M. E. Smith & Co. v. Meeker
M. E. Smith & Co. v. Meeker
Opinion of the Court
This action is to recover the unpaid balance on a note made to plaintiffs by Spring, Donovan & Company, a partnership formerly engaged in business in Moorhead, Minnesota, to recover the agreed price of certain merchandise sold to said partnership, and of certain merchandise sold to the Boston Clothing Company, a partnership which succeeded and took over the business, of Spring, Donovan & Company. Plaintiff is engaged in the wholesale dry goods business in Omaha. Defendant Meeker is the receiver of the partnership Boston Clothing Company, and defendant Humphrey one of the partners. It was claimed by plaintiff that the Boston Clothing Company assumed and agreed to pay the note. This was denied by the
The trial court submitted the above issue to the jury, instructing in substance that defendants were liable for any balance due plaintiff on account of goods sold to either Moorhead concern, but not for goods sold to the Aberdeen concern, and leaving it to the jury to decide whether the amount represented by the note was due from Spring, Donovan & Company of Moorhead at the time it was given, or whether, to make up the amount, there was included the goods sold to Spring & Donovan of Aberdeen. The jury deducted the price of these goods from plaintiff’s claim and returned a verdict for the balance. Plaintiff appealed from an order denying a new trial.
A careful consideration of the evidence, including the statement of the account taken from plaintiff’s books, and the account as shown on the books of Spring, Donovan & Company of Moorhead, leads us to the conclusion that the trial court was right in its instructions, and the jury right in the result reached. The Boston Clothing Company assumed the indebtedness of Spring, Donovan & Company of Moorhead. Defendants are liable for that indebtedness, but for nothing more. It does not appear that defendant Humphrey, who is apparently the responsible defendant, or any of the members of
Plaintiff insists that the evidence is conclusive that the Aberdeen items had been long before paid by the Aberdeen firm. We fail to understand how this helps plaintiff’s case. If they had been so paid, they ought not to appear as a charge against the Moorhead firm, as ■they clearly do. Granting a recovery for those items here would result in plaintiff’s being paid twice. We find no errors in the record. The case presents questions of bookkeeping rather than of law, and there were no serious questions of fact. The result is right, as we view the case, and the only one that could be reached.
Order affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- M. E. SMITH & COMPANY v. D. W. MEEKER and Others
- Status
- Published