Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 4.djvu/183

 HOÏT ». WEIGHT. 169 �Tliîs paper is called a petition to remand, and in it the pleader sets up a matter ■which is not shown in the record, and as a pleading it is something that we know nothing about, and we could not take any notice of it, if the matters alleged in it were such as would be sufficient to remand the cause, if true ; but the matter stated in the petition is not in itself a ground for remanding the case. It is alleged that Mr. Mills was a party to this suit in the State court, and an owner in the property in controversy ; that he conveyed his interest in the property to one of his associates, one of the plaintiffs, and thereupon moved on behalf of the other plaintiffs to transfer the cause to this court; that this was done for the purpose of conferring jurisdiction upon this court; "that the sale and conveyance by Mr. Mills to his co-plaintiff, Wright, and the discontinuance of the action as to himself in the dis- trict court of the county of Ouray and state of Colorado, was made for the sole and avowed purpose of giving thia court jurisdietion of said case." If that is true exactly as stated, it is no ground for remanding the case, provided the sale was in fact made. A party having property may sell it for the express purpose of enabling his vendee to sue in this court, and if it be a real sale and not a sham, that is no objection to the jurisdietion ; but, if the transfer is merely colorable, — if, notwithstanding the transfer, he stiU retains his interest in the property, and is still the owner of it,— then it would be a collusive proceeding, which, of course, would not confer jurisdietion. The question in such a transaction as this is whether there was a real transfer of the interest by which the vendee in the conveyance obtained a title, or whether it was colorable merely; whether Mr. Mills still retains his interest in it. If, by plea to the jurisdietion in the form which is prescribed by law, the defendant here is able to allege that Mr. Mills, being a party to this suit in the state court, with- out consideration, or in any way which was not effective to transfer his interest, and merely for the purpose of giving this court jurisdietion, trai^sferred his interest to one of the other parties, and thereupon caused the suit to be removed, that ����