3 Vt. 185 | Vt. | 1831
delivered the opinion of the Court.— There is no dispute -about the defendant’s indebtedness to the plaintiff; but merely, whether the debt can be recovered in this action on book account.
It is urged, that a book of accounts is indispensable to a recovery in.this form of action ; and none was produced by the plaintiff to support his claim before the auditors. This calls upon the Court to restrain the evidence, in book account actions, to narrower limits than has been done heretofore. It has generally been considered, that a man may recover, in this form of action, with no other book than one made up in court, provided he can satisfy the auditors, by sufficient common law proof, that the articles char
The law requires no particular form of book-keeping. But there should be something that pCrpetuate*s the memory of things as were understood at their date. But that mode, which makes the books most sure to show their own correctness, or furnish a criterion to correct any mistakes, that may happen, is best. Yet experience shows, that, among people, who have but a little to charge on book, each has his own method of charging ; and, when he makes charges at all, and makes them according to his usual custom, what is written must be termed his book, whether it be on the question of oyer, or on an enquiry for his original on trial. But the more liable to mistakes, his method may be, ánd the moré difficulty in detecting such mistakes, the more corroborating testimony he will need to support his account, it appears that the plaintiff’s custom is, to keep a book for his family to place in it the accounts, that concern domestic matters; but that he charges nothing there himself. That the accounts for his professional business ate never charged in this book. That those charges are usually made by him on slips of paper, and kept on file. That this account was for such professional business, and was so charged and kept, and that the account produced on trial was the original entry. This was sufficiently a book, to evade- any technical
The judgement of the county court is affirmed.