Hartwig v. Rushing

182 P. 177, 93 Or. 6, 1919 Ore. LEXIS 143
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 1, 1919
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 182 P. 177 (Hartwig v. Rushing) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hartwig v. Rushing, 182 P. 177, 93 Or. 6, 1919 Ore. LEXIS 143 (Or. 1919).

Opinion

HARRIS, J.

When Rushing bought the store with its stock of hardware he did not receive or demand from the seller a written statement under oath, containing the names and addresses of the creditors, or a statement showing the indebtedness due or to become due from the seller. Some of the merchant creditors had actual notice and assisted in invoicing the stock of [13]*13goods; and it may fairly be inferred that nearly all, if not all, the merchant creditors acquired a knowledge of what Bushing and Hartwig were doing before the invoice was completed and the stock transferred to Bushing.

It is proper to note also that after Bushing paid $4,367.34 to the merchant creditors of George Hart-wig and after the latter turned over to his creditors the $1,500 collected by him, his remaining indebtedness consisted of the Miller note, the note to his brother, and only three or four hundred dollars presumably due merchant creditors.

It is not necessary to enumerate in detail all the obstacles which contributed towards delaying the commencement of this suit, but it is enough to say that we approve the finding of the trial court that the plaintiff “has acted promptly.”

George Hartwig is insolvent and has no money or other property.

J ohnie Gertrude Bushing knew as early as the latter part of August, 1911, that her husband “was expecting or was thinking of making the deal with Mr. George Hartwig.” When asked “In the business transactions of your husband that he had not only with this man but with others, were they talked over between you, these business affairs?” she answered, “Very thoroughly Mr. Bushing went through them.” She stated also that her husband was “very confidential with” her “in reference to his business affairs,” and that she was ‘ at Aurora and was around the store a great deal when the inventory was being taken.”

It was contended throughout the trial that Johnie Gertrude Bushing loaned $5,000 to her husband before he came to Oregon and that the Cherrydale lots were [14]*14conveyed to her in satisfaction of that indebtedness. A careful reading of the whole record convinces us, however, that the trial judge who saw and heard the witnesses, correctly found that “no consideration was paid for” the Cherrydale lots by Johnie Gertrude Bushing or for the Overlook lot by Maxine C. Bushing “and that the conveyances to them were voluntary conveyances” and that Johnie Gertrude Bushing had full knowledge of all the facts surrounding the purchase of the Hartwig store.

The bulk sales law, as originally enacted in 1899, consisted of four sections and was a counterpart of a number of the bulk sales statutes which at about that time were passed by the legislatures of many of the states. Our statute was amended in 1901 and in 1905 and, as amended, was carried into the Code as Sections 6069 to 6072, L. O. L., inclusive. The act was again amended by Chapter 281, Laws of 1913; but in 1911, when George Hartwig sold the hardware store to C. C. Bushing, Sections 6069 and 6070, L. O. L., which are especially pertinent here, read as follows:

‘ ‘ Section 6069. It shall be the duty of every person who shall bargain for or purchase any stock of goods, wares, or merchandise in bulk, for cash or on credit, to demand and receive from the vendor thereof, and if the vendor be a corporation then from a managing officer or agent thereof, at least five days before the consummation of such bargain or purchase, and at least five days before paying or delivering to the vendor any part of the purchase price or consideration therefor, or any promissory note or other evidence of indebtedness therefor, -a written statement under oath containing the names and addresses of all of the creditors of said vendor, together with the amount of indebtedness due or owing, or to become due or owing, by said vendor to each of such creditors, [15]*15and if there be no snch creditors, a written statement under oath to that effect; and it shall be the duty of such vendor to furnish such statement at least five days before any sale or transfer by him of any stock of goods, wares, or merchandise in bulk.
“Section 6070. After having received from the vendor the written statement under oath mentioned in Section 6069 the vendee shall, at least five days before the consummation of such bargain or purchase, and at least five days before paying or delivering to the vendor any part of the purchase price or consideration therefor, or any promissory note or other evidence of indebtedness for the same, in good faith notify or cause to be notified, personally or by wire or by registered letter, each of the creditors of the vendor named in said statement, of the proposed purchase by him of such stock of goods, wares, or merchandise; and whenever any person shall purchase any stock of goods, wares, or merchandise in bulk, or shall pay the purchase price or any part thereof, or execute or defiver to the vendor thereof or to his order, or to any person for his use, any promissory note or other evidence of indebtedness for said stock, or any part thereof, without having first demanded and received from his vendor the statement under oath as provided in Section 6069, and without having also notified or caused to be notified all of the creditors of the vendor named in such statement, as in this section prescribed, such purchase, sale, or transfer shall, as to any and all creditors of the vendor, be conclusively presumed fraudulent and void.”

1. It is contended that the statute only applies to a “sale” as distinguished from a “barter or exchange” of personal property and that the bulk sales law applies only to transfers “for cash or on credit”; that the transfer of the store to Rushing was not a sale “for cash or on credit”; and that therefore the transaction was not in violation of the bulk sales law.

[16]*162. In legal nomenclature the term “sale” is used in a restricted and also in a broad sense. The controversy presented by this appeal does not require an attempt to determine whether the word “sale” when technically and exactly defined is confined to the restricted sense or comprehends the broad meaning. When employed in its restricted sense it means a transfer of title for money: Huthmacher v. Harris’ Admrs., 38 Pa. St. 491 (80 Am. Dec. 502). There are numerous transactions where the word “sale” must, because of the very nature of the business, be given its restricted meaning, as, for example, powers of attorney and the like: Coulter v. Portland Trust Co., 20 Or. 469, 481 (26 Pac. 565, 27 Pac. 266); Colgan v. Farmers & Mechanics’ Bank, 59 Or. 469, 480 (106 Pac. 1134, 114 Pac. 460, 117 Pac. 807); Mora v. Murphy, 83 Cal. 12 (23 Pac. 63). When used in its broad sense the term “sale” includes the transfer of personal property for a consideration estimated in money. There are many authorities which define a sale of personal property as the transfer of a chattel from the seller to the buyer for a price, or a consideration estimated in money; and consequently under that definition if property is1 taken at a fixed money price, the transfer is a sale whether the fixed money price is paid in cash or iu goods. A barter or exchange of properties occurs where one article is exchanged for another, no price in money being fixed upon either: 35 Cyc. 25, 40; 17 Cyc. 830; 1 Mechem on Sales, §§ 1 and 13; 23 R. C. L. 1185, 1186; Picard v. McCormick, 11 Mich. 68; Huff v.

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Bluebook (online)
182 P. 177, 93 Or. 6, 1919 Ore. LEXIS 143, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hartwig-v-rushing-or-1919.