Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/275/460/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 12:23:14+00:00

Document:
Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 275 › Mellon v. Arkansas Land & Lumber Co.
Under § 206 of the Transportation Act, 1920, which provided that actions at law based on causes of action arising out of the operation by the President of the railroad of any carrier, might, after the termination of federal control, be brought against "an agent designated by the President for such purpose . . . within the periods of limitation now prescribed by state or Federal statutes," an action was mistakenly brought against one who had resigned from the position of designated agent. Held, that the substitution of his successor was in effect the commencement of a new and independent proceeding, which was barred by the running of the applicable state statute of limitations before the substitution was made. P. 275 U. S. 462.
155 Ark. 541, 170 id. 552, reversed.
Certiorari, 273 U.S. 676, to a judgment of the Supreme Court of Arkansas, sustaining a recovery in an action brought by the Land and Lumber Company under the Transportation Act.
that actions at law based on causes of action arising out of the operation by the President of the railroad of any carrier, might, after the termination of federal control, be brought against "an agent designated by the President for such purpose . . . within the periods of limitation now prescribed by Federal statutes," and that a judgment "rendered against the agent designated by the President" should be paid out of a revolving fund created by the Act.
In October, 1921 -- more than three years after the cause of action accrued -- on a plea in abatement by Payne to the effect that he was not the designated Agent, the court dismissed the suit as to him; and, on motion of the plaintiff, Davis, the designated Agent, was substituted as the defendant. Davis, thereafter appearing, pleaded that, under § 206 of the Transportation Act, the suit could not be prosecuted against him, as he had not been made a party within the period of limitation prescribed by the Arkansas statute. The circuit court sustained this plea and dismissed the suit. The supreme court reversed the judgment on the ground that the substitution of Davis was not the institution of a new action against him, but merely an amendment correcting the name of the defendant in furtherance f justice, and remanded the cause to the circuit court. Arkansas Land & Lumber Co. v. Davis, 155 Ark. 541. Davis there renewed his plea under the Transportation Act. This was overruled, and judgment was rendered against him. The supreme court -- in which the petitioner, who meanwhile had succeeded Davis as the designated agent, [Footnote 6] was substituted as the appellant -- adhered to its former ruling and affirmed the judgment. Davis v. Arkansas Land & Lumber Co., 170 Ark. 552.
the government before the court. Davidson v. Payne, 289 F. 69. The substitution of Davis, the designated Agent, was not the correction of an error in the name of the defendant, but the bringing in of a different defendant, and was in effect the commencement of a new and independent proceeding against him to enforce the liability of the government. See Davis v. L. L. Cohen & Co., 268 U. S. 638, 268 U. S. 642; Mellon v. Weiss, 270 U. S. 565, 270 U. S. 567. And, as this substitution, being made more than three years after the cause of action had accrued, was not a compliance with the requirement of the Transportation Act that the action be brought against the designated Agent within the period of limitation prescribed by the state statute, the plea should have been sustained and the suit dismissed.
This conclusion is substantially the same as that in United States ex rel. Rauch v. Davis, 8 F.2d 907; Vassau v. Northern P. R. Co., 69 Mont. 305; Davis v. Griffith, 103 Okl. 137, and Natoli v. Davis, 75 Cal.App. 309; contra, Bailey v. Hines, 131 Va. 421.
The judgment is reversed, and the cause remanded to the Supreme Court of Arkansas for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
41 Stat. 456, c. 91.
Crawford & Moses' Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas (1921) § 6950.
The railroad carriers were also made defendants, but, on their demurrers, the suit was dismissed as to them. Missouri P. R. Co. v. Ault, 256 U. S. 554; Davis v. L. L. Cohen & Co., 268 U. S. 638; Mellon v. Weiss, 270 U. S. 565.

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