Detroit Automatic Scale Co. v. G. B. R. Smith Milling Co.
Detroit Automatic Scale Co. v. G. B. R. Smith Milling Co.
Opinion of the Court
Appellant sued appellee to recover the price of four flour mill scales delivered to appellee under written contract of sale and purchase entered into between the parties and for which appellee refused payment. Appellee denied liability on the ground of failure of .consideration, in that appellant represented that said scales would weigh accurately and give satisfactory service when installed in the concrete mill building in course of construction at the time the parties entered into this contract, and that due to such representations, which were false and made for the purpose oi misleading, and which did mislead, defendant, the contract was entered into; but that the scales when received and installed failed to perform satisfactorily or weigh accurately and were wholly worthless for the purpose for which they were bought. There was a trial to jury to whom, at the conclusion of the evidence, the court’submitted one fact issue as follows:
“Were the No. 72 automatic scales involved in this suit fit and suitable for the use and purpose for which they were .manufactured and sold by the plaintiff to the defendant?”
The jury replied, “No.” Upon the finding judgment was for appellee.
“Should said scale prove defective within two years from date of shipment with ordinary use (not dropped or broken), the Detroit Automatic Scale Company agrees, if properly notified, to repair same free of charge. * * * ”
Assuming that appellant did, in all respects, comply with the provisions of the clause just quoted, we are nevertheless of the opinion that the language does not constitute an express warranty so as to relieve appellant from all further responsibility. “Warranty” is said to be an express or implied agreement “by which the seller undertakes to vouch for the title, quality or condition of the thing sold.” Vol. 2 Mechem, Sales, § 1222. “Warranties usually go to the quality, quantity, capacity, condition, (or) fitness of property for the purposes for which it is sold. * * * ” Simkins, Contracts ana Sales, 612, and citation. Simply stated the clause of the contract relied upon as fixing the extent of appellant’s liability declares that appellant will repair free of charge any defect in the scale which develops in two years under ordinary, use. “Defective” means a defect or flaw; imperfect, incomplete, lacking, faulty (Century Dictionary) — referring, as used in the contract, in our opinion, to a lack or absence of something essential to a complete scale, as for instance one or more of the parts that enter into the mechanism, as a whole, or to some part of the machinery imperfectly or incompletely moulded or cast, as distinguished from any warranty or representation concerning the material out of which the scale was constructed or its ability to perform the service for which it was sold.
One of the cases upon which counsel rely and which is typical of the others cited is J. I.- Case Threshing Machine Co. v. Hall, 32 Tex. Civ. App. 214, 73 S. W. 835. In that case the facts disclose that the seller warranted in writing that the machine was of good material and if properly operated would perform well the work for which it was sold, and, in addition, provided the remedies the parties were to ■ follow before there could he a rescission if the machine failed to meet the warranty. The case is at once .distinguishable from the one at bar-in the fact that in the former there is undeniably an express warranty as to quality and fitness, while in the latter there is merely an agreement to repair any defects which may develop within two years under ordinary use. There being then an absence of any express warranty, and appellant knowing the purpose for which appellee desired to use the scale, which is not denied and which the evidence amply supports, there arose by implication of law the agreement on the part of appellant' that the scales were reasonably fit for or adapted to the purpose for which they were sold. Buffalo Pitts Co. v. Alderdice, 177 S. W. 1044, and citations.
“The machine purchased was specifically designated in the contract, and the machine so designated was delivered, put up, and put in operation in the brewery. The only implication in regard to it was that it would perform the work the described machine was made to (Jo* ^ i ’
That is to say, as we interpret the decision, that the. machine would refrigerate, not that it would cool Seitz’ brewery to a certain degree, in fact the court say:
“There was no express warranty that the machine would cool 150,000 cubic feet of atmosphere to 40 degrees Fahrenheit or any other temperature, without reference to the construction of the particular brewery or other surrounding circumstances.”
It was not denied, the court say at another point in its opinion, that the machine worked and operated as a refrigerating ma-chiné should. That statement, in our opinion, marks the difference in the two cases. In the case cited the machine would operate as a refrigerating machine should. In the case at bar the scales would not correctly register weight. “The evidence, which we have not quoted because its sufficiency is not denied, shows- that the scales would not weigh accurately nor meet the government test in that respect, *200 and that appellant’s agents were unable to correct them. One o£ the witnesses for appellee relates that between 400 and 500 sacks of meal, when re-weighed on government tested scales, were found short between 300 and 400 pounds.
“If a party were denied the right to show facts which prevent a writing from constituting a contract, such a writing would be free from all defenses, and outside of all rules which determine the validity of contracts.” U. S. Gypsum Co. v. Shields, 106 S. W. 724.
i
Of course, there remains the question of whether such representations constitute fraud. What constitutes fraud is difficult of definition. It was said by another that it is “part of the equity doctrine not to define it, not to lay down any rule as to the nature of it, lest the craft of men should find ways of” escaping “the limits of such rule or definition.” The representation to constitute fraud must be an affirmative statement of some material fact upon • which the other party relied and' because of which he was induced to make the contract. In the case last cited Shields had a contract to erect certain buildings for the government, and it was represented to him by the seller of a certain type of plaster that a government official had said that such material would be required in the construction of the building, upon which the purchaser relied, and which was held, upon proof that the government did not require the use of such material, t<v avoid the contract on the ground of fraud. The proof in the present case is that appellant’s agent represented that its scales were accurate and peculiarly fitted for the weighing of flour in appellee’s mill, whereas the proof for appellee shows that they were inaccurate, did not register correct weight, nor meet the government test for correctness. That the facts show a misrepresentation of a material fact upon which appellee relied we believe will hardly be denied.
The second assignment of error is not discussed because disposed of by our holding on the issue presented by the first assignment.
The fourth assignment is overruled without discussion because, in our opinion, it was proper to prove that appellant was informed of and knew the condition of the place where it was proposed to install and operate the scales, since the evidence tends to show that the. vibration of the building affected the adjustment and accuracy of the scales.
The judgment is affirmed.
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