Claimant

“ Where the court below has no jurisdiction of the case, in any form of proceeding, the course of this court is to direct the cause to be dismissed, if the judgment or decree was for the defendant or claimant, but if the judgment or decree was for the plaintiff or libellant, the court here will reverse the judgment or decree, and remand the cause, with directions to the court below to dismiss the proceeding. ”

“ He may sue 'to establish the interest, right, title, or debt so claimed'. The court is to determine whether his claim is established. If the claim is 'so established', the court is to order the delivery of property or payment 'to which the court shall determine said claimant is entitled'. Nothing could be clearer than that in a suit so brought the court is to determine every issue necessary to the establishment of the claim. ”

“ As the claimants themselves appealed from the first judgment of the court of claims, and did not appeal from the second judgment, it is plain that they are not within the express terms of the statute they rely on. ”

“ In conclusion, we feel bound to decide that none of the claimants are entitled to the lands in question. The claims advanced all depend on one or other of the titles which we have considered; and all are equally untenable. ”

“ The arguments that are based by the claimants upon public documents outside of the record do not seem to us to raise a doubt that the construction adopted and conclusion reached by the Court of Claims were correct. ”

“ And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Action or Suit shall be Commenced or Brought against any Person or Persons whatsoever, for doing or causing to be done any thing in pursuance of this Act, the Defendants in such Action may Plead the General Issue, and give the Special Matter in Evidence; and if upon such Action a Verdict be given for the Defendant, or the Plaintiff become Nonsuited, or Discontinue his Action, then the Defendant shall have and recover his full Costs, for which he shall have the same Remedy as a Defendant in any case by Law hath. ”

“ And this we do not find to be the case. On the contrary, if there were error at all, it was such a mistake of judgment as would likely be committed by any one in similar peril.' See Id., 1 Ben. 30, Fed. Cas. No. 4,693; 8 Blatchf. 539, Fed. Cas. No. 4,695.
I agree with the court that the thirty-first finding is a finding of law and not of fact, but I think it was such a legal conclusion as was justified by the other findings. ”

“ But it is said that the words "he shall be delivered up on claim," &c., require positive legislation to prescribe the manner in which the claim shall be made. It is argued that the word "claim" necessarily implies legislation "to protect the right and enforce the delivery "of the property claimed." The Court says on page 615: "A claim is to be made. What is a claim? It is, in a just juridical sense, a demand of some matter as of right made by one person upon another, to do or to forbear to do some act or thing as a matter of duty. ”

“ Paragraph 4- If there are numerous plaintiffs and the defendant says he want his friends and relatives to be next to him when he is making his claim in order to ensure that his claims are not silenced by the fact that the plaintiffs are many, he is entitled. Therefore, the partners should choose one of them to make the claim for all of them or each one will make his own claim, one after the other. ”

“ The answer of the defendant admits that she was in possession of the premises at the commencement of the action, but denies generally and specifically the other allegations of the complaint, and pleads, in bar of the action, an entry upon the premises, by her and those through whom she derives her interest, under claim of title, exclusive of any other right, founded upon a written instrument as a conveyance thereof, and their occupation under such claim for more than 10 years prior to the commencement of the action. ”

“ Suppose, however, that I am wrong in the principles which I have endeavored to establish, and that the captors can have a decree in their favor in this case; let me enquire whether the claims above alluded to are not sufficient? All that is necessary for the claim is to deny the material allegations in the libel. The allegation here is that the property is enemy's property, and as such liable to be condemned. This allegation is expressly denied by the claim. Nothing more is ever required in a claim. ”

“ The spirit of the rule which is claimed in this case should go further to protect a plaintiff showing some right, although not the whole right, than to maintain that one can sue who has shown no right at all. ”

“ And it is provided in the same Act, That if the Plaintiff shall suffer a Nonsuit by the Attorney's mis-laying the Action, he shall be oblig'd to draw a new Writ without a Fee, in case the Party shall see fit to revive the Suit. I can't but think that every Body, except Gentle men of the long Robe and the Attornies, will think this a wholesome Law, and well calculated for the Benefit of the Subject. For the quicker Dispatch of Causes, Declarations are made Parts of the Writ, in which the Case is fully and particularly set forth. ”

“ When more than one claim for relief is presented in an action, whether as a claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim, the court may direct the entry of a final judgment upon one or more but less than all of the claims only upon an express determination that there is no just reason for delay and upon an express direction for the entry of judgment. ”

“ The argument that there is a distinction between claims 'arising under' (Judicial Code, § 24, first) and those 'founded upon' (id. § 24, twentieth) a law of the United States rests on the inadmissible premise that the great act of justice embodied in the jurisdiction of the court of claims is to be construed strictly and read with an adverse eye. ”

“ For the purpose of determining by suit or by prosecution whether a man is a debtor or is an offender, a suit or a prosecution may be commenced against him, but never for the purpose of raising a presumption that he is either the one or the other, or to deprive him of [Pg 422] any evidence to which an unindebted or an innocent man is entitled, or to change the tribunal which is to try the question of indebtedness or of guilt. ”

“ Where an individual has been guilty of offences against many persons, or owes debts to different creditors, he who first establishes his claim either in writing, or by oral testimony, or by the acknowledgment of the party himself, and has thereby shown that he is liable to him for damages, or is indebted to him for money loaned, shall have the preference; and said person shall be required to satisfy the claim, regardless of its priority in time; or shall be sentenced by the judge for the offence he has committed against the law. ”

“ If such finding be correct, and it remains as a valid judgment, it puts an end to the plaintiff's claim. It can nowhere be considered any further, and it is final upon the questions involved in the case. ”

“ Because there is a full faith and credit clause a defendant may not a second time challenge the validity of the plaintiff's right which has ripened into a judgment and a plaintiff may not for his single cause of action secure a second or a greater recovery. ”

“ Human ingenuity may be challenged to offer a reason why 'the judgment or decree' of the State court should be reversed here upon a point having no relation to, or connection with, the question, in the absence of which this court would confessedly have no jurisdiction whatever of the suit.
2. As to the results. The effects and consequences of the interpretation of the act for which the plaintiff in error asks, present a legitimate subject of inquiry. ”

“ But waiving this point, if the proceedings are not absolutely void, the judgment is conclusive, and if they are void, the remedy for persons not before the court as a party is not by writ of error, but by suit for his property. ”

“ If we correctly apprehend the position of the case as stated in the record in the suit in which judgment was rendered,-and which was handed to the court at the close of the argument, with the consent of both sides that it should be considered by us, there can be no difficulty in this case in reaching a correct conclusion. ”

“ We may observe a mildness in the plaintiff's oath, and severity in the defendant's, as well as something foolishly wanton. There appears also no reason why one should be accepted, and the other disregarded. ”

“ We do not doubt the power or the propriety of that action. The whole record was still in the possession of the Court of Claims; and the stipulation, showing that the motion for an allowance of the appeal could not properly be disposed of before the motion for new trial had been heard and determined, was a part of that record. ”

“ That, although acts, by whomsoever done, are res gestae, if relevant to the matter in issue, yet, if they be irrelevant, declarations, qualifying or explaining them, will, together with the acts themselves, be rejected. [25]
3. That where an act done is evidence per se, a declaration accompanying that act may well be evidence, if it reflects light upon or qualifies the act, but where the act is, in its own nature, irrelevant to the issue, and where the declaration per se cannot be received, no case has yet established the rule, that the union of the two will render them admissible. ”

“ The argument for the appellants proceeds upon the general legal principle that one shall not be liable for the tort of another imposed upon him by the law, and who is, therefore, not his servant or agent. ”

“ We find no exceptions in the record, and the only error assigned is that the court erred in not giving judgment in favor of the plaintiff, as a necessary legal conclusion from the findings of fact, the pleadings, and the proper interpretation of the contract sued on. We think the findings of fact conclusively negative this contention. ”

“ It is not necessary to discuss more at large the form of the pleadings, or whether the action should not have been covenant and not debt, as the plaintiff was not entitled to recover in any form of action, according to the undisputed facts in evidence. ”

“ In that case, decided soon after the passg e of the Declaratory Judgment Act, the Court of Claims held that it would require a specific and express statute of Congress to give the Court of Claims the power to issue declaratory judgments. ”

“ Our judgment is necessarily founded exclusively upon the finding of facts by the court. That is equivalent to a special verdict, and upon that we think the plaintiff below was entitled to the judgment which he obtained. ”

“ Where the claims underlying an action are legally dubious, there is, in this Court's view, all the more reason to avoid the possible injustice of entering a default judgment against one of the several defendants without examining the legal soundness of the claims raised. ”

“ Where there are [rival claims, and] witnesses on both sides, the witnesses of him who asserts the elder title, are to be [first] examined: if that title [13] be admitted, [58] then the witnesses of him who claims by subsequent title [shall be examined] . [59]
18. Should the suit be accompanied by a wager, [the Court] shall compel the losing party to pay the [14] fine [prescribed] , [60] as well as his wager and his debt to the creditor.
19. Let the monarch, rejecting subtleties, conduct the trial of suits upon the merits: even merits, in the absence of proof, must fail of success in the suit. ”

“ But the court held, that the rule for trial or Non pros was continued ; and that no new notice was neceffary. It, therefore, the Plaintiff does not go on to trial, the Defendant is entitled to a Non pros. ”

“ The judgment recites that the verdict was in favor of the plaintiff, Marshall, and against the defendants and intervenors; declares the amount due to the plaintiff; adjudges a preference and privilege upon the property, rights, and credits attached; orders them to be sold, according to law, to satisfy the plaintiff's judgment. ”

“ The case was tried before a jury, which, under the direction of the court, found in favor of the plaintiffs for the amount claimed, with interest, and judgment was entered accordingly. Upon appeal the judgment was affirmed. ”

“ The counsel for the defendant in error asks, under the twenty-third rule, that the order may be affirmed with damages at the rate of ten per cent. per annum on the amount of the judgment in the State court. ”

“ See generally, 3 Moore, Federal Practice (2d ed. 1948) , 15.08, 15.10. If the underlying facts or circumstances relied upon by a plaintiff may be a proper subject of relief, he ought to be afforded an opportunity to test his claim on the merits. ”

“ That whenever a court of law in such a case is competent to take cognizance of a right and has power to proceed to a judgment which affords a plain, adequate, and complete remedy, without the aid of a court of equity, the plaintiff must in general proceed at law, because the defendant, under such circumstances, has a right to a trial by jury. ”

“ Every material fact which constitutes the ground of the plaintiff's action must be alleged in the declaration, and no proof at the trial can make good a declaration which contains no ground of action. ”

“ On the whole case, you will ask yourselves, whether a promise such as would satisfy reasonable men, has been supported by sufficient evidence. If so, Plaintiff is entitled to damages—on the other hand, if this is not proved to your satisfaction, you will find for the Defendant. ”

“ Since it seems to us that neither the statutes nor the decisions go to the extent that is claimed for them by appellants, we may refer to the established custom as evidence of what has long been understood as the law ”

“ No error of law was committed at the trial to the substantial prejudice of the plaintiff. The charge to the jury fairly covered the issue made by the plea, and was not liable to any valid objection. The judgment must be affirmed. ”