Zavala Land & Water Co. v. Tolbert
Zavala Land & Water Co. v. Tolbert
Opinion of the Court
The appellee, Tolbert, sued the appellant, Zavala Land & Water Company in the district court of Hunt county, Tex. The original petition appears to have been filed on March 23, 1912. On May 21, 1912, in due order of pleading, the defendant filed its plea of privilege to be sued in Zava-la county, where it had its domicile, or in Bexar county, where it was alleged it had an office and agent for the transaction of its business. On February 13, 1913, plaintiff filed an amended petition, in which it is alleged, in substance: That plaintiff resided in Zavala county, Tex.; that on or about the 17th day of January, 1912, and for some time prior thereto, the defendant, among other things, was engaged in promoting and developing a town site known as La Pryor in said Zavala county, that pursuant to this end defendant had platted a large body of land in and around said town into lots and blocks, and through its agents and published literature was offering for sale, and was selling, said lands. That by the contract of sale, declared on in the original petition, defendant was obligated to sink a well upon the land sold, and guaranteed a supply of water therein sufficient for the purposes of irrigation ; that the section of the state wherein said land is located is arid, and that the rainfall is wholly insufficient for the purposes of growing the usual crops. That the clause of the contract by which defendant obligated himself to sink said well is as follows: “It is agreed to bore on land above described 10% in. casing, guaranteeing water, and draw on R. L. Tolbert for total cost of well when completed.” That this provision in the contract was intended to mean, and did in fact mean, a supply of water from the well to be sunk on said land sufficient in quantity to irrigate the 40 acres of land purchased. That the matter of a water supply sufficient for purposes of irrigation was a material consideration with plaintiff in the purchase of said land, and the value of said land is almost wholly dependent on such supply of water. That defendant failed to deliver deed and abstract of title to plaintiff within the time agreed upon, and did not do so until about March 15, 1912, and failed and refused to sink a well upon the land until about May 15, 1912, and that the well was not of the kind provided for in the contract. That the well which appellant sunk on the land does not afford a supply of water sufficient to irrigate, but is worthless for such use. That at the time said contract was made defendant knew that water sufficient for purposes of irrigation could not be obtained upon said land, and at said time did not intend to supply such well, but of these facts plaintiff was not then informed, and wholly relied upon defendant’s representations. In this petition plaintiff claimed damages for loss in value of the 40 acres of land, loss of plaintiff’s time, and loss of time by plaintiff’s sons, and loss of time for teams, and loss of machinery which the plaintiff purchased to test the well, and loss upon labor employed to test the well, aggregating damages in the sum of $5,900. On February 25, 1913, the defendant filed its original answer,. which consisted of general demurrer and special exceptions, a general denial, and special pleas, wherein defendant alleges that it performed its obligations under the contract of sale, and furnished a deed of conveyance and abstract of title within reasonable and proper time, and that plaintiff ac *30 cepted a deed and abstract and went upon the land and took possession thereof under the deed, whereby he was estopped from claiming any damages by reason of delay in delivering deed and abstract of title, and alleging that defendant bored upon the said land a better well than the well stipulated in the contract,- and that it was plain tiff’s duty under the contract to test the well, and that plaintiff had willfully failed to properly test the well. And in connection with this answer, but in a separate count, the defendant, by cross-bill, sought to recover of the plaintiff $635, the alleged stipulated price for digging the well mentioned. By his first supplemental petition plaintiff alleged, among other things, that defendant represented to plaintiff that there was an unfailing supply of water to be had upon the land sold plaintiff, by boring a well thereon amply sufficient for purposes of irrigation for all of the said tract of land, “and in its written contract, and in and through its verbal representations and agreement, it was to furnish a well upon said land of the kind therein mentioned; that the well provided by defendant affords no water sufficient to irrigate any land whatever, and same is wholly worthless for the •purposes for which same was contracted, or for any other purpose for which same could be used upon said land.” On February 25, 1913, defendant’s general demurrer and all its special exceptions to plaintiff’s petition, except the fifth special exception, were overruled. Its fifth special exception was sustained, and plaintiff filed a trial amendment, making the following allegations: “That at the time said contract was made defendant had subdivided a large tract of land in Zavala county into smaller tracts, and through its said agents was engaged in exploiting, advertising, and selling said land in Hunt county and elsewhere as an irrigation proposition. That in the clause of said contract providing for the boring of a well upon said land, defendant, at the time, place, and under the circumstances surrounding, intended to represent and declare, and in fact did represent and declare, to plaintiff that by sinking a well upon said land of the dimensions stated and to a depth of not more than 200 feet, that water sufficient in quantity would thereby be procured to irrigate all crops that might be grown upon said 40 acres of land, and the defendant bound and obligated itself by said contract to provide such well. Defendant at said time, by oral statements and representations made to plaintiff, and by printed statements, cuts, and pictures placed in plaintiff’s hands, did further declare to and covenant with plaintiff to provide for him upon said land a well of the kind mentioned, and that said well would and should furnish water in sufficient quantity to irrigate all crops that might be grown upon said 40 acres of land. That plaintiff relied upon said representations of defendant, and was induced thereby to purchase said land, and but for the same he would not have made the said purchase. That at the time defendant and its said agents knew full well that water sufficient for purposes of irrigation could not be obtained upon said land, but of tins plaintiff was wholly ignorant, and trusted and relied upon the said representations of defendant. That in making the payment set out in said contract, and in executing and delivering his said notes to defendant, plaintiff trusted and relied upon said representations of defendant fraudulently and deceitfully made to plaintiff to induce him to make said contract, and to pay the money and execute the notes therein mentioned. That plaintiff at the time had no notice of such fraudulent purposes on the part of defendant, and did not in fact learn of the same for some time thereafter.” The case was tried before the court and a jury; the. issue raised by defendant’s plea of privilege being submitted to the jury in connection with the case on its merits, and the trial resulted in a verdict and judgment denying the plea of privilege, and awarding plaintiff damages in the sum of $2,500. From this judgment defendant appealed.
Plaintiff R. L. Tolbert testified as follows:
“I am pretty well acquainted with tbe wells on tbe land close to mine, I know every farm and every well. There were plenty of wells sunk in tbe locality close to my land that did not furnish sufficient water to irrigate 40 acres, and I only know of one that would furnish enough water to irrigate 40 acres, and .that was at the experimental station, what they called tbe deep well. * * * Outside of that well at tbe experimental station I do not know of any well on their land, and I do not think there is one that will supply enough water to irrigate 40 acres; they water from 8 to 15 aeres, and I have watched ■them closely. When they .talked to me about the land I wanted to see it, if they could 'show me anything I like to see, anything that is good, that shows to be good, and this was represented to be good. I like to see anything before I buy it, if it is possible to do so, and before I bought this land I went down and saw it. I cannot say I was on the ground and looked all over it, I was not there very long, only a day and a half. I could look over a whole lot of ground in a day and á half, and we did see considerable ground. I saw a good many of the wells • some of the farms were in cultivation; there were not a lot of them in cultivation, only what I would call a few. I saw the truck growing and some of the land being irrigated; but as, to things growing without irrigation, they did not take us to see any of the land that was not irrigated, but I learned afterwards, after I got down there, that there was some growing without irrigation, not much. I had 'it in my mind to investigate the land before I bought, and that was why I was investigating down there.” Plaintiff further testified: “I can hardly state all the conversation I had with Mr. Hughes and Mr. Parish about the time the contract was made for the purchase of this 40 acres of land. As stated, I went down and looked at the land; they were selling it as an irrigation proposition, and claimed that there was plenty of water on the land. I considered the water proposition and told them- so; in fact, I told them that was the only way I would consider it; if they had plenty of water on the land it was all right; otherwise I would not have it at all. That conversation was had on the land, in Greenville, here after I came back, just before I bought the land, and at the time I bought it. I talked with Mr. Hughes and Mr. Parish both about it, with one as much as the other, but perhaps I talked with Mr. Parish a little the most. They guaranteed an inexhaustible supply of water; that it could not be exhausted by any. machinery in any way, and at a depth of not more than 200 feet. That statement influenced me in the purchase of the land; I would not have had the land if he had not made it so plain about the water, that was the idea I had; they knew the situation, and I relied upon it, and told them so at the time. I went down there with Mr. Hughes to look at the land. Before I went down there, and after I got back here, Mr. Hughes made representations to me about this land. I did not buy while I was down there. He represented to me, after I came back here from looking at the land, at the 40 acres that they offered to sell me, that there was water for , irrigation inexhaustible water. * * * Going back to the 17th day of January, the day the contract was made, there is a stipulation written in the face of the contract. Mr. Hughes put it in there, and it was understood between me and Mr. Parish that they were to furnish me water sufficient for irrigation; that is the reason Mr. Hughes put it in there, tie did not put that in the contract, he did not put it in just like *34 I wanted it done, lie would not do it, or he did not. do it. He did not refuse positively to put that in the contract; he said the amount of water you would get in a well would depend upon the machinery; if you put in the proper machinery, the water is inexhaustible, and he said that he could not guarantee any amount of water unless 1 would guarantee the machinery I would put in. I mentioned at the time the contract was made, and before it was signed, that he put in the contract that they would guarantee 'me sufficient water for irrigation, and Mr. Hughes said that he could not do it unless I guaranteed the machinery. I did not' ask them to guarantee enough water to irrigate the 40 acres. I said I would like the water clause to be a little stronger, and he said he could not put it in unless I guaranteed the machinery. He did not refuse to guarantee the water, he said he could not do it unless I guaranteed the machinery, and I asked him what kind of machinery to use, and he said, like Mr. Vann, the school-teacher was using; that if I put in an outfit like that I would have enough water for 80 acres. I had an option on the 40 acres beyond me, and he said that with that machinery it would furnish an inexhaustible supply of water. That was not written in the contract; of course, I asked him to put it„ in. I accepted the contract without that being written in, on his statement that he would guarantee sufficient water for irrigation, in connection with the contract. I wanted him to write it in the contract, and he said he could not; the contract will show for itself whether it is in there or not. I signed the contract and paid the money without its being, in there. X did not accept the contract without them guaranteeing the water; I looked at their honor and the contract both. Mr. Parish said there was a million and a half behind the company. Of course that statement in the contract that they were to sink a well of certain dimensions, guaranteeing water, was partly a guaranty for the securing of water, and partly I relied on that guaranty. I took it that if they refused to put a water clause in the contract, it would be evidence that they had no water, but their putting in that clause made me feel more like there was a certainty of water.”
The evidence bearing upon the propositions contended for by appellant is too voluminous to be quoted in full, and we have not undertaken to do so. A careful reading of all of it has led us to the conclusion that the trial court should have sustained the defendant’s motion for a new trial, and that it becomes our duty to reverse and remand the case. The great weight and preponderance of the evidence, if not the undisputed evidence, shows that if the agent or agents of the appellant made any false or fraudulent representations to appellee as to the quantity of water which could be procured from a well on appellee’s land, appellee at the time the contract was made, -had no right to rely upon such representations, because said agents at the time, and just before said contract was executed, in effect, informed appellee that appellant would not be bound by these representations. As has been seen, appellee himself testified that, notwithstanding the representations made by appellant’s agents, and upon which he says he relied, they refused to guarantee or commit the appellant by the terms of the written contract to the proposition that a sufficient supply of water could be procured for irrigation purposes. In Bruner Bros. v. Strong, 61 Tex. 555, it is said: “If a representation be made by one contracting party to another in reference to a matter affecting a contract, and the person to whom it is made be informed that the other will not be bound by such representation, then, if it proves untrue, it is not such misrepresentation as amounts to fraud that will invalidate a contract; for such representation cannot be fraudulent if believed to be true, for the party to whom it is made has no-right to rely upon it when the other informs him that he does not intend to be bound by it.” See, also, Jackson v. Stockbridge, 29 Tex. 394, 94 Am. Dec. 290; Carson v. Kelley & Sweatt, 57 Tex. 382; Belcher v. Mulhall, 57 Tex. 19. Again, we think the great weight and preponderance of the evidence shows-that the representations made by appellant’s, agents to the appellee in regard to the quantity of water that could be procured from a-well on the land were not relied upon by ap-pellee, and did not operate as the inducement of his purchase. His own testimony is to the-effect that, before he would make the contract for the purchase he went upon the land' for the purpose of investigating the matter, and that he did investigate it; that he saw irrigation wells on appellant’s lands in operation ; that he saw lands being irrigated and! truck growing on theim His testimony, as a whole, notwithstanding statements to the-effect that he did rely on the representations made to him and was thereby induced to-buy, leads almost irresistibly to the conclusion that he would not rely upon the representations of appellant’s agents, but 'that, before he would bind himself to buy the land, he made a personal investigation and relied upon the knowledge thus acquired and his own judgment in making the purchase. ■ The testimony shows that he was upon the ground and made the first investigation in December, 1911; that he moved upon the-land about March 18, 1912, and remained there, with opportunities of knowing the amount of irrigation that was being done, until about the last of April, before he openly raised any question about the quantity of water that could be obtained from the well on his land, or the irrigability of the lands.
Touching the evidence, as it appears in the record sent to this court, we desire to-add that, while we hold that the plaintiff’s allegations, to the effect that the clause of *35 tlie contract guaranteeing water was intended to mean a supply of water from tlie well to be sunk on plaintiff’s land sufficient to irrigate the same was not obnoxious to defendant’s special demurrer, yet we believe the evidence was insufficient to sustain said allegations. Appellee’s own testimony shows that appellant's agent, who represented it making the contract, refused to stipulate therein that appellant would guarantee a sufficient supply of water for irrigation, and refused to put in the contract a stipulation to that effect, unless appellee would guarantee to put in the well from which the water was to be obtained the proper machinery to secure such results, stating, in effect, that the capacity of the well or the amount of water to be obtained therefrom would depend upon the character of the machinery with which it was operated, which it seems appellee declined to do, and accepted and signed the contract with the provision simply “guaranteeing water.” This testimony of the appellee, aside from the positive testimony offered by appellant, shows that the words, “guaranteeing water,” were not intended to mean water enough for irrigation. Our conclusion is that the verdict and judgment in this case are against the great preponderance of the evidence, and should be set aside. We are well aware that the general rule in the appellate courts of this state is to leave the verdicts of juries undisturbed where there is any substantial evidence upon which they may be predicated; and they have no right to reverse and render a judgment because the verdict is against the great preponderance of the evidence, but in such case they are authorized to reverse and remand for a new trial. Irving v. Freeman (Sup.) 155 S. W. 931. We believe it would be wrong to sanction and permit the verdict and judgment in this case to stand upon the evidence as it appears in' the record before us, and we are unwilling to do so.
The other assignments disclose, we believe, no reversible error, and will be overruled.
For the errors indicated, the judgment of the court below is reversed and the cause remanded.
Reference
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- Zavala Land Water Co. v. Tolbert. [Fn&8224]
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