Ferguson v. Johnson
Ferguson v. Johnson
Opinion of the Court
This suit was brought by Joe Lee Ferguson, appellant, against B. M. Johnson, appellee, to recover damages for an alleged breach of warranty of ,the quality of a carload of millet seed alleged to have been sold by Johnson to Ferguson. It was alleged that Johnson agreed to sell and deliver to Ferguson at a specified time and place one carload of good, merchantable millet seed; that a car of said seed was delivered and paid for, but on examination prov *513 ed to contain a large quantity of trash .and other seeds, thus not complying with the contract. Recovery of the difference between the value of the seed as delivered and such seed as contracted fool was sought. The defendant denied that he contracted or sold to Ferguson a carload of seed, but claimed that he agreed to sell him what seed he had on hand, and that two other persons also sold Ferguson seed, and that all of these sales together made the car, defendant’s seed constituting about one-sixth thereof. Johnson’s version of the contract was that he simply sold Ferguson the millet seed he had on hand, it being understood that “the seed would come straight from the thrasher,” and that he had nothing to do with the sale of the seed by the other parties. He claimed that his seed filled the contract, though there were “some weed seed in the millet seed delivered.” Evidence was offered in support of the issues thus made between the plaintiff and the defendant. We think the charge sufficiently presents the issues made as stated, and overrule the first and second assignments.
The authorities do agree that an express warranty, being collateral to the agreement, is not discharged by delivery and acceptance under the contract, although such acceptance is made after inspection. In such cases the goods may be accepted and suit brought for breach of the! warranty of! quality. But there is much conflict and confusion as to whether a particular description of the quality is to be construed as a warranty, and, even if it is not, as to what are the rights of the purchaser upon a discovery subsequent to ac *514 ceptance that the quality does not conform to the specifications of the contract. Our Supreme Court seems to have recognized a rule which may be stated as follows: A contract merely descriptive of the quality of the goods to be delivered imposes, of course, an obligation on the seller to deliver goods of that description. If the goods tendered in discharge of the contract do not meet its requirements, they may be rejected and the seller sued for breach of his contract to sell and deliver the goods of the specific quality. Ordinarily, however, where the goods are accepted after inspection or opportunity to inspect, and in the absence of fraud, the contract is discharged, and the purchaser may not thereafter assert that the goods do not fulfill its terms.
There are some exceptions to this rule— where there is no opportunity of inspection, where inspection is prevented by fraud, or where the inspection would not disclose Ore defect, and perhaps others not necessary to here mention. In such exceptional cases the right of the purchaser, “when rescission has become impracticable, are practically the same as on breach of warranty.” Jones v. George, 61 Tex. 350, 48 Am. Rep. 280; Parks v. O’Conner, supra. The latter case is authority establishing both the rule stated and the exceptions. In that case it appeared that the defendant, upon being sued for the purchase price of cattle delivered under the contract hereinbefore stated, attempted to reduce the recovery: First, because the second herd of cattle delivered was not in accordance with the terms of the contract, this defect being an apparent one (Parks v. O’Conner, supra, p. 106); and, second, because the cattle were infected by a disease not discoverable by inspection, and that by reason of this disease many of them died. Parks v. O’Conner, supra, p. 108. The two defenses were discussed separately by the court. As to the first, it was .held that:
“When a purchaser, under an executory contract for the sale and delivery of personal property, inspects the same before delivery, he is es-topped to set up that it is not such as the seller has agreed to deliver so far as all visible defects are concerned.”
As to the second defense, the rule we have stated was applied. When we consider the two assignments which the court was considering in 'discussing the latter question, and remember that in the cases where the exception applies the remedy of the purchaser is the same as if the suit was on breach of warranty, the concluding language of the opinion, used in concluding the discussion of this pilase of the case, which the court, in the case of Ellis v. Riddick, 34 Tex. Civ. App. 256, 78 S. W. 719, considered as confusing, does not appear to us to render uncertain the actual announcement of the law as it was intended to be made in the opinion in that case. We think a distinction may be made between the contract in . the case of Parks v. O’Conner, supra, and those construed in the cases of Ellis v. Riddick, 34 Tex. Civ. App. 256, 78 S. W. 719, and other cases cited by appellant, but, if not, we should follow the decision of the Supreme Court, as the contract there considered in its description of the quality of the property agreed to be sold is practically identical with that under consideration. No good purpose would be subserved by pursuing an investigation of the authorities further, as the Supreme Court, in the case of Parks v. O’Conner, supra, which was followed in Seay v. Diller, supra, seems to have settled the rule as we have stated it, which rule is regarded by many authorities as being sound in reason and principle. Mechem on Sales, § 1391; Jones v. McEwan, 91 Ky. 373, 16 S. W. 81, 12 L. R. A. 399. A fair opportunity to inspect the property delivered under the contract of sale is, in the absence of fraud, regarded as the equivalent of inspection. Fay Fruit Co. v. Talerico, 26 Tex. Civ. App. 491, 63 S. W. 657; Springfield Shingle Co. v. Edgecomb Mill Co., 52 Wash. 620, 101 Pac. 233, 35 L. R. A. (N. S.) 277; Jones v. McEwan, supra. We conclude, therefore, that there was no error in the instruction complained of by this assignment.
Affirmed.
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