Great Eastern Paper Co. v. Diaz Hnos
Great Eastern Paper Co. v. Diaz Hnos
Opinion of the Court
delivered the following opinion:
In this case certain goods were alleged to have been sold by the plaintiff to the defendant and suit is brought upon the full amount of the contract and in other counts for accepted hills of exchange for the price, plus incidental charges, amounting to moro than the $3,000 jurisdictional amount required in the Federal court. A demurrer to this is filed. The general ground as to not stating sufficient facts need not be considered under the practice of this court.
There is no doubt that the general duty of one person to another in a business transaction is to take such steps as will reduce the damage from which' one suffers, caused by the other, whenever their dealings may be supposed to bring about injury. A suit upon the purchase price alone is of course larger and may be of importance in securing the jurisdiction of the Federal court; but that consideration cannot be taken into account by the Federal court itself in deciding upon the validity of a suit tested by demurrer. The complaint upon its face seems to be regular in this regard, claiming the full amount of the purchase price evidenced by the broken contract.
2. The demurrer further alleges as a defect that it does not appear the spool cotton was judicially consigned under § 332 of the Porto Pico Code of Commerce. On the argument reference is made to Oliver v. Silva, 17 Decisiones de Puerto Rico, 45, where it is held that a vendor in order to enforce his contract of sale must make a judicial deposit of the merchandise, for, unless this is done or the vendee has otherwise agreed, the contract of sale is not in Porto Pico to be considered consummated. The facts of that case show that the coffee in question was bought in Porto Pico and destroyed by fire in Porto Pico.
It has been held in this court in several cases that a judicial
3. The demurrer further sets up that the action’is in effect a suit for specific performance of contract as to personal property. Specific performance of contract relating to personal property is not allowable in equity, nor is it allowed at law in the Federal procedure. But the action in question does not seem properly speaking to be one for specific performance. Fisher Hydraulic Stone & Machinery Co. v. Warner, 147 C. C. A. 413, 233 Fed. 527. It is based upon the breach of a contract for the purchase of certain spool cotton. It is not material to the plaintiff whether the defendant accepts the goods or not; it is not material to the plaintiff whether the contract is ever performed or not. That is a matter for the defendant’s consideration. The suit is on the theory that there was a complete sale of goods and that the defendant has violated this to the damage of the plaintiff: in the amount of the purchase price, with certain incidental expenses. Except that it relates to personal property, it is n®t unlike the case of Fernandez v. Calaf, 8 Porto Rico Fed. Rep. 363, in this court, for. damages for the sale of lands in Santo Domingo. In point of fact the lands were never accepted, but the defendants were held liable for
It is quite true that the Common Law is hardly satisfactory in regard to a transaction where the purchaser refuses to take goods according to his contract. Where the title had been passed it was held in Barrow v. Arnaud, 8 Q. B. 604, 115 Eng. Reprint, 1004, 10 Jur. 319 — Exch., that the damage was the difference between the contract price and the market price, because the seller can take his goods into the market and sell them. The goods in question in this case consisted of cotton twine, and the court cannot know judicially that this is an article of common purchase and sale in Porto Rico. It has been held in Eisher Hydraulic Stone & Machinery Co. v. Warner, supra, that where goods are of a special kind, having-no market value, the seller may sue for the entire purchase; price regardless of any question of resale. Under Bement v. Smith, 15 Wend. 493, any seller may sue to recover the whole purchase price whore he holds the refused goods for the vendee’s account.
It may be added that under the Roman law, from which the Spanish law is derived, this difficulty did not arise. The vendor could recover the purchase price when the purchaser refused to accept, and such is the modern civil law. Fisher Hydraulic Stone & Machinery Co. v. Warner, supra [233 Fed. 530].
. 4. It would seem that the practice in such matters ought to be regulated for the purposes of proceeding in this court. The rule in all cases is that a plaintiff: cannot sue unless he has a complete cause of action, and the rule of pleading is that this
If one has a claim against another dependent upon the delivery of an article, the offer of the article and refusal to accept must he alleged. This has been done in the case at bar. The question, further arises, however, as to the ultimate disposition of the goods in question. It is a maxim of law and common sense that one cannot have his cake and eat it too. It is impossible to sue a man for not accepting an article and then keep and use the article oneself. The question is, how far these facts must appear in the pleadings.
This cannot be said to be a matter of common-law pleading. The general principle comes up under all forms of pleading. The object of pleading is to inform the’ court and the other side of the nature of the claim or defense set up. The con-signación of the Spanish law is based upon the same principle of claiming for the actual damage, the difference being that under the Oode of Commerce and the old Spanish procedure the state through the court took an active part in the matter, keeping the tender alive in the shape of a deposit, while at common law this was left more to the parties themselves, a deposit ii> court being limited to money and in force only under certain circumstances. The principle nevertheless is universal that one cannot sue for something or its equivalent and keep that something in his own hands at the same time. The Code of Civil Procedure must supersede the Code of Commerce so far as they conflict. The Code of Civil Procedure is a complete system, controlling all forms • of suits and actions not otherwise specified by law. It was designed to cover both actions at common law and suits in equity. Pom. Code Rem.,
5. The provisions as to tender still exist, and if the right of the plaintiff is dependent upon a tender to the defendant, this must be alleged, and in whatever cases money should be paid into court this should be alleged and proven. In the case at bar the tender is alleged, but it is not stated that the goods are held at the disposition of the defendant. It would seem upon principle that this must be done and that the fact therefore ought to be alleged as a part of the plaintiff’s case. It may
1't is so ordered.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- THE GREAT EASTERN PAPER CO., INC. v. DIAZ HNOS
- Status
- Published