Foley v. Schmidt
Foley v. Schmidt
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The action was one to enforce specific performance of a contract for the purchase of a gas and mineral lease or to recover $4,000 if the defendant refused to carry out the terms of his contract of purchase. Trial was to the court. The plaintiff prevailed and defendant appeals.
The controversy involved the sale and assignment of what may be termed the “Island lease.” The “island” is in the Neosho river, in Neosho county, eleven miles northeast of Parsons. It was owned by the heirs of the late R. N. Allen, of Chanute. The testimony showed that on February 18, 1919, a lease was executed by the Allen heirs to E. E. Bishop; that later Bishop assigned the lease to the Western Gas & Pipe Line Corporation; that the Western Gas & Pipe Line Corporation was indebted to the plaintiff in approximately the sum of $2,700, and that it agreed with the plaintiff that would turn over to him the “Island lease,” which he miight sell and apply $2,700 of the proceeds in settlement of its indebtedness to him; that óne S. H. Burt, of Toledo, Ohio, interviewed the plaintiff with a view to purchasing the lease for the defendant
It is contended by the defendant that the petition did not state a cause of action; that the original lease executed by the Allens to Bishop was for only the specific term of one year beginning February 18, 1919.
The lease, among other things, contained provisions that the lessee had all “exclusive rights for one year from the date hereof, to enter upon, operate for and procure oil and gas upon the following described premises ... for the term aforesaid, for the purpose above stated only and as much longer, for said purposes, as oil or gas or either of them is found, produced and marketed with
It was also objected that there was no provision in the lease for rental in lieu of the production of oil or gas in paying quantities and that there were no facts alleged showing the lease was kept alive beyond the year which terminated February 18, 1920, by any action of Bishop or his associates and no allegations that Bishop or his assigns at any time produced any oil or gas. Authorities are then cited to sustain the doctrine that the discovery and production of oil'is a condition precedent to the continuing or vesting of any estate in the lessee.
Defendant’s objections are without substantial merit.
A copy of the lease was attached to the plaintiff’s petition and there was testimony showing that the rental had been entirely paid on. the 18th of August, 1921, which left the lease in full force and effect at the time of the negotiations between the parties, the depositing in escrow of the assignment of the lease and at the time of the filing of the action.
“If plaintiffs should desire to contract for an immediate exploration, they must have that right; and if they should desire to give an oil or gas company five years in which to sink a well, upon a consideration satisfactory to themselves, and as the result of negotiations free from imposition and fraud, they must have that right. But having deliberately made a contract of the latter description, they have no right to call upon a court to declare that it is of the other kind merely because generally it might seem to be better for farmers not to encumber their lands with mineral leases given a long time for exploration, or because generally such leases do contemplate that forfeiture shall follow a failure to explore at once.” (p. 134.)
The lease in the instant case provided that upon the payment of fifty cents per acre every six months the lease could be renewed. The testimony showed that such payments had been made.
It is argued that the plaintiff’s pleadings failed to show any right, title or interest under the lease, because no assignment was alleged.
The petition alleged that a copy of the assignment from Bishop to the Western Gas & Pipe Line Corporation was attached. As a matter of fact the instrument attached was a copy of a contract of purchase. The trial was concluded on the 22d of June and the case taken under advisement. Thereafter, on the 18th of September, before the decision had been announced, the plaintiff procured leave of court to amend his pleadings, attaching a copy of the assignment, and also procured leave of court to open the case and introduce further testimony, whereupon the assignment was introduced. The case was not finally completed until December 5, 1922. The defendant appears to have requested no time to meet the issue and under the liberal practice of our state it has frequently been held that an order of the trial court permitting amendment to the pleadings or opening a case for new testimony will not be sufficient ground for reversal unless the adverse party’s rights are shown to have been prejudiced. No such showing is made here.
It is next objected that the petition showed that plaintiff was acting as agent of the Western Gas & Pipe Line Corporation, was not the real party in interest, and therefore could not recover.
The petition alleged, and the testimony showed that the Western Gas & Pipe Line Corporation was indebted to the plaintiff in a considerable sum and turned over to him the assignment with authority to sell it and apply the proceeds on its indebtedness to him. The corporation was made a party to the action and admitted these facts. Under the circumstances the plaintiff had sufficient interest
It is urged that the petition did not state any tender to defendant of a sufficient assignment or lease. The testimony showed that express authority was given to the plaintiff to put in the assignment the name of the assignee. The plaintiff claimed to have such authority and the Western Gas & Pipe Line Corporation admitted such.
It is contended that there was no meeting of minds of the parties as to the time of payment; that there was a misdescription in the lease and that the alleged contract did not satisfy the statute of frauds. There was testimony showing that during the negotiations between the plaintiff and Mr. Burt, the latter made a memorandum of the amounts and dates of payment; that these figures could have referred only to the lease in question. There was also the letter from Mr. Burt to the plaintiff in which he asked the plaintiff to “get the leases from the Western Gas & Pipe Line Corporation and write or wire me and we will mail check for $1,000 as per our agreement.” Burt wired plaintiff inquiring if these terms were accepted. Plaintiff wired back that they were. The defendant, through Mr. Burt, mailed the plaintiff a check for $1,000, and the plaintiff deposited the assignment in the bank in accordance with the terms of the agreement. Many other objections were made concerning which neither time nor space permits a discussion. Some of them touching the pleadings reach the degree of delicately refined theories of technicality.
In Brooks v. Weik, 114 Kan. 402, 408, 219 Pac. 528, in discussing the sufficiency of a petition, it was said:
“Ordinarily, it is enough fairly to inform the defendant what the suit is about, and even if inconsistencies appear, they are not fatal if, on any theory, the plaintiff states a cause of action. Whether or not the petition is technically good becomes less material after a full trial on the merits in which the subject of controversy has been thoroughly investigated.”
We have given consideration to the various complaints of the defendant but find no error which would warrant a reversal.
The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.