Hall v. Davis

179 N.W. 391, 105 Neb. 170, 1920 Neb. LEXIS 19
Nebraska Supreme Court·Decided October 4, 1920·No. No. 21091·Published

Opinion

Letton, J.

Action for money had and received. Plaintiff is a farmer living near Alvo. In 1916 defendant Davis Avas managing an elevator at Alvo for Elliott Lowe, the owner of the elevator. Plaintiff alleges that he formed a partnership with Davis for the purpose of dealing in grain, and that he furnished him from time to time with money, amounting in all to about f25,000, for the purposes of the business; that Davis, without his knowledge or consent, and instead of buying actual grain, paid the money to the defendants, A, R. Roberts Commission Company, and the other defend^ ,ants, in the course of illegal and gambling transactions and speculating on margins. He alleges that he was entirely innocent and ignorant of these transactions, and that defendant Roberts, having received the money illegally, must pay it back.

The defense, in substance, is that the partnership was formed for the purpose of dealing on the board of trade in [171] futures upon margins; tliat the plaintiff had full knowledge of all transactions; that the money was paid with full knowledge and approval of plaintiff; and he is estopped to maintain this action.

At the close of the testimony on behalf of plaintiff, each of the defendants made a separate motion that the court direct a verdict in his favor upon the ground, among others, that the transaction was a gambling transaction, and that the plaintiff was partieeps criminis. These motions were sustained, and from a judgment dismissing the case, plaintiff appeals.

In the brief of defendants it is said: “We will assume that Hall lost money in his grain transactions, and that ,such were gambling transactions.” Counsel for plaintiff in the reply brief says: “In our brief we argued that plaintiff’s money was lost in gambling, and now having the admission of counsel that the money was so lost we are one step nearer the actual facts in the case.” And further: “The only question in the case now is whether the plaintiff participated, in this gambling or acquiesced in it if he knew about it.” We also quote from plaintiff’s brief: “Whether, the parties honestly intended to deal in grain or use the contract as a cover for bidding on the rise and fall of its price on the market is a question of fact to be determined by what the parties did in pursuance with the contract and other competent evidence.”

It must be conceded that, for the purpose of the motion, the testimony of plaintiff must be taken as true. His testimony in chief supports in the main the allegations of his petition, but his cross-examination discloses that he appears to be possessed of a “double personality,” and we must consider his whole evidence and view it in the light of common experience. In chief he testifies that Davis had been operating the elevator at Alvo for one Elliott Lowe; that he first met defendant A. R. Roberts when Davis and he went to his office in the Terminal building in Lincoln early in 1916; that they had practically formed the partnership before they went to Roberts’ office.

[172] He also testified in answer to questions, in substance: I did not know that any one coulü deal in margins in Robert’s office; I did not understand what dealing in margins was, or that Roberts was a member of the board of trade in Chicago, or that Roberts was engaged in anything else than handling actual grain. Between June, 1916, and else than handling actual grain. Between June, 1916, and the latter part of April, 1917, I furnished the partnership about $27,000. I never bought or sold any grain myself during that time. Davis did all the business and issued all the checks. During all this time I did not know how Davis was using the money. I did not know that any of the money was used to buy grain in Chicago. I had no grain delivered and never had any money back. After the business was concluded Davis handed me the checks, drafts and other papers which are in evidence. I did not know that there was an account of Hall & Davis in the office of Roberts. During the whole time I believed that Davis was actually buying and selling actual grain. I did not know that Davis was dealing in margins.

Upon cross-examination, however, he testified, in substance, as follows: When I bought grain at Alvo for my cattle it was a cash transaction and I usually paid the whole price within a short time. I never bought grain from the elevators and paid down three cents a bushel. I had' no place to store grain except what was ordinary on a farm, and had no interest in an elevator at that time.

In June, 1916, when I was in Roberts’ office in Lincoln, the chairs in the room were arranged about like jury chairs, arranged in a body and close together. There was a blackboard on the wall. I saw the words “corn,” “wheat,” and “oats,” on the blackboard. Andy was putting figures down. I read them because I was interested in the market. There were men in the room. I do not remember of seeing the names of any months on the blackboard, but would not say they were not there. I understood this represented the price of grain, but did not know really, did not remember, if it said Chicago, St. Louis, or Kansas City. I did not understand about the board, was looking at it to [173] try and understand it. I saw the figures, hut did not read them. I might have seen that the figure was a six, and some other figures that were under the column headed “wheat,” and others under the columns headed “corn,” “oats,” “rye,” etc. I do not recall having seen “wheat,” “oats,” and “corn” on the board. I do not remember of sitting with any one. Davis was in the room. Andy was the man that looked after the board. I met him that day for the first time. (A check for $150 given by Hall & Davis is among the exhibits.) I did not buy 5,000 bushels of wheat that day. The check of $150 was given by Davis that day. I knew before we got out of town that I had done some business before we left. “Q. You knew that you had bought or sold 5,000 bushels of wheat, didn’t you? A. I knew, I don’t just remember about the number of bushels. * - * * Q. You did know, 'however, that you had done something about some wheat, didn’t you? A. Yes, sir. I knew * * * that $150 would not buy 5,000 bushels of wheat.” Wheat was worth about $1 a bushel. I did not suppose I had 150 bushels. I thought Davis had purchased 5,000 bushels of wheat and he had paid for it with this check.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Hall v. Davis, 179 N.W. 391, 105 Neb. 170, 1920 Neb. LEXIS 19 (Neb. 1920).

179 N.W. 391 (Hall v. Davis) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

H. W. Rogers & Brother v. Marriott
82 N.W. 21 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1900)
Farmers Cooperative Shipping Ass'n v. George A. Adams Grain Co.
122 N.W. 55 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1909)
Boon v. Gooch
146 N.W. 930 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1914)
Sunderland & Saunders v. Hibbard
149 N.W. 57 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1914)