Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. v. Jenkins

Citations

• 103 Ill. 588
• 1882 Ill. LEXIS 215

Syllabus

<p>1. Plea in abatement—bankruptcy. A plea of the bankruptcy of the plaintiff: and the transfer of his property and rights to an assignee after the commencement of the suit, in abatement of the action, without any prayer of any kind, is subject to demurrer.</p> <p>2. Parties—assignee in bankruptcy—substitution as plaintiff. Under section 5047 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, the assignee, at any time after his appointment, has the right to be substituted as plaintiff, on his request, in an action pending in the name of the bankrupt for the recovery of a debt or other thing which might or ought to pass to the assignee, who may thereafter prosecute the suit the same as if originally brought in his name, and such substitution will furnish a good replication to a plea in abatement of the plaintiff’s bankruptcy.</p> <p>3. Action—commencement of suit—what constitutes, as affecting the limitation of actions. The bringing of a suit is the issuing of a summons or other process to bring the defendant into court. The substitution of the assignee of a bankrupt as plaintiff in a suit, is not to be regarded as the commencement of the suit by the assignee, within the meaning of the United States statute limiting such actions to two years after the assignee’s appointment.</p> <p>4. Limitations—as to suits by assignee in bankruptcy—under the act of Congress—to what suits the statute applies. The statute of the United States limiting the bringing of suits by the assignee of a bankrupt within two years from the time of his appointment, was designed only to apply to suits brought by him, and not to actions already pending in which he maybe substituted as plivntiff, although such substitution may be more than two years after his appointment.</p> <p>5. Same—generally—as to cases embraced in the statute. In construing statutes of limitations, the courts can only hold that they embrace such subjects as are specifically named or embraced in enumerated classes. Gases or classes