Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 31.djvu/1475

 FIFTY-SIXTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 854. 1901. 1423 natmo or degree, and whether the claims be for liquidated debts or unjjquidated damages for breach of contract; and if either debt be in the form of the penalty of a bond the exact sum to be set off shall be Stated in the plea. Sec. 1564. Fomvr or rLmA.—The plea of set-off may be as follows; F<¤m<>f1>1€¤· That the plaintiff, at the commencement of the suit, was, and still is, indebted to the defendant in the sum of. . -.. -_ dollars, for that, and so forth, as appears by the particulars of said indebtedness hereunto annexed; and defendant is Willing that the same may be set off against the plaintiff’s demand. . . . SEO. 1565. Smvorr AN .Aor1oN BY DBrmNDANr.»—A defendant who dgggg§H¤j¤ ¤¤ti¤¤ bv files a plea of set-off, founded on a claim against the plaintiff, shall be ' deemed to have brought an action at the time of filing such plea against the plaintiff for the matters mentioned in the plea; but it shall not be necessary that the amount of the claim so sought to be set off shall be such that the court would have jurisdiction of an original action to recover the same; and the plaintiff shall not thereafter be allowed to dismiss his suit without the consent of the defendant, but the defendant shall be entitled to a trial of and judgment upon his claim, but the same shall be open to the same defenses to which it would be open in an action brought by him thereon; and on the trial of an issue on said plea of set—off judgment, shall be rendered for the balance found due, _ whether to the plaintiff or to the defendant, with costs: Provided, That _§§§@§{§,,,O,, of jug nothing herein contained shall be construed to enlarge the jurisdiction gfsrogghe peace not of justices of the peace so as to authorize any judgment by any such g ` justice in excess of three hundred dollars. Sec. 1566. Eminem or ASSIGNMENT.-—iliTll€H cross demands have E*¥B¤*<>f¤¤¤ig¤m€¤t- existed between persons under such circumstances that if one had - brought an. action against the other a counterclaim or set—off could have been pleaded, neither can be deprived of the benefit thereof by an assignment by the other; but in an action by the assignee of any nonnegotiable debt the defendant may set off any indebtedness to him of the assignor, existing before notice of the assignment, as well as any indebtedness to him of the plaintiH. . r Sec. 1567. Snrorr AS TO 1>ABr.»—If the defendant’s plea of set-od Semi asm rmcovers or applies to-only part of the plaintiff’s demand judgment may be forthwith rendered for the part not controverted and the costs accrued until the filing of the plea, and the case shall be proceeded with for the residue as if the part for which judgment was rendered had not been included therein. p- _ Sec. 1568. ACTION AGAINST BBINGIPAL AND sUBELrrEs.—In an action mggtfjdtxiggggnnj against principal and sureties an indebtedness of the plaintiff to the ‘" principal may be set off as if he were the sole defendant, and in such case, if the indebtedness so set off shall exceed the plaintiff’s demand, the judgment for the excess shall be in favor of the defendant, who is sued as principal. ~ ” · -· Sec. 1569.—AGT1oN BY TRUSfI`EE.—·If the plaintiff is trustee for- A¤*i0¤l>Y tfusma another, or has no',actual interest in the contract on which the action IS founded, a demandagainst the plaintiff shall not be pleaded by way of set-off, but a demand against the person whom he represents or for whose benefit the action is brought may be pleaded. j Sec. 1570. Aomfou BY on AGAINST RxEoUToB, AND So FoBTH.——In an Actigfj b5j<>1‘¤g¤i¤¤* Mtion against an executor or administrator, in his representative mm U 'C C` capacity, the- defendant may plead, by wayof set—oif, a demand belonging to the decedent where he would have been entitled to rely upon the same in an action againsthim; and in an action brought by an executor or administrator, in his representative capacity, a demand against the decedent, belonging at the time of his death to the defend— a11t, may be pleaded by way of set—off, as if the action`- had been brought by the decedent in his lifetime.