20 Ga. 242 | Ga. | 1856
By the Court.
delivering the opinion.
Taking the complainant’s history of this case, and what ground is there for the interposition of a Court of Chancery?
If he purchased them, depending on his own judgment, when he had no knowledge of such things, and subjected himself to imposition, and was, in consequence of that, imposed upon by his own incompetent judgment, he cannot have1 relief in a Court of Chancery. A man’s own folly, to deal with his eyes open, with a party more experienced, with the subject of the contract before him, and to rely on his statements of cost and value, with every means afforded him to-form an opinion of its quality and value by an inspection of it, will not entitle him to relief in Equity. It is not like the misrepresentation of the annual value of the rent of premises put in market. Here the complainant chose to, go on and complete the contract without the production of invoices which the opposite party was bound to produce if he had not waived their production; and he did not complain until he found a difficulty in making sales, and he then proceeds to inquire of others in regard to their prices. The information he thus obtained was not necessarily evidence of imposition by defendant. Other merchants may have purchased at lower rates.
But he alleges that some of the goods, when opened, were discovered to be damaged and inferior. He does not state the quantity, value or description of the goods thus damaged. There is no allegation that he did not examine the goods, or that he could not examine them before he purchased.
He states that he had great confidence in the defendant, and did not suppose that he, being an old merchant, would have taken advantage of his inexperience to defraud him, and that he refused to produce the old invoices to correct the new-' one by which he purchased. Notwithstanding this allegation, complainant certainly gave his notes after the invoice was taken, the goods estimated and the amount ascertained'. He was satisfied, or why did he not, before the consummation-
There is none specified in the bill. It is indefinite on that subject. What decree could a Court of Chancery make in such case ? What time should the Court say was time suffi- - cient to make the sale ? The Court might, left to its own conjecture, suppose that three, six and nine months was time enough. It will not make a contract for the parties. The bill shows that one of the notes had been due at least eight, months; the second, five months; and the last, two months,, the time the suit was commenced, and no payment had been-made on either. There was great indulgence on a mercantile paper.
The amended bill alleges, that he would have made it a condition of said notes, that they should not be paid until the said goods were sold; but that he was mistaken as to the-necessity of inserting such a condition therein. It is nowhere alleged that there was any such condition in the conttact; and if there was none, he could not have inserted it as a condition in the notes.
The extent to which the allegations in the bill go is, that the defendant would give him time to raise money from the ■ sale of the goods to pay the notes; and not that the notes • were not to be paid until the goods were sold.
The plain construction of this affair is, that the defendant had a stock of goods which he desired to sell; that complainant ' purchased them without understanding the business in which he was about to engage, and did not know the value of' the goods ; that he had an opportunity of examining them, and instead of looking for himself, chose to rely on the state
Turning from the bill to the answer, we find that all the-complainant’s grounds upon which he asks the equitable interposition of a Court of Chancery, are denied. One circumstance of suspicion, to which I will presently allude, it is true, is disclosed by it, but not of that face, against the positive denials of the answer, to induce us to hold that the Chancellor violated the rules of equity, or the justice of the case, by dissolving the injunction.
The defendant answers, that all the original invoice bills, in his possession- — defendant stating at the time, that for some of the goods he had no invoices — were deposited in a drawer in the complainant’s store-room, of which ho had notice, and was requested to compare them with the bills of sale made out by the defendant; that they remained there about eighteen days for the complainant’s examination, after which time he requested the complainant to give him his notes, according to his contract, as he had had sufBcient time to examine them; and that the complainant stated that he was satisfied and gave his notes. Defendant denies that there was any contract in regard to time, as charged in the bill, and denies the allegations of the bill, specially as to the facts constituting the fraud.
' The complainant does not allege that it is necessary for him to have a discovery from the defendant, to enable him to • sustain his legal defence; and his defence, as far as it is pro- - per for it to be made, is available at law. On a motion to . dissolve an injunction on the coming in of the answer, the answer is to be taken as absolutely true. It may, however, impeach itself, and not be entitled to credence in the opinion of the Chancellor; and in that event, the injunction might be, retained, though the answer might be full.
Judgment affirmed.