Peacock Mill Co. v. Honeycutt
Peacock Mill Co. v. Honeycutt
Opinion of the Court
This action, instituted by the appellant to restrain the collection of certain taxes, terminated in a judgment of dismissal as- to all the respondents except Reser. This appeal has been taken from such judgment.
The evidence shows that, in the latter part of February, 1907, the appellant offered the respondent Reser a definite price per bushel for 13,500 sacks of wheat delivered f. o. b. cars at Walla Walla, then in store in the warehouse in that city; that about February 28, 1907, the offer was accepted; that at that time there was no payment made upon the purchase price, and the entire contract rested in parol; that the first delivery was made on March 7, and the delivery was completed some time in April following. The evidence further shows that the words “delivered f. o. b. cars” at Walla Walla means in that community that the grain is to be delivered by the vendor on board the cars before any title passes. This is shown to be the general custom in that locality. Indeed, it would seem that the term itself could have no other meaning. The contract when made was within the statute of frauds and not enforcible. Pierce’s Code, § 5344 (Bal. Code, § 4577). The title remained in the vendor until there was a delivery.
On the 23d day of April, 1907, the wheat was listed and •assessed as the property of the appellant. The detail sheet recites that it is a “schedule of the number and amounts of all personal property in the possession or under the control of W. W. Raymond, belonging to the Peacock Mill Company on the 1st day of March, 1907, listed by W. W. Raymond.” On the date of the assessment, the schedule was signed “Peacock Mill Company by W. W. Raymond,” and sworn to by the latter on that date. The complaint charged that the wheat was listed by Raymond, the appellant’s then president, through a mistake of fact, and upon the representations of the county assessor that the appellant owned the wheat on March 1.
The evidence of mistake must be clear, cogent, and con
If the schedule was.signed under a mistake at all, it was as to when the title to the wheat vested in the appellant. This would be a mistake as to the law applicable to the facts. The general rule is that equity will not relieve against a mistake of law. This rule has its exceptions, but we are not aware of any exception to the general rule which would afford relief in the instant case. Fraud and misrepresentation are conspicuously absent. In discussing the rule and its exceptions in McKay v. Smith, 27 Wash. 442, 67 Pac. 928, we said:
“But it is said the mistake made was a mistake of law, and that equity will not relieve against a mistake of law. This is undoubtedly the general rule; but this rule, like many other general rules, has its exceptions, as well defined as the rule itself. It is held that equity will relieve against a mistake of law where the adverse party is seeking to gain, without consideration, an unconscionable advantage through the opportunities afforded him by the mistake, and the other party is innocent of blame.”
See, also, Mackintosh v. Renton, 3 Wash. Ter. 431, 19 Pac. 144; 16 Cyc. 73, 75. There was in this case no statement or representation as to the law on the part of the respondents, and therefore such cases as Sanford v. Royal Ins. Co., 11 Wash. 653, 40 Pac. 609, and Bjorklund v. Seattle Elec. Co., 35 Wash. 439, 77 Pac. 727, do not apply. • The trial court reserved the case for further proceedings as between the appellant and the respondent Reser. As to the latter’s liability, we express no opinion.
It follows from what has been said that the judgment must be affirmed, and it is so ordered.
Rudkin, C. J., Fullerton, Chadwick, and Morris, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.