Potter Printing Press Co. v. Newark Daily Advertiser Publishing Co.
Potter Printing Press Co. v. Newark Daily Advertiser Publishing Co.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
By a contract in writing the plaintiff (defendant in error) agreed to furnish and install in the place of business of defendant a printing press for which defendant
The next question was an inquiry as to the condition of the premises, and the answer was confined to the amount of gravel and sand which the defendant had left, which the witness said interfered materially with putting up a fine piece of machinery. The witness was then asked, “What place was made for the loca lion of jmur loose parts to enable you to assemble your machinery together, if any?” This question was objected to, allowed by tire court, and an exception sealed, but it was not answered, and instead of it the following question was asked: “Q. How much space was there in the room of the defendant not occupied sideways, by this press that you were erecting there?” The answer was, “About eight feet.” This latter' question was objected to before it was answered, but no reason was given for the objection. Prom this statement of the case it would appear that the testimony given related entirely to the question of interference by the defendant with the work of the plaintiff, under the conditions existing which the plaintiff charged were created by the defendant, and is referred to because of its hearing upon the ruling of the court excluding a question propounded to a witness of the defendant which is orre of the alleged errors argued by the defendant. The question which is the basis of this assignment was, “Before this contract was signed, did any representative of the
It. is argued in support of the objection to this ruling that at the time the contract was made it was known to the plaintiff, not only that the work was to be performed in the press room, but a representative of the plaintiff had visited the place to make an examination, from which it appeared that there was hi use in the press room another press, and therefore the plaintiff knew, and made its contract with the knowledge, that there was a lack of room for assembling the loose parts. Whatever force there might have been in this proposition if the question had been 'answered, disappears when lack of room for such purpose was not shown, the only testimony on the subject being that the passageway was eight feet wide, and that answer, taken in connection with the proof that the passageway was obstructed by the use made of it by defendant’s servants, had no bearing upon the claim that- there was not sufficient room for assembling the parts of the machine, for it does not appear that eight feet would not have been enough if it had not been obstructed -by the defendant. The plaintiff contracted with reference to the space that existed, and a prior examination would not have disclosed the subsequent conditions alleged to have been created by defendant, and whether it was improperly obstructed was, as we have said, a question for the jury. In view of the fact that the contract contained a stipulation that the time of completion was to be extended if a delay resulted from any cause not within the control of. the plaintiff, and as the proof of the plaintiff was directed to facts showing an interference by the defendant after the contract was made, we are of opinion that no observation made before the contract Was entered into would charge the plaintiff with knowledge that it was to be obstructed in the prosecution of its work by
It is also urged by the plaintiff in error that the court improperly left to the jury the question whether the defendant had waived that part of the contract which only required the defendant to pay “at the end of ten days from the satisfactory operation of said press.” The court instructed the jury that this meant satisfaction to the buyer, and that with such a provision in a contract, “unless the dissatisfaction is shown to he due to the defendants acting in bad faith, or from an endeavor to perpetrate a fraud, even though the dissatisfaction may be unreasonable, and although the machine might be satisfactory to others, yet the law says that the btn'er is the one to be satisfied, and until he is satisfied he is not obliged to pay for it.” It is not necessa'ry to now determine the correctness of this instruction as applied to the contract under consideration, for the rule adopted by the court was satisfactory to the plaintiff in- error, and it does not object to it, but as the contract does not declare in express terms that the buyer must he satisfied, it is not beyond the realm of logic, in view of the contract by the plaintiff to erect the press “in good running order,” that the expression “satisfactory operation,” as used by the parties, is. synonymous with “good running order,” and to be treated as a warranty instead of a condition precedent. No rescission appears io have been attempted in this case until after so long a time had elapsed that an acceptance might be inferred, for the defendant kept the press and used it for eight months before indicating any desire to rescind the contract and return it. to the plaintiff. We are of opinion that there was evidence tending to show an acceptance of the machine from which an inference might be drawn that the defendant had waived the right to rescind, if he had such a right because of want of “satisfactory operation,” and therefore there was no error in the submission of waiver to the jury.
It is next urged that an error was committed by the trial court in instructing the jury that if they were satisfied the machine was in all respects according to contract; that the ex
The next point raised is that the trial court erroneously charged the jury that the evidence showed “commercial operation” of the press by the defendant, the argument being that it was a disputed question of fact whether the defendant had operated the machine commercially, that is to carry on its business, or whether the operation was experimental. "What the court said on this subject was: “It further appears that between the 21st of June, 1909, and the date of that letter, the 24th of February, 1910, the defendant had used this machine commercially. There is evidence before you to show that for a large part of the time during that period they had used the machine in getting out their evening editions. How, that is a circumstance for you gentlemen to consider in saying whether or not they had accepted that machine; whether or not the use of that machine was inconsistent with their claim that they did not own it. If they did not own it then they had no right to use it for any length of time or any longer than was absolutely necessary to make a reasonable test.” We think that what was intended by the use of the word “commercially” is fully explained hv what immediately followed, namely, that they had used the machine in getting out their evening editions, of which there was. evidence. In the same paragraph the court instructed the jury that if they were satisfied from the evidence that the defendant had not waived the provisions of the contract, and that the machine was not satisfactory, and had only been held a sufficient time to enable the plaintiff to make a reasonable test then the plaintiff could not recover. We fail to see how the jury could have been misled by this charge.
The next point argued is that the trial court committed an error in charging the jury that it might infer from the letters of the defendant company, complaining that the machine did not work satisfactorily, that the defendant had accepted the press and had waived the clause in the contract that it must be satisfactory. Counsel for plaintiff in error admits that the court interpreted the contract as to “satisfactory operation” in accordance with his view, but complains that it was error to charge the jury that they might find a waiver of this covenant from the letters of the defendant. What the court said was: “You have the right to infer that the defendants in this case, as they say in their letters, intended to hold the plaintiff for damages under the warranty. If you do so infer, then you would have the right to infer that they had accepted the machine, and if there was an acceptance, of course, then it is a waiver of the clause in the contract that it must be satisfactory to the defendant corporation.” We see no error in this part of the charge, for it was an instruction that the jury might infer, as was stated in one of defendant’s letters, that it intended to hold the defendant responsible for damages, and that if they found that as a fact it would amount to an acceptance of the
If, under a contract for the purchase of a machine, the purchaser is not required to pay until it operates to his sai isfaction, he is not bound to accept and pay for it until be is satisfied, unless the dissatisfaction is based upon some reason not connected with its operation, or is fraudulent in its nature. Gwynne v. Hitchner & Yerkes, 38 Vroom 654. His contract is to accept and pay when he is satisfied with its operation, and he is not hound even if his dissatisfaction in thai regard is to some extent unreasonable, but he cannot keep and use the machine and set up want of satisfaction to sustain a defence, of partial failure of consideration or non-aceeptanee. He must either rescind and offer to surrender the machine, or accept it and rely for his remedy upon the recovery of such damages as he may be able to establish because of a breach of the contract. Woodward v. Emmons, 32 Vroom 281.
The remaining assignment argued is that the trial judge committed an error in submitting the question of waiver by the defendant of the clause relating to satisfactory operation. It is urged in support of this position that waiver was not within the issues, not having been pleaded. The declaration averred a general performance by the plaintiff of the conditions imposed upon it by the contract, and if satisfactory operation was an obligation of the plaintiff it averred performance. The plea was general issue, with notice of special matter which docs not specify that the defendant intended to contest the averment of general performance by the plaintiff of this condition precedent.
If this contract be interpreted to mean that under one of its conditions the plaintiff was to furnish and install a machine which would operate to the satisfaction of the defendant, the plaintiff' having averred performance of that condition, the defendant was required to specify it in his pleading if he intended to deny it, and the action of the trial court in submitting to the jury the question whether the defendant had waived the performance of a condition by the plaintiff, which the de
■We have considered all of .the points raised by the plaintiff in error in its brief, and not discovering any error in 'the record the judgment should be affirmed.
For affirmance—Garrison, Swayze, Bergen, Yoorhees, Kalisch, Bogbrt, Yredenburgi-i, Yroom, Congdon, White, Trbacy, JJ. 11.
For reversal—The Ci-iiee Justice, Trenchard, Parker, JJ. 3.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.