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be converted by amendment into a bill filed by the next friend of the alleged imbecile.46

A State sues in a court of the United States by a bill in equity in its own name.47

"When the United States comes into a court of equity as a suitor it is subject to the defenses peculiar to that court."' 48 It is subject to the rules of court,49 including those regulating the time of filing pleadings.5

50

Such an information or bill should be filed in the name of the United States, not in the name of one of its law officers.51 If a bill be filed to impeach a patent or other grant by the United States and be not brought by the Attorney-General, or some other officer authorized by statute so to do, it should contain an allegation that the Attorney-General has "given such order for its institution as will make him officially responsible for it, and show his control over the cause. The signature of the Attorney-General subscribed to the bill is sufficient to show his authority for filing it.53 Where the Attorney-General is disqualified, the bill may be signed by the Solicitor-General and filed in his discretion.54

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§ 132. Definition and classification of bills. The usual course, and the only one open to a private citizen, is the filing of a bill. The word "bill" is derived from the Latin libellus; and such a pleading is sometimes called an English bill; because at the time when pleadings at common law were in Law Latin or Law French, it was as now written in the English language.1 A bill is a petition addressed to the judges of a court of equity, containing a statement of the facts which in the plaintiff's opin

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ion give him a right to sue, and concluding with a prayer for the relief to which he deems himself entitled.

Quis, quid, coram quo, quo jure petitur, et a quo.

Recte compositus quisque libellus habet.2

Bills are divided by the books into three classes; original bills, bills not original, and bills in the nature of original bills. A fourth class, which may be termed original bills in the nature 'of bills not original, is recognized by the Federal courts. Original bills are those which relate to some matter not before litigated in the court of equity by the same parties standing in the same interests. Bills not original are those, which relate to some matter already litigated in the court of equity by the same parties, or their representatives, and which are either an addition to or a continuance of an original bill, or both.3 Bills in the nature of original bills are those which serve to bring before the court the proceedings and decree in a former suit, for the purpose of either obtaining the benefit of the same or procuring the reversal of the decision made therein. Original bills in the nature of bills not original are those having all the characteristics of original bills, except that the Federal courts will take jurisdiction of them without regard to the citizenship or the parties, or the other limitations of the original Federal jurisdiction.5 Original bills are of two kinds: those which pray relief, and those which do not pray relief. Original bills which pray relief are said to belong to three classes: bills which pray the decree of the court concerning some right claimed by the plaintiff in opposition to some right claimed by the defendant, bills of interpleader, and bills of certiorari. Original bills not praying relief are of two kinds: bills of perpetuate the testimony of witnesses, and bills of discovery. Bills not original are bills of revivor, supplemental bills and bills of revivor and supplement. Bills in the nature of original bills are bills in the nature of supplemental bills, bills in the nature of bills of revivor, cross-bills,

2 Com. Dig., Chancery, E. 2.

3 Quoted with approval in AngloFlorida Phosphate Co. v. McKibben, C. C. A., 65 Fed. 529, 530, 531. 4 Mitford's Pl., ch. 1, § 2; Story's Eq. Pl., § 16.

5 Minnesota Co. v. St. Paul Co.,

2 Wall. 609, 17 L. ed. 886; Krippendorf v. Hyde, 110 U. S. 276, 28 L ed. 145; Pacific R. Co. of Mo. v. Mo. Pac. Ry. Co., 111 U. S. 505, 28 L. ed. 498; Continental Tr. Co. v. To ledo, St. L. & K. C. R. Co., 82 Fed. 642; supra, § 51.

bills of review, bills impeaching decrees upon the ground of fraud, bills to suspend the operation of decrees on special circumstances or to avoid them on the ground of matter subsequent, and bills partaking of the qualities of some one or more of these bills.6 If the court has jurisdiction of an original bill, it will take jurisdiction of bills not original, and bills in the nature of original bills, growing out of the first suit, without regard to the citizenship of the parties thereto.7 And in certain other cases it will take jurisdiction of bills otherwise original which are so intimately connected with matters before the Federal court that it is in the interest of convenience and justice to have them disposed of before the same tribunal. These may be named original bills in the nature of bills not original. They are usually called ancillary bills. Such is a bill to obtain a judicial construction of previous decrees; 10 a bill to obtain a determination of the rights of a claimant to a fund in the hands of a Federal marshal; 11 a bill to stay proceedings at law; 12 and a bill to set aside a decree.13 The peculiarities in the form and the procedure upon original bills not praying relief, bills not original, and bills in the nature of original bills, will be discussed in the latter part of this work. In this chapter, the form of original bills praying relief and, in the chapters immediately succeeding, the proceedings upon them, will be explained, beginning with the ordinary kind,-bills which seek relief concerning some right claimed by the plaintiff in opposition to one claimed by the defendant.

§ 133. Frame of a bill in equity. Formerly, bills usually consisted of nine parts: the direction or address, the intro

6 Mitford's Pl., ch. 1, § 2; Story's Eq. Pl., §§ 16-24

7 Clarke v. Mathewson, 12 Pet. 164, 9 L. ed. 1041; Jones v. An. drews, 10 Wall. 327, 333, 19 L. ed. 935, 937; Pacific R. Co. of Mo. v. Mo. Pac. Ry. Co., 111 U. S. 505, 28 L. ed. 498. See § 53.

8 Minnesota Co. v. St. Paul Co.,

2 Wall. 609, 17 L. ed. 886.

9 Supra, § 51.

10 Minnesota Co. v. St. Paul Co., 2 Wall. 609, 17 L. ed. 886.

11 Krippendorf v. Hyde, 110 U. S. 276; Freeman v. Howe, 24 How. 450, 16 L. ed. 749.

12 Logan v. Patrick, 5 Cranch, 288, 3 L. ed. 103; Dunn v. Clarke, 8 Pet. 1, 8 L. ed. 845; Jones v. Andrews, 10 Wall. 327, 333, 19 L. ed. 935, 937; Dunlap v. Stetson, 4 Mason, 349.

13 Pacific R. Co. of Mo. v. Mo. Pac. Ry. Co., 111 U. S. 505, 28 L. ed. 498.

duction, the premises or stating part, the common-confederacy clause, the charging part, the jurisdiction clause, the interrogating part, the prayer of relief, and the prayer of process. Of these, however, the common confederacy clause, alleging that the defendant or defendants are combining and confederating with some persons to the plaintiff unknown, whose names when discovered he prays leave to insert as defendants, which owed its origin to an idea that otherwise the bill could not be amended so as to add new defendants, and its retention. to the practice of taxing costs according to the length of the documents filed; the charging part, alleging the defense which it anticipated would be made by the defendant, and the reply which the plaintiff intended to make thereto; and the jurisdiction clause, alleging that the acts of the defendant which were complained of were contrary to equity, and that the plaintiff was without any remedy at law: were not even then considered necessary by the best authorities, and by the equity rules of 1842 they were expressly declared superfluous.3

2

The equity rules promulgated in 1912 have obviated the necessity of the address, the interrogating part 5 and the prayer

$133. 1 Mitford's Pl., ch. 1, § 3; Story's Eq. Pl., §§ 26-48.

Mitford's Pl., ch. 1, §3; Langdell's Eq. Pl., § 55; Story's Eq. Pl., §§ 29, 32, 33, 34; Comstock v. Herron, 45 Fed. 660.

Rule 21 of 1842.

4 Eq. Rule 25. By the Equity Rules of 1842. 20. Every bill in the introductory part thereof, shall contain the names, places of abode, and citizenship of all the parties, plaintiffs and defendants, by and against whom the bill is brought. The form, in substance, shall be as follows: To the judges of the cir euit court of the United States for the district of -: A. B., of and a citizen of the State of brings this his bill against C. D., of and a citizen of the State of and E. F., of , and a citizen of the State of ----. And there

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upon, your orator complains and says that,' etc."

5 The old form was as follows: "To the end, therefore, that the said A. B. and the rest of the confederates, when discovered, may, upon their several and respective corporate oaths, full, true, direct, and perfect answer make to all and singular the matters hereinbefore stated and charged, as fully and particularly as if the same were hereinafter repeated, and they thereunto distinctly interrogated; and that not only to the best of their respective knowledge and remembrance, but also as to the best of their several and respective information, hearsay and belief; and more especially that they may answer and set forth whether, etc.; or they may set forth and discover whether they do not know, have

Fed. Prac. Vol. I-48

of process.

"Hereafter it shall be sufficient that a bill in equity shall contain in addition to the usual caption:

First, the full name, when known, of each plaintiff and defendant, and the citizenship and residence of each party. If any party be under any disability that fact shall be stated.

Second, a short and plain statement of the grounds upon which the court's jurisdiction depends.

Third, a short and simple statement of the ultimate facts upon which the plaintiff asks relief, omitting any mere statements of evidence.

heard, or are informed, and in their conscience believe that,'' &c. Story's Eq. Pl., 35, note 2. "41. By, the equity rules of 1842 the interrogatories contained in the interrogating part of the bill must be divided as conveniently as may be from each other, and numbered consecutively 1, 2, 3, etc.; and the interrogatories which each defendant is required to answer shall be specified in a note at the foot of the bill, in the form to the effect following, that is to say: 'The defendant (A. B.) is required to answer the interrogatories numbered respectively 1, 2, 3, etc.'"' 42. The note at the foot of the bill, specifying the interrogatories which each defendant is required to answer, shall be considered and treated as part of the bill; and the addition of any such note to the bill, or any alteration in or addition to such note after the bill is filed shall be considered and treated as an amendment to the bill.""43. Instead of the words of the bill now in use preceding the interrogatory part thereof, and beginning with the words 'to the end, therefore,' there shall hereafter be used words in the form or to the effect following: To the end, there

fore, that the said defendants may, if they can, show why your orator should not have the relief hereby prayed, and may, upon their several corporate oaths, and according to the best and utmost of their several and respective knowledge, remembrance, information, and belief, full, true, direct, and perfect answer make to each of the several interrogatories hereinafter numbered and set forth, as by the note hereunder written they are respectively required to answer; that is to say,'Whether, etc.

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6 Equity Rules of 1842. 23. The prayer for process of subpœna in the bill shall contain the names of all the defendants named in the introductory part of the bill, and if any of them are known to be infants under age, or otherwise under guardianship, shall state the fact, so that the court may take order thereon as justice may require upon the return of the process. If an injunction or a writ of ne exeat regno, or any other special order pending the suit, is asked for in the prayer for relief, that shall be sufficient, without repeating the same in the prayer for process.''

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