Liverpool New York & Philadelphia S. S. Co. v. Commissioners of Emigration

Liverpool New York & Philadelphia S. S. Co. v. Commissioners of Emigration: The Background

The case of Liverpool New York & Philadelphia S. S. Co. v. Commissioners of Emigration was decided by the United States Supreme Court on January 5th of 1885.

Originally argued on March 24th and 25th of 1884, the case of Liverpool New York & Philadelphia S. S. Co. v. Commissioners of Emigration held that the plaintiff of the matter was in error because it was a corporation under the laws of Great Britain. Therefore, Liverpool New York & Philadelphia S. S. Co. v. Commissioners of Emigration stated that as an alien entity, the corporation had brought this action in the circuit court system of the United States for the Southern District of the state New York, where the defendant was a corporation of the state.

The case of Liverpool New York & Philadelphia S. S. Co. v. Commissioners of Emigration tells the story of a defendant corporation who was indebted to the plaintiff corporation for the sum of at least one million dollars. This debt stemmed from passengers in vessels who arrived in the state of New York and were sent to marine hospitals.

The case was misfiled by the plaintiff corporation because the British company was not aware of the procedural laws and methods of the state of New York. As a result of their mishandled trial, the British Company protested the suit.

Treating it as a formal complaint under the procedural code of the state of New York, the defendant filed an answer to establish several defenses, including that by an act of the United States Congress, the defendant was entitle to a bill to legalize the collection of head-moneys that were already paid. This law was approved 6 years prior in June of 1878.

In response to this defense, the Circuit Court refused to listen to evidence in support of the plaintiff’s case and awarded judgment on the pleadings in favor of the American defendant. This ruling was held in Liverpool New York & Philadelphia S. S. Co. v. Commissioners of Emigration because it the original claim was classified as an error due to the fact that the debt did not appear from the record within the description of the act of Congress.

The complaint was an action to recover back moneys paid to the Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New York by way of the steamship company, a carrier of emigrants to the United States. The case of Liverpool New York & Philadelphia S. S. Co. v. Commissioners of Emigration was elaborately argued, but the primary question on which the case was remanded was never discussed in the briefs.