Lee v. Jensen
Lee v. Jensen
Opinion of the Court
The defendant contends, first, that the tobacco as graded and bundled by the plaintiff contained damaged tobacco and tobacco below the grades specified in the contract, and that under, the terms of the contract he had a right to reject the entire amount tendered; second, that there is no evidence to sustain the finding of the jury as to the amount of sound, merchantable tobacco of the grades specified in the contract.
The first contention involves a construction of the contract. A contract similar to the one here under consideration was construed in Strander v. McIntosh, 169 Wis. 403, 172 N. W. 717, but the questions raised here were not raised in that case. The controversy, here turns upon the meaning of the words: “When the crop is ready for delivery the buyer agrees to examine this tobacco on the premises of the seller. If the amount of damage cannot be satisfactorily agreed upon, the seller agrees to return the advance money and surrender this contract at the time of examination.” Under this clause the buyer must examine the tobacco upon the premises of the seller. It is undisputed in this case that the buyer did examine the tobacco upon the seller’s premises. .The jury found, however, that this examination was not made honestly and in good faith, for the purpose of determining to what extent, if any, the tobacco was damaged and in unsound packing condition. The evidence shows quite clearly that the defendant did examine the tobacco on plaintiff’s premises and that he found it to be of the grade for. which the plaintiff after
Assuming as we must, in view of the verdict of the jury, that there was in the bundles tendered as being of the contract grades, tobacco of inferior grades, what was the obligation of the defendant under the terms of the contract, which provided that “if the amount of damage cannot be satisfactorily agreed upon the seller agrees to return the advance money and surrender this contract ?” This implies an agreement to agree upon the amount of damages, and if it related to a principal element of the contract its indefiniteness would no doubt render the whole contract unenforceable. 1 Page, Contracts (2d ed.) § 89.
It is, however, a subsidiary rather than a principal promise. It relates solely to grading of the tobacco, the grades having a well established and well understood meaning in the trade. The principal elements of the contract are clear and definite; the amount and quality of goods, all those of the specified quality raised by the plaintiff during the season of 1920; price thirty-five and one-half cents per pound for wrappers and binders, ten cents per pound for fillers; place of delivery, Coon Valley; and while the time of delivery
Certainly the contract does not require the defendant to accept tobacco not of the contract grades merely because it is bundled by the grower with the grades specified in the contract. The term “damage” as used in the contract is somewhat indefinite, but it is apparently used and was understood by the parties to be used in the sense of indicating the amount that should be deducted from the amount tendered in order to make a'proper allowance for wrong grading. It was the contention of the defendant that the tobacco tendered was of such an inferior grade that it would not pay to grade it by running it over the table, which appears to be the only way the grades could be accurately established. However, the jury has found against the defendant on that' contention. As applied to the subject matter here dealt with, we are of the opinion that the phrase unquestionably meant and was intended by the parties to mean that if upon inspection of the tobacco upon the premises of the plaintiff by the defendant it appeared that there was tobacco of inferior grades in that tendered, the parties should make a bona fide effort to agree as to the amount of the non-contract tobacco so included; that if after the making of such an effort the parties were unable to agree, the contract was then to be terminated and both parties released therefrom. Manifestly, good faith is no more required on one side than on the other, and if one party arbitrarily refused to perform he could not complain of nonperformance by the opposite party. Under the circumstances here disclosed, upon tender of the goods by the plaintiff, claiming that the goods tendered were of the contract grades, it would require the defendant, who claimed there was inferior to
Assuming, as the jury found, that there was in the bundles tendered tobacco not of the grade specified in the contract and a satisfactory agreement could not be reached, then the contract was by its terms at an end and both parties were discharged. We have been cited to and we find no case construing a contract like the one here under consideration or fairly comparable to it. In the absence of the provision which prescribed that the contract, in case of failure to agree, should be at an end, the seller could no doubt recover at the contract price for the amount of goods of the contract grades actually in the bundles tendered; that is, the contract would not be at an end. The grades might be established in other ways; that is, the contract might in that respect be made certain.
Indefiniteness of a subsidiary covenant not a vital part of the contract does not render the contract unenforceable. 1 Page, Contracts (2d ed.) § 105; 1 Williston, Contracts, § 48.
As to contracts which are incomplete by their terms, or where the terms are to be settled by future negotiations and as to the effect of uncertainty as to the subject matter and time in contracts, see 1 Page, Contracts (2d ed.) §§ 87-105; Goldstine v. Tolman, 157 Wis. 141, 147 N. W. 7.
The trial-court submitted the case as if the duty to make a good-faith effort to agree upon the damage rested primarily, if not wholly, on the defendant. The obligation is mutual. One party cannot agree. The defendant claims that the plaintiff insisted at all times that he was entitled to the contract price for the bundles tendered without deduction. If that is true, the defendant was released and the contract was at an end. The issues should be so framed as to find the element of good faith as to both parties as already indicated.
By the Court. — Judgment reversed, and cause remanded for a new trial. ’
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.