Hentz v. Miner — 46 N.Y. St. Rep. 636

Majority

p. 636

Henry Hentz et al., Resp’ts, v. Elizabeth F. Miner, App’lt.

(Supreme Court, General Term, First Department,

Filed May 13, 1892.)

Headnote

1. Pleading—Complaint.

A complaint which alleges that defendant is indebted to plaintiffs in a. certain sum upon an account for money laid out and expended and commissions in the purchase and sale of goods by them .as defendant’s agents and at her request, as appears by accounts annexed, is not demurrable.

8. Contract—Evidence.

Defendant signed an instrument stating that the balance of her hur hand’s account with plaintiffs and all property of his in their hands havim been transferred to her account, she agreed that they should hold and retain the same as security for any indebtedness then existing or which might become due to them on any transactions between them and her husband or herself, and which contained a full power of attorney authorizing them to receive from her husband all orders in his own or her name for the purchase and sale of merchandise for future delivery, or otherwise, and to pay all profits to him. In an action to recover for a balance on transactions made upon the husband’s orders, Held, that the instrument was admissible against her, as were also admissions of the husband as to-the correctness of the account presented by plaintiffs.

3. Same—Sales for future delivery.

Contracts for the purchase and sale of merchandise for future delivery are not illegal unless the undertaking between the parties is that the contracts are to be settled by the mere payment of differences. If a broker is-employed to make legitimate contracts, and he does so with the honest intention of carrying them out by the delivery or receipt of the goods, he is not chargeable with an undisclosed secret intention on his client’s part to-the contrary, of which he has no suspicion.

Appeal from a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, rendered upon a verdict had at circuit. Also from an order denying the-defendant’s motion for a new trial.

Samuel Ashton, for app’lt; T. Henry Dewey, for resp’ts.

The complaint in this action sets forth that, on the 4th day of June, 1888, the defendant was indebted to the-plaintiffs in the sum of $2,304.54, upon an account for money

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laid out and expended and commissions in the purchase and sale of wheat and coffee by them as the agents of defendant, and at' her request, as more fully appears by certain accounts which are annexed and made part thereof. It also sets forth that the said sum became due and payable on the 4th day of June, 1888, and that no part of it has been paid.

These averments were sufficient to make out a good cause of action, and the complaint was not, under the authorities, demurrable. Allen v. Patterson, 3 Seld., 476; Cudlipp v. Whipple, 1 Abb., 106 ; Witherhead v. Allen, 4 Abb. Ct. App. Dec., 628 ; Moffet v. Sackett, 18 N. Y., 522 . The motion to dismiss the complaint at the opening of the trial was, therefore, properly denied.

It appeared that prior to the 21st day of May, 1888, the defendant’s husband, Joseph L. Miner, had transacted business with the plaintiffs in his own name. At the date named, the defendant executed an instrument which recited that the plaintiffs had that day transferred upon their books to her account, at her request, and upon her husband’s order, his ledger balance of account and all property of his in their hands; also, that he desired to open a. new account with the plaintiffs, and to transact further business with them. Following this recital was an agreement on Mrs. Miner’s part, in consideration of the facts so recited and of one dollar, that the plaintiffs should hold and retain all balances, moneys and property in their hands, and such as might thereafter come into their hands, as security for the payment of any indebtedness then existing, or which might thereafter become due to them, by reason of any existing transactions, or any further business between them and her husband or herself.

An extremely full power of attorney followed, authorizing the plaintiffs to receive from Mr. Miner any and all orders in his own or in her name for the purchase or sale of merchandise for future delivery or otherwise; and to pay over to him as her agent all profits due or which might become due to her in any and all business transactions undertaken in her name. The elaborate objections taken to the admission of this instrument were frivolous. The whole case rested upon transactions entered into upon the authority thus expressly conferred. Under it Mr. Miner gave orders for the purchase and sale in his wife’s name of the merchandise specified in the accounts. These orders were duly executed, and written notices, furnishing the customary details and specifying Mrs. Miner as ■ the principal, were duly given. These transactions ran on until the 4th of June, 1888, when the account was closed because of failure to keep up a proper margin. Mr. Miner agreed to keep the transactions, to use a technical phrase employed by brokers upon the produce exchange, “ margined to the market.” In other words, to keep sufficient money or property in the plaintiffs’ hands to secure them against loss. In this, respect Mr. Miner failed. The margins fell behind about the 1st of June, and the plaintiffs repeatedly requested him to make such margins good. He promised to do so, but failed, and finally, on the 4th of June, the plaintiffs, being unable to wait any longer,

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closed the account. This was done in the ordinary way by making contracts at the Produce Exchange so timed as to meet contracts previously made for purchases or sales of merchandise re-' ■ceivable or deliverable at future dates. There was no question, therefore, of conversion. Nor were the plaintiffs carrying merchandise or other property for the defendant

They simply made contracts for the purchase or sale of merchandise receivable or deliverable at a future day, and the required margin was to secure them against fluctuations in the market pending the maturity of these contracts. The defendant’s account was closed by the making of other contracts at market rates to mature at the dates of the maturity of the original contracts. The result of the closing of the defendant’s account in the manner indicated was a balance against her of the sum claimed in the complaint, and we see no reason why the balance was not, upon the facts presented, properly recoverable.

The accounts, showing the final transactions and the balance in question, were delivered to Mr. Miner upon the day when matters were thus closed up, and the very next day he acknowledged the correctness of these accounts and promised that the balance should be paid. It is contended that these admissions of Mr. Miner were not admissible against the defendant. We think, however, that the statement of the account was within the scope of his authority. If the closing of the account had resulted in a balance in the defendant’s favor, he was expressly authorized to receive that balance. Under the broad terms of the agreement, to which reference has been made, he was authorized to transact the entire business in which the defendant was thus put forward. She left everything connected therewith to him. The notices of purchase and sale were regularly sent to him; also, all of the accounts connected with the various transactions. The final account was properly sent to him, and his retention thereof, without objection, for a reasonable time would have made it an account stated. Whether the account was stated in this manner, or directly by admission of its correctness, is immaterial in principle. He had the power to state it whether the result was favorable or unfavorable. In other words, the defendant gave him power to act for her throughout as though the transactions were his own.

But were this otherwise, it would not affect the result, as the plaintiffs proved each item in the account by independent evidence and there was no proof to the contrary.

The real question in the case was whether the speculations in question were illegal as being in the nature of gaming or wagering transactions. This question was fairly submitted to the jury .and they found that the contracts were not intended to be settled by mere payment of differences, but were legitimate transactions entered into with the intention of delivering or accepting the goods at the appointed time.- We do not agree with the defendant that her secret, individual intention must govern, notwithstanding the •plaintiffs’ legitimate intention. Nor do we think that any such doctrine was intended to be laid down in Bigelow v. Benedict, 70 N. Y., 205 . The transactions were not illegal unless the under

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standing between the parties was that the contracts were to be settled by the mere payment of differences. If the employment was to make legitimate contracts, and such contracts were made with the honest intention on the plaintiffs’ part of carrying them out by the delivery or the receipt of the goods, they cannot be charged with what was in the defendant’s mind, undisclosed to them and of which they had no suspicion.

The requests to charge were repetitions and involved, and they were properly disregarded. The charge as delivered presented the question clearly and in language readily comprehensi-. ble by the jury. It was unnecessary to add anything to the instructions thus given, and no error was committed in declining to put these instructions in other and more prolix forms. No error to the prejudice of the defendant was committed in any of the rulings with respect to the admission or rejection of evidence. Nor upon the facts do we see any reason for disturbing the verdict.

The judgment and order appealed from should therefore be affirmed, with costs.

Van Brunt, P. J., and O’Brien, J., concur.