Portage Canal & Manufacturing Co. v. Crittenden ex rel. Law
Portage Canal & Manufacturing Co. v. Crittenden ex rel. Law
Opinion of the Court
The pleader, in his averment of the breach in the declaration, has copied the language used in the condition of the bond, to describe the settlement which was to be made with Law.
The bond it will be seen, provided for transferring to sundry persons a number of bonds of $500 each, and a number of shares of the Company’s stock, amounting to several thousand dollars. What is the true amount does not appear by the bond, because the nominal value of the stock is not stated ; but it is
But in the opinion of the Court the breach actually assigned, is defectively set out. ■ The condition provides, that the Company shall settle with Law, in accordance with the terms of a certain obligation executed in March, 1841, yet there are no averments in the declaration, setting out this obligation, showing what were the terms of it, or that it ever in reality existed. Neither does the condition allude to or describe the obligation in such a manner as to show sufficiently what the obligation was, and to dispense with averments setting it forth substantially in the declaration. In omitting to make these allegations, and to show a breach corresponding to such a state of case, there was error.
Further, the damages appearing in the plea and judgment, are greater then the amount claimed as damages in the declaration. In the declaration they are stated at $3,500, in the judgment at $3,509. This error, if it stood alone, could be corrected here, but it is not the only error. The judgment must be reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The Portage Canal and Manufacturing Company v. Edmund W. Crittenden, for the use of Smith Law
- Status
- Published