Minneapolis Iron Store Co. v. E. G. Staude Manufacturing Co.
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Minneapolis Iron Store Co. v. E. G. Staude Manufacturing Co.
Opinion of the Court
In 1917 interveners were manufacturers of metal wheels at Davenport, Iowa. The E. G. Staude Manufacturing Company, a Minnesota corporation, was engaged in the manufacture of tractors at St. Paul. On April 17, 1917, these parties entered into a contract by which interveners agreed to manufacture and deliver 23,000 steel wheels of special design and requiring the use of special material, shipment to be made as directed by the Staude Company. In a letter which was made part of the contract, intervener stipulated that “should you find it necessary through any unforeseen reason to make a change or a cancelation we will not cause you to suffer to any greater extent than the loss which, through your action, may be inflicted upon us on account of materials provided for your wheels.”
The defendant, E. G. Staude Manufacturing Company, a South Dakota corporation, succeeded in some manner to the rights and obligations of the Minnesota corporation.
In January, 1919, receivers were appointed to take charge of the property and business of defendant company. On June 18 interveners filed with the receiver a claim for damages for breach of the said contract and after a trial by jury the claim was allowed.
The court, in charging the jury, treated the contract as broken by defendant. In this the court was right. Neither party had been free from fault. In the early stages, interveners prepared to carry
We think also that interveners were within their rights in demanding damages as of June 18, 1919, the time of filing their claim with the receivers, and it was not error to instruct the jury to estimate damages as of this date. There was no objection to this date on the trial. There was no objection to the instruction that if there was a breach' this was the proper date. There could be no real issue that this allowed a reasonable time to the receivers. If it could be said that there was an issue of fact as to whether the contract might have been deemed earlier broken, there is nothing to indicate that the damage as of any earlier date would have been materially different.
Where a contract is broken before full performance is due, the injured party may demand damages at the date of the repudiation. Alger-Fowler Co. v. Tracy, 98 Minn. 432, 107 N. W. 1124. It has been said by one author that the rejection of an executory contract by a receiver constitutes a breach of the contract dating back to the beginning of the receivership. 1 Tardy’s Smith on Receivers, § 394. No authorities are cited by the author to this proposition. It seems to us that, when the breach is of a contract to buy, the seller should
Defendant devotes most attention to tbe claim that tbe evidence does not sustain tbe verdict as to amount of damages. Under the contract tbe limit of recovery was tbe loss on account of material “provided” for manufacture of tbe wheels called for by tbe contract. Tbis loss would be tbe difference between cost of material purchased and not used and its value at tbe time of tbe breach, or if tbe material was already on band tbe difference between its cost or value at tbe time of its application to tbis use and its value at tbe time of the breach.
Interveners’ principal witness, Mr. Heescb, testified to tbe amount of material provided especially for tbe fulfilment of tbis contract and tbe cost to interveners of tbe material so provided, tbe amount of material left on band at tbe time of tbe breach, and tbe value at tbe time of tbe breach. On tbis basis be estimated tbe amount of interveners’ damage, and bis evidence standing alone is sufficient to sustain tbe verdict rendered.
But defendant contends that there is other evidence in tbe case which shows conclusively that Mr. Heescb was in error in bis figures. It appears that there was a prior contract between these parties dated March 1, 1917, by which interveners agreed to manufacture and deliver wheels of tbe same or a similar description. Defendant claims that there was but one prior contract. Interveners claim there were other prior contracts. In tbis we think defendant is right. Tbe evidence is vague on tbis point for prior transactions were only incidentally involved. But tbe written correspondence can leave no serious doubt that there was but one prior contract.
Tbe significance of tbis fact is right here. Mr. Heescb in bis testimony gave: First, tbe quantities of material which interveners provided for tbe making of wheels finder tbe April 17 contract; second, tbe amount of material required for each wheel, and, third, tbe number of wheels manufactured under the April contract, and in tbis manner by process of simple mathematics it was easy to arrive at tbe
It is manifest from the testimony that 2,297 wheels were delivered before April' 17. Mr. Heesch testified that 11,703 were delivered on the first contract after April 17 or 14,000 all told on the first contract. In this he is corroborated by the correspondence that passed between the parties at the time.
On February 9, 1918, Mr. Heesch wrote defendant two letters in each of which he stated that there was a balance of 1,325 wheels still due under the contract of March 1. Defendant answered, commenting on this statement, but not questioning it. At that time 10,643
Again, if we take this figure of 1,325 from the number of wheels delivered after these letters of February 9, we have left 7,616 wheels referable to the second contract or not far from the number given by Mr. Heesch in his testimony.
Again, when notified of the appointment of the receivers, interveners wrote the receivers and defendant that defendant was still obligated to take 16,988 wheels under the April contract. This meant that only 6,012 had then been delivered under that contract. This accords substantially with interveners’ claim. The letter was answered by Mr. Staude and no question was made as to the correctness of the figures. It seems plain that the jury were at liberty to accept Mr. Heesch’s figures.
Defendant contends that the material on hand was undervalued by defendant as a result of taking the mill price which was fixed on a basis of conjectural future delivery of goods, whereas, the goods being on hand, the warehouse price based on what could be obtained for goods on hand and ready for delivery should have been taken, and it is said if the warehouse price be taken no damage could have been sustained. The evidence was quite full on the question of damages. The distinction between mill price and warehouse price was fully explained. The difference ■ between the two as to specially cut stuff is sometimes not much. There is evidence that interveners disposed of the material on hand or used it as best they could. The charge on this point was free from error. We think the evidence on this point sustains the verdict.
Order affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MINNEAPOLIS IRON STORE COMPANY v. THE E. G. STAUDE MANUFACTURING COMPANY. G. WATSON FRENCH AND OTHERS, INTERVENERS
- Cited By
- 1 case
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- Published