Court Opinion

ID: 9833271
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 22:34:29.478584+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:44:01.106145
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
[6] The motion for rehearing of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company assumes that we have held that any foreign railway corporation may be served by serving citation upon any railway agent in the state who sells tickets or makes contract for transportation of freight over such foreign corporation. We have not made any such holding (though we do not intend this statement as indicating that such may not be found to be the law); but what we did hold is: (a) The Kansas corporation is shown by the testimony in this case to have been doing business in the state, (b) It being admitted that King makes contracts for the transportation of freight over the lines of the Kansas corporation, he is, within the meanin'g of the act of March 13, 1905, an agent of the Kansas corporation, in that service of citation to said Kansas corporation may be had upon him. The statute referred to (article 1223a, Mellwaine) says: “That service may be had on foreign corporations having agents in this state in addition to the means now provided by-law by serving citation upon any train conductor * * * if said conductor handles trains * * * across the state line of Texas * * * or upon any agent who has an office in Texas and who * * * makes contracts for the transportation of passengers or property over any line of railway * * * of any such foreign corporation or company.” The finding that the Kansas company “was doing business in the state” is necessarily a finding that it had agents in the state.
[7] Appellants’ contention that under this article the words “any agent” mean any agent of the foreign corporation renders nugatory the statute. Our interpretation of the statute is: That as article 1223 provides for service on any agent of the foreign corporation, and as article 1223a provides that “service may be had m addition to the means now provided,” and as every person who sells tickets or makes contracts for transportation over the lines of a foreign corporation is, in one sense, the agent of such corporation, that the statute makes such person, for the purpose of service of citation, the agent of such foreign corporation, when it is doing business in the state; and that the words “any agent” mean any agent of any road who sells tickets or makes contracts of transportation over the land of the foreign road.
The motion is overruled.