The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-08-10

his action TO trial. it does not author
ize him under such notice to proceed
| 10 judgment or authorize the court to
! render judgment. which is something
outside of. in addition to and in ex-
cess OF the trial Of an action. The
provision of the section that the no
tice to the garnishee shall be SUM-
/ Gent, etc, places a defendant already
laboring under the very great disad-
vantage of non-residence under still
greater disadvantage than a resident
of the Territory, WHO is able to see to
it personally that he is not deprived
of his property without due process of
law, and that disadvantage is not
greatly lessened, in the case of one
who had sometime resided in the Ter
ritory. by the rather doubtful courtesy
that a copy shall be served personally
on him or left at his last and usual
place of abode. Tt is pointed out that
under the same section, while sum-
mons is TO be served on one supposed
to have goods or effects Of the de-
PENDANT in his possession, requiring
such one to disclose whether or not
that is q fact and if he is indebted TO
the defendant, there is no provision for
service of process on the person from
whom debts are due to the defendant
l. Due process of law is a phrase
conveying the idea of securing to ey-
eryone the right to have notice Of any
proceeding by which his rights of life,
liberty or property may be affected,
and of affording an opportunity for
him to defend, protect and enforce such
rights in an orderly proceeding adapt
ed to the nature of the case. Although
il is a doctrine of law that, when
court acquires jurisdiction over the
property in question, a valid judgment
may be obtained against a non-resi-
dent defendant, such Judgment to be
valid can be rendered only after due
service, either actual or constructive,
o. process or notice of the proceedings,
upon the defendant The court must
have obtained jurisdiction of some
actual, tangible thing, patent and ap-
parent to the senses, to enable 1t TO
render a valid judgment based upon
substituted service by publication or
other authorized form The obligation
to pay a certain sum of money is not
sufficient to constitute the specific
sum due under such obligation-a
assume Jurisdiction under such a sub
stituted service as that provided by
the section in question. 1t might be
otherwise if the statute required the
garnishee to pay over to the sheriff
the sum due But the statute conf
tains no such provision and the court
never acquires jurisdiction of any
tangible res by the garnishment of a |
debtor of the defendant, even if the |
earnishee admits the debt. Indeed, it |
is not unusual for a garnishee to CONS
li1It dnInIentional perjury by declaring |
under oath that he has specific sum
of money in his possession belonging |
to the defendant, when in truth and
in fact, and as a matter of law, he is |
merely under some obligation, either |
moral or legal, to pay to the defend |
ant the sum of money stated" "a
United States decision is quoted in |
support of this doctrine, which says |
that when the entire object of the
action is to determine the personal |
rights and obligations of the defend
ant that is. where the suit is merely |
in personam, constructive service in |
this form. upon nonresident, is in
effectual for any purpose.')
s. A case from Connecticut, based
on a law similar to the Hawaiian one
questioned. is admitted to be an ex-I
ception among authorities quoted
By plaintiff which the court finds DO
not controvert the proposition of law
as stated. But however this may
have been" the court says regarding
the facts in the Connecticut decision,
cit is apparently in conflict with the
decision of the Supreme Court of the
United States in the case of Pennoyer
vs. Neff, and in case of conflict be-
tween the Supreme Court of a State
and the Supreme Court of the United
States, this court has no option as to
which authority ii shall follow in ap-
plying the principles of law involved
n such conflict of authority