Title: COOPER v. FT. SMITH & W. R. CO.
Citation: 1909 OK 24, 23 Okla. 139, 99 P. 78 5
Docket Number: 
State: Oklahoma
Issuer: Oklahoma Supreme Court
Date: January 29, 1909

COOPER v. FT. SMITH & W. R. CO. Annotate this Case COOPER v. FT. SMITH & W. R. CO. 1909 OK 24 99 P. 785 23 Okla. 139 Case Number: 189 Decided: 01/29/1909 Supreme Court of Oklahoma COOPER v. FT. SMITH & W. R. CO. Syllabus ¶0 1. CORPORATIONS--Foreign Corporations--"Carrying on Business"--Contracts--Compliance With Statutory Requirements. An answer setting up a plea in bar to a suit on promissory note given in aid of the construction of plaintiff's line of railroad which alleges, in substance, that at the time it was executed plaintiff was and still is a foreign corporation, and as such has failed to comply with Wilson's Rev. & Ann. St. Okla. 1903, secs. 1225 and 1227, is bad, as it was not the intent of the Legislature, by inhibiting such corporation from doing business in the state, to deprive it of the right to sue in its courts or to render void contracts made by it in the state, and a demurrer thereto was properly sustained. 1. SAME--Contracts Antedating State Constitution. Contractual rights accrued prior to the adoption of sections 43 and 44 of article 9 of the Constitution (Bunn's Ed. secs. 258, 259) are not thereby affected 3. SUBSCRIPTIONS--Railroad Bonus Notes--Defenses--Fraud. An answer setting up a plea in bar to a suit on a promissory note given in aid of the construction of plaintiff's line of road, which alleges that prior to the execution of the note the payee, then engaged in building a railroad in a westerly direction from a given point in another state through the Indian Territory and in the general direction of Guthrie, Okla., determined to build said road from its then terminus in the Indian Territory to said city, and on that date, unknown to defendant and the citizens of said city, entered into a contract for its construction; that without disclosing that determination said railroad company, by and through its agents and representatives, afterwards caused a public meeting of the citizens of said city to be held, and then and there submitted to them and others interested a proposition to extend its line of road from its then terminus in the Indian Territory to said city and have the same in operation in 18 months, provided they would raise a bonus of $ 50,000 within 30 days, in the form of promissory notes satisfactory to the payee, to be turned over to it: representing that another city was a strong competitor for the road; that unless satisfactory arrangements were made with it the road would be diverted to some other point, but if the terms of said bonus were complied with, it would build its road to Guthrie; that there was a feeling of rivalry existing between the two cities, which was well known at that time to said railroad company; that said representations were made for the purpose of securing said bonus, and were false and deceptive, and known to be such by the payee, and were intended to, and did, deceive said citizens, including the defendant, and that the note sued on was executed on the strength of such deception--states facts sufficient to constitute a plea in bar of a recovery on said note on the ground of fraud, and a demurrer thereto was improperly sustained. 4. BILLS AND