1 Rawle 126 | Pa. | 1829
The opinion of the court was delivered hy
The payment of the-balance of an account by a factor or commission merchant, to his principal, after the sales made,- and for the purpose of closing the aecounts between the parties, is an assumption of outstanding debts. And this is the principle of the case of Oakley v. Renshaw, 4 Cow. 205.
After the final settlement, the principal has the-best grounds, to suppose that the agent has been actually paid, or that he is content to take upon himself the responsibility of the purchaser. Where there is nothing in the transaction to rebut the inference, this is undoubtedly a fair presumption. To subject the principal, at any distance-of time, when he has reason to suppose the business finally closed, would be a deception upon him, attended with danger and great inconvenience, and particularly in the case of a foreign creditor, who has no means of knowing the debtors, or guarding against imposition. In the absence of fraud or mistake, it wouíd be unsafe to unravel such a transaction; for after final settlement, the principal, -gives himself no further concern, as he has a right ,to suppose
_ There is no doubt an obligation on the principal,..(which the civilians call obligatio mandato contraria,) to repay his agent such sums of money, as the latter has necessarily expended in the execution of his commission; and to indemnify him for losses sustained by reason of his employment.. To give rise to this obligation, it is necessary that the agent should have sustained some loss, on account of the agency, ex causa mandati, and that the loss should not have been caused by the agent’s fault. These principles are recognized to the fullest extent in D’Arcey v. Lyle, 5 Binn. 441. The statement of the casé clearly shows that the loss has been sustained on account of the agency, without any blame imputable to the agent, but from one of those accidents which the utmost vigilance of the plaintiff could not have prevented.
Judgm.ent affirmed»