Jones v. Armour Fertilizer Works
Jones v. Armour Fertilizer Works
Opinion of the Court
The Armour Fertilizer Works, a corporation, brought suit against G. B. Jones, alleging that the defendant was indebted to petitioner a stated sum of money upon certain promissory notes and written agreements set forth as exhibits. The defendant demurred to the petition generally, and to certain paragraphs of it. The demurrer was overruled, and the defendant excepted.
One of the notes sued on is dated May 13, 1910, and due De
It is insisted that the defendant, as to two- of the notes sued upon, was a mere guarantor, not primarily liable for the payment of the sums for which the notes were given until after it was shown that the notes given by the planters for the fertilizers had not been paid. This contention is clearly without merit. While the notes and the contracts exhibited in connection therewith do use the terms “guaranty” and “guarantee,” it by no means follows that
Judgment affirmed.
Concurring Opinion
concurring specially. We concur in the judgment, but not in what is said as to the notes, or in the idea that they and the original contracts, called agency contracts, alone show a right to recover against the defendant. These contracts carefully and distinctly negatived any idea of a purchase of the fertilizers by the defendant. They declared him to be an agent, and that the fertilizers were to be consigned to him for sale for the account of the Armour Fertilizer Works. He was to take cash or notes for all fertilizers sold by him, and turn over the same to the plaintiff on or before May 1, 1910 (using the contract of 1910 as typical of all of them). All notes were to be payable to the plaintiff’s order, and to be drawn to mature “not later than the maturity date of your guaranty note,” which was to be given. It was provided that “You expressly guarantee prompt payment of all notes taken in settlement for time sales made by you; and as evidence of your guarantee that we shall receive full and prompt payment thereof, and for all of said consigned goods sold by you for us upon time terms as evidenced by said notes or otherwise, you agree to execute and deliver to us on May 1, 1910, next, or sooner if required, your negotiable promissory note or notes, upon our forms, for all fertilizers delivered hereunder and not settled
It scorns clear that when the petition set out.such a contract, and a note dated May 1, 1910, and given by the defendant in pursuance thereof, it showed on its face a case of agency, with a guaranty of prompt payment of notes of the purchasers of the fertilizers, and the giving of a note by the defendant as a part of, or evidence of, such guaranty. When the plaintiff set out in his petition the contract and note, this would not alone suffice to show liability on the part of the guarantor. Under such a guaranty of payment, it may not be necessary to allege and prove inability of the purchasers of the fertilizers to pay their notes, but at least failure of prompt payment would be a necessary part of the allegation and proof. But when long after the dates stated as those of the maturity of such notes, and presumably after 'the notes of the purchasers were past due (as they were not to be made due later than'the guaranty notes), the parties came together and entered into a written contract in which they agreed that the defendant was “owing” to the plaintiff certain stated sums on the guaranty notes respectively, and made provision in regard to securing “this indebtedness,” and the petition had attached to it as exhibits not only the original contracts and guaranty notes, but also the last-mentioned contract, a case of indebtedness to the amounts so admitted was sufficiently set forth to withstand a demurrer general in character.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.