Opinion
No. 13,270.
Filed June 20, 1928.
1. APPEARANCE — General Appearance — Effect of. — A voluntary general appearance of the defendant gives jurisdiction of the person, but it does not give jurisdiction of the subject-matter, such jurisdiction is always derived from the law. p. 510.
2. COURTS — Jurisdiction of Subject-Matter — How Conferred. — Jurisdiction of a court over the subject-matter of an action cannot be conferred by agreement of parties. p. 510.
3. MASTER AND SERVANT — Industrial Board's Jurisdiction. — The jurisdiction of the Industrial Board over the subject-matter of a proceeding before it must be derived from the Workmen's Compensation Act (Acts 1915 p. 392, as amended, § 9446 et seq. Burns 1926). p. 510.
4. MASTER AND SERVANT — Workmen's Compensation Act — Applicability. — The Workmen's Compensation Act applies only to Indiana employers. p. 510.
5. MASTER AND SERVANT — Workmen's Compensation Act — Foreign Employers. — Where the Industrial Board found that claimant's employer was not an Indiana employer, the board was without jurisdiction to proceed further, although the defendant had entered a general appearance, as the Workmen's Compensation Law applies only to employers of this state. p. 511.
From Industrial Board of Indiana.
Proceeding under the Workmen's Compensation Act by Wilbur E. Bishop against the International Sugar Feed Company, employer. From an order of the Industrial Board denying compensation, the claimant appeals. Affirmed. By the court in banc.
Armstrong Lanphar, for appellant.
Joseph W. Hutchinson, for appellee.
Appellant was employed by appellee, a foreign corporation, as a traveling salesman, and while working in the line of his employment in Dubois county, he suffered an accidental injury for which he made application for compensation. At the hearing, appellee having entered a general appearance, the Industrial Board found that the evidence was insufficient to establish the fact that, at the time appellant received the injury, appellee was an Indiana employer, and that, therefore, the board was without jurisdiction. From an order of the board denying compensation, this appeal is prosecuted.
There is competent evidence to sustain the finding of the board that, at the time appellant received the injury, appellee was not an Indiana employer.
It is not contended that the compensation act gives the Industrial Board jurisdiction to adjust claims for others than Indiana employers. But, see Darsch v. Thearle 1-4. Duffield, etc., Co. (1922), 77 Ind. App. 357, 133 N.E. 525; Norman v. Hartman Furn., etc., Co. (1926), 84 Ind. App. 173, 150 N.E. 416. The contention is that appellee having entered a general appearance at the time of the hearing, the board thereby acquired jurisdiction for all purposes. We do not so understand the law. Appellant has failed to distinguish between jurisdiction of the person and of the subject-matter of the action. There is no question but that a voluntary general appearance gives jurisdiction of the person, though as to the subject-matter the law is otherwise. In re Winn (1908), 213 U.S. 458, 53 L.Ed. 873; Hynds v. Fay Bros. Co. (1886), 70 Iowa 433, 30 N.W. 683; Steamboat General Buell v. Long (1869), 18 Ohio St. 521; Indianapolis, etc., R. Co. v. Renner (1861), 17 Ind. 135. The jurisdiction of a court over the subject-matter of an action cannot be conferred by agreement of the parties, nor by a general appearance of the defendant; such jurisdiction is always derived from the law. So with the Industrial Board, its jurisdiction of the subject-matter of any proceeding must be derived from the compensation act, which act, as this court has held, applies only to Indiana employers. Darsch v. Thearle Duffield, etc., Co., supra.
The Industrial Board found that appellee was not an Indiana employer at the time appellant received the injury, and having so found, it correctly held that it was without jurisdiction 5. of the cause.
Affirmed.