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Timestamp: 2019-04-22 09:10:35+00:00

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[184 U.S. 302, 303] Messrs. John F. Dillon, Harry Hubbard, John M. Dillon, W. H. Chickering, and M. C. Sloss, for petitioner.
Messrs. James G. Maguire, Frederic R. Coudert, Jr., John Garber, and Carl E. Lindsay for respondent.
This action was brought in the name of Waite, a citizen of Massachusetts, against the city of Santa Cruz, a municipal corporation of California of the fifth class, to recover the principal and interest of certain negotiable bonds, nine in number, and [184 U.S. 302, 304] certain negotiable coupons thereof, 282 in number, issued April 16th, 1894, in the name of the defendant city.
'And for the payment of the principal sum [$1,000] herein named, and the interest accruing thereon, the said city of Santa Cruz is held and firmly bound, and its faith and credit and all the real and personal property of said city are hereby pledged, for the prompt payment of this bond and interest at maturity.
'And in pursuance of and in conformity with the Constitution of the state of California, and the ordinances of the city of Santa Cruz, and in pursuance of and in conformity with a vote of more than two thirds of all the qualified electors of said city of Santa Cruz, voting at a special election duly and legally called and held and conducted in said city as provided under said act, on Tuesday, the 13th day of March, 1894, notice thereof having been duly and legally given and published in the manner as required by law, and after the result of said election had been canvassed, found, and declared in the manner and as required by law.
The parties having by written stipulation waived a jury, the case was determined in the circuit court upon a special finding of facts. The result was a judgment against the city for the full amount of the bonds and coupons held by the plaintiff, except as to three coupons transferred to him by the Northern Counties Investment Trust Company. 89 Fed. 619. That judgment was reversed in the circuit court of appeals with directions to enter judgment for the city 39 C. C. A. 106, 98 Fed. 387. The case is here upon writ of certiorari granted upon the application of the plaintiff Waite.
The propositions advanced on behalf of the city are numerous, but most of them are involved in the general contention that there was a want of power in the city to issue the bonds in question, and that nothing occurred that could estop it from disputing its liability even to those who may have purchased them in good faith and for value.
The circumstances under which the bonds were executed should be first set forth. That being done, we will take up such of the questions raised by the assignments of error as are necessary to be determined.
Pursuant to the above agreement the city, by ordinance, granted to Coffin & Stanton a franchise and right of way to construct the waterworks, and such franchise and rights were assigned by them to the City Water Company, incorporated September 27th, 1889.
Under date of May 1st, 1890, the water company, pursuant to that agreement, executed a mortgage or deed of trust to secure the payment of 400 bonds of $1,000 each. That was done in order to obtain money for the construction of the proposed waterworks.
When the act of March 1st, 1893, referred to in the bonds, was passed, as well as at the time the bonds were issued, the Constitution of California provided that 'no county, city, town, township, board of education, or school district shall incur any indebtedness or liability in any manner, or for any purpose, exceeding [184 U.S. 302, 307] in any year the income and revenue provided for it for such year, without the assent of two thirds of the qualified electors thereof, voting at an election to be held for that purpose, nor unless, before or at the time of incurring such indebtedness, provision shall be made for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest on such indebtedness as it falls due, and also provision to constitute a sinking fund for the payment of the principal thereof on or before maturity, which shall not exceed forty years from the time of contracting the same. Any indebtedness or liability incurred contrary to this provision shall be void.' Art. 11, 18.
The ordinance referred to in the bonds-the one of the 26th day of February, 1894 (No. 314), calling a special election of the qualified electors of the city to determine the question of refunding 'the bonded indebtedness of said city and issuing bonds therefor, and providing for the payment of the same'-stated that 'the outstanding indebtedness evidenced by bonds of said city,' which 'it is proposed to refund,' consisted of (1) 450 bonds, of $500 each, issued in 1889, the proceeds of which had been used 'in the purchase and construction of the city waterworks;' (2) 89 first-mortgage bonds of the water company, of date May 1st, 1890, 'which said bonds outstanding were, at the time of the conveyance by the City Water Company to the city of Santa Cruz of the property known as the city waterworks, and now are, a valid lien and charge upon the property known as the city waterworks, and become thereby a part of the bonded indebtedness of the city;' and (3) 65 municipal improvement bonds of $500 each. dated September 23d, 1897, and 26 municipal improvement bonds of $250 each of like date.
On the same day the city council passed an ordinance, No. 315, which provided for notice of the special election so ordered, such notice to describe fully the indebtedness to be refunded. The required notice was given and contained the same description of the city indebtedness proposed to be refunded as was given in ordinance No. 314. The election was held on the day fixed by the ordinance and notice. The result was that 538 votes were cast in favor of, and 57 votes against, the proposed refunding of the city's indebtedness. So that more than two thirds of the qualified electors voting were in favor of refunding the then 'bonded indebtedness of the said city,' including the above 89 first-mortgage bonds issued by the water company and which the city had assumed to pay when it purchased and took the deed for the waterworks.
On the 26th day of March, 1894, the city passed ordinance No. 320, which provided for refunding the indebtedness and issuing bonds therefor in accordance with the will of the voters at the special election.
By the same ordinance provision was made for giving notice by publication of the purpose of the mayor and common council to sell the bonds to the highest bidder, and inviting sealed bids from purchasers, and for levying and collecting an annual tax for forty years to pay such bonds and coupons,-the moneys [184 U.S. 302, 309] so collected to constitute a sinking fund for the payment of the principal.
In the finding of facts it was also stated that on April 11th, 1892, William T. Jeter was duly elected mayor of Santa Cruz, and J. Howard Bailey, J. F. Hoffman, E. G. Green, and F. W. Lucas, on the same day, members of the common council of the city. The persons so elected as mayor and members of the common council qualified for their respective offices within ten days after election, and entered upon the duties of their respective offices. Section 3 of the act of the legislature of California, entitled 'An Act to Reincorporate the City of Santa Cruz,' approved March 11th, 1876, provides that the mayor and common council of said city shall hold their offices for a term of two years, and until their successors are duly elected and qualified. On the 9th day of April, 1894, Robert Effey was duly elected mayor of defendant city to succeed William T. Jeter, and duly qualified as such between 11 o'clock A. M. and 2 o'clock P. M. of April 16th, 1894; and Henry G. Ensell, John Howard Bailey, J. D. Maher, and Frank K. Roberts were, on April 9th, 1894, elected members of the common council of the city all of them duly qualifying as such before the meeting of the council of the city held April 16, 1894. The persons so elected mayor and members of the common council on April 9th, 1894, with the exception of Bailey, who was re-elected councilman, did not actually enter upon their duties as officers until May 7th, 1894, and Jeter, Bailey, Hoffmann, Green, and Lucas continued to act publicly as mayor and members of the common council of the city until May 7th, 1894, without protest from any person, and held seven meetings of the council between and including the date of April 16th, 1894, and May 7th, 1894.
All of the bonds and coupons sued on were in the form and bore date and were signed and attested as alleged in the complaint, but some of them were signed by William T. Jeter on April 16th, 1894, after the qualification of his successor. Whether those sued on were among those signed by Jeter after the qualification of his successor does not appear.
On April 16th, 1894, to which date the common council of the city had regularly adjourned, Jeter, acting as mayor, and Bailey, [184 U.S. 302, 310] Hoffmann, Green, and Lucas being present and acting as the common council of the city, and no bids having been received for the purchase of the refunding bonds issued by the city under ordinance 320, the proposition of Coffin & Stanton to take all the bonds, dated February 27th, 1894, was accepted, upon the condition that they should furnish satisfactory security for the faithful performance of the agreement contained in that proposition.
Jeter as mayor, and Lucas, Bailey, Hoffmann, and Green, as members of the common council, publicly met on April 23d, 1894, pursuant to adjournment of the common council, and, assuming to act as mayor and members of the common council of said defendant city, without protest or opposition from anyone, accepted and approved a bond presented by Coffin & Stanton for the faithful performance of their proposed agreement, and directed the clerk of the defendant city to deliver to them the above refunding bonds, and all of them were in accordance with such direction dilivered to Coffin & Stanton on April 24th, 1894.
All of the nine bonds and coupons sued on matured April 15th, 1895, and no part of them has been paid.
Coffin & Stanton never complied with the agreement upon which the bonds and coupons were delivered to them, and the defendant city never received any consideration on account of the issuing of the bonds, other than the promise of Coffin & Stanton to assume the payment of the bonds mentioned in their agreement.
That the above bonds should upon their face further certify and declare that all acts, conditions, and things required by law to be done precedent to and in the issue of the bonds had been properly done, happened, and performed, in legal and due form, as required by law.
The circuit court of appeals was of opinion that purchasers of the bonds were bound to take notice of the ordinances of the city, and that the entire issue of $360,000 in refunding bonds was invalid by reason of its including the $89,000 in bonds executed by the water company, the payment of which was assumed by the city. It reversed the judgment of the circuit court with directions to enter judgment for the city on the bonds.
One of the contentions of the city is that the words 'outstanding indebtedness evidenced by bonds and warrants thereof,' in this act, do not embrace the 89 bonds executed by the water company. Those bonds although not executed by the city, [184 U.S. 302, 314] certainly constituted a part of its outstanding indebtedness, for the reason that the city had assumed to pay them. Both the city authorities and the qualified electors so regarded the matter. The city's assumption of the bonds imposed as much obligation upon it to pay them as if it had itself directly executed and issued them. It could not acquire complete ownership of the waterworks without paying for them, and it took a deed for the waterworks expressly subject to a valid lien in favor of the water company's first-mortgage bonds, including the above 89 bonds. In every substantial sense, therefore, these bonds were part of the city's outstanding bonded indebtedness. Such is the argument made in behalf of the plaintiff, and its force is recognized. But whether this view rests upon a sound construction of the act of 1893, we need not now say. That question is left open for determination when it must be decided, and our judgment is placed upon another ground, to be now stated.
2. The refunding bonds in suit, as we have been, recited that they were issued under, in pursuance of, and in conformity with the act of 1893, the Constitution of California, and the ordinances of the city of Santa Cruz, as well as in conformity with the vote of two thirds of all the qualified electors of the city, voting at a special election duly called, held, and conducted, as provided by the above act; also, that all acts, conditions, and things required by law to be done precedent to and in the issuing of the bonds had been properly done and performed, in legal and due form, as required by law. As between the city and a bona fide purchaser of such bonds, can the city be heard to say that the bonds were not of the class embraced by the words in the act of 1893, 'outstanding indebtedness evidenced by the bonds and warrants thereof?' Is the city estopped to dispute the truth of the recitals in its refunding bonds, there being nothing in such recitals indicating or suggesting that they were not true?
The city contends that it is not thus estopped, because the ordinances under which the special election was held disclosed the fact that the 89 first-mortgage bonds of the water company were included in the proposed refunding; that purchasers were bound to take notice of the provisions of such ordinances; and [184 U.S. 302, 315] that the ordinances, being examined, would have disclosed the fact that the bonds, although assumed by the city, were executed by the water company, and not by the city. Let us see whether a purchaser of the bonds was bound to know what those ordinances contained.
The first case to which we will refer is that of Hackett v. Ottawa, 99 U.S. 86, 95 , 25 S. L. ed. 363, 365. The municipal bonds sued on in that case were issued by the city of Ottawa, Illinois. They contained recitals to the effect that they were issued by virtue of the charter of the city empowering it to borrow money, issue bonds therefor, and pledge its credit for their payment, and in accordance with certain ordinances of which the titles and dates were given. The bonds stated upon their face that one of those ordinances, passed June 15th, 1869, was entitled 'An Ordinance to Provide for a Loan for Municipal Purposes,' and the other, 'An Ordinance to Carry into Effect the Ordinance of June 15th, 1869, Entitled 'An Ordinance for a Loan for Municipal Purposes." The principal defense was that the recital as to a loan for municipal purposes was untrue; that the bonds were not issued for municipal or corporate purposes, but as a simple donation to a private corporation whose business was in nowise connected with or under the control of the city; which facts, it was contended, appeared upon the faces of the ordinances themselves.
The Constitution of Illinois provided that counties, townships, school districts, cities, towns, and villages 'may be vested with power to assess and collect taxes for corporate purposes.' But this court did not deem it necessary to determine what were corporate purposes within the meaning of the Illinois Constitution, saying: 'A direct decision of that question does not seem to be essential to the disposition of this case. We content ourselves with stating the propositions which counsel have urged upon our consideration, and without expressing any settled opinion as to what are corporate purposes within the meaning of the Illinois Constitution, we pass to another point, which, in our judgment, is fatal to the defense. It is consistent with the pleas filed by the city that the testator of plaintiffs in error purchased the bonds before maturity for a valua- [184 U.S. 302, 316] ble consideration, without any notice of want of authority in the city to issue them, and without any information as to the objects to which their proceeds were to be applied, beyond that furnished by the recited titles of the ordinances. For all corporate purposes, as we have seen, the council, if so instructed by a majority of voters attending at an election for that purpose, had undoubted authority, under the charter of the city, to borrow money upon its credit and to issue bonds therefor. The bonds in suit, by their recital of the titles of the ordinances under which they were issued, in effect, assured the purchaser that they were to be used for municipal purposes, with the previous sanction, duly given, of a majority of the legal voters of the city. If he would have been bound, under some circumstances, to take notice, at his peril, of the provisions of the ordinances, he was relieved from any responsibility or duty in that regard by reason of the representation, upon the face of the bonds, that the ordinances under which they were issued were ordinances 'providing for a loan for municipal purposes.' Such a representation by the constituted authorities of the city, under its corporate seal, would naturally avert suspicion of bad faith upon their part, and induce the purchaser to omit an examination of the ordinances themselves. It was, substantially, a declaration by the city with the consent of a majority of its legal voters, that purchasers need not examine the ordinances, since their title indicated a loan for municipal purposes. The city is therefore estopped, by its own representations, to say, as against a bona fide holder of the bonds, that they were not issued or used for municipal or corporate purposes. It cannot now be heard, as against him, to dispute their validity. Had the bonds, upon their face, made no reference whatever to the charter of the city, or recited only those provisions which empowered the council to borrow money upon the credit of the city and to issue bonds therefor, the liability of the city to him could not be questioned. Much less can it be questioned, in view of the additional recital in the bonds, that they were issued in pursuance of an ordinance providing for a loan for municipal purposes; that is, for purposes authorized by its charter. Marshall County v. Schenck, 5 Wall. 772, 18 L. ed. 556. It [184 U.S. 302, 317] would be the grossest injustice, and in conflict with all the past utterances of this court, to permit the city, having power under some circumstances to issue negotiable securities, to escape liability upon the ground of the falsity of its own representations, made through official agents and under its corporate seal, as to the purposes with which these bonds were issued. Whether such representations were made inadvertently, or with the intention, by the use of inaccurate titles of ordinances, to avert inquiry as to the real object in issuing the bonds, and thereby facilitate their negotiation in the money markets of the country, in either case, the city, both upon principle and authority, is cut off from any such defense.' The same principles were announced in Ottawa v. First Nat. Bank, 105 U.S. 342, 343 , 26 S. L. ed. 1127.
The question presented was whether such recitals estopped the county from asserting against a bona fide holder for value, that the bonds created an indebtedness in excess of the limit prescribed by the Constitution of Colorado. The principal defense was that the purchaser of the bonds was bound to take notice of the orders and records of the county commissioners authorizing the issue of the refunding bonds, and that an examination of those orders would have disclosed the fact that the bonds were in excess of the limit prescribed by the Constitution of the state.
Applying to the present case the principles heretofore announced by this court, is there any escape from the conclusion that the city of Santa Cruz is estopped to dispute the truth of the recitals in the bonds in suit, which stated that they were issued in pursuance of the act of 1893 as well as in conformity with the Constitution of California authorizing it to incur indebtedness or liability with the assent of two thirds of the qualified voters at an election held for that purpose, and that all acts, conditions, and things required by law to be done precedent to issuing the bonds had been properly done and performed in due and lawful form as required by law? We think not.
The city of Santa Cruz had power, under the Constitution and laws of California, to refund its outstanding indebtedness, evidenced by bonds and warrants. The nature and extent of such indebtedness were matters peculiarly within the knowledge of its constituted authorities. When, therefore, the refunding bonds in suit were issued with the recitals therein contained, the city thereby represented that it issued them under, and in pursuance of, and in conformity with, the act of 1893 and the Constitution of the state. As nothing on the face of the bonds suggested that such representations were false, purchasers had the right to assume that they were true, especially in view of the broad recital that everything required by law to be done and performed before executing the bonds had been done and performed by the city. As there was power in the city to issue refunding bonds to be used in discharging its outstanding indebtedness of a specified kind, purchasers were entitled to rely upon the truth of the recitals in the bonds that they were of the class which the act of 1893 authorized to be refunded. They were under no duty to go further and examine the ordinances of the city to ascertain whether the recitals were false. On the contrary, purchasers could assume that the ordinances would disclose nothing in conflict with the recitals in the bonds. [184 U.S. 302, 321] The circuit court having found-and as we think correctly-that the 'assignors' of the plaintiff, that is, the parties who placed the bonds in his hands, were bona fide purchasers, without notice of anything affecting the truth of the recitals in them, our conclusion is that the city cannot escape liability by reason of the fact, disclosed by its ordinances, that the 89 first-mortgage bonds of the water company assumed by the city were included in its refunding scheme.
'It is claimed by the defendant that, as it is not shown that the bonds sued on were signed by William T. Jeter before the qualification of his successor in the office of mayor, the plaintiff has failed to prove that the bonds were signed by an officer authorized to do so, and they must therefore be held void, even in the hands of bona fide purchasers, under the rule declared in Coler v. Cleburne, 131 U.S. 162 , 33 L. ed. 146, 9 Sup. Ct. Rep. 720. That case is not authority for the proposition that the action of a de facto officer in signing bonds would not be as binding upon the municipality for which he assumes to act as that of an officer de jure; and it seems clear to me that if Jeter was the de facto mayor when he signed the bonds sued on, then such signing by him was a compliance with the ordinance requiring them to be signed by the mayor; and so, also, if he was de facto mayor, and those assuming to act as the common council of the defendant were de facto members of the common council at the time when he and they assumed as mayor and common council to accept the proposition of Coffin & Stanton in relation to the bonds, and directed their delivery to that firm, then such acts upon their part are to be treated, so far as concerns the public and third persons having an interest in what was done by them, as the acts of the de jure mayor and common council of the city. The rule that the acts of a de facto officer are valid as to the public and third persons is firmly established, although it is sometimes difficult to determine whether the evidence is such as to warrant a finding that a particular act or acts, the legality of which may be in issue in a given case, were those of a de facto officer. The contention of the defendant is that Jeter was not the de facto mayor at the time of the signing and delivery of the bonds, nor were the old members of the common council, who continued to act as such after the qualification of their successors, and until after the bonds were delivered to Coffin & Stanton, de facto members of the common council of defendant, after the qualification of their successors. Whether one was or was [184 U.S. 302, 323] not a de facto officer at the time when he assumed to perform duties belonging to a public office, is a mixed question of law and of fact. State ex rel. Van Amringe v. Taylor, 108 N. C. 196, 12 L. R. A. 202, 12 S. E. 1005; United States v. Alexander, 46 Fed. 728. And in passing upon the question presented by defendant's contention upon this point, it is well to first consider what facts are sufficient to constitute a de facto officer. A de facto officer may be defined as one whose title is not good in law, but who is in fact in the unobstructed possession of an office and discharging its duties in full view of the public, in such manner and under such circumstances as not to present the appearance of being an intruder or usurper. When a person is found thus openly in the occupation of a public office, and discharging its duties, third persons having occasion to deal with him in his capacity as such officer are not required to investigate his titled, but may safely act upon the assumption that he is a rightful officer. Thus it is said in Petersilea v. Stone, 119 Mass. 468, 20 Am. Rep. 337: 'Third persons, from the nature of the case, cannot always investigate the right of one assuming to hold an important office, even so far as to see that he has color of title to it by virtue of some appointment or election. If they see him publicly exercising its authority, if they ascertain that this is generally acquiesced in, they are entitled to treat him as such officer, and, if they employ him as such, should not be subjected to the danger of having his acts collaterally called in question."
We are entirely satisfied with the treatment of this question by the circuit court, and deem it unnecessary to make and additional observations.
5. All of the bonds and coupons sued on were duly transferred to the plaintiff before the commencement of this action. It is agreed that he had at the bringing of this action the legal title to all of them, although he paid no money consideration for the transfer, and that the bonds and coupons were transferred to him for collection only.
It is contended by the defendant that it does not appear that the circuit court had jurisdiction, since the citizenship of the persons who put the bonds in the plaintiff's hands for collection is not set forth.
Prior to the passage of the judiciary act of August 13th, 1888, chap. 866, 25 Stat. at L. 433, it was the settled rule that the holder of a negotiable instrument payable to bearer was not an 'assignee' thereof within the meaning of the judiciary act of 1789, chap. 20, or the act of March 3d, 1875, chap. 137, but was the holder in virtue of an original and direct promise moving from the maker to the bearer, and could sue without reference to the citizenship of the original or any intermediate holder. Thompson v. Perrine, 106 U.S. 589, 592 , 593 S., 27 L. ed. 298, 300, 1 Sup. Ct. Rep. 564, 568.
The above act of 1888 did not change this rule, but it made some alteration of former statutes. Its 1st section excluded from the cognizance of any circuit or district court of the United States 'any suit, except upon foreign bills of exchange, to recover the contents of any promissory note or other chose in action in favor of any assignee, or of any subsequent holder if such instrument be payable to bearer and be not made by any corporation, unless such suit might have been prosecuted in such court to recover the said contents if no assignment or transfer had been made.' 25 Stat. at L. 434, chap. 866.
The defendant, the city of Santa Cruz, is a corporation within the meaning of that section. Loeb v. Columbia Twp. 179 [184 U.S. 302, 325] U. S. 472, 485, 45 L. ed. 280, 288, 21 Sup. Ct. Rep. 174. So that, in respect of the bonds and coupons here in suit-they being payable to bearer and having been made by a corporation-the complaint need not have disclosed the citizenship of any previous holder of the bonds. It shows- and nothing more was necessary so far as citizenship was concerned-a diversity of citizenship as between the holder of the legal title to the bonds and coupons and the defendant city.
But the act of 1888 did not repeal the 5th section of the act of March 3d, 1875, chap. 137, (Lehigh Min. & Mfg. Co. v. Kelly, 160 U.S. 327, 339 , 40 S. L. ed. 444, 449, 16 Sup. Ct. Rep. 307; Lake County v. Dudley, 173 U.S. 243, 251 , 43 S. L. ed. 684, 688, 19 Sup. Ct. Rep. 398), which provides 'that if, in any suit, commenced in a circuit court or removed from a state court to a circuit court of the United States, it shall appear to the satisfaction of said circuit court, any time after such suit has been brought or removed thereto, that such suit does not really and substantially involve a dispute or controversy properly within the jurisdiction of said circuit court, or that the parties to said suit have been improperly or collusively made or joined, either as plaintiffs or defendants, for the purpose of creating a case cognizable or removable under this act, the said circuit court shall proceed no further therein, but shall dismiss the suit or remand it to the court from which it was removed as justice may require, and shall make such order as to costs as shall be just.' 18 Stat. at L. 470, 472.
Does the present case come within this provision of the act of 1875 in respect of any cause of action embraced in it? It does not, if the only objection to the jurisdiction of the circuit court is that the plaintiff was invested with the legal title to the bonds and coupons simply for purposes of collection. But if the transfer was made for the purpose, in any way, of creating a case cognizable in the circuit court, of which it could not otherwise have taken cognizance, then the duty of this court is to take notice of that fact and give effect to the statute of 1875. Metcalf v. Watertown, 128 U.S. 586, 587 , 32 S. L. ed. 543, 9 Sup. Ct. Rep. 173, and authorities there cited. The jurisdiction of the circuit court, it must be observed, depends equally on the citizenship of the parties and the value of the matter in dispute. If the transferrers of the plaintiff were citizens of states other than California, as they seem to have been, each could have sued in the circuit court, if the [184 U.S. 302, 326] amount in dispute was sufficient; and therefore the transfers in such cases were not a fraud on the jurisdiction of the circuit court, so far as the question of diverse citizenship was concerned. But if the transfer enabled the plaintiff to embrace in his suit a claim or claims against the city of which the circuit court could not have entertained jurisdiction, at the suit of the transferrer, because of the insufficiency of the amount in dispute, then the act of 1875 would apply.
Does the record show that the circuit court was without jurisdiction of some of the causes of action embraced by the complaint? We say 'record,' because this court will not reverse a judgment for want of jurisdiction in the circuit court, if its jurisdiction sufficiently appears either from the pleadings or from the record. Pittsburgh, C. & St. L. R. Co. v. Ramsey, 22 Wall. 322, 22 L. ed. 823; Briges v. Sperry, 95 U.S. 401 , 24 L. ed. 390; Robertson v. Cease, 97 U.S. 646, 648 , 24 S. L. ed. 1057, 1058. The complaint here shows diverse citizenship, as between the plaintiff and the defendant city, but the record reveals the fact that the plaintiff included in his suit a large number of claims owned by citizens of states other than California, but which, by reason of their small amount, could not have been sued on separately in the circuit court by the persons or corporations, the real owners, who put them in plaintiff's hands for collection.
Of this there can be no doubt. The entire issue of refunding bonds was 360, of $1,000 each, numbered consecutively from 1 to 360. They were of the character [184 U.S. 302, 328] known as 'serials,' each series consisting of 9 bonds. The first series included the bonds numbered from 1 to 9, both inclusive, and each succeeding series included the 9 bonds numbered consecutively after those embraced in the next preceding series. The bonds of the first series fell due April 15th, 1895, and were the only bonds that had become due when the present action was brought. The remaining series were made payable in consecutive order on the 15th day of April in each succeeding calendar year thereafter until and including the year 1934. Now this suit is for the amount due on 9 of the 40 bonds of $1,000 each, constituting the first series, and falling due April 16th, 1896, and 282 coupons of $50 each, all which coupons, above the coupon of bond No. 40 of the first series, were attached to bonds that were not yet due. No owner of a $50 coupon attached to a bond not due could have sued upon it in the circuit court. Each coupon of that amount was a complete instrument, capable of supporting a separate action, in the proper forum, without reference to the maturity or ownership of the bonds to which they were attached. Koshkonong v. Burton, 104 U.S. 668 , 26 L. ed. 886, and authorities there cited; Elgin v. Marshall, 106 U.S. 578 , 27 L. ed. 249, 1 Sup. Ct. Rep. 484. No owner of coupons, aggregating less than $2,000, could have sued in the circuit court by reason of the bonds to which they were attached (but which were not due) exceeding the jurisdictional amount. But when the several owners of $50 coupons which were due, but which coupons were attached to bonds not due, put them all in the hands of the plaintiff for collection, the amount appeared to be sufficient for purposes of jurisdiction. Thus a case was made by which the circuit court was led to take cognizance of certain claims too small for its jurisdiction if they had been severally sued on by the real owners, although there was jurisdiction as to the parties who owned 8 of the 9 bonds in suit. It also appears that one of the transferrers of the plaintiff owned only 1 bond of a $1,000. The value of the matter in dispute, as to him, was only the amount of that bond and 1 coupon of $50.
We adjudge that, as the plaintiff does not own the bonds or coupons in suit, but holds them for collection only, the circuit [184 U.S. 302, 329] court was without jurisdiction to render judgment upon any claim or claims, whether bonds or coupons, held by a single person, firm, or corporation against the city, and which, considered apart from the claim or claims of other owners, could not have been sued on by the real owner by reason of the insufficiency of the amount of such claim or claims.
The specifications of errors assigned cover eighty pages of the elaborate brief of counsel for the city. They present many minor questions that are not discussed in this opinion. But what has been said embraces every point of substance or that requires consideration and disposes of the case upon its real merits.
The judgment of the Circuit Court of Appeals is reversed, with directions to the Circuit Court to set aside its judgment and enter such judgment as may be in conformity with this opinion.

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