Boyce v. Miller
Boyce v. Miller
Opinion of the Court
The defendant appeals from a judgment in the sum of $402.64. The action was brought to recover one cent a gallon on all gasoline sold by the defendant between July 1st, 1935, and February 29th, 1936. The plaintiff, for a number of years, had conducted a general store and gasoline station at the corner of Eoosevelt avenue and Monmouth road in the township of Ocean, Monmouth county, New Jersey. In April, 1933, he entered into negotiations with the defendant for the leasing of the real estate, the sale of the stock and good-will of the store business and the transfer of such rights as he had in the sale of Tidewater oil products. The lease was executed, as well as a bill of sale for the merchandise on hand. The defendant obtained the right to sell Tidewater oil products and remitted to the plaintiff until July 1st, 1935, the sum of one cent per gallon on the gasoline sold by him, making a total of $1,200. This last circumstance clearly demonstrated his complete understanding of the contract in suit as proved by the plaintiff’s testimony.
There was a valid consideration for the agreement by the defendant to pay one cent per gallon on the gasoline sold, whether the transaction be viewed as an entirety or three separate undertakings. The plaintiff had fully performed his part for he had put the defendant in possession of the store premises and had successfully exerted his best efforts to obtain for the defendant the right to sell Tidewater products in the same manner as he had sold them.
It is urged that the agreement to pay the one cent per gallon on gasoline sales comes within the prohibition of section 5 of paragraph 5 of the statute of frauds and perjuries (2 Comp. Stal., p. 2612), not being evidenced by writing and not being an agreement to be performed within one year from
In this case, the plaintiff had fully performed his agreement and all that remained for the defendant to do was to carry out his agreement which was clearly shown, if no other facts had been proven, because of his own conduct in making payments of the. stipulated sum up until the time when some dispute arose between the parties concerning an entirely different matter.
The judgment is affirmed, with costs.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IRA W. BOYCE v. ANTHONY MILLER
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published