44 Vt. 371 | Vt. | 1872
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The only question .is, whether, under the facts found by the court, the plaintiffs are entitled to recover the balance of their account from February 20,1868, to March 20,1869, charged the defendant for liquors furnished EL F. Tiffany, the agent of the town for selling intoxicating liquors. The liquors were all ordered by said Tiffany. He represented that ho had authority to make the purchases in the name of the town. The case finds that, in fact, he had no such authority. Since the passage of the act of 1863, imposing the duty of purchasing the liquors for the agency upon the selectmen of the town, the agent to sell such liquors, as such agent, has no authority to make such purchases in the name, aud on the credit of the town, and can only act, if authorized by them, as the agent of the selectmen in making such purchases. Topsham v. Rogers, 42 Vt., 169. Tiffany had made the purchases under an express or implied authority for the selectmen for several years prior to the year 1868. The selectmen for that year informed him that they would discharge that duty themselves, and purchased two bills of liquors, telling
■ Did the town ever ratify these unauthorized purchases ? We think not. The settlement with the selectmen and town in March, 1869, showed that Tiffany had sold more liquors than had been furnished him by the selectmen, but fail to show that the town or selectmen had any knowledge that he had made any ¡purchases on the credit of the town. The settlement treated the purchases and sales as though they had been made for cash. The plaintiffs claim, that inasmuch as the selectmen furnished him no money with which to make purchases, they must have known they were made on the credit of the town. This does not necessarily follow. The settlement of February, 1868, shows that Tiffany had, belonging to the town in his hands in liquors and cash, $234.97. The most in value of liquors on hand at any settlement is $150. That sum might be, and probably was, sufficient to furnish a proper supply of liquors, as such sales are usually for cash. Hence, no inference that he purchased on the credit of the town is to be
Judgment of the county court is affirmed.