Bowdoin v. Alabama Chemical Co.
Bowdoin v. Alabama Chemical Co.
Opinion of the Court
The two questions presented for decision are: (1) Whether a contract of sale of commercial fertilizers made without the seller’s first having taken out a license as required by the statute is void; and (2) if it is' void, did the contract in this case between. Austin & Gentry and the Alabama Chemical Company or the Dothan Chemical Company create the relation of principal and agent as regards the sale of the fertilizer in question?
The codification of the Act of August 14, 1907, with section 2 thereof made section 25 of the Code of 1907, and with the omission therefrom of section 378 as it formed a part of the Code of 1896, does not show that the provisions of said section 25 were intended primarily for raising revenue, and not for the purpose of protecting the public in the purchasing of commercial fertilizers. Nor does the insertion in the Code of 1907 (as section 6884) of the provision of the act, making it a misdemeanor to sell or exchange commercial fertilizers without having obtained a license from the Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, as provided by law, show that the statute in question was framed for revenue purposes only. On the other hand, it is obvious therefrom that the purpose was to protect the public, as we have stated. When the codification of the several provisions of the act was completed, finding appropriate place in article 2, c. 2, § 6884, a complete system for the regulation and sale of commercial fertilizers' was provided, with the specific intent of protecting the public from thé buying of worthless, comparatively worthless, or deleterious substances sold as commercial fertilizers. Talladega Fert. & Mfg. Co. v. Farmers’ Union Warehouse Co., supra.
That at the time of said sale Austin & Gentry Lumber Company was “acting for Alabama Chemical Company, and that said fertilizers belonged to the said Alabama Chemical Company, and that the said Austin & Gentry Lumber Company had a contract with the said Alabama Chemical Company to sell said fertilizers for it and on its account, and under contract the note or notes given therefor were to be transferred and assigned to the said Alabama Chemical Company, and the plaintiff avers that the said Alabama Chemical Company had a license issued by the commissioner of agriculture and industries to sell fertilizer in Alabama.”
The third replication was in like words, with the exception that the Dothan Chemical Company is averred to have been the principal for whom Austin & Gentry Lumber Company acted as agent in making said sales. There was no error in overruling the demurrer thereto.
Under this pleading it was a question of agency, to be determined from the evidence submitted on the issue.
The Judgment entry as to waiver of exemptions is as follows:
“And it appearing to the court that in the note the foundation. of this suit the defendant waived his right of exemptions under the Constitution and laws of the state of Alabama, it is ordered that the defendant he allowed no exemptions as against this judgment and the execution to be issued thereon, and the clerk will indorse such waiver of exemptions on the execution in this cause.”
Corrected and affirmed.
Addendum
On Application for Rehearing.
Under the construction given the contract by the trial court and concurred in by us, the contract and the fertilizer license in question were properly admitted in evidence, and the jury were properly instructed by tbe trial court in that part of the oral charge to which exception was reserved.
The application for a rehearing is denied.
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