Louisiana Purchase Exposition Co. v. Mueller
Louisiana Purchase Exposition Co. v. Mueller
Opinion of the Court
—Plaintiff brought its action against defendant to recover on what it claimed to be
The defendant filed a demurrer to this petition, assigning four grounds. First, that the petition does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. Second, because the alleged subscription' contract set out in the petition shows upon its face that it was not to be performed within a year and was within the Statute of Frauds, and the alleged ratification thereof was oral and for that reason insufficient under that statute. Third, that the shares of stock in the unincorporated company provided for in the subscription contract, are goods, wares and merchandise within the purview of the Statute of Frauds and were of the price of thirty dollars and more and that hence the contract is within the Statute of Frauds and the alleged ratification was oral and therefore insufficient' under .the statute. Fourth, that the petition shows no partnership liability on the part of defendant, nor does it show an adoption or ratification of the alleged partnership liability.
This demurrer was sustained by the court and plaintiff declining to plead further final judgment was rendered in favor of defendant. From that judgment plaintiff duly perfected its appeal. . Pending the appeal the corporate existence of plaintiff terminated
Counsel have presented elaborate briefs and arguments in support of their several positions, counsel for respondent arguing that it appearing that the signature of the firm of which respondent was a member had been forged, there could be no ratification; that it being averred in the petition that that signature was made without the authority, or knowledge, of the firm, and by one not an agent of the firm, could not be ratified, and that it being pleaded that the payment of one hundred dollars by respondent on the call for the first installment having been made by him after the dissolution of his firm, he had no authority to do so and could not thereby ratify the firm’s subscription.
All these positions are sharply contested by counsel for appellant. Neither counsel discuss to any great extent those grounds of the demurrer which set up the Statute of Frauds, so we will not consider them. Nor do we deem it necessary to consider or determine any of the other propositions raised, save as to the power of the respondent to ratify an admittedly unauthorized act, originally done in the name of the firm, after the dissolution of the firm. It will be noticed that the petition contains no averments of any special authorization to the respondent, as member of the dissolved firm, to carry on its. business or adjust its affairs. How or why or under what circumstances, terms or conditions, the partnership of C. A. Mueller & Bro.. was dissolved, does not appear; whether it was to continue for the purpose of payment of firm debts and collection of firm assets, is not pleaded.
The law is well stated by Judge Thompson, speaking for this court, in Hargadine v. Gibbons, 45 Mo. App. 460, l. c. 461, to the effect that “the dissolution of a partnership, whether it takes place by the death
In the notes by the editor of that edition of Story to section 322 and following, will be found an exhaustive discussion and compilation of cases as to the right of a member of a firm, after dissolution, to bind the other members or assets of the firm, as for instance, by waiving the bar of the Statute of Limitations. It is not necessary to go fully into that. The learning of the law will be found in that work.
In Long v. Story, 10 Mo. 636, l. c. 640, our Supreme Court held the principle to be well established that after the dissolution of a firm, one partner cannot bind the other by drawing a note in the partnership name unless he has a particular power vested in him for that purpose. This was reiterated in Richardson v. Moies and Woodward, 31 Mo. 430.
In Central Savings Bank v. Mead, Admr., 52 Mo. 546, our Supreme Court followed the general rule that a surviving partner had no authority to renew the indorsement of the firm on accommodation paper.
In Fairbanks v. Kraft,. Holmes & Co., 43 Mo. App. 121, the Kansas City Court of Appeals held that- it was not within the power of one partner, after dissolution of the firm, to confess judgment against the firm; that judgment entered on such confession was invalid as against the firm.
The decision of the ease before us must rest on the power of a member of a firm, after its dissolution, to revive, by ratification, a subscription made, in the name of the firm, which, as it is pleaded, was not an obligation of the firm. Nor does it purport to be the individual act of respondent.
It is true that the petition avers that “said defendant, ... . well knowing that plaintiff claimed to hold his said subscription to one thousand dollars of plaintiff’s capital stock, . . . did pay said first call of $100 as demanded, and that thereby said defendant Frank C. Mueller ratified the execution and delivery of said instrument.” But the context, the whole tenor of the petition, shows that the subscription referred to did not purport to be the individual subscription of the defendant, but purported to be the firm’s subscription, that subscription made in “the name of the firm of which defendant was a member,” being “subscribed to said contract of subscription'by some person or persons to this plaintiff unknown and without the consent of the said defendant; and that said instrument thus signed was delivered to the promoters of plaintiff corporation and accepted by them and by plaintiff corporation.” Whatever he ratified, then, if anything, by the payment of the call for the first installment, was the firm’s subscription. This he had no power to do, under the law of partnership, nor by reason of any special powers set out in the petition.
If it be said that a new contract was made by the defendant by reason of the payment of the call, then no such contract is pleaded. The only contract plead
In this view of the case, we do not consider it necessary to notice the other points so elaborately briefed and argued. The demurrer was properly sustained on the first and fourth grounds. The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.