District court

“ If the associate justice presiding in the Circuit Court of that district, sustains the District Court in that excess, and says, as he is supposed to have done, that it is proceeding regularly and lawfully, when in truth its proceedings are irregular and unlawful, then either this court must have power to issue a prohibition, or its authority to revise the proceedings of inferior tribunals, to confine them within the limits of their jurisdiction, and to protect their own, is so far completely nullified. ”

“ In distributing the jurisdiction conferred in general terms upon the district courts, the Code declares, in § 51, that, 'except as provided in the six succeeding sections, no civil suit shall be brought in any district court against any person by any original process or proceeding in any other district than that whereof he is an inhabitant ”

“ Admittedly, it would be easier for States to bring § 5 actions in the district courts in their own States However, the State has sufficient resources to prosecute the actions easily in the Nation's Capital; and, Congress has power to regulate which federal court shall hear suits against the Federal Government. On the other hand, the individual litigant will often not have sufficient resources to maintain an action easily outside the district in which he resides, especially in cases where the individual litigant is attacking a local city or county regulation. ”

“ To permit federal district courts to establish administrative procedures de novo would, of course, render nugatory Congress' effort to insure that administrative procedures be designed by those most familiar with the regulatory problems involved. Thus, in providing for judicial review of administrative procedural rule-making, Congress has not empowered district courts to substitute their judgment for that of the agency. ”

“ Stat. § 1874, by which the judges of the supreme court were 'authorized to hold court within their respective districts, in the counties wherein, by the laws of the territory, courts have been or may be established, for the purpose of hearing and determining all matters and causes, except those in which the United States is a party.' Thus, it is argued, exclusive jurisdiction of cases like the present was transferred to the county district courts. ”

“ That thesis, if adopted, would empower a District Court, upon a finding of convenience, to transfer an action to any district desired by the defendants and in which they were willing to waive their statutory defenses as to venue and jurisdiction over their persons, regardless of the fact that such transferee district was not one in which the action 'might have been brought' by the plaintiff. ”

“ And in considering the advantages of absorption by the federal courts of jurisdiction theretofore vested in the State courts, it should be our special concern to be mindful that the district courts are part of a single judicial system. Increase in the scope of the business of te district courts inevitably reflects itself in the business of the Circuit Courts of Appeals and of this Court. It is a truism, but vital to keep in mind, that increase in the quantity of the Court's business affects the quality of its work. ”

“ If the district attorney of the county of New York is to be deemed a local officer, performing a local function in a matter of interest only to the particular county, section 266 of the Judicial Code has no application and we are without jurisdiction of this direct appeal from the District Court. ”

“ Pending the final determination of all proceedings in the state action, the District Court is authorized to retain jurisdiction over the federal action and to take such steps as may appear necessary and appropriate to assure a prompt disposition of all issues involved in, or connected with, the state action. ”

“ But, in the present instance, the public policy of confiding the whole jurisdiction to the District Court without appeal in ordinary cases requires no elaborate argument for its vindication. The district judges are presumed to be entirely competent to all the duties imposed upon them by the Bankrupt Act. In cases of doubt or difficulty, the judges have full authority given to them to adjourn any questions into the Circuit Court for a final decision. ”

“ The mere fact that the district court, in the exercise of the jurisdiction which Congress has conferred upon it, is required to interpret state law is not in itself a sufficient reason for withholding relief to petitioner. ”