Webb v. J.G. White Engineering Corporation

• Decision Date: 14 May 1920
• Docket Number: 8 Div. 226
• Citation: 204 Ala. 429,85 So. 729
• Parties: WEBB v. J.G. WHITE ENGINEERING CORPORATION et al.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

85 So. 729

204 Ala. 429

WEBB v. J.G. WHITE ENGINEERING CORPORATION et al.

8 Div. 226

Supreme Court of Alabama

May 14, 1920

Rehearing Denied June 30, 1920

Appeal from Circuit Court, Colbert County; C.P. Almon, Judge.

Action by Verdo Toy Webb against the J.G. White Engineering Corporation and another for damages for personal injuries. Judgment for the defendants, and plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.

E.W Godbey, of Decatur, for appellant.

Andrews & Peach, of Sheffield, for appellees.

THOMAS J.

The suit was for personal injury sustained on a government reservation. Defendants filed pleas 1 to 5, inclusive demurrers as to pleas 1 and 5 were overruled, and plaintiff took a nonsuit by reason of this adverse ruling of the court. Paterson & Edey Lumber Co. v. Bank of Mobile, 84 So 721. The sufficiency of said pleas, against the grounds of demurrer assigned, is challenged by the appeal.

Plaintiff averred that he was employed to work by the J.G. White Engineering Corporation (defendant); that by virtue of his contract and as a part of his compensation said employer engaged to furnish his lodging, and assigned him to a certain place, known as a "bunkhouse," at Sheffield, Ala controlled by the defendant Air Nitrates Corporation. It is averred that "it became the duty of the defendant to use reasonable effort and diligence to keep said premises in a reasonably safe condition with respect to fire," and that as to this "defendants conducted themselves carelessly and negligently and indifferently, and were so guilty of a lack of ordinary care and precautions with respect to said premises that by reason of such remissness" said house was a "fire trap" and dangerous, and on or about the night of June 18, 1918, by reason of the inflammable condition of the premises, and while plaintiff was so lodging, under the aforesaid arrangement and condition, the premises caught fire, owing to such negligence of defendant, which fire was unextinguished, and, by reason of such negligence, enveloped plaintiff, and severely burned and stifled him before, by reasonable effort, he could escape or be rescued therefrom. The plaintiff catalogues his injuries, some of which are averred to be of a permanent nature; and his damages averred are for loss of time, wages, and salary, expenses incurred for medical and surgical attention and professional nursing.

Pleas 1 to 5, inclusive, in bar of the prosecution of this suit, challenge the jurisdiction of the court for that the cause of action declared on occurred on the plant site of United States Nitrate Plant No. 2; that said land was purchased by the United States by the consent of the Legislature of the state of Alabama, for the erection thereon of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, or other needful buildings within the contemplation of article 1, section 8, paragraph 17, of the Constitution of the United States. Of the pleas in question, plea 5 best states the defense, which is as follows:

"Come the defendants and plead to the jurisdiction of the court and allege and show unto the court that the cause of action counted on in the complaint arose, and that the accident or injury referred to in said complaint occurred on the plant site of United States Nitrate Plant No. 2; that United States Nitrate Plant No. 2 was constructed by the federal government under an act of Congress approved June 3, 1916, and shown as paragraph 2589 of Barnes' Federal Code, under which act of Congress the President is authorized and empowered to lease, purchase, or acquire such lands and rights of way as may be necessary for the construction and operation of a nitrate plant or nitrate plants, and in which said act of Congress the President is authorized and empowered to employ such officers, agents, or agencies as may in his discretion be necessary to enable him to carry out the said purpose of the act of Congress, and in said act of Congress is provided that the plant provided for under said act shall be constructed and operated solely by the government for the purpose of the production of nitrates and other products and munitions of war, and useful in the production of fertilizer and other useful products. And defendants allege that said plant was constructed by the United States on land purchased by the United States by the consent of the Legislature of the state of Alabama, and in conformity with the said act of Congress, and that the defendants in this cause were but the agents or agencies appointed and designated by the President of the United States for the construction of said plants solely by the government, and defendants allege that they acted in and about the construction of said plant solely as agents and agencies of the United States government, and under its direction and control. And defendants allege that at the time of plaintiff's injury, congressional legislation was the exclusive law of said place, and that the laws of the state of Alabama, which are invoked and sought to be enforced in this court, were not then in force at said place, and then had no application to said accidents or injuries or to the rights and remedies of the plaintiff."

Plaintiff interposed demurrers to the several pleas, which were overruled. All matters set out in the pleas are taken as true.

Appropriate provisions of section 8, article 1, of the Constitution of the United States, are:

"The Congress shall have power: *** [Par. 17] To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings; And [Par. 18] To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof."

It is provided by sections 898, 899, of the Code of Alabama (1907) that--

[898] "The state of Alabama has ceded to the United States of America, jurisdiction over all lands which have been or may hereafter be purchased by the said United States in the state of Alabama, for the purpose of erecting thereon any armory, arsenal, fort, fortification, navy yard, custom house, lighthouse, post office, or public building of any kind whatever, and the Legislature of the State of Alabama has consented to all such purchases by said United States of America."

[899] "The jurisdiction ceded shall continue during the term the United States of America shall remain owner of the land so purchased, and shall be exclusive for all purposes except that the service of process issued out of the courts of the state of Alabama, shall not be prevented therein."

The act of Congress, approved June 3, 1916, sought to be embodied in plea 5, contained the following:

"The President of the United States is hereby authorized and empowered to make, or cause to be made, such investigation as in his judgment is necessary to determine the best, cheapest, and most available means for the production of nitrates and other products for munitions of war and useful in the manufacture of fertilizers and other. useful products by water power or any other power as in his judgment is the best and cheapest to use; and is also hereby authorized and empowered to designate for the exclusive use of the United States, if in his judgment such means is best and cheapest, such site or sites, upon any navigable or nonnavigable river or rivers or upon the public lands, as in his opinion will be necessary for carrying out the purposes of this act; and is further authorized to construct, maintain, and operate, at or on any site or sites so designated, dams, locks, improvements to navigation, power houses, and other plants and equipment or other means than water power as in his judgment is the best and cheapest, necessary or convenient for the generation of electrical or other power and for the production of nitrates or other products needed for munitions of war and useful in the manufacture of fertilizers and other useful products. The President is authorized to lease, purchase, or acquire, by condemnation, gift, grant, or devise, such lands and rights of way as may be necessary for the construction and operation of such plants, and to take from any lands of the United States, or to purchase or acquire by condemnation materials, minerals, and processes, patented or otherwise, necessary for the construction and operation of such plants and for the manufacture of such products." U.S.Comp.Stat.1916, vol. 4, § 3110b, p. 4358.

It must be admitted that the United States Nitrate Plant No. 2 was, on the date of this plaintiff's injury (June 18, 1918), a federal reservation upon which Congress had the right to assume and exercise exclusive legislation, and as such reservation was subject to the legislation by the state of Alabama making provision for cession of jurisdiction by sections 898 and 899 of the Code. The question then is whether Congress had assumed jurisdiction over said territory and legislated so as to exclude plaintiff from a remedy under the state statutes, or given him instead a remedy for his alleged injuries and wrongs on which the suit may be maintained in a federal forum. It is not questioned that the general rule is that where Congress may legislate on a given subject and has done so, criminally or civilly, such legislation is the supreme law of the land. See authorities collected in L. & N.R. Co. v. State, 16 Ala.App. 199, 76 So. 505, 510-514.

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