
'Sec. 736. All proceedings by any national banking association to enjoin the
Comptroller of the Currency, under the provisions of any law relating to
national banking associations, shall be had in the district where such association
is located.'
22
Parts of the foregoing subsections 10 and 11 were joined in subsection 16, 24,
Judicial Code (Comp. St. 991), and section 736 became section 49, Judicial
Code (Comp. St. 1031).
23
What constitutes a cause arising 'under' the laws of the United States has been
often pointed out by this court. One does so arise where an appropriate
statement by the plaintiff, unaided by any anticipation or avoidance of defenses,
discloses that it really and substantially involves a dispute or controversy
respecting the validity, construction or effect of an act of Congress. If the
plaintiff thus asserts a right which will be sustained by one construction of the
law, or defeated by another, the case is one arising under that law. Tennessee v.
Union & Planters' Bank, 152 U. S. 454, 14 Sup. Ct. 654, 38 L. Ed. 511; Boston
& Montana Mining Co. v. Montana Ore Purchasing Co., 188 U. S. 632, 23 Sup.
Ct. 434, 47 L. Ed. 626; Devine v. Los Angeles, 202 U. S. 313, 26 Sup. Ct. 652,
50 L. Ed. 1046; Taylor v. Anderson, 234 U. S. 74, 34 Sup. Ct. 724, 58 L. Ed.
1218; Hopkins v. Walker, 244 U. S. 486, 489, 37 Sup. Ct. 711, 61 L. Ed. 1270.
Clearly the plaintiff's bill discloses a case wherein his right to recover turns on
the construction and application of the National Banking Law; and we think the
proceeding is one to enjoin the Comptroller under provisions of that law within
the true intendment of the Judicial Code.
The decree below must be
24
Reversed.