195 Iowa 441 | Iowa | 1923
Lead Opinion
The petition alleges in great detail the fact that the World War was then in progress; the necessity of raising money to support the government; the efforts of different patriotic organizations to assist the government; the intense interest of the people; their desire to know who were 'and who were not performing their full duty; and so on. It also alleges that the term “bond slacker” was understood by all to apply to one who had refused to purchase bonds or subscribe for his full quota according to his financial means and ability, as compared with other citizens; that the term “bond slacker,” as used by defendants, as before stated, was libelous.
Defendants likewise answered in great detail, setting out all the conditions existing at that time. In a division of the answer, they admit, in substantially the language of the petition, that the great war was raging, and had been for eighteen months; that the government had incurred unprecedented expense in raising an army and sending millions of soldiers to Europe;
Prior to the time when plaintiff was asked to subscribe to the bonds of the fourth loan, there had been organized in Emmet County a society under the name of Emmet County War Association, of which defendants, with others, were the directing officers or board; and plaintiff was a member of said association, having signed a written card associating himself as such member, or of a branch thereof in his township. The answer further alleges that the county war board, in good faith, without malice or ill will, adopted as one of the rules of the association the following :
“That the names of all persons refusing to take their allotment of Liberty Bonds of the Fourth Liberty Loan, after hearing and adjustment by the committees, be furnished each Emmet County newspaper for publication, and be placed upon a bulletin board in the public square.”
The term “bond slacker” appears to have been an abbreviation of that regulation. The answer further alleges that thereafter plaintiff refused to take his allotment; that plaintiff had accumulated $10,000 in money and other property, and was concealing his property from the. assessor and war committees; that plaintiff was in fact a bond slacker; and that he sustained no damages.
In addition to the general verdict, the following interrogatories were propounded to the jury, and were answered:
“1. Was the plaintiff, when his name was posted upon the sign board, as set out in the petition, in truth and in fact a bond slacker, and was such posting with good motives and for justifiable ends? Answer. Yes.
*444 “2. Were the defendants, when they caused the plaintiff’s name to be posted upon the sign board, as referred to in the petition, acting in good faith, with the reasonable belief that the plaintiff was then and there a bond slacker, without intention to injure or humiliate him, and without malice, in the bona-fide discharge of a public duty and in the interest of the public and in the interest of the effective prosecution of the war? Answer. Yes.
“3. Did the posting of the plaintiff’s name upon the bill board, as set forth in the petition, result in any injury to his name, reputation, or character, or cause him pain or mental suffering? Answer. No.”
The second finding was doubtless predicated upon the undisputed fact that the committee acted only in pursuance of its regulation, adopted and published in advance of any negotiations with plaintiff, and without any personal reference to him. Defendants testify that they had no malice or ill will towards the plaintiff. On the theory upon which the case is tried, the verdict has abundant support in the testimony. This subject will be mentioned again in a moment. The evidence is somewhat voluminous, and was directed very largely to the financial worth of the plaintiff and of numerous other people in the county and his neighborhood, and the comparison of the worth of the different ones with their allotment. We deem it unnecessary to discuss the evidence in detail.
About 70 errors are assigned, and 45 brief points. Some of these are without merit, others are not argued, and as to others the rules are not complied with. Under the circumstances, and in view of the conclusion we have reached, we deem it unnecessary to separately discuss the numerous points. To do so would unduly extend the opinion. Some members of the court are of opinion that no libel was disclosed, either by pleading or by evidence, and that, if defendants had published the fact that plaintiff refused to take the full amount of bonds allotted to him, it could not be deemed a libel; that all that is disclosed is a species of duress; and that if, by means of posting, defendants had compelled plaintiff to subscribe for the full amount, it may be that he could have recovered it from them, on the ground that they had obtained it by duress. They did not
Another group of appellant’s assignments has reference to evidence introduced of the members of the township committees and others, as to the worth of different individuals, and the comparative worth and ability to subscribe, of the citizens of the township. This was the theory of the trial. It was appellant’s contention that such opinions were inadmissible, because calling for the conclusion of the witnesses. This matter involved complex questions, where the evidence shows that thousands of items and things came up during the making of the apportionments. To go into detail as to all the circumstances of each one of - perhaps hundreds of property owners, and attempt to place all such matters before the jury, would have been impracticable. Though the evidence did partake somewhat of the nature of a conclusion, we think it was competent. This is so in many instances. Moyers v. Fogarty, 140 Iowa 701, 712. In regard to complex or collective facts, the statement may still remain one substantially of fact. 22 Corpus Juris 531. Campbell v. Park, 128 Iowa 181. It has been held that, where the originals consist of numerous documents which cannot be conveniently examined in court, and the fact to be proved is the general result of an examination of the whole collection, evidence may be given as to such result by any person who has examined the documents, and who is skilled in such matters, if the result is capable of being ascertained by calculation. This has been permitted when another course would cause loss of time and tend to confuse the jury. Competent witnesses have been allowed to summarize the accounts and state conclusions as to balances and the like. State
Concurrence Opinion
(specially concurring). I concur in the conclusion to affirm, solely on the ground suggested by the majority, that, conceding the libelous character of the act of which plaintiff complains, it was still competent for the jury to find that the presumption of actual or special damages therefrom had been overcome. This finding would, of course, sustain a verdict in plaintiff’s favor for nominal damages, had one been returned; but it is well settled that failure to assess damages of a purely nominal character is ordinarily not sufficient ground for reversal on appeal. I desire to add, however, that, in my judgment, the petition sufficiently charges a libel per se, and that the assumption of authority by defendants to assess or fix the amount of plaintiff’s subscription to Liberty Bonds or other contributions for alleged patriotic purposes, and to impose penalties upon him for failure to comply with their demands, ivas wholly unauthorized, and that such being the case, the plea or pretense of privilege or justification is entitled to no consideration by court or jury; but for reasons unnecessary to discuss, applicable to this class of eases generally, it is quite improbable that a new trial could result in anything more than a recovery of nominal damages. For the reasons suggested, I concur in the affirmance of the judgment in the court below.