National Tube Works Co. v. Ring Refrigerating & Ice Machine Co.

22 S.W. 947, 118 Mo. 365, 1893 Mo. LEXIS 160
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedDecember 4, 1893
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 22 S.W. 947 (National Tube Works Co. v. Ring Refrigerating & Ice Machine Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Tube Works Co. v. Ring Refrigerating & Ice Machine Co., 22 S.W. 947, 118 Mo. 365, 1893 Mo. LEXIS 160 (Mo. 1893).

Opinion

Maceaklane, J.

This is an appeal by plaintiff from a judgment in favor of defendant on a plea in abatement to an attachment suit.

Plaintiff commenced its suit on the twenty-fifth day of October, 1890, on several notes and bills made and accepted by respondent between August 6, 1890, and October 4, thereafter, and in aid thereof filed an affidavit and sued out an attachment, which was levied upon the property of defendant, and to which the plea in abatement was filed. The grounds of the attachment were that the defendant had fraudulently conveyed and assigned its property and effects and was about fraudulently to convey its property and effects so as to hinder and delay its creditors, and also that the debt sued for was fraudulently contracted on the part of the defendant.

The evidence tends to prove that John Ring owned three letters patent of the United States. Early in the year 1879, Ring and his associates, John H. Tracy, Frank K. Ryan, A. R. Payinhaus and James J. Campbell organized defendant corporation with a capital of $100,000 and themselves constituted the first board of directors. The agreement among these promoters was that said letters patent should be transferred by Ring [372]*372to the corporation for $60,000 of the full paid stock of the company and in full for said patents. Of the remaining $40,000 of the capital stock $20,000 was to be sold for cash and $20,000 was to remain in the treasury of the company. No cash was paid into the hands of the board of directors when the corporation was organized, though the certificate filed showed that the whole capital stock had been paid up in lawful money of the United States.

The evidence tended further to prove that after the organization of the corporation, $80,000 of paid up capital stock of the company was issued to Mr. Ring in consideration of the assignment of the letters patent, and $20,000 was placed in the treasury of the company for sale and which was to provide the operating capital.. Part of this was afterwards sold. From its organization John Ring was president and general manager of the company.

The evidence tended to prove, though conflicting, that in December, 1889, Ring, representing defendant, with a view of obtaining a line of credit with plaintiff, stated that there was $20,000 in cash in the treasury of the company, when in truth there was nothing. That on the faith of this representation plaintiff gave defendant the credits which are the foundation of the suit.

The evidence also tended to prove that Ring borrowed of Tracy the sum of $10,000 for which he gave his individual note and a portion of his stock in the corporation as collateral security, and that the money borrowed went into the corporation to the credit of' Ring and was applied in liquidation of his indebtedness to the company. On August 6, 1880, the $10,000 so borrowed from Tracy was included in a note made to Tracy by defendant and this note amounting to $20,000 was secured by the deed of trust on the property of defendant. The note from Ring to Tracy was there[373]*373upon canceled. This deed • was not recorded until October 6, 1890. A mortgage was also given to Tracy on the letters patent to secure a note of $5,000.

At the request of the plaintiff the court gave the usual instructions in such cases to the effect that if, at the date of the attachment, defendant had concealed, removed or disposed of its property or effects with the intent to hinder and delay its creditors, or was about to do so, the verdict should be for plaintiff.

The court on its own motion instructed the jury that, if defendant represented to plaintiff before contracting any of its indebtedness that it had on hand in its treasury $20,000 of its own funds and that said representation was untrue, but was believed by plaintiff and the credits sued on were given in reliance of their truth, then the debt sued for was fraudulently contracted and the verdict should be for the plaintiff.

The third instruction given at request of defendant was as follows: “If the jury believe from the evidence that the mortgage upon /the real estate and buildings, machinery and apparatus of the defendant, dated August 6, 1890, the chattel mortgage given to Tinker and the mortgage covering the patents, were all given in consideration of, and to secure the payment of, moneys actually advanced or loaned to the defendant, then neither of said conveyances were fraudulent, although the effect of their having been given was to give a preference or preferences to certain creditors over other creditors of the defendant.”

The fifth instruction was as follows: “The court instructs the jury that if they believe from the evidence that the moneys secured by the deed of trust dated August 6, 1890, which has been read in evidence were moneys which had actually been loaned to the defendant by John.H. Tracy, or by him to John Ring, and used by Ring in the business of the company, then [374]*374it was lawful for the defendant to execute this deed of trust, and such deed was valid, even though it was not put on record by Tracy until shortly before this suit was begun. The law did not require the deed to be recorded and it was valid, unless it was given without consideration and merely for purposes of fraud, or was kept from record as a part of a design to work a fraud upon creditors of the corporation.”

The seventh■ instruction was as follows: “The court instructs the jury that an insolvent debtor has the right to prefer or secure one creditor to the exclussion of all other creditors, and that a ' conveyance by way of preference or security, made in good faith and merely to prefer or secure is valid, although the effect of it may be to postpone the demands of other creditors, or, in the language of the attachment act, to ‘hinder or delay’ such creditors. Before such a conveyance can be found to be. fraudulent, within the meaning of the statute, it must have been proven to have been given not for the purpose of preference or security merely, but to preserve a secret use for the debtor or create for such debtor a secret estate in the property in fraud of the Tights of creditors not preferred or secured.!’

Plaintiff asked and the court refused to give instruction B as follows: “The court instructs the jury, that if they believe, from the evidence, that $10,000 of the debt secured by the deed of trust given by the defendant to John H. Tracy’s trustee^ was for a loan made by said Tracy to John Ring individually, and secured by shares of stock in the defendant corporation, in April 1890, and that thereafter, by connivance between said Ring, or Tracy, and the directors of the defendant corporation, said stock was surrendered to said Ring, and said$10,000 was included in said deed of trust, then said deed of trust was a fraudulent conveyance, in that it would tend to hinder and delay cred[375]*375itors, and the jury should find for the plaintiff.”

The action of the court in giving and refusing these instructions constitutes the errors complained of.

I. Questions of fraudulent preferences given by a debtor in failing circumstances to one or more creditors to the exclusion of others usually arise in contests between the creditors themselves. In such contests in order to defeat the preference it must be shown that the preferred creditor was a party to the fraud of the debtor or participated with him in committing it. Fraudulent intent on the part of the debtor alone is not sufficient to defeat the preference.

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Bluebook (online)
22 S.W. 947, 118 Mo. 365, 1893 Mo. LEXIS 160, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-tube-works-co-v-ring-refrigerating-ice-machine-co-mo-1893.