Standard Oil Co. v. Detroit Fidelity & Surety Co.

157 N.E. 418, 24 Ohio App. 237, 5 Ohio Law. Abs. 813, 1927 Ohio App. LEXIS 613
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 7, 1927
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 157 N.E. 418 (Standard Oil Co. v. Detroit Fidelity & Surety Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Standard Oil Co. v. Detroit Fidelity & Surety Co., 157 N.E. 418, 24 Ohio App. 237, 5 Ohio Law. Abs. 813, 1927 Ohio App. LEXIS 613 (Ohio Ct. App. 1927).

Opinion

Sullivan, J.

This cause comes into this court on proceedings in error to the municipal court of the city of Cleveland, wherein that court sustained a demurrer to the petition, whereupon, the plaintiff not desiring to plead further, judgment was rendered in favor of the defendant, Detroit Fidelity & Surety Company. The parties stood in the same relationship below as they do here, and they will be referred to herein as plaintiff and defendant.

It appears that on February 24, 1923, the state of Ohio and the Ohio Contracting Company executed a contract for the construction of a certain public highway in Cuyahoga county, and in pursuance to the provisions of Section 2365-1, General Code of Ohio, the defendant executed and delivered a surety bond in behalf of the Ohio Contracting Company, in favor of the state of Ohio, among the conditions of which bond, in conformity to the provisions of above section, was the following:

“This undertaking shall be for the benefit of any ■materialmen or laborers having a just claim, as well as for the obligee herein.”

The Ohio Contracting Company executed a contract with one Colter, the essential provision of which was the hauling of materials to be used in the construction of the public highway, and with this object in view, between July 30 and September 6, 1924, Colter purchased oil and gasoline on an open account of the plaintiff, and the same was used to operate the automobile trucks in the trans *239 portation of such materials to the locality where the construction was in progress.

This action was instituted for the purpose of recovering from the defendant the sum of $706.34, and the basis of the claim is that the gasoline and oil consumed by the operation of the motor trucks, while engaged in hauling the materials for the improvement, were under the intendment of the statute “materials furnished in the construction” of the improvement.

Section 2365-1, General Code, provides that, when a public improvement is to be constructed at public expense, it shall be the duty of the public body to require the usual bond provided in the statute, with good and sufficient sureties, and with the additional obligation for the payment by the contractor for materials furnished in the construction, erection, alteration, or repair of such building, works, or improvements.

Section 2365-4 of the General Code substantially provides that the surety shall pay all lawful claims of subcontractors, materialmen, and laborers for labor performed and material furnished “in the carrying forward, performing or completing of said contract.”

It will be observed from an examination of these sections that the language of the one differs from the language of the other in that Section 2365-1 uses the language “materials furnished in the construction,” while Section 2365-4, which provides for the-form of the bond, uses the language “materials furnished in the carrying forward, performing, or completing of said contract.”

It is conceded by able counsel for plaintiff that the controlling language is contained in Section *240 2365-1, and that the change in the wording of Section 2365-4 does not materially effect any change in the construction to be given to the intent and purpose of the Legislature.

The form of the bond and its language cannot change the requirements of the obligation to the materialmen, as designated by Section 2365-1, for the reason that the section itself, under all the authorities, becomes by operation of law, if not by stipulation, a component part of the terms of the bond itself.

That the latter section and the former section with respect to this material stipulation must be taken together in considering the intent is unquestionable, but it is only in the light that it sheds upon the question as a whole that it can be considered. It is well settled that the legislative intent is only gathered from all the provisions of the law bearing upon the subject-matter, and it is against reason to construe the language in question by selecting independent and isolated passages. Inasmuch, however, as the passages in question reach the entire subject-matter of the controversy, the rule of isolated passages does not apply to the case at bar.

Proceeding to construe the language in question, and giving the assured the benefit of a liberal construction thereof, we are first met with the proposition whether the gasoline and oil actually and physically enter into the composition of what is known as the construction of the highway improvement. Is the gasoline or oil an element or ingredient of the improvement? Are they elementa of material, physically connected with the formation of the structure constituting the public im *241 provement? The answer necessarily is in the negative. A disintegration of the elements composing the improvement would not reveal the presence of gasoline or oil, and consequently the gasoline and oil do not enter into the construction of the improvement, because they form no part thereof.

Now let us consider whether there is any relationship between the elements forming the composition of the improvement and the oil and gasoline deposited and used in the automobile truck itself. Clearly, the purpose of the oil is to lubricate the mechanism, of the truck so that it will preserve the parts and render locomotion possible. The gasoline is used because it is the power which operates the truck and makes it possible to transport the material to be incorporated in the public improvement. When the parts are lubricated and the gasoline tank filled, the purposes of both are achieved, and then and there end. Thus there is no direct relationship between the component parts of the improvement and the oil and gasoline in the truck. There is no nexus between these ele-' ments contained in the truck and the ingredients', composing the improvement. Hence they do not enter into the construction thereof, and it cannot be said that the Legislature in the language used in the statute ever intended that the power neces-: sary to move the truck and transport the materials was material that entered into the construction of; the improvement. Had it so intended it is reason-; able to conclude that it would have used language specifically conveying such an import, for, it being obvious that there is no physical connection between the two, it would require specific language in the act itself to warrant an interpretation that *242 could be reached only by doing violence to the natural and orderly course of common sense and logic. Using the rules which reasonable persons apply to the ordinary affairs of life, no conclusion could he reached that would establish the oil and gasoline as material entering into the construction of the improvement.

In an able and exhaustive brief, counsel for the Standard Oil Company cites the case of State ex rel. Hilane Garage & Machine Co. v. U. S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 10 Ohio App., 141, from which we quote:

“A surety upon the bond of a contractor for road improvement, given under Section 1203, General Code (106 O.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Mountaineer Euclid, Inc. v. Western Casualty & Surety Co.
250 N.E.2d 768 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1969)
Kline v. Federal Insurance
152 N.E.2d 911 (Miami County Court of Common Pleas, 1958)
Pneucrete Corp. v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.
46 P.2d 1000 (California Court of Appeal, 1935)
H. R. Hayes Lumber Co. v. McConnell
146 So. 14 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1932)
Southern Gas Line, Inc. v. Dixie Oil Co.
133 So. 181 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1931)
Red River Const. Co. v. Pierce Petroleum Corporation
115 So. 752 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1928)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
157 N.E. 418, 24 Ohio App. 237, 5 Ohio Law. Abs. 813, 1927 Ohio App. LEXIS 613, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/standard-oil-co-v-detroit-fidelity-surety-co-ohioctapp-1927.