National Cash Register Co. v. Shurber
National Cash Register Co. v. Shurber
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The court was right in its construction of the writing under which the chattel in dispute was delivered to Vergos and Kyramis. It contained all the essentials of a contract of bailment, and went beyond the indispensable essentials in including the express agreement of the bailees to surrender the chattel to the bailor in good condition at the expiration of the lease, which was for seven months at a stipulated rent. Upon principle, and according to the doctrine of numerous cases, the facts that the bailees, as stipulated in the writing, deposited $15.00 as partial security for the fulfillment of the agreement, which was to be returned to them upon the surrender of the chattel pro
Complaint is made of the ruling of the court as to the right of the plaintiff to bring this action, without being properly registered under the Act of April 22,1874, P. L. 108, A similar question was raised in United States Circle Swing Co, v. Reynolds, 224 Pa. 577, in which Justice Potter said: “But in so far as the facts of this case go, they disclose nothing which would forbid the plaintiff, as a foreign corporation, to maintain an action in the courts of Pennsylvania, to recover its personal property. William B. Reynolds who claimed and retained the property, had no contract relations with the plaintiffs, and he would therefore have no standing to object that the plaintiff corporation was doing business in this state, without having complied with the registration act. This principle is clearly set forth.in King Optical Co. v. Royal Insurance Co., 24 Pa. Superior Ct. 527.” In the case cited in the opinion our Brother Henderson speaking for this court said: “A foreign corporation could own personal property in this state prior to the act of 1874, and there is nothing in the statute which denies to them that right. The principal objects of the statute were to bring foreign corporations within reach of legal process and to subject them to the taxing power of the state. It was not intended to deny to them the right of ownership or to effect a forfeiture of title.” As in the cases cited, so here, there is no contractual relation between the plaintiff and the defendant. The defendant is not in position to assert that the plaintiff forfeited its title to the
The assignments of error are overruled and the judgment is affirmed.
Reference
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- National Cash Register Company v. Shurber
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- Syllabus
- Bailment — Lease—Conditional sale. 1. A writing designated as a “ lease ” of a machine will be construed to be a bailment and not a conditional sale, where it appears that the bailees as stipulated in the writing deposited a stated amount as partial security for the fulfillment of the agreement, which was to be returned to them upon the surrender of the machine provided the terms of the lease had been complied with; that they gave their promissory note as collateral for the rent payable in seven monthly installments, that the aggregate amount of this note and the deposit was the agreed value of the machine; and that the agreement gave the lessees the option, after the expiration of the lease and the surrender of the chattel to purchase the chattel upon payment of the amount deposited as partial security. 2. In such a ease the superadded agreement that should the machine get out of order from ordinary use at any time within two years from the date of shipment, the bailor would repair the same gratis, does not have the effect to convert the transaction into a sale. 3. The fact that the original intention of the parties is to make a sale, and that such is the legal effect of their first agreement, does not prevent a change while it is still executory, into a bailment with an alternative of future conversion into a sale on the compliance with the stipulated conditions. Estoppel — Estoppel in pais — Equitable estoppel. 4. An estoppel in pais does not operate in favor of everybody. In general it operates only in the favor of a person for whom it was intended, and who has been misled to his injury; and he only can set it up. 5. Where there is an attempt to apply the doctrine of equitable estoppel, one essential is that the party in whose favor it is invoked must himself act in good faith. 6. In an action of replevin it appeared that the plaintiff had leased a chattel, and that the defendant had purchased the chattel at a constable's sale, the bailee had delivered the chattel to another person with instructions to return it to the plaintiff, and to this person the plaintiff had written a letter in which the bailment was designated as a sale. This person instead of delivering the chattel procured the judgment against the bailee and issued execution on which the chattel was sold by the company. The defendant had no knowledge of the letter written by the plaintiff. Plaintiff delayed enforcing its demand for thirty-three days. Held, (1) that the defendant could not use the letter as an estoppel against the plaintiff, (2) that he could not work out an equitable estoppel against the person who had procured the sale of the chattel, inasmuch as the latter was not in a position to claim an equitable advantage by reason of anything that the plaintiff had said or done; and (3) that plaintiff was not guilty of laches. Corporations — Foreign corporations — Registration—Act of April 22, 1874, P. L. 108. 7. A foreign corporation may institute an action in replevin to recover its personal property from one who has no contractual relation with it, although the company is not registered under the Act of April 22,1874, P. L. 108.