Marquis v. Tri-State Land Co.
Marquis v. Tri-State Land Co.
Opinion of the Court
This was an action for the rescission of a contract of sale of six shares of stock in the Winters Creek Irrigation Company, a corporation doing business in Scott’s Bluff county, Nebraska, coupled with an application for an injunction to restrain the transfer of the stock on the books of the company. The material allegations of the petition, for which equitable relief is prayed, are that, at and before the sale of the shares of stock to the defendants, plaintiff was the owner of a large tract of land in Scott’s Bluff county, on which he resided, and which was irrigated from the waters of the Winters Creek Irrigation Company’s ditches; that the shares of stock oAvned by him Avere of the par Amine of $100 a share; that by reason of plaintiff being a stockholder in the irrigation company, he Avas enabled to assist in fixing rates for water rent to be charged by the company, and by having such rates made very low and reasonable the price of the lands owned by plaintiff and irrigated from the ditches was considerably enhanced; that for this reason his six shares of stock Avere of a peculiar value to him much in excess of their par value; that the defendants Leavitt and Frank, as agents and managing officers of the Tri-State Land Company, for the purpose of cheating and defrauding plaintiff in the purchase of his shares of stock, falsely represented to him that they had purchased, and owned and controlled, a majority of the shares of the capital stock of the irrigating company, and for this reason could and Avould control and fix the Avater rent to be charged by
The sole question involved is, does the petition, liberally construed, state a cause which entitles plaintiff to a recission of his contract? The theory on which plaintiff alleges a peculiar value to him in his six shares of stock in the irrigating company is that he owns a very large tract of land which is under the ditches of the company, and that his being a stockholder in the company gave him a voice in keeping doAvn the price of water for irrigating purposes, that is, that it enabled him to enhance the value of his land at the expense of the ditch company. ..
The only theory on which plaintiff’s stock was of special value to him was for the purpose of preventing defendants from controlling the affairs of the company and increasing the rent charged for water on the lands under the ditch. And if, as alleged in the petition, the defendants do not control a majority of the stock, then none other than a mere theoretical injury resulted to plaintiff from the sale of his shares of stock to the defendants.
In the recent case of Jakway v. Proudfit, 76 Neb. 62, Ave had occasion to examine into the nature and character of false representations which would authorize a rescission of a contract and we there quoted with approval the rule announced in 14 Am. & Eng. Ency. Law (2d ed.), p. 140, in which it is said: “Relief or redress will not be granted, either by way of rescission or by way of damages, at law or in equity, if it clearly appears that the party complaining has not sustained any pecuniary damages, nor been otherwise put in' any worse position than he would have occupied if there had been no fraud.”
By the Court: For the reasons given in the foregoing opinion, the judgment of the district court is
AFFIRMED.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Lewis C. Marquis v. Tri-State Land Company
- Status
- Published