White v. Turner-Hudnut Co.

152 N.E. 572, 322 Ill. 133
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedJune 16, 1926
DocketNo. 16694. Judgment affirmed.
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 152 N.E. 572 (White v. Turner-Hudnut Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
White v. Turner-Hudnut Co., 152 N.E. 572, 322 Ill. 133 (Ill. 1926).

Opinion

Mr. Justice DeYoung

delivered the opinion of the court:

The Glasford Banner Earners’ Elevators, a corporation, instituted a suit in assumpsit in the circuit court of Peoria county against the Turner-Hudnut Company, a corporation, to recover a balance due for grain sold and delivered. The declaration consisted of the common counts, supplemented by a bill of particulars. Pleas of the general issue and payment were filed to the declaration. Two replications to the plea of payment followed. The first denied payment, and the second averred that the payments alleged to have been made consisted of charges against the plaintiff which arose out of speculations on the market price of grain; that in these transactions it was not intended that grain should be received or delivered but that both parties purposed that the resulting gains or losses should be settled by the payment or receipt of the differences between the market prices, and that the charges so made against the plaintiff were void. The defendant interposed a general and special demurrer to the plaintiff’s second replication. The demurrer was overruled and leave was given the defendant to file a double rejoinder to the second replication. The first rejoinder denied that the transactions for which credit was taken by the defendant were gambling transactions, and the second averred that the suit was commenced more than six months after a complete accounting had been had between the parties; that on the accounting the plaintiff was found to be indebted to the defendant on account of the transactions mentioned in the second replication in a sum equal to the plaintiff’s demand; that the plaintiff canceled and released its demand to the defendant, and by such cancellation and release the plaintiff paid the defendant all sums due and owing to it, and that the suit was not instituted within six months from the time of such payment. The plaintiff filed a demurrer to the second rejoinder. The demurrer was sustained and the defendant elected to abide by its second rejoinder. During the pendency of the suit the plaintiff was declared a bankrupt, and Howard White, its trustee in bankruptcy, was substituted as plaintiff. A trial without a jury resulted in a judgment for the plaintiff for $7450.91 and costs. The defendant prosecuted an appeal to the Appellate Court for the Second District and the judgment was affirmed by that court. On petition of the Turner-Hudnut Company this court granted a writ of certiorari, and the cause is here for a further review.

The Glasford Banner Farmers’ Elevators was largely owned by farmers in the vicinity of Glasford, in Peoria county, and began the business of buying and selling grain about July 1, 1919. The corporation owned three elevators: one of 10,000 bushels capacity in Glasford, equipped for loading grain into railroad cars; another of approximately 20,000 bushels capacity at Bell Landing, on the Illinois river, equipped for loading grain into boats; and a third at Mackey Landing, on the same river, which elevator, because of faulty construction, was used only a short time. The Elevators company purchased grain from farmers in the vicinity of its elevators and sold and delivered the grain through commission houses. The Turner-Hudnut Company is engaged in the commission grain business at Peoria, and, among others, operates the cash grain and futures departments. Grain handled through the first department was received by the Turner-Hudnut Company, sold on commission and accounted for to the shipper. The futures department was equipped with tickers, and a blackboard for the posting of market quotations. In that department deals were made by telegraph through agents, who bought and sold grain on the Chicago Board of Trade. Transactions in cash grain and futures were kept separately on its books. It was a stockholder in the Elevators company and was familiar with the latter’s facilities and methods of conducting business. From October 7, 1919, to June 16, 1920, the Elevators company sold and delivered grain to the Turner-Hudnut Company through the latter’s cash grain department. When the grain was delivered a statement was rendered to the Elevators company, from which its manager made entries in its books showing the date, grade, number of bushels, prices at which sold, net proceeds, and other details concerning the shipment. Forty-two of these statements, or “account sales,” as they were called, were received by the Elevators company from the Turner-Hudnut Company and were introduced in evidence. Remittances were made from time to time, and it appeared from the records of the Elevators company that on November 19, 1920, the Turner-Hudnut Company’s indebtedness to it for grain sold and delivered was $7450.91.

During the period that the cash grain sales were made, Lester A. Lightbody, the manager of the Elevators company, also dealt with the Turner-Hudnut Company through its futures department. The transactions in futures were not recorded in the books of the Elevators company, but the statements rendered by the Turner-Hudnut Company concerning them were kept by Lightbody in the files of his office. No money was paid on account of any of these transactions, and according to the books of the Turner-Hudnut Company they resulted in a loss of $7450.91 by the Elevators company. This sum was set off against the claim of the Elevators company for grain sold and delivered.

The prima facie case of the Elevators company was limited to showing the balance due and unpaid on the cash grain account. The defense showed that Lightbody, prior to July 1, 1920, had directed the secretary of the Turner-Hudnut Company to transfer the balance due the Elevators company on the cash grain account to the futures account, and that the transfer was made in accordance with Light-body’s instructions; that subsequently the Turner-Hudnut Company received a letter from the Elevators company, dated November 17, 1920, which stated that there remained due the latter a balance of $538.32, and that on the next day the Turner-Hudnut Company answered the letter and remitted the sum claimed by check. The two letters and the check showing payment were introduced in evidence. On rebuttal the Elevators company introduced sixteen statements of transactions in futures rendered it by the Turner-Hudnut Company. These statements showed purchases aggregating 168,000 bushels of corn and 10,000 bushels of oats, and sales aggregating 183,000 bushels of corn and 10,000 bushels of oats. None of the grain so bought or sold was received or delivered, and Lightbody testified that these transactions were speculative, and that the receipt or delivery of grain was not intended by either party in any of these transactions. A letter from the Turner-Hudnut Company to the Elevators company dated November 3, 1919, requesting the latter’s check for $3000 “to margin your open trades with us,” was also admitted. On surrebuttal, Thomas O’Loughlin, manager of the futures department of the Turner-Hudnut Company, testified that it was his impression when orders were received from Light-body that the Elevators company had the grain and that it was to be delivered. He admitted, however, that as a rule transactions in his department were settled on margins. He also testified that the commission houses in Chicago which acted for the Turner-Hudnut Company did not know that they were executing orders for the Elevators company. The Turner-Hudnut Company called George B.

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Bluebook (online)
152 N.E. 572, 322 Ill. 133, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-turner-hudnut-co-ill-1926.