Julius Kessler & Co. v. Veio
Julius Kessler & Co. v. Veio
Opinion of the Court
Upon a former appeal (142 Mich. 471) the contract of the parties was examined and construed, and it was held there was an executed contract for the sale and purchase of 10 barrels of whiskey, and that title to the whiskey was in defendants. The legal effect of the receipts and of their delivery to and retention by defendants was considered, and a copy of one of the receipts is there given. The suit was begun July 30, 1903, the plea being the general issue. The case having gone down for a new trial, defendants annexed to the plea a notice that they would show in their defense that before ordering the whiskey of plaintiff they opened negotiations therefor with an agent of plaintiff, who represented that the whiskey was stored in United States bonded warehouses, and that warehouse receipts, a form of which he exhibited, would make a complete and valid salé of the whiskey, and that title would pass upon delivery of -such receipts;
“ If you can show that the plaintiff before this suit was brought had given anybody else any authority to take those particular barrels of whiskey, you can do so.”
Counsel replied:
“We cannot do it, your honor. We cannot make any such showing. What we offer to show is that tho.se receipts are what is known as duplicate receipts; that they do not transfer the title of the property mentioned in the receipts to Veio Bros. They are absolutely worthless as receipts.”
This was the very question litigated and determined upon the first trial. Such an issue cannot be tried piecemeal. The undisputed evidence is that the whiskey described in the receipts was set apart for defendants, and is now in bonded warehouse, subject to their order upon payment of the purchase price. In the letter ordering
The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.