Clossman v. Barbancey
Clossman v. Barbancey
Opinion of the Court
The petition states, in substance, that in September last, one Charles Huberson being at Bordeaux, in the kingdom of France, had on hand a quantity of wines and other merchandize which he intended for the New Orleans market ; that being in want of funds he obtained a loan from the plaintiff of $6557 66, for which sum he drew in his favor .a bill of exchange on himself, at New Orleans, payable sixty days after sight; and that to induce the plaintiff to make this advance, he endorsed in blank and transferred to him the bills of lading and invoices of the goods, which had already been put on board of the ship Etna, bound to New Orleans, and, inoreover, executed, in duplicate, a writing by which he authorized plaintiff’s agents at New Orleans to receive the goods, to sell a sufficient quantity of them to pay the draft even before it should fall due, and to pay over to him any balance in money, or deliver such part of the goods as might remain unsold. That, by consent, this arrangement was extended to and made to cover a further sum of $1050, advanced to Huberson by the plaintiff; that the goods were accordingly consigned to the house of J. & L. Gamier, the plaintiff’s agents, who entered them in their own names at the Custom blouse, gave their own bonds for the payment of the duties, and took possession of the goods.
The petition represents that at the request of Huberson, who had arrived at New Orleans, and had accepted the draft, J. & L. Gamier consented, in order to save expense, that he should look out for a cheap store, and should himself attend to the keeping and selling of the goods, in the same manner as a clerk of their own would have done, on his promising to make no credit sales
The petition avers that at the time of and before this surrender, the plaintiff, through his agents, had a qualified property in the goods, and was in the virtual possession of the same ; and that Hu-berson abused the limited control which he had over the goods, for the purpose of defrauding the plaintiff; that with the view of promptly thwarting the intended fraud, J. & L. Gamier, as the agents of the plaintiff, procured a sequestration of the goods, and brought suit against Huberson. That from the pleadings, which were drawn up with some hurry and under an imperfect knowledge of the facts of the case, it might be inferred that the petitioners had only a privilege on the goods, whereas, in reality, they had the ownership and exclusive right of possession thereof, which could not be destroyed by the pretended cession of them by Hu-berson, and that the petitioners have discontinued said suit.
The petitioner further represents that at a meeting of the creditors of the insolvent, Theophile Barbancey was appointed their syndic, and that in said capacity he has taken possession of the goods which had previously been sequestered; that the possession of said Barbancey is illegal, and that he had no right to take the property as syndic, because the qualified ownership and exclusive right of possession thereof were in the petitioners, and could not be ceded by Huberson to his creditors.
The petition concludes with a prayer that Barbancey may be condemned to deliver the goods and merchandize to J. & L. Gar-nier, to be disposed of according to the agreement between the parties, on condition that, after paying out of xhe proceeds of the sale all the advances or charges on them, any balance of the price
To this petitition various exceptions were filed. Of these it is only necessary to consider that which was sustained by the inferior judge, to wit: that the Parish Court, in which Huberson failed, has alone jurisdiction of this suit, against the syndic.
MoRphy, J. It is said that the opinion of the Commercial Court is based on a misconstruction of the petition, and that this action is not brought against the defendant, as syndic, but in his private and individual capacity. From the plaintiff’s own showing, and from all the proceedings before us, it is difficult to view this demand in any other light than as one against the creditors of Charles Huberson, represented* by the defendant as their syndic. The record shows that the goods now claimed were put by the insolvent on his schedule and surrendered to his creditors; and that the present plaintiffs had the goods sequestered on the ground that they had a lien on the same, and that they had reason to fear their rights would be injured by the- manner in which the property was used by Huberson. The sequestration having been set aside, the sheriff’s return shows that the goods were delivered into the possession of the defendant, who, in the mean time, had been appointed definitive syndic. The latter prayed for the sale of the goods, whereupon two creditors, Cornet, and A. Grandgey, fls, who claim as vendors a privilege on some of these very goods, prayed that the portion respectively subject to their claims might be sold separately from the other property surrendered, in order that they might exercise .their privilege on its proceeds. Under these facts it is clear that the true and only parties concerned in the demand of the petitioners, are the creditors of Charles Huberson, particularly those who assert their right to a privilege on the goods claim
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Peter Paul Clossman v. Theophile Barbancey
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published