United States v. Knox
| Decision Date | 01 October 1880 |
| Citation | 26 L.Ed. 216,102 U.S. 422 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES v. KNOX |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
ERROR to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.
Mr. Thomas J. Durant and Mr. Charles W. Hornor for the plaintiff in error.
Mr. Charles Case, contra.
This case is a petition for a writ of mandamus directed to the comptroller of the currency. It was fully heard in the court below upon the merits. The writ was refused, and judgment for costs rendered against the relator, the Citizens' National Bank of Louisiana. This writ of error was thereupon sued out, and the case is thus brought before us for review.
There is no controversy as to the facts. The only question presented for our consideration is a question of law. The case made in the record, so far as it is necessary to be stated for the purposes of this opinion, is as follows: On the 7th of April, 1874, the Crescent City National Bank of New Orleans was, and for some time had been, insolvent and in the hands of a receiver. On that day the comptroller assessed each shareholder seventy per cent upon the par value of each share of his stock, and ordered the receiver to collect the assessment. This the receiver proceeded to do by filing a bill in equity in the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Louisiana, against all the shareholders. Thereafter he obtained a decree against all the defendants severally, who were within the jurisdiction of the court, for the amount due from each one according to the assessment, and the cause was thereupon continued to await any further assessment the comptroller might deem it proper to make, and it is still pending.
The capital stock of the bank was $500,000; seventy per cent, therefore, was $350,000.
This sum, if it could have been collected in full, would have paid all the debts of the bank and left a balance over. But by reason of the insolvency of many of the shareholders the assessment netted only $112,658.13, and nothing, or very little more, will hereafter be realized from it. From the proceeds of the assessment and other assets of the bank, eighty per cent of the principal of its debts have been paid.
The relator being a large creditor of the bank, requested the comptroller to order a further assessment of thirty per cent upon each share of the capital stock, for the discharge of the balance of principal and interest still due to its creditors, and to direct the receiver to proceed as before to collect the amount of the new assessment. The comptroller refused, because the enforcement of such an assessment would compel the solvent shareholders to pay the sums and proportions due from the shareholders who are insolvent.
He holds that no such liability is imposed on the solvent shareholders, and that he has, therefore, no right or power to make the assessment as requested.
The point to be decided is whether he is clothed with this power and duty, and whether the shareholders are thus liable.
The first bank law was passed Feb. 25, 1863, c. 58, 12 Stat. 665. The last clause of sect. 12 is as follows:——
'For all debts contracted by such association for circulation, deposits, or otherwise, each shareholder shall be liable to the amount of the par value of the shares held by him, in addition to the amount invested in such shares.'
This provision was changed in 1864, and has been since and is now in force in these terms: 'The shareholders of every national banking association shall be hled individually responsible, equally and ratably, and not one for another, for all contracts, debts, and engagements of such association, to the extent of the amount of their stock therein, at the par value thereof, in addition to the amount invested in such shares.' Rev. Stat., sect. 5151.
The act of 1863 made no provision for enforcing the personal liability of shareholders, while that of 1864 provided that it might be done through a receiver appointed by the comptroller, and acting under his direction. Id., sect. 5234.
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Moran v. Cobb
...open to avoidance by the court only in a direct attack upon them on the grounds of clear error of law, fraud, or mistake. U. S. v. Knox, 102 U.S. 422, 425, 26 L.Ed. 216; U. S. v. Northern Pac. R. Co. 8 Cir., 95 F. 864, 870, 37 C.C.A. 290, 296; Bogan v. Edinburgh American Land Mortgage Co. 8......
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Erickson v. Richardson, 7885.
...is contractual in its nature. Other cases indicate that the liability is one founded on both the statute and contract. U.S. v. Knox, 102 U.S. 422, 424, 26 L.Ed. 216; Stuart v. Hayden, 169 U.S. 1, 8, 18 S. Ct. 274, 42 L.Ed. 639; Concord First National Bank v. Hawkins, 174 U.S. 364, 372, 19 S......
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Hood v. Guar. Trust Co. of New York
...the deficit as his stock bears to the whole amount of the capital stock of the bank at its par value.’ United States ex rel. Citizens' Nat. Bank v. Knox, 102 U.S. 422, 425, 26 L.Ed. 216. At the trial of this action no evidence was given to establish the amount of the deficit, if any, to be ......
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Broderick v. Rosner
...other administrative orders, only to a direct attack for fraud or error of law by appropriate proceedings in equity.7 United States v. Knox, 102 U.S. 422, 425, 26 L.Ed. 216. Whether this contention is sound, we have no occasion to consider now. See Broderick v. Adamson, 148 Misc. 353, 369-3......