Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“ The section of the Wisconsin statutes relied on by the defendant, stated more at length, forbade corporations organized otherwise than under the laws of that state to transact business in the state until they should have filed a copy of their charter with the secretary of state, which act, by the same statute, constituted the secretary of state the attorney of the corporation for the service of process. ”

“ We shall not consider the validity of the law as applied to unincorporated associations, because, in our opinion, the application of the provision to corporations was severable from, and independent of, its application to partnerships, so that, even if in the latter aspect the section was bad, it remained unaffected and valid so far as this case is concerned. ”

“ Practical lines have to be drawn, and distinctions of degree must be made. See, further, Kidd v. Pearson, 128 U.S. 1, 21, 32 L. ed. 346, 2 Inters. Com. Rep. 232, 9 Sup. Ct. Rep. 6; Coe v. Errol, 116 U.S. 517, 525, 527, 29 L. ed. 715, 718, 6 Sup. Ct. Rep. 475; Tredway v. Riley, 32 Neb. 495, 49 N. W. 268.
Yet another objection to the statute remains to be mentioned. At the date of the contract the section applied to partnerships as well as to corporations. ”