English v. Mitchell Cattle Co.
English v. Mitchell Cattle Co.
Opinion of the Court
This action was originally brought in attachment by defendant in error in justice court upon the claim or cause of action,— 1st, care and keeping of divers cattle belonging to said James English in the sum of one hundred dollars; 2d, for work and labor performed by_said Mitchell Cattle Company and its employees, and for use of horses and wagons used in gathering said English cattle in the sum of fifty dollars.
The justice, after hearing the evidence, gave judgment for $100 in favor of the defendant in error and against plaintiff in error, from which judgment plaintiff in error appealed to the district court, where, after trial de novo, said judgment was affirmed, and the case is brought to this court' on error.
On the 31st day of May, 1895, said Mitchell and said English entered into an agreement such as above described for the season of 1895. In 1896,-such agreement was acted upon for the season of 1896 without renewal except by mutual understanding. On April 19, 1897, said George Mitchell wrote to English as follows: “Do you want me to run your cattle for you again this summer? If so, please let me know sometime soon, as we intend doing a little work first of next month. ’ ’ Receiving no reply, and as he testifies believing himself in duty bound, said Mitchell (with the other employees of said Mitchell Cattle Company who had succeeded to the interests of said Mitchell in said' range and H R brand of stock) proceeded to tend, care for, and brand the cattle belonging to English, until May 24, 1897, or possibly a day or two later, when said Mitchell Cattle Company and George Mitchell received the following information by letter addressed to both, and of date last aioresaid: “You will turn the ~J~\/ cattle over to L. N. Me Fall, or' his rep.,
The question here to be determined is whether or not .the district court committed error in fixing liability upon plaintiff in error by reason of the foregoing facts. Having admitted that services of the value claimed were ren-* dered, but denying liability, plaintiff in error stands upon the one proposition" that no contract (the contrary seeming to have been the contention of defendant in error) existed whereby James English became at any time chargeable for the services rendered, and while the various definitions of contract as set forth by plaintiff in error, and the necessity of' acceptance, meeting of minds, mutuality etc., as set forth in plaintiff in error’s brief, is, as claimed, elementary; it is also true that ‘‘under certain circumstances when one person has conferred upon another benefits in the way of property, services, etc., and can not show a promise in fact by the latter to pay for them, the law will create a promise, because of the receipt of the benefits to pay what they are reasonably worth.” Clark on Contracts, 707, par. 318.
In Day v. Caton, 119 Mass., 513, the court says: “The fact that the plaintiff expected to be paid for the work would certainly not be sufficient of itself to establish the existence of a contract, when the question between the parties was whether one was made. Taft v. Dickinson, 6 Allen, 553. It must be shown that in some manner the party sought to be charged assented to it. íf a party, however, voluntarily accepts and avails himself of valuable services rendered for his benefit, when he has the option whether to accept or reject them, even if there is no distinct proof that they were rendered by his authority or request, a promise to pay may be inferred. Abbot v. Hermon, 7 Greenl., 118; Hayden v. Madison, 7 Greenl., 76.” And
In the case of Guild v. Guild, 15 Pick., 131, Chief Justice Shaw says: “Those (speaking of his associates) who think that the law raises no implied promise of pecuniary compensation, from the mere performance of useful and valuable services, under the circumstances supposed, are nevertheless of the opinion that it would be quite competent for. the jury to infer a promise from all the circumstances of the case; and although the burden of proof is upon the plaintiff, as in other cases, to show the implied promise, the jury ought to be instructed that if, under all the circumstances of the case, the services were of such a nature as to lead to a reasonable belief, that it was the understanding of the parties that pecuniary compensation should be made for them, then the jury should find an implied promise and a qucmbum meruit; but if otherwise, then they should find that there was no implied promise. * * * The court being all of the opinion that these are proper subjects and sources of inquiry for a jury,
In case of Hart v. Hart, 41 Mo., 446, the court after discussing several cases, and among them Guild v. Guild, supra, says: ‘ ‘ The legal principle which must control cases of this description can only be indicated. It is impossible to lay down precise or accurate rules to govern all the cases which may arise. Each case .will necessarily depend on its own special circumstances. The jury having found, after considering all the circumstances, that there was an implied promise acting under what we deem a correct and proper declaration of the law, the judgment will be affirmed.”
In the case of Lewis v. Trickey, 20 Barbour, 390, the court says: ‘‘ Where one person performs labor for another, the law presumes a request and a promise to pay what such labor is reasonably worth, unless it is understood that it is to be performed gratuitously; or if it is performed under circumstances which repel the presumption of a promise that compensation shall be made. ’ ’
In the case of Schwarz v. Schwarz, 26 Ill., 83, the court says: “ Yery many circumstances tending to show what the intentions of the parties were in transactions in which they may have been engaged, are often proper for the consideration of a jury. Intents must be inferred from facts and circumstances. The real object and design of parties quite often can be reached in no other way. In the absence of express proof of a contract, one may be implied from circumstances. Sometimes very slight circumstances will produce the desired effect upon the minds of a jury. At another time such is the nature of the controversy, that they must be of a stronger character to induce the mind to yield the required assent. ’ ’
In the case of Oatfield v. Warring, 14 Johnson, 192., the court says: “A request may be inferred from the beneficial nature of the consideration and the circumstances of the transaction.” In Ogden v. Saunders, 12 Wheaton, 341, Chief Justice Marshall of the U. S. Supreme Court says: “ A great mass of human transactions depend upon implied contracts, upon contracts which are not written, but which grow out of the acts of the parties. In such cases the parties are supposed to have made those stipulations which, as honest, fair, and just men, they ought to have made. When the law assumes that they have made these stipulations, it does not vary their contract, or introduce new terms into it, but declares that certain acts, unexplained by compact, impose certain duties, and that the parties had stipulated for their performance. ’ ’
In Turner v. Jones, 1 Lansing N. Y., 149, Marion P. J. makes use of the following language: “ In the absence of an express promise I understand it to be a general principle to imply a promise if the facts are such as in equity and good conscience to require a promise. Promises are implied in a large portion of the transactions of life.”
In Kiser v. Halladay, Supreme Court of Oregon, 45 Pac., 761, the court says: “ It is insisted that, before the defendant could be made liable for the services of plain
It is true that plaintiff in error proved a contract with Me Fall whereby Me Fall was bound to gather these cattle at his own expense; but the Mitchell" Cattle Company was not and never became a party to that contract, and the fact that Me Fall was unable to perform that part of his contract with English, and so stated, and that English must have had actual knowledge of that fact, is clearly shown. And that Me Fall made a contract with the Mitchell Cattle Company representing himself as authorized to bind English, and that by reason of such contract the services charged for were performed for English, and that during a portion of the time and for several days while such services were being rendered, English was present directing and advising, is shown by the testimony and not denied; and when the services were concluded and a demand was made for a receipt showing his liability, he was consulted and sought to avoid liability by having the colored man, who acted as cook, sign for Me Fall.
In Bradstreet Co. v. Gill, 13 Am. State, 77, the court . says: “ The intention of the parties it is true must control; but that intention is to' be gathered from what was actually done, or agreed by the parties, not from what they may have privately meant or supposed they meant. Agency is a question of law to be determined by the relations of the parties as they in fact exist under their agreements or acts. If relations exist which will constitute an agency, it will be an agency whether the parties understood it to be or not. Their private intention will not affect it. ’ ’
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ENGLISH v. MITCHELL CATTLE COMPANY
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- 1 case
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- Published