Samuel Freeman Miller

“ A second class, who, if their interest is brought to the attention of the court, it will, before deciding the cause, require them to be made parties if within its jurisdiction, but who are not so necessary to relief that their absence defeats the jurisdiction. 'And there is a third class,' says the court, 'whose interests in the subject-matter of the suit, and the relief sought, are so bound up with that of the other parties, that their legal presence as parties to the proceeding is an absolute necessity, without which the court cannot proceed. ”

“ The rules which govern the Circuit Courts of the United States sitting in chancery, in cases like this, have been well defined in Shields v. Barron (17 How. 130) and Barney v. Baltimore City, 6 Wall. 280.
In the latter case, it is said that there is a class of persons who may or may not be made parties to the suit at the discretion of plaintiff, without being noticed by the court. ”

“ In such cases, the court refuses to entertain the suit when these parties cannot be subjected to its jurisdiction.' The case before us comes plainly within the language here used. The gas-light company is an indispensable party to the relief sought by this bill.
The Circuit Court, although it dismissed the bill, did so on the merits, and that decree would bar the complainant from any other suit in which Dean's right to this stock might be contested. It should have been dismissed without prejudice, for want of a necessary party who was not brought before the court. ”