56 P. 651 | Or. | 1899
delivered the opinion.
This is an' action to recover damages for the alleged breach of a contract. It is alleged that defendant, being duly incorporated, entered into a contract with plaintiff, of which the following is a copy: ‘ ‘Agreement entered into between the Statesman Publishing Co., of Salem,
In Howard v. East Tenn. etc. R. R. Co., 91 Ala. 268 (8 South. 868), plaintiff was employed by defendant as its land agent, at a stated salary per month, to perform certain service, under an agreement which contained no stipulation for the continuance of the employment for any definite period, and, having been discharged, he brought an action to recover the damage alleged to have been sustained; but the trial court, having sustained a demurrer to the complaint, rendered judgment against him, in affirming which Mr. Justice Coleman, speaking for the court, says : “The material inquiry is whether the contract as stated is not void for uncertainty, or one which either party could terminate at will. No damages are claimed for services past rendered, but for a refusal to continue plaintiff in his employment, and there is no averment as to the time when plaintiff was dismissed. The law does not favor, but leans against, the destruction of contracts because of uncertainty; but, when contracts are so vague and indefinite in terms that the intention of the parties cannot be fairly and reasonably collected from them, the court will not undertake to give them effect.” In Coffin v. Landis, 46 Pa. St. 426, it was held that where one employs an agent to sell land, under an agreement that the latter shall receive one-half of the net proceeds arising from such sales, and there is no stipulation in the contract as to the duration of the employment, the principal has the right to terminate the relation at any time, and may discharge the agent without notice. As illustrating the principle that employ
The more difficult problem is whether the exception to the instruction complained of brings up for consideration the identical question passed upon by the trial court. The word “settlement,” as before stated, is ambiguous, being susceptible of two meanings; and, if standing alone, it might be difficult for the court, from an inspection of the contract, to say with any degree of certainty in which sense it was intended to be used by the parties. In such cases the rule is well settled that evidence aliunde the writings is admissible, not to vary or contradict the terms adopted, but to explain the meaning of that
Reversed.