Howe v. Howe & Owen Ball Bearing Co.

Citations

• 154 F. 820
• 83 C.C.A. 536
• 1907 U.S. App. LEXIS 4592

Syllabus

<p>1. Courts — Federal Courts — Jurisdiction—Sustained if Ant Part of Record Discloses Requisite Pacts.</p> <p>The jurisdiction of a national court may not be renounced or denied where the facts requisite to confer it appear directly or by just inference from any part of the record.</p> <p>[Ed. Note. — For cases in point, see Cent. Dig. vol. 13, Courts, § 816.]</p> <p>2. Same — Amount—Legal Certainty of Insufficiency Requisite to Dismissal. • '</p> <p>A suit cannot be properly dismissed by a Circuit Court as not substantially involving a controversy within its jurisdiction, unless the facts when made to appear on the record create a legal certainty of that conclusion.</p> <p>LEd. Note. — For eases in point, see Cent. Dig. vol. 13, Courts, § 816.]</p> <p>3. Same — Jurisdiction—Facts—Conclusion.</p> <p>The matter in dispute was the undivided half of a patent for an invention. There was evidence that 21/155 was sold for $5,000 17 months before the suit was commenced; that the defendant was a citizen and resident of Missouri; that one of the complainants was a corporation of Maine, and the other a stockholder, director, and president thereof; and that the articles of incorporation recited his residence Evansville, Ind.</p> <p>Held, there was sufficient evidence to sustain the conclusion of the lower court that the value of the property involved in the controversy was more than $2,000, and that the citizenship of the parties was diverse.</p> <p>[Ed. Note.' — -For cases in point, see Cent. Dig. vol. 13, Courts, §§ 885, 886.]</p> <p>4. Contracts — Breach of Subordinate Covenant No Defense — Action fob Damages.</p> <p>A breach of a covenant, which does not go to the whole consideration of a contract, but is subordinate and incidental to its main purpose, does not constitute a breach of the entire agreement, does not authorize the injured party to rescind the contract, but he is still bound to perform his part of it, and his only remedy is a recovery of damages for the breac