McAroy v. Wright

25 Ind. 22
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 15, 1865
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 25 Ind. 22 (McAroy v. Wright) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McAroy v. Wright, 25 Ind. 22 (Ind. 1865).

Opinion

Erazer, C. J.

This was a suit by. Wright against the appellants, upon a written contract made by the appellants, for the sale and delivery by them to the plaintiff) of $8000 worth of manufactured tobacco, some of which was then manufactured, and the balance was thereafter to be manufactured. Eor that which was manufactured (supposed to be about $1300 worth,) the price was 58 cents per pound, and for that to be manufactured 71 cents per pound for “fair bright,” and 57 cents for “ black” tobacco. The complaint alleges that the tobacco was delivered and paid for [24]*24.within the time specified in the contract; that at the making ■of the contract, the tobacco which was then manufactured was put up in tight pressed boxes, and that the residue, as it was manufactured, was put up in the same way, and that it was all delivered to the plaintiff without being examined by him. That the defendants fraudulently put in the boxes inferior and damaged tobacco, to cheat the plaintiff' by reason of which it became spoiled and unsaleable; that they .also fraudulently packed the tobacco in boxes made of green lumber, whereby it became further damaged, by' /reason of all which the plaintiff was compelled to sell it at a'lossmf $3500. That the plaintiff had no knowledge of the qualities of -tobacco,.and relied on the defendants to deliver him a good merchantable article; that they, to defraud him, brought him, while they were manufacturing for him, specimens of tobacco, which they falsely represented were the kinds they were putting up for him, by means of which he was induced to pay the contract price, and that he did not discover the fraud, nor that the tobacco was unsound, until long after he had paid therefor. That after making such discovery, he requested the defendants to take back the tobacco, and refund him the money paid, which they refused todo; that to-prevent the tobacco from‘becoming wholly worthless he was compelled to expend $272 in overhauling and repacking it.

The .first question presented is upon the action of the court .below in overruling :a demurrer to this complaint, alleging for cause the want of sufficient facts to constitute a cause of action.

As to so much of the tobacco as was manufactured when the contract was made, it must be apparent at a glance that .the complaint shows no right of action whatever. The •defendants are not alleged to have made any representations as to its quality or grade, nor is it averred that it turned out to be in any particular different from what the plaintiff ^expected it to be when the contract was made. There was mo warranty asvto its quality, and nothing appeared to have [25]*25prevented the plaintiff from examining it and knowing all about it. That it was in “ tight pressed boxes” can avail nothing as to it, for it does not appear that the plaintiff’ was thereby hindered from inspecting it. So far the rule caveat emptor is applicable to the casé.' Humphreys v. Comline, 8 Blackf. 516.

As to that portion of the tobacco which was to be manufactured after the contract was made, there are other considerations which must receive attention. It was to be either “ fair bright” or black,” or part of each grade, and the price of each was fixed by the contract. It must be understood that the tobacco was to be merchantable. How much was delivered and paid for as being of either grade is not alleged. It may all have purported to be the inferior grade, “ black,” and have been paid for at the price stipulated for that quality. Nor is there any complaint that it was not of the grade contracted to be delivered; but the grievance alleged is that it was “ spoiled, musty, rotten and unsaleable;” that this condition of the goods was caused by two circumstances, viz: the fraudulent employment of damaged tobacco in the manufacture, and the fraudulent use of boxes made of green lumber; that while the goods were being manufactured the defendants, to cheat the plaintiff, exhibited to him from time to time specimens of tobacco, alleging that they were manufacturing such stock for him, when, in fact, they were using a different kind and quality, by which means he was put off his guard, and induced to pay for the tobacco at the contract price. That these allegations made out a strong case of fraud, deliberately planned by the defendants, and successfully executed upon, the plaintiff, is quite beyond cavil, and it is averred that they thereby obtained his money. But upon the discovery of the imposition thus practiced upon him, he did not offer to rescind, by returning to the defendants the goods which had been thus fraudulently imposed upon him. But he offered to return all the tobacco which he had purchased, and demanded all the money he had paid. This1 would not be sufficient [26]*26for the purpose, and, in the absence of the fraud alleged, the complaint must, on that account, have been deemed bad. Ricketts v. Hays, 13 Ind. 181; Groning v. Mendham, 2 E. C. L., 104; Milner v. Tucker, 1 C. & P., 15, Cash v. Giles, 3 C. & P., 407; Percival v. Blake, 2 C. & P., 514; Kellogg v. Denslow, 14 Conn. 411. Indeed, in the absence of the fraud alleged, inasmuch as the tobacco was open to the inspection of the plaintiff when he received it, it was probably too late afterward to object to its quality. Humphreys v. Comline, 8 Blackf. 516.

But we think that the element of fraud in this case, as introduced by the averments of the complaint, is very important, and that other principles are applicable. To hold that accepting and paying for the tobacco, when it was open to examination on delivery, shall bar the plaintiff from a recovery, when that acceptance and payment were procured by a fraudulent artifice of the defendants, which put the purchaser off his guard, and induced him to believe that the goods were sound and saleable, would be to set at defiance every principle of reason and justice. It is true that it is not alleged in direct terms that the plaintiff was induced by the fraud to accept the tobacco, but only that he was thereby induced to pay the full price. But* we think we ought, under the code, to regard this as equivalent to an averment that he was thus induced to receive -the tobacco on the contract; for that consequence would legally result. A refusal to take it at the price agreed upon would be a refusal to accept it upon the contract, and the presumption must be that the delivery and the payment were simultaneous acts, no credit having been agreed upon.

That goods, the acceptance of which upon an executory contract is procured by the fraud of the vendor, need not be returned, to entitle the vendee to maintain his suit, is very clear upon principle. The obligation to return the goods, where it exists, rests upon the purchaser’s duty to put the seller, who is supposed to have acted in good faith iñ making the delivery, in the best condition to dispose of the goods [27]*27elsewhere, and to give him an opportunity, in some eases, to furnish other goods in fulfillment of his contract. But where the seller has practiced a fraud to get the goods into the possession of his customer, the law treats him with no favor whatever — least of all, ought the purchaser to be held under obligation to take any trouble to return a possession which has been thrust upon him- by fraud. In such a case the law offers to such a suitor justice only, without favor. He could recover, if payment had not been made, the value of the damaged goods, and no more.

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Bluebook (online)
25 Ind. 22, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcaroy-v-wright-ind-1865.