Horace Gray

“ By the act of March 3, 1875, c. 137, § 1, (in force when the original bill and the first amended bill were filed,) permitting, in 'a controversy between citizens of different states,' a person to be sued in any district in which he either was an inhabitant or was found, a corporation might indeed be sued in any state in which it did business and had an agent, provided, always, it was not a citizen of the same state with the plaintiff. ”

“ But, under either statute, if the parties are not citizens of different states, there is an entire want of jurisdiction, which cannot be waived by the parties, but will be noticed by the court of its own motion. ”

“ An amended bill, filed October 26, 1886, alleged that 'the Empire Coal and Mining Company is but the creature of' the individual defendants, 'who own all its pretended stock, rights, and franchises,' and 'was brought into existence by them as a part of the fraudulent scheme heretofore set out,' and 'is insolvent, and has nothing more than the nominal possession of' the plaintiff's property, and that all the profits thereof had been appropriated by the individual defendants ”