Cont'l Bldg. & Loan Ass'n v. Superior Court of the State in and for S.F.

This is an application for writ of prohibition directed to the respondents above named, restraining them from proceeding further with the case of the People of the State of California upon relation of George S. Walker v. Continental Building and Loan Association.

*581 The ground for the application is that the court is proceeding without and in excess of its jurisdiction. The reasoning upon which this ground is based is that the states have surrendered to the general government the power to pass “uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcy throughout the United States”; that Congress has passed such a law (1 Fed. Stats. Ann. Supp. 1912, p. 464, [30 Stats. 544, U. S. Comp. Stats. 1901, p. 3418]; that ex proprio vigore this statute suspends the operation of all state bankrupt or insolvency laws; that the state law under which the superior court is proceeding, known as the Building and Loan Commissioner Act (Stats, of California, 1911, p. 607) is such a bankrupt or insolvency law. If these positions are well taken the conclusion for which petitioner contends is irresistible, for it is conceded that petitioner is a corporation conducting a business which brings it within the scope and…