Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“ We are considering whether a man who knows that his title is bad and will be attacked can call into being a corporation which he owns, in order to save the property, make a deed to it, put the deed into his pocket, leave it unrecorded, and, without the need of trusting even an accomplice, can keep it with perfect security until the statute has run, and then set up that his creature owns the land. ”

“ We are deciding that if a secret transfer of wrongfully held land is made in this way for the purpose of busying the United States with the wrong person until the title shall be made good by time, service on the man thus put forward is sufficient to avoid the statute and the trick must fail.
The bills were filed and subpoenas were taken out and delivered to the marshal for service before the statute had run, reasonable diligence was shown in getting service, and therefore the rights of the United States against all the patents were saved. ”

“ But we are of opinion with the findings that the position was not changed as between the United States, Smith, and the corporation in such a way as to give the last a better standing in this case. Those who took the stock as security did not deal with the corporation as outsiders, but became a part of it while it still was under the manifest domination of Smith, and charged with participation in Smith's fraud. The corporation cannot derive any new right from them. ”