De Luca v. United States

The defendant interposes a demurrer to plaintiff’s petition.

The gravamen of the plaintiff’s petition consists of allegations of fraud and conduct constituting coercion and duress upon the part of the officials of the Fleet Corporation. The pertinent facts follow:

The plaintiff is a subject of Italy, and was not in America at any time during the course of the proceedings involved herein. On June 25, 1917, the plaintiff entered into two contracts with the Standard Shipbuilding Corporation of New York to construct two standard cargo steamships. The vessels were to be of 7,300 tons deadweight…