Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 6.djvu/802

 790 FEDERAL REPORTER. �The defendant's objections to the jurisdiction of the court are that the American Express Company is not a corporation, but a mere voluntary association, with no existence as an entity separate from the existence of its membera; that, not being a citizen in the sense in which a corporation is, it can sue only with the names of ail its associates, who, upon the face of the bill, must appear to be citizens of states other than the state of Indiana; that the New York Statutes, which, it is claimed, authorized this suit to be brought in its present form, permit the president to sue only when ail the stockhold- ers can sue, and that ail the stockholders of this company eould not sue, because they are all of the same class, s,nd some of them are citizens of the same state as the defendant; that the laws of New York, which confer upon this company certain corporate franchises, have no extraterritorial effect, and that the jurisdiction of this court is not of comity, but of constitutional right. The judicial power of the United States is extended by the constitution to "controversies between cit- izens of different states," and by the judiciaryact jurisdiction is conferred upon the circtiit courts of the United States when "the suit is between a citizen of the state where the suit 18 brought and a citizen of another state." It is now settled that for the purposes of federal jurisdiction corpora- tions are regarded as citizens of the states where they are created, and no averment as to the citizenship of the mem- bers else*here will be permitted. �Is the American Express Company, which is a joint-stock company, organized under the laws of New York, a citizen in the same sense and for the same purpose ? In chapter 258 of the laws of 1849 of the state of New York, and in subse- quent amendatory acts, joint-stock companies may sue and be sued in the name of the president and treasurer when the nature of the cause of action is such that the suit might be maintained by or against ail the shareholders. Such com- panies are enddtred with perpetuai succession, dissolution not resulting from changes in membership produced by death or otherwise. A pending suit by or against the president or treasurer of the company is not abated by the death, resigna- ��� �