Grant v. Sicklesteel Lumber Co.
Grant v. Sicklesteel Lumber Co.
Opinion of the Court
(after stating the facts). Plaintiffs advance two propositions. The first one is that the title to the lumber passed, by the assignment of the invoice, to the plaintiffs. The second is that, having been advised by plaintiffs of their rights, the turning the lumber over to someone other than the plaintiffs amounted to an acceptance of the lumber, and liability arises to pay to plaintiffs the contract price. No authority is cited in support of the first proposition. It is said, however, that the account was an executory contract of sale, and its assignment carried with it all the rights under that contract. If the shipment had been accepted, the assignees had the absolute right to the money; and, if the contract had been rescinded, the right to the possession of the lumber.
The lumber was rejected because it was not of the quality which had been ordered. There was a breach of the contract on the part of the vendor, not a rescission on the part of the vendee. If the lumber had been accepted, the duty to pay for it would at once arise, and the plaintiffs’ right to enforce the demand would be undoubted. This because plaintiffs succeeded to the vendor’s right to enforce the demand. But where, as between the contracting parties, no right to enforce the demand ever arose, where the vendee owed to the vendor no duty, express or implied, to pay the demand, it is difficult to understand how an assignee of the demand has, by virtue of his assignment, succeeded to any such right. The correspondence of the
"We think there is no theory, supported by the facts, which will permit the plaintiffs to recover, in assumpsit, the contract price of the lumber, or any part of it.
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- GRANT v. SICKLESTEEL LUMBER CO.
- Status
- Published