Berson Sydeman Co. v. Waumbeck Manufacturing Co.

212 A.D. 422, 208 N.Y.S. 716, 1925 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9473
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedMarch 20, 1925
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 212 A.D. 422 (Berson Sydeman Co. v. Waumbeck Manufacturing Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Berson Sydeman Co. v. Waumbeck Manufacturing Co., 212 A.D. 422, 208 N.Y.S. 716, 1925 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9473 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1925).

Opinion

Burr, J. :

The action is upon a trade acceptance drawn by plaintiff upon defendant and accepted by the latter. The action is thus between [423]*423the original parties to the paper in suit. The complaint alleges that plaintiff, on February 29, 1924, for value received,” drew a trade acceptance upon defendant for the sum of $20,778.78, payable on May 5, 1924, to the order of plaintiff, and that thereafter the said draft was duly accepted by defendant in writing, payable at the Bank of Manhattan; that the trade acceptance, at maturity, was duly presented for payment at the place where by its terms it was payable, and demand for payment duly made and refused, and that no part has been paid; that it was duly protested for non-payment, and notice of the demand, nonpayment and protest duly given to defendant, which has failed to pay the same. Judgment for $20,779.89 and interest is demanded.

The answer, after denying the allegation of value for which the trade acceptance was given, and denying due presentment at maturity at the place where it was made payable, alleges, both as a defense and by way of counterclaim, that the trade acceptance described in the complaint was given for and on account of the purchase price of certain merchandise upon an agreement and warranty thereinafter set forth. The answer then alleges that within a reasonable time after defendant knew or should have known of the condition of the goods, they were found not to be in accordance with the warranty, and that defendant duly notified plaintiff thereof.

It is then specifically alleged that the trade acceptance described in the complaint was given by the defendant to plaintiff without knowledge of the condition of the goods and relying upon the warranty and the agreement of sale and the full performance thereof by plaintiff; that the goods shipped by plaintiff were not and are not of the value of $20,505.38, the amount of the trade acceptance, but were and are of the value of about $10,000; ” by reason of all of which there has been a failure of consideration of the trade acceptance “ in the amount of about $10,500,” and defendant has not received any other or different consideration for such trade acceptance, by reason whereof defendant has been damaged in the sum of $10,500. It is also alleged that defendant duly performed on its part prior to any breach on plaintiff’s part, and except so far as performance was prevented by the acts and conduct of plaintiff. The answer then sets up the defense that .plaintiff is not the real party in interest.

Judgment is demanded dismissing the complaint, and for judgment on the counterclaim for defendant in the sum of $10,500, or that the claim of the defendant in said sum be deducted and set off from what claim, if any, plaintiff may establish upon the trial.

[424]*424The plaintiff’s reply admits the making.of the agreement for the sale of the merchandise (90,000 yards of sateens at twenty-two and one-half cents per yard) upon the terms alleged, namely, payable by a ninety-day trade acceptance. It also admits that no defects were discoverable in the goods while in the grey, i. e., before they were dyed. Otherwise, all the allegations set forth in the affirmative defense are denied.

Upon the- pleadings and the affidavit of the vice-president of the plaintiff corporation, a motion was made for an order striking out the answer pursuant to rules 113 and 114 of the Rules of Civil Practice, and awarding judgment against defendant in the sum of $20,779.81, or, in the alternative, if the court deemed an issue to be raised by the answer, for the sum of $10,279.89, plaintiff claiming that defendant admitted that the sum set forth in the complaint as the face amount of the trade acceptance, less, the amount of damage sustained by it by reason of the defective goods, * was due and owing. The court below was of the opinion that relief should be granted under rule 114, as in its opinion an issue was raised by the counterclaim, and directed that an order be entered striking out that part of defendant’s answer which does not form the defendant’s alleged counterclaim or set-off, and awarding judgment to the plaintiff in the sum of $10,279.89.”

It would thus appear that the court struck out the denial of the allegation that the draft was accepted by defendant for value. The fact that the breach of warranty was pleaded as a defense to the entire cause of action, as well as a counterclaim or set-off, was apparently ignored.

The order entered upon this decision fails completely to follow the opinion of the court. It directs that plaintiff’s motion be granted and that that part of the defendant’s answer as alleged in paragraphs marked ‘ Tenth,’ ‘ Eleventh ’ and ‘ Twelfth,’ of the defendant’s answer, which does not form the defendant’s alleged claim, is herewith stricken out.” Thus the order does not strike out the denial of value received found in paragraph first ” of the answer, nor the denial that the draft was duly presented at maturity at the place where it was payable, found in paragraph second.” Nor does it strike out any part of the affirmative defense of failure of consideration and breach of warranty or of the defense that plaintiff is not the real party in interest.

It, therefore, clearly appears from the pleadings that the draft was accepted by defendant as part of a contract of sale of merchandise under an express warranty. The warranty was breached, and circumstances are alleged whereby defendant’s right to recover thereon is preserved notwithstanding acceptance of the goods. [425]*425Summary judgment has now been granted for part of the face value of the draft, apparently on the theory that defendant has claimed damages for the breach of warranty in a sum less than the face of the draft and conceded liability for the balance.

The defense, in brief, is that the goods were defective and not as warranted and for that reason the consideration for the draft has failed. Such a defense may be interposed even to an action upon strictly negotiable paper, when the action is brought by the original drawer or payee against the original drawee or maker. Section 54 of the Negotiable Instruments Law provides: “ Absence or failure of consideration is matter of defense as against any person not a holder in due course; and partial failure of consideration is a defense pro tanto whether the failure is an ascertained and liquidated amount or otherwise.”

As between the original parties, the consideration of an instrument is a proper subject of inquiry, and the maker may show that the consideration has failed. This is so whether the paper is negotiable or non-negotiable. (Strong v. Sheffield, 144 N. Y. 392; Kelso & Co. v. Ellis, 224 id. 528.) In the Strong Case (supra) it was said by the Court of Appeals: “ The contract between a maker or indorser of a promissory note and the payee forms no exception to the general rule that a promise, not supported by a consideration, is nudum pactum. The law governing commercial paper which precludes an inquiry into the consideration as against bona fide holders for value before maturity, has no application where the suit is between the original parties to the instrument.”

The same rule was stated by Judge Pound in the later case of Kelso & Co. v. Ellis (supra),

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Bluebook (online)
212 A.D. 422, 208 N.Y.S. 716, 1925 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9473, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/berson-sydeman-co-v-waumbeck-manufacturing-co-nyappdiv-1925.