Sharpless Specialty Co. v. Wilson & Co.
Sharpless Specialty Co. v. Wilson & Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
This action was begun by foreign attachment, the writ issued against Wilson & Company. Funds belonging to
Appearance was entered for Wilson & Company and, after the trial commenced, for Wilson & Co., Inc., of New York, which-filed an affidavit of defense during the trial. The record was amended without objection from appellant by changing the name of defendant to Wilson & Co., Inc., of New York, wherever it appeared.
Plaintiff was a manufacturer of machinery and sold certain machines to “Wilson & Company” under contracts in writing so signed by the purchasing agent of Wilson & Co., Inc., of New York, C. H. Dinger, who was also the purchasing agent for Wilson & Co., Inc., of Tennessee, and Wilson & Co., Inc., of Oklahoma. The contention of plaintiff is the contracts were made with the parent company, Wilson & Co., Inc., of New York, whereas that company, against, which the verdict that brought about this appeal was rendered, avers the contracts were with the Tennessee and Oklahoma corporations, and that it is in no way liable thereon. They were negotiated in Chicago in the office of the New York company, where it was authorized to do business. The Tennessee and Oklahoma corporations were not registered to do business in the State of Illinois.
The contracts were in the form of proposals and acceptances, in one instance, “Proposal to Wilson & Co. for Chattanooga Refinery,” and in the other “Proposal to Wilson & Company for the Oklahoma City Refinery.” Lowenstein, writing from Chicago to plaintiff shortly after the making of the first contract, under the letterhead “Wilson & Co.” said “We will go ahead on the original basis at Chattanooga on' the direct purchase which we made when you were here recently. A little later on we may consider installing machines......at Oklahoma. Want to thank you for......giving us an opportunity to consider it.” This letter was signed “Wilson & Co., A. Lowenstein.” Dinger testified that after the contracts were executed he mailed them to the Tennessee and Oklahoma plants: “To each individual plant — the contract with the requisition form that we have, authorising the payment by that individual company.” Plaintiff urges this shows the contracts were made by the parent company, that unless so made there was no occasion for the authorization of payment by the others. In another letter written to plaintiff from the Chicago office on the same letterhead and signed “Wilson & Co.” relative to the shipment by plaintiff of repair parts it was stated, “We will not offset any charges for
It is claimed by appellant that it was deprived of a substantial defense by way of set-off arising out of the failure of plaintiff to deliver the machinery in accordance with the contracts, and by reason of the commodity manufactured not coming up to the requirement of the agreements, that it could not make this defense, of failure to comply with the contracts, available to the Tennessee and Oklahoma companies, because it could not prove ownership of the set-off at the inception of the suit, citing Huling v. Hugg, 1 W. & S. 418; Pennell v. Grubb, 13 Pa. 552; Fleisher v. Blackburn, 15 Pa. Superior Ct. 289. We think appellant cannot complain of this, for the reason that, in the course of the trial, when a question was put by defendant’s counsel to plaintiff’s vice-president inquiring whether he did not know that the real buyers of the machinery had presented to his company a counterclaim of $30,000, it was objected by plaintiff’s counsel that the presentation of a counterclaim was inadmissible under the pleadings, but, in connection with the objection, it was stated that, if defendant’s counsel desired to amend his pleadings, there would be no objection. Defendant’s counsel did not avail himself of the opportunity offered to amend, but stood to his guns on the line of defense where he had planted them, that the New York company had not made the contract. Having refused the advantage of the position his antagonist tendered, which would have brought the set-off into action, he cannot now complain. We think plaintiff, having assumed the attitude that the parent company was responsible, would not be permitted to deny that a valid counterclaim should be made, if there was one.
Without further lengthening the opinion by a reference to every assignment of error brought to our attention, it is sufficient to say all of them have been considered and we find none which would warrant our interfering with the result brought about in the court below.
The assignments of error are all overruled and the judgment is affirmed.
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