Earle v. Gorham Manufacturing Co.

2 A.D. 460, 37 N.Y.S. 1037, 74 N.Y. St. Rep. 333
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedMarch 15, 1896
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 2 A.D. 460 (Earle v. Gorham 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
Earle v. Gorham Manufacturing Co., 2 A.D. 460, 37 N.Y.S. 1037, 74 N.Y. St. Rep. 333 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1896).

Opinion

Barrett, J.:

The defendant company has proceeded throughout" upon ant erroneous view of its rights. There never" was a forfeiture under; [465]*465its silverware mortgage. That mortgage was entirely independent of the Hormandie mortgage. The principal relation which the latter bore to the former was that it extended the original terms of payment. It did not alter any- of the other provisions or conditions, of the silverware mortgage. On the contrary, it provided that that security was not to be changed in any respect, and that the extension of the terms of payment granted by the new mortgage was in consideration of the further collateral security which that new mortgage furnished. The new notes specified in the Hormandie mortgage were substituted for the old notes specified in the silverware mortgage. The understanding was that the old notes should remain in the company’s possession, but should not be negotiated, and when all the new notes were paid, the old notes were to be canceled. It will be observed, however, that the new notes aggregated some $3,500 more than the old. This was because the company had delivered additional silverware to the extent in value of about $3,500, between the time when the silverware mortgage was given and the time of the execution of the Hormandie mortgage. Thus,, this additional silverware was not covered by either mortgage, while.' the silverware actually covered by the original mortgage was charged-with the payment of some $3,500 more than the sum with which it. had previously been charged. The defendant company contends., that there was a forfeiture under the silverware mortgage the moment the mortgagor* failed to pay at maturity any one of the-notes given upon the execution of the Hormandie mortgage. It-admits that this forfeiture did not result from the breach of any of.' the terms or conditions of the Hormandie mortgage. This admission, was compelled by the seventh condition of the Hormandie mortgage, which expressly postponed forfeiture thereunder for thirty days. after default in the payment of any of the new notes, it being con- • ceded that the note- upon which the present forfeiture is claimed was fully paid before the expiration of these thirty days. The hard doctrine which the defendant company invokes is that these thirty-days of grace, only apply to the forfeiture of the additional col- - lateral security furnished by the new • or Horhaandie mortgage. Upon this it is contended that, as the security of the old mortgage-, was not to be changed in any respect, and as the thirty-day clause is-, not to be found therein, there was a forfeiture thereunder the-[466]*466moment a default occurred in the payment at maturity of any one of the new notes. There is nothing in the original mortgage .to justify this contention. It was the clear intention of the parties, when the Normandie mortgage was given, fo limit ad interim forfeiture to the additional collateral security thereby furnished. That was deemed sufficient without disturbing the original security, or impressing .upon it an ad interim foreclosure clause. If this was not the understanding, of the parties, it is difficult to account for the plain and precise provision on this head inserted in the Normandie mortgage, and the entire absence of any such provision in the silverware mortgage.

It may he argued that the parties originally acted upon the theory that the law itself engrafted such an ad interim forfeiture and foreclosure clause upon the silverware' mortgage. The draughtsman’s phraseology, however, precludes any such theory or idea. The provision authorizing a sale upon default reads in this wise: And the said party of the first part * * * [do] covenant and agree to and with the said party of the second part * * *. that in case default shall be made in the payment of the said sum above ■mentioned, then,” etc. To aid the company in effecting an unconscionable forfeiture, we are asked tb give these italicized words a most elastic, strained and unreasonable, construction.

What is the said sum above mentioned ? The clause in which this sum is mentioned reads as follows :

Upon condition that if the said .party of the first part shall and -do well and truly pay unto the said party of the second part, their executors, administrators or assigns, the following promissory notes, to wit:
.Note dated N. Y., June 1,1893, at 6 mos. for........ $11,694 30
“ “ “ ' . “ “ “ 9 “ “ ........ 11,694 32
■“ “ “ ' “ • “ “ 12 '■ “ “ .....'.... 11,694 33
$35,082 95
then these presents shall be void.”

There are several sums' here mentioned, and there is one total sum. The sum referred to in the “ sale ” clause is clearly that total sum. The defendant would have us construe the sale clause as though it .■read the said sum, or any of the said sums above mentioned.” We [467]*467cannot insert these additional words in aid of a forfeiture. Nor does the context admit of any such amplification. The words “ the said sum above mentioned ” are again used later on in the “ sale ” clause. We cannot well give them there a different meaning. Should we give them the same meaning as the defendants ask us to give them when reading the earlier part of the clause, let us see what would result. Under the earlier phrase, construed to read “ upon default in the payment of the said sum, or any of the said sums above mentioned,” the defendants are authorized to sell and dispose of “ the said goods or chattels ” ■— all of them — and out of the money arising therefrom to retain and pay “ the said sum above mentioned ” ■—■ precisely the same words, it will be observed — and all charges touching the same ; rendering the overplus, if any, unto the mortgagor. Now, if the “said sum above mentioned” means any one of the said sums above mentioned, then it is only the one of such sums as to which there is a default which can be “ retained and paid.” The entire overplus must be “ rendered ” to the mortgagor. Surely the parties did not mean that. The defendants scarcely desire a construction which would involve foreclosure and sale to pay an installment, and the loss of the security as to the residue. But if they did not mean that in the later use of the words, they did net mean it in the earlier. They cannot mean one thing in the one connection and another thing in the other. “ The said sum above mentioned ” was not the sum' due on the first unpaid note in the default connection, and the totality of the debt in the sale and payment connection. It is plain that it meant the total sum in both connections. ■

But this is not all. The words in question occur again in the quiet and peaceable possession clause. Here it is provided that, “ until default be made in the payment of the said sum of money, [the mortgagor is] to remain and continue in the quiet and peaceable possession of the said goods and chattels, and the full enjoyment of the same.” There is not a break in the entire condition from the quotation above unto the end. The covenants as to default and peaceable enjbyment follow the formal condition directly, and are part and parcel thereof. They must all be read together. So reading them, the condition is not broken until default is made in the payment of the entire sum specified therein. Thus it is upon default in [468]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2 A.D. 460, 37 N.Y.S. 1037, 74 N.Y. St. Rep. 333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/earle-v-gorham-manufacturing-co-nyappdiv-1896.