Montana labor news., 1945-01-18
OPEN FOR u M
Tramp Corporations


during war bonuses; power shovel old
.01 dumps and any .0O8 surface country
rock; undermine any buildings above ore
deposition in the city, increase its pro-
duction from mining fields abroad de-
veloped with old profits from Butte
mines.
1t plans to become what is known by
lawyers as a tramp" corporation, hold
ing a charter of a state where it has
insignificant property, roaming at will
to exploit peoples and properties in other
Jurisdictions.
The most familiar example to us Of
tramp corporation is the Montana
Power Company. 1t is organized under
the laws of New Jersey where it has a
desk, a filing case, perhaps a stenog-
rapher, an agent for service, perhaps
post office box. Substantially all of its
property is in Montana. This is claimed
by it for tax purposes to be worth about
SO million dollars, and for rate making
purposes to patrons, 1O4 million dollars.
The purpose Of people doing business
as a tramp corporation is well known to
lawyers, obscure to laymen. The federal
courts have held that in many respects,
people of Montana (for instance) doing
business with a tramp corporation of
New Jersey, are bound by the laws Of
the tramps originating state, i. e., New
Jersey. And it is the judge made law
mot statutory or constitutionaD that no
matter if every stockholder in New
Jersey tramp corporation is a citizen of
Montana, the corporation itself is pre-
sumed to be a citizen Of New Jersey
The fruit of this false fiction is that
the tramp can remove all serious litiga-
lion against itself to the federal courts.
And I quote Chief Justice Taft:
''The federal courts have pro-
tected capital in the southern and
western states for a generation.
Thus a farmer in Townsend entering
a contract with the Montana Power
Company may find his contract judged
by the laws of New Jersey
A Montana widow, suing for payment
for an insurance policy on her husbands
life, issued by the New York Life Insur-
ance Company, will find her case soon
in the federal courts, and her rights
judged by New York law. And in the
federal courts, she cannot get a verdict
unless all II jurors agree, while in
Montana court eight jurors agreeing
may bring in a verdict.
The federal courts were organized to
protect weak litigants from the strong.
The artificial person we call private
corporation was not heard Of until 80
years after 1888, when the Federal Con-
stitution was ratified. The first tricky
LAWYER to invent the tramp corporation
was unborn when the authors OF our
basic law decided on erecting national
courts where a poor citizen of Maryland
could have an equal break against
wealthy Virginia planter The tribunals
formed to protect the humble stranger
in his rights, due to the packing for so
years of federal courts with corporation
lawyers as life tenure Judges, has served,
and in some sections still serves, as the
arcanum-the high stone walled inner
fort of entrenched wealth against just
demands of the ordinary litigant, or, as
President (also Chief JUSTICE Taft put
it, protected capital"
Another advantage a tramp corpora
ton has in the federal courts is the
power to delay justice. Justice may also
be made so costly as to amount to de-
NAL. Large tramp corporations fire.
uuently seek these advantages Of the
federals courts. local example is as
good as any:
Mrs. Stella. Gamer sued the New York
Life Insurance Company, and the Pru-
Dental Cthe familiar old Rock of Gibral- /
tar) on respective insurance policies on
her husbands life. New York Life does
business in Montana as tramp corpora
tion of New York. Prudential similarly
a tramp" from New Jersey. Both cases
cot into the federal court. Bourquin de-
cided against Mrs. Gamer. Her lawyers
(Carl Christian, William Meyer ap-
pealed to the circuit court Of appeals
this costs usually above 100000 exclu-
sive of attorneys fees. That court held
for MRS. Gamer. The companies ap-
pealed to the United States Supreme
court. Curious to relate, less expensive
in actual court costs than the appeal to
the circuit court of appeals,
Self respecting lawyers do not appear
in that court for less than $1,000 Cthough
at times, like Wendell Wilkie in cele-
brated case, for no fee at ALL
The Supreme Court reversed Mrs.
Gamers decision gained in San Fran
cisco, but not on the grounds Bourquin
assigned. There was another trial be-
fore Baldwin Mrs. Gamer won.
The insurance companies appealed to
San Francisco. They lost. They then
sought review again in Washington, and
we're finally beaten. Mrs. Gamer got
her money, but travel expenses Of law
yers are never allowed as court costs.
Her attorneys made at least two trips
from here to San Francisco; one, per-
haps two, trips to Washington. When
the costs were figured, no attorneys
fees, except a ridiculous $4,000 in each
colrt-perhaps $4,000 in all, was al
lowed. Mrs. Gamer had to pay the rest
of her attorneys fees herself. The con-
test lasted probably seven years Walter
Gamer, when he bought the policies,
probably thought it would educate his
daughter. Perhaps the money did not
come in time for that, but the lawsuits
certainly educated the widow about
tramp corporations. If the policies had
been written by the Montana Life In
surance Company, one trial. one appeal
to our Supreme Court in Helena, would
have gotten the money for Mrs. Gamer.
Then also, the method of selecting jury
lists in federal courts is covert. The
clerk and jury commissioner pick such
names as they wish from assessment
rolls. The clerk here would not do 1t,