Defiance Machine Works v. Gill

175 N.W. 940, 170 Wis. 477, 1920 Wisc. LEXIS 32
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 13, 1920
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 175 N.W. 940 (Defiance Machine Works v. Gill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Defiance Machine Works v. Gill, 175 N.W. 940, 170 Wis. 477, 1920 Wisc. LEXIS 32 (Wis. 1920).

Opinion

Owen, J.

The defendant’s first position, as we understand it, is this: It appears upon the face of the notes that they were given by the Mobile Ploe Company as a part of the purchase price for certain machinery sold by the plaintiff to it, the title to which was reserved in the plaintiff until the full amount of the notes should be paid; the defendant, being the indorser of the notes, is entitled fo be subrogated [481]*481to all security which the plaintiff had; that by bringing this action plaintiff has placed it beyond its power to deliver the security which it had, to wit, the contract of conditional sale, because the commencement of this action constituted an election on the part of the plaintiff to treat,the conditional sale as an absolute one, and amounted to a waiver of the security "which it had in and by virtue of the contract of conditional sale. We pause here simply to refer to the fact that this defense was not pleaded by the defendant in his answer, lest an inference may be drawn from our silence upon the subject that the pleadings as framed present the defense urged by the defendant. However, we will not consider the question of pleading, but pass directly to the merits of the defendant's claim.

An analysis of his position amounts to this: he admits that he indorsed the notes, but claims that the institution of a suit against him to enforce his liability as an indorser releases him. That is the sum and substance of his claim, his contention being that a vendor of goods, upon a contract of a conditional sale, must elect whether he will retake the goods or sue for the purchase price, and that when he resorts to one of these remedies he waives his right to resort to the other; in this case the plaintiff, having brought an action to recover against the indorser of the note, waived all security which the contract of conditional sale afforded him, and that by such waiver the indorser is released, because he cannot be subrogated to the security which was in the hands of the creditor. This argument leads to an absurdity which scarcely calls for elucidation, and makes the undertaking of an indorser under such circumstances a rather innocuous formality. We think a court should hesitate in adopting a course of reasoning which leads to such.a farcical conclusion. However, we do not deem it necessary to pursue the subject further, because of the faulty premise upon which the conclusion must rest, and that is, that a vendor of goods upon a contract of conditional sale waives [482]*482the right to retake the goods in an attempt to enforce collection of the purchase price. This is not the law of this state. It was held in Wiedenbeck-Dobelin Co. v. Anderson, 168 Wis. 212, 169 N. W. 615, that the two remedies were not inconsistent, and that by pursuing one the vendor did not waive his right to the other. This principle is now embodied in statute law by the provisions of the uniform conditional sales act, sec. 1684-u. — 24, Stats, (ch. 672, Laws 1919). Whether the law of this state is controlling as to the rights of the parties to these notes, we must presume that the law of whatever state is controlling is the same as ours, in the absence of allegation and proof to the contrary. It will thus be seen that the defendant’s claim that the commencement of this action constituted a waiver of plaintiff’s right to retake the machinery sold to the principal debtor, Mobile Hoe Company, is not well founded, and that no basis exists for the conclusion for which he contends.

It is defendant’s second contention that it was incumbent upon the plaintiff to plead in its complaint its ability and readiness to turn its security over to the defendant upon the payment of the notes in question. In other words, that its ability and readiness in that behalf was a condition precedent to its maintenance of this action, and that, not having pleaded in this respect, the complaint fails to state a cause of action, and that the judgment finds no support in the record. The law unquestionably is that a surety who pays the debt of his principal is entitled to be subrogated to the security held by the creditor against the principal debtor. Plankinton v. Gorman, 93 Wis. 560, 67 N. W. 1128; Lowe v. Reddan, 123 Wis. 90, 100 N. W. 1038; State Bank v. Michel, 152 Wis. 88, 139 N. W. 748, 1131. It is also the law that the voluntary surrender on the part of the creditor of security which he holds against the prim cipal debtor discharges the surety pro tanto. Ibid. But in order to state a cause of action against the surety it is not necessary to allege that the security originally taken is still [483]*483retained by him and that he is ready, able, and willing to transfer such security to the indorser upon the payment by the surety of the amount of the indebtedness. In other words, it is not necessary for him to make a tender of the security in court-in order to entitle him to maintain an action and recover judgment against the surety. Subrogation is an equitable right in favor of the surety which does not arise until payment has been made. One of the very first essentials to the enforcement of the right of subrogation is proof of the payment of the debt. Until that is done the right of subrogation is a mere inchoate right and cannot be enforced. Furthermore, it is a right which may be, and often is, waived and not insisted upon by the surety. An action to enforce the right of subrogation is a well known equitable action. It contemplates a bill or complaint in which the facts entitling plaintiff to subrogation are set forth, and the making up of an issue, either of law or of fact, the same as in other actions.

In Knoblauch v. Foglesong, 37 Minn. 320, 33 N. W. 865, in an action upon a promissory note, where the answer admitted the note and alleged that the note was secured by a mortgage executed to plaintiff by defendants upon real estate belonging to them, and that after the execution of the note and mortgage they conveyed the real estate to another, who, in consideration thereof and as a part payment of the purchase price, thereupon assumed the payment of the note and agreed to pay and discharge the same; and the answer alleged defendants’ willingness to pay, and offer to pay, the note upon the assignment by plaintiff to them of the mortgage and the indorsement and delivery to them of the note, and demanded that plaintiff have no judgment until he shall have deposited in the court, to be delivered to defendants upon payment by them of the judgment, the mortgage duly assigned to them, and the note duly indorsed to them, it was held that the judgment might properly so provide. But it ■ was held to the contrary in Barton v. Moore, 45 Minn. 98, [484]*48447 N. W. 460, in the absence of all allegations in the answer showing defendants to be entitled to subrogation and a prayer for such relief. While we do not find any other authority holding to the doctrine of Knoblauch v. Foglesong, supra, we may say, in passing, that it seems to us to be proper and appropriate practice and in the interest of speedy termination of litigation and the disposition of all rights in a single action. The right of subrogation presents a justiciable issue which should be made up and brought to the attention of the court by proper and orderly pleading. In no other way can the court know that the surety insists upon the right.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
175 N.W. 940, 170 Wis. 477, 1920 Wisc. LEXIS 32, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/defiance-machine-works-v-gill-wis-1920.