Cleveland & Sandusky Brewing Co. v. Demko

19 Ohio C.C. Dec. 102, 9 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 130, 1907 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 198
CourtCuyahoga Circuit Court
DecidedJanuary 14, 1907
StatusPublished

This text of 19 Ohio C.C. Dec. 102 (Cleveland & Sandusky Brewing Co. v. Demko) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Cuyahoga Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cleveland & Sandusky Brewing Co. v. Demko, 19 Ohio C.C. Dec. 102, 9 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 130, 1907 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 198 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1907).

Opinion

WINCH, J.

In this action the plaintiff seeks to enjoin the defendant, Joseph Demko, from selling any beer, ale or porter, except of the manufacture of the plaintiff, upon certain premises in the city of. Cleveland, belonging to said Demko.

From the pleadings and the conceded facts in the case, it appears that on August 3, 1905, the defendant, Joseph Demko, was the owner of said premises, which are described in the petition, and was desirous of building a saloon thereon, and for that purpose applied to the plaintiff for funds with which to pay off a small mortgage then existing upon the said premises, and to erect said improvements. The plaintiff, on said date, loaned the defendant the sum of $3,700 for said purpose, upon certain conditions and covenants which are set forth in the mortgage of said premises of said date executed and delivered by said defendant to the plaintiff. Said mortgage recites that the grantors, for the' consideration of $3,700, and other valuable considerations received to their full satisfaction from the brewing company, had conveyed said premises to the brewing company. Then follows an agreement in the following language:

‘ ‘ And we, the said grantors, for ourselves and our heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, covenant with the said grantee, its successors and assigns, that for a period of twelve years from and after date hereof, the premises above described shall not be used for the sale of any beer, ale or porter whatsoever except of the manufacture of the [104]*104Cleveland & Sandusky Brewing Company, its successors and assigns; and this covenant and agreement shall run with the land and be a limitation and restriction upon the use thereof for said period of time without reference to the conditions upon which this mortgage deed is made, and shall be held as a grant for the benefit of the said The Cleveland & .Sandusky Brewing Company, its successors and assigns, wholly independent of, and in addition to, the above conveyance of the premises by way of mortgage, and shall not be discharged by performance of any or all of the conditions and agreements, the performance of which are hereinafter stipulated as rendering the mortgage void.”

The defeasance clause of the mortgage is as follows:

“■Whereas said grantors, in consideration of the granting of said loan, especially agree to conduct a saloon on said premises known as No. — corner Woodland avenue and Goukling street, Cleveland, Ohio, for a period of twelve years, and until said obligation and debt is paid and to buy and sell thereon during said period of time, beer, ale and porter of the manufacture of said grantee, its successors and assigns, and more particularly the beer of its Cleveland or Gehring branch, and no other b'eer, ale or porter whatsoever, and to pay for same upon request of said company; and further agree that any sum now or hereafter due to grantee for beer, ale or porter delivered by it, for Dow tax or other money advanced by it, or for rent, or otherwise, shall be a lien upon said property and secured by this mortgage. And the said grantee hereby agrees to supply in its customary manner, good, wholesome and merchantable beer, ale and porter for and during said period of time at a price mutually agreed upon and made a part hereof; provided, however, that in case said grantors should fail to pay for same as aforesaid, or in case said grantors should fail to pay upon demand any installment due to grantee for rent, or for money advanced by it for Dow tax or otherwise, then grantee’s obligation to supply said beer, ale or porter shall be void at its option; in case of breach of this covenant, or any part thereof, the damages accruing to said grantee shall be a lien on said premises, and be secured by this mortgage. Any waiver by grantee of any breach of this covenant, or any part thereof, shall not be deemed a waiver as to any subsequent breach thereof. In ease any additional tax or burden shall be imposed upon the sale or manufacture of beer, ale dr porter the price agreed upon as hereinbefore set forth shall be increased by such added amount.”

The defendant used the money in the improvement of his property, as agreed, and opened and conducted a saloon thereon, buying his beer of the plaintiff company until about May 26, 1906, about which time the [105]*105Aiken law (98 O. L. 99; Rev. Stat. 4364-9 et seq.; Lan. 7248 et seq.), increasing the tax on saloons from $350 to $1,000, went into effect, and Demko then stated to the plaintiff that he could not run his business profitably any longer and pay the plaintiff the agreed price for its beer. The brewing company, however, refused to reduce the price of its beer, and Demko quit the saloon business temporarily and repaid to the plaintiff said sum of $3,700, with interest accrued; whereupon the plaintiff indorsed upon said mortgage the following:

“The conditions of this mortgage have been complied with and the same is hereby satisfied and discharged; the independent contract herein contained, limiting the use of the premises, remains in full force and effect.”

The brewing company also canceled the note secured by the said mortgage, and delivered said canceled note and the mortgage, with said indorsement, to the defendant, Demko.

On June 23, 1906, about a month after this transaction, Demko opened up his saloon again, vending therein the beer of another brewing company, whereupon the plaintiff brought its action, as above stated.

It is claimed by the defendant that plaintiff is not entitled to the equitable relief it seeks, for three reasons:

First, because the contract sued upon is without consideration.

Second, because it is against public policy, being in restraint of trade.

Third, because there is an adequate remedy at law.

We have no difficulty in finding that this agreement was upon a valuable consideration. The original advance of $3,700 by plaintiff to the defendant was sufficient consideration for his agreement to pay interest, ¡Buy beer of the plaintiff for twelve years, and not sell beer of any other brew for twelve years. Repayment of the money advanced would end the agreement to pay interest, but not the other two agreements, to buy plaintiff’s beer and sell no other beer for the period limited, and so the matter stood between the parties, when defendant asked to have his mortgage canceled. He was not entitled to a release of the mortgage, though he had repaid the loan. It still stood as security for these two additional promises. Whether these promises were then enforcible in equity, because of their executory character on both sides, is immaterial. The plaintiff released defendant from his obligation to buy its beer and the surrender of this valuable agreement was sufficient consideration for the continuance of his further agreement not to sell any other brew of beer during the time limited in the agreement.

We have no difficulty in finding- that the agreement relied upon is [106]*106not in restraint of trade. Tbis question would not be raised if the plaintiff was not in the brewing business. Restraints upon the liquor trade are favored in this state. Indeed, the constitution of the state (Sec. 18 of the schedule) authorizes the legislature to pass laws to provide against the evils resulting from the traffic in intoxicating liquors, and many laws have been passed absolutely forbidding the sale of such liquors in certain districts of the state, and have been held constitutional.

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Related

Ferris v. American Brewing Co.
52 L.R.A. 305 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1900)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
19 Ohio C.C. Dec. 102, 9 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 130, 1907 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 198, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cleveland-sandusky-brewing-co-v-demko-ohcirctcuyahoga-1907.