Spaulding v. Evenson

149 F. 913, 1906 U.S. App. LEXIS 5059
CourtU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Eastern Washington
DecidedAugust 6, 1906
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 149 F. 913 (Spaulding v. Evenson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Eastern Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spaulding v. Evenson, 149 F. 913, 1906 U.S. App. LEXIS 5059 (circtedwa 1906).

Opinion

WHITSON, District Judge.

In this case a temporary restraining order was issued without notice, upon the bill of complaint and the affidavits of several of the employés of complainants, and the defendants were cited to show cause why an injunction pendente lite should not be granted. The allegations of the bill are in substance as follows: Complainants are residents and citizens of the state of Iowa. They are and have been engaged in that state in the manufacture of buggies and wagons of various kinds for many years, which they have been selling, not only in the state of Iowa, but in various other states, including the state of Washington. Their method of making sales in this state is by means of salesmen traveling through the country, selling to farmers and others-residing in. the rural districts; that their vehicles,- known as the “Spaulding buggies and wagons,” are strong, and specially adapted to the needs of the farmers, and thev have acquired a reputation in the state of Washington, and especially in eastern Washington, as buggies and wagons of high grade, purchasable at reasonable prices, and that the standing of complainants in said community and their said business is of very great value. It is alleged that the defendant the Inland Empire Implement & Hardware Dealers’ Association is an association composed of local dealers, some of whom are dealers in hardware,, and not engaged' in the business of selling buggies and wagons or farm implements, while other members of the association are so engaged; that the membership of the association is composed of numerous firms and corporations of various counties in eastern Washington; that said association has raised a fund of $10,000, and placed it in the hands of defendant Evenson, to be used for the purpose of preventing complainants selling buggies and wagons in eastern. Washington, and for several weeks last past complainants have had about 20 employés so engaged; that the method adopted by complainants is to drive through the rural districts, hauling from two to four vehicles, and stopping at farmhouses where customers may probably be found, and offering the same for sale; that all of the vehicles so offered are manufactured in the state of Iowa, and shipped to this state in car-load lots, and that before any of said buggies and wagons are offered for sale complainants pay the taxes thereon, and comply in all respects'.with the laws of the state of Washington; that the defendant the Inland Empire Implement & Hardware Dealers’ Association, through the defendants Eucas, Evenson, and Hay, has, in pursuance of the policy of the association, and in accordance with the instructions of the membership thereof, unlawfully and maliciously interfered with, the complainants’ business, and have threatened, intimidated, harassed, and annoyed complainants’ employés and the persons' with whom complainants were transacting business, and inter[915]*915fered with their liberty and the rights of complainants to make a livelihood, and to contract and to do business, in the following particulars: That they have various of the employés of complainants followed by employés of the defendants day and night, so that wherever one of the complainants’ employés goes he is “dogged,” sometimes by one, but generally by two, of the employés of the association; that some of said followers are armed with guns and rifles, some being unarmed; that whenever employés of the complainants undertake to converse with a farmer or other purchaser, such conversation will be interrupted by such followers, who undertake to persuade the probable purchaser from purchasing from agents of complainants, suggesting that they ought to purchase of resident dealers, who reside in the community; that such persons following are not undertaking to sell any buggies themselves, nor do they name or represent any competitor or dealer in buggies or wagons, their sole object being to prevent complainants from making sales, to the end that they may be driven out of business in the state of Washington; that after contracts of sale have been made between an agent of the complainants and purchasers, the agents of the defendants persuade such purchasers to violate such contracts and to refuse to consummate such sales; that several of such followers, at the instance of defendants, have been appointed deputy sheriffs, and that one of the agents of complainants has. been arrested under the false and malicious charge of peddling goods without a license by a person so appointed at the instance of the defendants, and in furtherance of such conspiracy; that such conduct has been carried on for several weeks, and numerous sales have been lost; that employés o f complainants have become alarmed and discouraged, and will, if such acts con-, tinue, quit the employ of complainants, and they will be unable to carry on their business; that in one instance a fist fight occurred between the salesmen of the complainants and persons so following them, and that further breaches will result; that in pursuance of their scheme the defendants have circulated false and slanderous matter regarding complainants’ buggies, by newspaper articles and otherwise, and have circulated stories that complainants are perpetrating a fraud upon their customers — all of which, it is alleged, is done for the purpose of running the complainants out of business in the state of Washington.

The allegations of the bill are not wholly sustained. As to how far the affidavits presented at the hearing do sustain the bill will appear in another part of this opinion, where the facts are discussed. The restraining order did not enjoin the defendants from publication of false reports in newspapers, as prayed, for the reason that complainants have an adequate remedy at law for that grievance, and because such conduct, if truly alleged, would not have the direct effect of preventing them from carrying on their business.

1. The first point made by defendants is that, in the absence of any threatened continuance of the acts complained of, only a cause of action at law has been stated. This contention is well made. During the argument, complainants offered an amendment, thereby supplying the allegations, the absence of which was suggested, but defendants, by their coúnsel, object to the filing of the same, upon the ground that the injunction must stand or fall by the original bill of complaint. [916]*916This would be a somewhat technical view. A refusal to consider the amendment, which, under the rules, complainants may file as of course, and to regard it as a part of the application for an injunction, would be an idle proceeding, for, if complainants are entitled to the relief which they seek at this time, the only result would be that of delay. Another application could immediately be made under the bill as amended, and if complainants are entitled to an injunction at all, they could have the aid of the court by an ex parte order, or by an application on notice. Inasmuch as the parties are before the court with full showing made-both for and against the injunction, it will be inexpedient to send them out of court, only to be recalled 'for a new hearing upon the merits. To sustain the objection would be a fruitless victory for the defendants, of temporary and transient character. Particularly should the right to amend be recognized when the proposed amendment relates to a formal matter not affecting the merits of the controversy, and concerning which counsel have not been misled. The amendment, therefore, will be permitted, and considered as a part of the application.

2. 'The next point raised is that the jurisdictional amount does not affirmatively appear. It is alleged:

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Bluebook (online)
149 F. 913, 1906 U.S. App. LEXIS 5059, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spaulding-v-evenson-circtedwa-1906.