Hix v. Edison Electric Light Co.

10 A.D. 75, 41 N.Y.S. 680, 75 N.Y. St. Rep. 1067
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedNovember 15, 1896
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 10 A.D. 75 (Hix v. Edison Electric Light 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
Hix v. Edison Electric Light Co., 10 A.D. 75, 41 N.Y.S. 680, 75 N.Y. St. Rep. 1067 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1896).

Opinion

Patterson, J.:

Prom the somewhat confused record of the colloquy between the court and counsel, just preceding the conclusion of the trial of this cause, it is difficult to ascertain the precise ground upon which the case was taken from the jury and a verdict directed for the defendant. The learned judge, however, stated that, if he took the view of the plaintiff's counsel, there would be a question for the jury whether after all the plaintiff was a promoter of the Philadelphia company, but that under the view which he (the judge) took (which view is not stated) that question was immaterial to the determination of the cause. An examination of the whole record discloses that the underlying question involved in the case is whether the plaintiff was entitled to five per cent of the increased capital of the Philadelphia company as the person referred to as “ present promoter ” in the memorandum made by Johnson, and which contains the written evidence of the contract between the defendant company and Hix, for, as we understand the issues and the evidence, the case comes down to a consideration of that question.

The action was brought' by Mr. Hix to recover upon a contract of employment. He specifically declares upon such a contract in his complaint, stating the nature of that employment as being to pro[78]*78mote and organize a corporation for electric lighting in Philadelphia, for which his compensation, it is alleged, was to be fifteen per cent of the stock of a company capitalized at $1,000,000, and in addition thereto five per cent of the stock upon any future increase of that capital. That the fifteen per cent was given him, or passed through his hands, is admitted, and his claim now is for five per cent upon an aggregate of $746,000 of increased capital of that Philadelphia corporation.

It appeared in evidence that the plaintiff had rendered service to the defendant from time to time in the organization of electric light companies in various cities of the United States, which companies were to conduct business as licensees of the defendant, and that after a protracted negotiation conducted by him respecting the formation of a company in Philadelphia of the character referred to, Mr. Johnson, the president of the defendant, signed and delivered to him a writing or memorandum which he introduced in evidence as the basis of his claim.

There can be no doubt, we think, that that memorandum constitutes the contract between the parties. It was so treated by the plaintiff, who, insisting that it was such, made strenuous efforts to have it admitted in evidence, and succeeded in so doing only upon producing proof to show that Mr. Johnson, who signed it on behalf of the defendant, was authorized to execute and deliver it as the ■representative of the defendant. The principal effort in the case made by the plaintiff was to get that memorandum before the jury. If it were not the contract, it was certainly nothing constituting documentary evidence binding the defendant, but was at best amere memorandum made by a witness. But it was made by Johnson, the president of the defendant; it was a reduction to writing of what was substantially agreed upon between Hix and Johnson respecting the matter covered by it. It was signed by the party to be charged; was delivered to the person who seeks to enforce it, and was accepted by him as the final evidence of what lie had agreed to with the president of the defendant. That memorandum, referring to the transaction of the organization of the Philadelphia company, is divisible into two branches, the first, so far as the plaintiff is •concerned, relating to the compensation to be paid him for his services. It recites, in substance, that of the $1,000,000 of which the capi[79]*79tal of the Philadelphia company was to consist, the Edison company, the defendant, was to receive thirty-five per cent, thirty per cent in stock and five per cent in cash; the “promoters ” to receive ten per cent in stock, a rebate from the Edison company’s thirty-five per cent; Hix to receive five per cent from the Edison company’s twenty-five per cent. The second branch of the contract refers to future increases of capital, and the memorandum states, in substance, that thirty-five per cent of the stock of such future increases is to go to the defendant and a rebate of five per cent therefrom to “ present promoter.” The only ground upon which the plaintiff can claim the five per cent must be that it was he who was referred to as the “ present promoter ” in this second branch of the memorandum. Not necessarily that he was the “present promoter,” apart from and in addition to his agency proper, but that he was the present promoter as that function — whether performed directly or through others — was embraced within his agency. It was considered by the coiu't on the trial that this memorandum was not sufficiently clear in itself to indicate who was meant by the words “present promote),” and, therefore, with the consent or acquiescence of both parties, evidence was taken of the surrounding circumstances under which the contract was executed, and of what was done under it, in order that construction might be given to it in the light of such circumstances. It would seem from the phraseology of this memorandum that in its first branch a distinction in terms is made between those who came under the designation of promoters and Hr. Hix; for the compensation to be. given under that first branch is specifically divided between two separate parties, namely, promoters, as contradistinguished from Hr. Hix, and the latter, and Hr. Hix testified that Jameson and his friends were “ promoters.” The promoters were to receive ten per cent as distinct parties, so designated, and Hr. Hix was to receive five per cent; so that, if the ordinary construction is to be given to the second branch of the contract, with reference to “present promoter,” it would seemingly recognize the same distinction as that made in the first branch or subdivision of the contract relating to compensation. Even as the term is used in the first branch of the memorandum, however, it does not follow that the promoters were persons with whom the company was independently contracting. It is, in fact, clear that [80]*80they were not. The plaintiff’s claim is that the contract was with him, and with him alone, and that the agreement was to pay him, and him alone — that the contract by this form of expression merely characterized the use to which a part of the payment was required to be put by the plaintiff. The learned judge having allowed, and, as we think, properly, this explanatory evidence, it becomes necessary to scrutinize the record to ascertain whether there was anything to be left to the jury concerning that question of fact. The rule is not disputed that where evidence of the character referred to is admitted to aid in the explanation and interpretation of the terms of a contract so that they may he given effect, if there is no real conflict in'the evidence, the question of the construction of that contract still remains one of law for the court, and the rule' is also conceded that where on the parol evidence there is an overwhelming preponderance, a verdict contrary thereto should be set aside by the court — but the jury must pass on the evidence where there is a conflict. The effort on the part of the plaintiff here was to show that he really was the promoter within the meaning of the second branch of the contract, or, if not the only one, that he was associated with other people in the enterprise as one of the promoters, and hence was entitled to recover as the party to whom the five per cent was to be paid.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
10 A.D. 75, 41 N.Y.S. 680, 75 N.Y. St. Rep. 1067, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hix-v-edison-electric-light-co-nyappdiv-1896.