H. W. Wilson Co. v. Northwestern School Supply Co.
H. W. Wilson Co. v. Northwestern School Supply Co.
Opinion of the Court
Action for balance due for rent of certain premises. Defense, payment in full, consisting of certain cash items, credits for commissions and return of goods and certain overpayments made to the plaintiff by the defendant under the terms of a contract between the parties, defendant claiming that at the close of the transaction the plaintiff owed a small balance to the defendant. The case was tried to a jury which returned a verdict for the defendant. Plaintiff moved for a new trial. The motion was denied and judgment was entered for defendant. Plaintiff appeals.
The plaintiff and defendant entered into a contract under the terms of which plaintiff leased to the defendant the premises in question. Among other things it was agreed that the plaintiff should leave on consignment to defendant a certain stock of books, school supplies and publications, and that the defendant should use due diligence to sell
There is evidence that certain inventories were taken, and that a certain summary statement of goods delivered was prepared by the plaintiff and delivered to the defendant. There is also evidence that subsequently the prices and articles contained in the summary list, aggregating at list price $25,410.72, were agreed upon, and that price fixed as the total value of the articles delivered to the defendant. It is conceded that merchandise to the amount of $399.20 was thereafter delivered to defendant by plaintiff, and that there was due to the plaintiff the sum of $600 for rent for the months of July and August, 1914. The aggregate of these three sums is $26,409.92.
There is evidence in the record from which the jury might find that the defendant was entitled to credit for goods sold at retail, goods bought outright, discounts, goods returned and errors in accounts in the sum of $26,344.47, and that it had made payment by check and credit for rent in the sum of $122.01, a total credit of $26,466.48. If these facts were found by the jury, there would appear to be a balance in favor of defendant of $56.56. The defendant did not ask for a verdict for that sum, and at its request the jury were instructed that they should not find for the defendant for any specific amount. The defendant strenuously insisted that the summary statement must be taken as the basis on which the amounts were to be figured an¡l, as already stated, introduced evidence tending to show that such was the agreement of the parties. This the plaintiff controverted, insisting on certain inventory books as the basis. A great deal of evidence was introduced to show the manner of taking the inventory; that the same was taken by the plaintiff and its employees; that defendant took no part in the taking thereof, and that the summary and other statements were prepared by the plaintiff and accepted by the defendant who never took an inventory until the transaction was closed. Evidence was also introduced to show that the footings of some of the groups in the inventory which went into the summary statement were in some respects erroneous, and further evidence was introduced to show what the correct footings were. This evidence, in its turn, was controverted by evidence introduced on behalf of the plaintiff.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.