26 N.Y.S. 553 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1893
Plaintiff brought this action against defendant as a trustee of the Putnam Creamery Association, a corporation formed, under chapter 40, Laws 1848, and acts amendatory thereof, to recover the penalty imposed by section 12 of said act for the failure of said corporation to file the report required by the said section. Plaintiff alleges that in the spring of 1890 the said corporation employed him to work for the ensuing season at the price of $50 per month, and that, after giving him employment until August 1st, neglected thereafter to continue said employment for the balance of the season, being until about November 1st. Plaintiff claims-to recover damages resulting from such breach of contract by the company. That afterwards, on or about January 1, 1891, plaintiff commenced an action against defendant on account of said breach of contract, and obtained judgment on October 6, 1891, for $100 damages and $81.50 costs. The plaintiff further alleges that defendant did not within 20 days from January 1, 1891, or of any year from the time of the incorporation of said company, make or file the report required by section 12, supra. The case was tried at special term, and plaintiff obtained judgment for $150 damages, with costs.
It is urged by defendant that the claim for damages set out in the complaint is not a debt, within the meaning of section 12 of the Laws of 1848.
Laws 1848, c. 40, § 12, provides that any manufacturing company shall within-20 days from the 1st day of January in each year after the expiration of a year from the time of its incorporation make a report stating the amount of its existing debts, which shall be published in some newspaper of the town in which the company’s business is carried on; and makes the trustees of such company jointly and severally liable for such debts on failure of the company, to make such report