Davis v. Murphy

14 Ind. 158
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 29, 1860
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 14 Ind. 158 (Davis v. Murphy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. Murphy, 14 Ind. 158 (Ind. 1860).

Opinion

Worden, J.

Davis brought suit against Murphy upon a contract, which is set out as follows, viz.:

“I, Joel Murphy, have this day bought of Nathan Davis, all the wheat he raises this season on his home farm, except enough for his bread and seed-wheat, for which I agree to pay one dollar, in good State Bank of Indiana or Ohio State Bank paper money, at the time of delivery, at Millville, Henry county, Indiana, which is to be between the first day of August and 10th day of September next. I agree to furnish a sufficient number of sacks at Millville when requested, by mail, and one week’s notice before the wheat is to be threshed. This 23d day of June, 1857.

' [Signed] “ Joel L. Murphy.”

The complaint avers that the words “per bushel” were, by mistake of the draftsman, omitted and left out after the words “one dollar,” contrary to the agreement and purpose of the parties. It it averred that the plaintiff raised on his home farm that season three hundred and twenty bushels of wheat, over the 'amount required by him for bread and seed; and that after giving notice, &c., he did, on the 8th of September, 1857, haul To said Millville, and had ready to deliver to the defendant, the wheat, and then and there requested him to receive the same and pay him therefor according to the agreement, but the defendant refused and still refuses so to do; and that the plaintiff still has the wheat ready to deliver to the defendant if he will receive the same. There are other averments in Ihe complaint not necessary to be here noticed.

The defendant answered, amongst other things, as follows : “ That at the time of making said agreement, to-■wit, on, &c., the wheat spoken of in said agreement was [159]*159unripe and not matured, but green and growing on the farm of said plaintiff’; that before said wheat ripened or matured, it was stricken with the rust, and otherwise blasted and injured to such an extent that the same never filled or properly matured, but was harvested and threshed, and hauled to said Millville by said plaintiff, in a shriveled, blasted, and unmerchantable condition; that the defendant had no knowledge of the condition of said wheat until after the same was so hauled to said Millville by the plaintiff’; that he refused to receive and pay for said wheat, because of its unmerchantable and unsaleable condition as aforesaid.”

To this paragraph of the answer the plaintiff demurred, but the demurrer was overruled, and he excepted. There were other pleadings in the cause; but the above present the question upon which the case turns. Judgment was entered for the defendant.

In order to test the correctness of the ruling on the demurrer, it is necessary to ascertain what is the true interpretation and effect of the contract set out. It is contended, on the one hand, that there was an implied warranty that the wheat, when delivered, should be merchantable; while, on the other, it is insisted that no such implication attaches, and that Murphy was bound to receive and pay for the wheat, at the stipulated price, although it might be shriveled, blasted, and unmerchantable.

By the terms of the contract, Murphy bought of Davis, at the stipulated price, “all the wheat he (Davis) raises this season on his home farm, except,” &c. By this contract, Davis was not bound to deliver, nor was Murphy bound to receive, any other wheat than that which Davis should raise on his home farm that season.

“ When a sale is of particular classes and descriptions of goods generally, to be selected by the vendor, such as a sale of so many measures of com, wine, oil, or fruit, and not of any specific ascertained parcel of goods, the vendor will fulfill his contract by furnishing any goods fairly answering the description given by him. When, on the other hand, the precise article intended to be bought and sold [160]*160was- ascertained and identified at the time of the making of the bargain, the vendor must deliver the identified thing so fixed upon and ascertained, and cannot fulfill his contract by tendering and delivering anything else of a corresponding nature.” Add. on Cont., p. 228.

The contract in question being for certain specific wheat, viz., that which Davis raised on his home farm that season, his obligation required a delivery of that particular wheat, although it might be more valuable than ordinary wheat that would come up to the standard of a merchantable quality. On the other hand, a delivery of the wheat contracted for would be a discharge of his contract; and he would be entitled to the stipulated price, although the wheat fell short of the standard, unless there was an implied warranty that the wheat should come up to that standard.

The following observations of an eminent jurist on the subject of implied warranties, are worthy of quotation: “If there be no express warranty, the common law, in general, implies none. Its rule is, unquestionably, both in England and in this country, caveat emptor—let the purchaser take care of his own interests. This rule is apparently severe, and it sometimes works wrong and hardship; and it is not surprising that it has been commented upon in terms of strong reproach, not only by the community, but by members of the legal profession; and these reproaches have, in some instances, been echoed from tribunals which acknowledge the binding force of the rule. But the assailants of this rule have not always seen clearly how much of the mischief apparently springing from it arises rather from the inherent difficulty of the case. As a general rule, we must have this or its opposite; and we apprehend that the opposite rule—that every sale implies a warranty of quality—would cause an immense amount of litigation and injustice. It is always in the power of a purchaser to demand a warranty; and if he does not get one, he knows that he buys without warranty, and should conduct himself accordingly; for it is always his duty to take a proper care of his own interests, and to use all that [161]*161precaution or investigation which such case requires; and he must not ask the law to indemnify him against the consequences of his own neglect of duty.” 1 Pars. Cont. 460.

To this general rule that the law implies no warranty of the quality of goods, there are numerous exceptions; but. we are of opinion that the contract in question does not fall within any of them.

It may be conceded that on principles that are universally understood, where there is a contract to deliver a quantity of a given article, for example, a hundred bushels of wheat, a merchantable or marketable quality of the article is always intended by the parties. Howard v. Hoey, 23 Wend. 350. But the case at bar does not come within that principle. Such a contract could be discharged by the delivery of any wheat of a merchantable quality, it not being for any particular and specified wheat. The Court in that case note the natural and obvious distinction between such a contract and a contract for the future delivery of a determinate and specified article. They say: “ The common law will be found to have acted on the former rule (caveat venditor) in respect to executory sales, or more properly speaking, agreements to make sales of indeterminate things; though I do not find any case expressly holding the distinction.

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Bluebook (online)
14 Ind. 158, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-murphy-ind-1860.