Kellogg v. Malick

103 N.W. 1116, 125 Wis. 239, 1905 Wisc. LEXIS 158
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJune 23, 1905
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 103 N.W. 1116 (Kellogg v. Malick) 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
Kellogg v. Malick, 103 N.W. 1116, 125 Wis. 239, 1905 Wisc. LEXIS 158 (Wis. 1905).

Opinion

KjsRwth, J.

1. Tbe question respecting tbe rule of damages raised by tbe first assignment-of error involves tbe main controversy in tbis case. Tbe court below found tbat, as a result of tbe breach of tbe covenants in tbe lease from defendant to plaintiffs to fumisb pasture and feed for plaintiffs’ cattle, plaintiffs were entitled to recover for depreciation of cattle, $1,500; expense for feeding, $330; loss on butter product, $1,486.28 ; loss on milt product, $192; and tbe question arises wbetber sucb damages were properly recoverable in tbe action. It is established tbat under tbe lease tbe pasture was to be furnished and tbe feed raised upon tbe farm leased. It is also undisputed tbat plaintiffs were well acquainted with tbe premises, and discovered about tbe time they took possession tbat tbe pasture was insufficient and tbat their cows were running down, but afterwards, on June 30th, put on tbe farm an additional herd of seventeen bead of cattle; tbat they, under tbe lease, bad one year from date thereof to provide themselves with 100 cows, tbe rent which they were to pay under tbe lease being in proportion to tbe number of cattle they bad upon tbe farm; tbat defendant acted in good faith and believed tbe premises would furnish sufficient pasture for 100 bead of cattle; tbat be was to clear more land for pasture and feed, and did some clearing during tbe season, and prepared tbe same for pasture and feed, but, tbe season being dry, tbe seeding did not catch well or produce very substantial pasture. Tbe plaintiffs continued in possession from about tbe date of tbe lease, April 22, 1901, until February 10, 1902, during all of which time their cows were depreciating in value and damages accruing. Tbe general rule with respect to tbe measure of damages in actions upon contract laid down in tbe leading case of Hadley v. Baxendale, 9 Exch. 341, is referred to with approval by tbis court in many cases, and, among others, Hinckley v. Beckwith, 13 Wis. 31; Cockburn v. Ashland L. Co. 54 Wis. 619, 621, 12 N. W. 49; Shepard v. Milwaukee G. L. Co. 15 Wis. 318; Richardson v. [246]*246Chynoweth, 26 Wis. 656; Chapman v. Ingram, 30 Wis. 290; Ingram v. Rankin, 47 Wis. 406, 2 N. W. 155; Guetzkow Bros. Co. v. A. H. Andrews & Co. 92 Wis. 214, 66 N. W. 119; Gross v. Heckert, 120 Wis. 314, 97 N. W. 952. Under tbis rule tbe damages which can be recovered for breach of contract are such as may fairly and reasonably be considered as either arising naturally — that is, according to the usual' course of things — from such breach, or such as may reasonably be supposed to have been in contemplation by both parties at the time they made the contract as the result of the breach of it. In the absence of circumstances, special or1 otherwise, brought home to the knowledge of the lessor, therefore, the damages which may be recovered in case of breach of the covenants of a lease respecting the condition of the leased premises is the difference between the value of the use of the premises in the condition as contracted to be, and the-rental value in their actual condition. 3 Sutherland, Damages (3d ed.) § 872; Pewaukee M. Co. v. Howitt, 86 Wis. 270, 56 N. W. 784; Serfling v. Andrews, 106 Wis. 78, 81 N. W. 991; Cook v. Soule, 56 N. Y. 420; Long v. Gieriet, 57 Minn. 278, 59 N. W. 194; Allendorph v. Banks, 8 Kan. App. 219, 55 Pac. 488; Lightfoot v. West, 98 Ga. 546, 25 S. E. 587; Jackson v. Farrell, 6 Pa. Super. 31; Wayne v. Lapp, 180 Pa. St. 278, 36 Atl. 723; Leick v. Tritz, 94 Iowa, 322, 62 N. W. 855; Taylor v. Lehman, 17 Ind. App. 585, 46 N. E. 84, 47 N. E. 230. And if the contract be made for a particular use by the lessee, the rental value for that use will be the standard by which damages may be awarded. 3 Sutherland, Damages (3d ed.) § 872; Bien v. Hess, 102 Fed. 436, 42 C. C. A. 421.

The rule of damages laid down in the foregoing cases and' many others which might be cited clearly applies to the caáe-before us, unless it can in some way be taken out of the general rule by circumstances, special or otherwise, known to-both parties at the time the lease was made; and it will not [247]*247do that such special circumstances came to the knowledge of the lessor after the execution of the lease. Bradley v. C., M. & St. P. R. Co. 94 Wis. 44, 68 N. W. 410. As we understand the argument of counsel for respondents, some importance is attached to the finding that they were unable to procure other pasture or feed, so as to prevent the damages which resulted. Whether it would cut any figure even if it were known to both parties at the time of execution of the lease that other pasture could not conveniently be secured it is unnecessary to consider, because there is neither finding of fact nor evidence that any such circumstances were known to defendant at the time as would take the case out of the general rule. All the cases cited by counsel for respondents are where the damages recovered were the natural and proximate result of the breach, and, in the light of circumstances known to both parties at the time of making the contract, might reasonably be supposed to have been in contemplation of the parties as the probable result of a breach of it. We will refer to a few of them: Hinckley v. Beckwith, 13 Wis. 31, is put upon the express ground that the damages recovered were certain in their nature and in respect to the cause from which they proceeded, and were fairly in the contemplation of the parties when the contract was made. Poposkey v. Munkwitz, 68 Wis. 322, 32 N. W. 35, is where the lessor executed a lease, knowing that he could not put lessee in possession, in order to maintain the good will of his business. This case clearly recognizes the rule in Hadley v. Baxendale, 9 Exch. 341, and places the right to recover damages upon the ground that ‘Tie knew that there was a valid, paramount .lease upon the premises, executed by himself to Wilde & Uhlig, having seventeen or eighteen months to run after the commencement of the plaintiffs term.” The lessor therefore knew, wien he leased the store, of the defect in his title which prevented him from assuring the plaintiff quiet enjoyment of the premises, and also that the store was hired for the purpose of con-[248]*248tinning the former business of the lessee, which had been established, and the continuation of which in that locality was valuable. At page 335 of 68 Wis. (32 N. W. 41) the court says:

“It is conceded that if the plaintiff had not a business already built up and established in the same vicinity, which, with its good will, could have been transferred to the store No. 411 Broadway, there would be no basis upon which to estimate the prospective value of the business which the plaintiff would have done there, had he obtained possession and carried on the business therein.”

Pewaukee M. Co. v. Howitt, 86 Wis. 270, 56 N, W. 784, was an action for rent; and under a covenant in the lease by lessor to put in a water-wheel of not less than fifty horsepower — one of only thirty horse-power having been furnished — it was held that the rule of damages in such case was the difference between the rental value of the premises with the specified wheel and the rental value without it. No allowances’ were made for prospective profits as damages, and the case was distinguished from Poposkey v. Murikwitz, supra, on the ground that it did not appear that a lite business had been built up, which might serve as a basis for allowance of such damages. So, in Raynor v.

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Bluebook (online)
103 N.W. 1116, 125 Wis. 239, 1905 Wisc. LEXIS 158, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kellogg-v-malick-wis-1905.