76 Pa. 379 | Pa. | 1874
delivered the opinion of the court, October 12th 1874.
There was no error in rejecting the paper offered by the plaintiffs, unless the exemplification of the record, of which it was part, was given in evidence. Independent of the exemplification there was no proof that the paper was a certified copy of the bond, given by the defendant, upon which the suit was brought.
Nor was there' error in refusing the offer of the plaintiffs to prove the original value of the property owned t,by the Sharon Iron Company and its value at the time of the sale made by the defendant, as trustee, as tending to show actual fraud on the part of the defendant in making the sale. The facts offered to be proved, unconnected.with any other circumstances, were clearly insufficient to warrant the inference of fraud; and the suggestion contained in the offer, and made part of it, that they were “ to be followed by other evidence of actual fraud,’’gave them no additional significance or value. If the offer was not self-sustaining, the suggestion was too vague and indefinite to lend it any support. It set forth no fact or circumstance which, taken in connection with the value of the property, tended to show fraud in making the sale. The very purpose of an offer is to set forth the facts proposed to be given in evidence in order that the court, whose province it is, may determine their relevancy and sufficiency. But aside from the value of the property, the offer contains no hint or intimation of the facts intended to be laid before the jury as evidence of actual fraud in making the sale.
But if the offer was sufficient to let in the evidence, was there any error in rejecting it ? By an act approved the 6th of February 1862, Pamph. L. 11, 12, the defendant was created a trustee, with full power and authority, by and with the advice
The defendant gave bond for the faithful execution of the trust as required by the act, and, on the 4th of August 1862, sold the property for eight thousand dollars. The sale was confirmed by the Court of Common Pleas of Mercer county on the 11th of August 1862, and on the 23d of April 1863 he filed his account as trustee, which, after due and legal notice, was confirmed by the court on the 20th of August 1863. On the 23d of the same month the court appointed an auditor to distribute the balance of the proceeds of sale, in the hands of the trustee, among the stockholders, who, after due and legal notice, made distribution thereof among the stockholders, including the plaintiffs. His report was confirmed by the court November 16th 1863.
This suit is upon the bond given by the defendant, and waa brought for the use of a small minority of the stockholders. The breach assigned is, that the defendant on the 4th of August 1862, at Sharon, in the county of Mercer, to wit, at, &c., proceeded to sell said property, which was of great value, to wit, of the value of one hundred thousand dollars, and unfaithfully and fraudulently conducted the sale thereof, and fraudulently sold the same for eight thousand dollars. The defendant pleaded, among other pleas, that the Court of Common Pleas of Mercer county, has exclusive jurisdiction of the trust for the sale; and that said court, by its decree, confirmed the sale, and the account of the defendant, as trustee, and also the auditor’s report thereon ; and that these decrees are
Judgment affirmed.