Ahuna & Alona v. Kauahikaua
Ahuna & Alona v. Kauahikaua
Opinion of the Court
OPINION BY
The bill was filed June 18th, 1876, setting forth that the plaintiffs had purchased from the defendants on the 27th day of May, 1876, all their growing crop of rice at $1.95 per 100 pounds — $800 to be paid on the 1st day of July which was
The plaintiffs bring into Court the $300 in money, and offer to- have executed any obligation securing the payment of the amount which may be found due when the rice shall be harvested, and the weight ascertained.
To this bill defendants demurred alleging want of equity jurisdiction, and upon the demurrer being overruled, no exception was taken, and answer was made, in which there was no further exception taken to the jurisdiction. „ But the defendants say that the reason of refusing to deliver was not the advance in rice, but because that one of the defendants had had a previous transaction with one of the plaintiffs, and had been kept out of his money a year; that the defendants had written the letter, but expected the plaintiffs would comply with the terms of the offer contained in the letter, before a binding contract should be effected.
There was no appeal taken from the decision overruling the demurrer, nor was the question of jurisdiction raised again in the answer, but as it has been made a point in the appeal, we will consider it.
These plaintiffs have shown, as is set forth above, very good reason to believe that they would not have an adequate remedy, certainly at the time of commencing these proceedings, and that, too, exclusive of their averment that the defendants would be pecuniarily unable to respond in damages, if this crop of rice should become unavailable, as it
The fact is that the answer is not in good faith in this respect, for if it were, on being secured beyond question, they would cease to object to the performance of their contract. By their answer they admit that they declined to take the guarantee of Messrs. Chulan & Co., a well known and most responsible firm, without suggesting any other, and they moreover knew of the previous transaction with the plaintiffs as well on the day of accepting their offer as on the day when they averred that they would not deliver, and rice had, in fact, advanced in the meantime.
But the respondents say that they did not contract, but only agreed that they would contract, and when the contract was sent to them, the terms were varied. Their letter of May 27th, in the Hawaiian language translated, reads as follows:
“Ahuna, — Our rice is sold to you and Alona, at the price of $1.95 per 100 pounds, $800 to be paid in advance, the balance at five months. Bo you write a covenant for the rice, binding the names of Alona and your own; write first your name, and if we see that the paper is not written properly, we shall refuse it. The five months covenanted shall*734 begin on tbe 1st day of July, and the aforesaid $300 to be paid in advance on the first day of July of the present year.
We the company whose names appear below,
(Signed) J. M. Kauahikaua, 1 Chinese
(Signed) „ S. Kaaimanu, j characters
Certainly this shows an offer and the complete acceptance of it. The whole rice is sold for an agreed price'and terms; it requires no other names than the plaintiffs; it tells them to write a paper binding themselves. It does not require any surety, or any agreement to be signed by both parties, and merely says that if the paper is wrongly written they will not accept it, which is the same thing as one agreeing to buy a house, and the seller to make a deed, which the buyer reserves the right to refuse, if it shall not be well drawn. Wherein does this fail of completeness of a contract? Not at all; and if they did not like the form of plaintiffs’ reply (agreement) forwarded in obedience to this letter, it was their duty to point out what fault they found with it.
The paper that was sent is in the form of a mutual agreement, which was certainly unnecessary, and indicates mis-, apprehension of the requirement of the letter, but at the same time is none the worse for defendants. It reads as follows:
“J. M. Kauahikaua and S. Kaaimanu, and Leyonu, of Puheemiki, Island of Oahu, H. I., agree to sell and deliver to Ahuna and Alona, of Oahu, aforesaid, 50,000 pounds more or less of good, clear, merchantable paddy, being the growT ing crop about to be harvested, on or before the 1st day of August, A. D. 1876. And the said Ahuna and Alona agree to pay for the said paddy one dollar and ninety-five cents ($1.95) per hundred pounds; $300 to be paid in cash on the 1st day of July, 1876, anc) the balance to be paid five months from first payment, the said Ahuna and Alona giving a note*735 for said balance, after the amount shall have been ascertained, by the delivery of said paddy.
“Done at.........this......... day of June, A. D. 1876.
“Witness;-”
One of the variations indicated by counsel is that 50,000 pounds is mentioned in this agreement and is not in the letter. But it says “more or less” being the growing crop, and is in fact no different than if it had said “ the growing crop estimated at 50,000 pounds.” The other variation is “good, clean, merchantable paddy,” which words are not in the letter. These words are mercantile phrases, and in this case mean nothing further than that the paddy is to be well thrashed out and winnowed, or in other words they are to pay for paddy and not rice, straw or chaff, and if defendant did not like the words he might easily strike them out.
Then the letter of May 27th constitutes the agreement, the full and unequivocal acceptance of an offer previously made. The contract was then complete, and all the defendants required by their letter was the written statement of the plaintiffs as a memorandum for themselves of the contract of which the letter would serve ' s a memorandum for plaintiffs.
There is no reason why tb defendants should not perform the contract thus clearly, d^. jerately and effectually entered into, and accordingly the decree below is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Ahuna and Alona v. J. M. Kauahikaua
- Status
- Published