228 P. 107 | Or. | 1924
Lead Opinion
As stated in Palmberg v. Astoria, 101 Or. 224 (199 Pac. 630, 16 A. L. R. 1125):
‘‘This is an action to recover damages which the plaintiff claims to have sustained by reason of error committed by the defendant through mistake in materially understating in its specifications the amount of embankment required to complete an improvement upon a street of defendant city, by reason of which misrepresentation the plaintiff was induced to bid a lower sum for completing the improvement and to expend a greater sum of money therefor than would have been necessary had the conditions been as specified in defendant’s advertisement for bids.”
There, a demurrer was sustained to the complaint in the Circuit Court and the plaintiff appealed. The judgment of the Circuit Court was affirmed on the ground that the complaint did not allege that the specifications and profile described therein were all the data to which prospective bidders were referred and further, that the complaint was defective in that is merely stated that there was a mistake made by the surveyor and did not charge that the error was due to carelessness, negligence or incompetency of the agent of the city, who made it. On the authority of Williams v. Pacific Surety Co., 66 Or. 151 (127 Pac. 145, 131 Pac. 1021, 132 Pac. 959, 133 Pac. 1186), the cause was remanded to the Circuit Court with per
“That said specifications, among other things, so far as relevant or material to the matters and things as hereinafter alleged, provided as follows:
“Items of Work and Material.
Item No. Total Quantities Units Prices Totals
Excavation 9,650 cu. yds. cu. yd.
Embankment 17,087 cu. yds. cu. yd.
16 ft. planked roadway 390 ft. per ft.
5 ft. wooden sidewalk 820 ft. per ft.
Repair of Macadam between 7 th and 5th
Macadam, 6 in. thick by 20 ft. by 355=160 cu. yds. consolidated
“Note: Embankment can be obtained from 10th Street and from 5th and 6th Streets. That the fore
As imputing tort to the defendant, the allegation of the amended complaint reads thus:
“That said Alfred S. Tee, while so acting for and on behalf of defendant City, in his said capacity of its duly elected, qualified and acting City Engineer and City Surveyor, in preparing said plans and. specifications for said proposed street improvement as aforesaid, carelessly, negligently, falsely, with utter and reckless disregard as to the truth, substantial accuracy or correctness thereof, and for the express purpose and design of having this plaintiff and all other prospective bidders for the work contemplated by said proposed street improvement rely thereon, drew and made said specifications to read and expressly represented therein that the amount of yards of dirt to be filled (or embankment, which means the same thing) amounted only to 17087 cubic yards. That said representation was utterly false, that said Alfred S. Tee well knew, or by the exercise of ordinary care and diligence could and should have known said representation to be false and substantially inaccurate and incorrect, and well knew, or by the exercise of ordinary care and diligence could and should have known, that in order to do the work as required by said contemplated street improvement and as called for in said plans, specifications and ordinance No. 5275 as heretofore alleged, and in the Notice of Receiving Bids as hereinafter alleged, it would take almost twice as many cubic yards of embankment as represented in said specifications and Notice of Receiving Bids, to wit: 28567 cubic yards.”
It is charged that the defendant, in representing that the amount of yards of dirt to be filled was only 17,087 cubic yards,
“did so carelessly, negligently, falsely, with utter and reckless disregard as to the truth, substantial ac
It is further said in substance, that relying upon the quoted tabulated items and without any knowledge of its falsity, inaccuracy and incorrectness the plaintiff submitted his bid, the items of which are in words and figures as set out in the table above quoted, with this added clause:
“All complete for the sum of $19,849.00. "Will have the work completed the 1st day of July, 1919.”
Then followed the history of other steps culminating in a contract between the plaintiff as party of the first part and the defendant as party of the second part which, after the formal recitation of parties, proceeds thus in respect to the work to be performed:
“That the party of the first part, for and in consideration therefor to be paid by the party of the second part, as hereinafter stated, does hereby covenant and agree to furnish all material and to perform all labor for the construction of the improvement of Olney Avenue from the west line of Fifth Street, to the east line of Tenth Street, except the crossing or intersection of Olney Avenue with Seventh Street, in the City of Astoria, Oregon, in accordance with a
“That said improvement shall be constructed and completed to the satisfaction of the Committee on Streets and Public Ways, the Superintendent of Streets and City Surveyor, and that the said party of the first part shall commence work on or before ten days from the date of this contract, and diligently prosecute the work on said improvement, and that the same shall be completed on or before the 1st day of July, 1919, unless the time be extended by ordinance, and for each day’s delay in the commencement of the work as above provided, and for each day’s delay in the, completion of the improvement as above provided unless the time be extended by ordinance, the party of the first part shall forfeit and pay to the City of Astoria as stipulated damages, the sum of $20.00.”
Other provisions respecting the payment for labor and the hours of employment and the like are omitted as not here involved. Averments about the giving of the bond are likewise omitted. These allegations also appear:
“That immediately thereafter, plaintiff commenced the work as called for by said written contract and plans and specifications, and thereafter continued to perform said work until about the middle of June, 1919, when he discovered for the first time that said Alfred S. Tee, while so acting for and on behalf of
“That thereupon plaintiff, in order to complete his said contract with defendant city, according to plans and stakes as set by its said City Engineer and City Surveyor, and in order to avoid liability on his said bond, under protest moved and filled upon the direction and orders of said Alfred S. Tee, in his said capacity of City Engineer and City Surveyor of defendant City, an additional amount of dirt amounting to 11,480 yards over and above the estimated amounts to be moved and filled as shown by said specifications and Notice of Receiving Bids, and as required by his said written contract, and, in writing, notified defendant City that he would hold defendant City responsible in damages for the damages caused him by reason thereof.”
It is alleged and admitted that the work as finally completed was approved and accepted by ordinance. The complaint concludes with this allegation:
A general demurrer to the complaint was overruled. An answer was filed traversing all the allegations imputing fraud or wrongdoing to the city or its surveyor and in other respects.
For the first affirmative defense the defendant avers that prior to the institution of the action it paid to plaintiff and he received from it $19,849 in full payment and satisfaction for all work and labor performed and materials furnished for the completion of the contract averred. For a second affirmative defense it is stated in substance that immediately upon the declaration of the defendant’s intention to make the improvement, the city surveyor caused the whole Olney Avenue included in the project to be surveyed and cross-sectioned, made accurate measurements of the cubic yards contained in the proposed improvements, both as to fills and cuts, and caused a complete and accurate profile map of such surveyed cross-sections and measurements
“The undersigned (meaning plaintiff) further affirms that he fully understands the plans and specifications, and has made full local examinations, and his bid is based upon this understanding.”
It is said that all this was relied upon by the defendant and the contract entered into between the parties was based upon that stipulation. It is further averred:
“and had not plaintiff made such representation, defendant would not have entered into such contract."
The defendant sets out also the following excerpts from the specifications:
“This defendant further avers that the said specifications contained, among other provisions, the following :
“Errors and Omissions.
“ ‘The plans and specifications are to be interpreted as mutually supplementary and therefore any feature shown in one and not on the other shall have the same force and effect as if shown on both. Anything necessary to the proper completion of the work if not shown on plans or mentioned in the specifications shall be done by the contractor without claim for extra pay.
“ ‘Figured dimensions shall in all cases take preference over scale measurements. Full sized and large sized scaled drawings shall have preference over all other drawings. Should any discrepancy develop between the drawings it shall be the duty of
“ ‘Decision of Engineer.
“ ‘For details not sufficiently explained or understood the contractor shall refer to the Engineer who shall have the right to order any details to be provided without additional cost to the City, should it become evident that such details were originally intended or that they will be essential to the proper construction of the work.
“ ‘ Quantities.
“ ‘The quantities given are approximate only, and no claim shall be made against the City on account of any excess or deficiency, absolute or relative in the same.’ ”
The defendant also charges that prior to the completion of the improvement by the plaintiff it had no notice of any mistake or error on the part of the city surveyor or otherwise in the computation or estimate of the quantity of yardage necessary to make the-embankment for such improvement and that no notice thereof was given the defendant by plaintiff at any time until after he had fully completed the embankment. Continuing, the answer sets out certain provisions of the city’s charter which were in force at all times mentioned in the complaint in substance as follows: Section 72 vested in the city council the power and authority to improve the streets of the city and, for the purpose of meeting expenses thereof, to divide the city into street improvement districts; that no part of the expense of such improvement shall be paid from the general fund but shall be defrayed by special assessments upon the realty included in the specified assessment district. Section 74 requires that before ordering any public improvement, any part of the expense of which is to be liquidated by district assessments, the council shall cause estimates
On motion of the plaintiff the trial court struck out of the defendant’s answer various and sundry; portions thereof but more particularly the part relating to the matters upon which the defendant predicates its plea of estoppel. Other portions were stricken out but the error predicated thereon is not of sufficient merit to be material in the view we take of the case.
A jury trial resulted in a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff and the defendant appealed.
Called upon to prove his allegations, the plaintiff introduced his original bid made on blanks furnished by the city, annexed to which were the plans and specifications upon which he proceeded. In addition to the excerpts already quoted there appears in the specifications the following clause:
“Decision of Engineer.
“For details not sufficiently explained or understood the contractor shall refer to the engineer who shall have the right to order any details to be provided without additional cost to the city should it become evident that such details were originally intended or that they will be essential to the proper construction of the work.”
It thus appears from the testimony introduced by the plaintiff himself that his allegation to the effect that the tabulation quoted was all the items or data contained in the specifications indicating the nature or amount of work to be performed is not proven. He counts upon the cubic yards in the embankment being 17,087 as absolutely true, whereas in his own bid, coupled as it was with the specifications to which he alluded, he said that the quantities given are approximate only and not only so, but further, “that no claim shall be made against the city on account of any excess or deficiency, absolute or relative, in the
In City of Richmond v. Smith, 119 Va. 198 (89 S. E. 123), it was held that the word “approximate” written on a profile of the river over which a bridge was to be built meant “substantially accurate” but in that case there was no stipulation as in the one at bar that “No claim shall be made against the city on account of any excess or deficiency.” In the annotations to the instant case in 16 A. L. R. 1125 it is said:
“Where, after it is expressly understood and agreed by the parties that the estimates are approximate only, the city will not be liable for any mistake in the estimates.”
The authorities there quoted justify the principles stated: Molloy v. Village of Briarcliff Manor, 145 App. Div. 483 (129 N. Y. Supp. 929); Mairs v. Mayor of New York, 52 App. Div. 343 (65 N. Y. Supp. 160), affirmed without opinion, 166 N. Y. 618 (59 N. E. 1126); Leary v. City of Waterbliet, 222 N. Y. 337 (118 N. E. 849).
As to the allegation of fraud, stated as it is, the plaintiff called as a witness the engineer referred to in the pleadings and he was asked to explain how it came about that the estimate was made out 17,087 cubic yards instead of the actual amount of embankment, and he testified thus:
“A. I will have to — the original improvement, the ground, we will say, ran down in an irregular way, and the original improvement, original resolution for the improvement was on a certain grade and that at the time, I think there was no particular action taken at the time, only a resolution, if I remember right,
On recross-examination he testified that he did not personally recheck the work. His testimony continued thus:
“A. Well, at that time we were making a great many improvements and I was also acting as an engineer for the Sanitary and Reclamation work and we were just about letting the contract. I was getting
“Q. Well, was there any other reason?
“A. I had no other reason only I was otherwise employed.
“Q. What I am talking about is — did you have confidence in your employees?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And you had competent men to make this?
“A. I did. I had one of the most competent men I think ever was in Astoria.
“Q. You had confidence in him?
“A. I had absolute confidence.
“Q. What was this man’s name?
“A. Alvin Johnson.
“Q. Where is he now?
“A. At the present time he is in — I think he is in China.
“Q. And you relied upon the accuracy and skill of this gentleman whom you say was a very skillful engineer?
“A. I think he absolutely is one.
“Q. Now, what do you mean by tabulations, you mean in adding up?
“A. Adding up — well, in adding up when — -just adding up or tabulating — -there is the two grades, between the upper grade and the lower grade on the ground.
“Q. Tabulating is putting your figures on paper?
“A. Putting the figures together, yes.
“Q. On your table, putting the figures?
“A. And giving the total quantity they omitted in their tabulations.
“Q. Omitted putting in the table certain quantities they had already figured but it was in adding up?
“A. It was a mistake in adding up.”
Let us advert to the testimony of the plaintiff himself concerning the transaction. It is as follows:
■ “Q. Now then, how long did you continue the work before you discovered the mistakes in the amount of yardage in the embankment?
“Q. How did yon happen to discover it?
“A. Because I had finished all the yardage as the estimate called for, which was seventeen thousand— I should judge— * *
“Q. What did you do then?
“A. Notified the engineer of the City of Astoria. * *
“What happened then?
“A. I told him it was a great mistake. I told Mr. Tee there was a great mistake here on the fill of the embankment.
“Q. All right — you told him it was a mysterious mistake?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. What did he say?
“A. He didn’t hardly answer me then — he went home and came back in a couple or three days, came back— * *
“A. In about two or three days afterwards, and set the stakes for the additional fill and he showed me the stakes that they must be filled up to that high— if not, I will not be paid a cent, then I told him I will hold the City responsible for all the additional dirt we filled in there from then on.”
On cross-examination he testified thus:
“Q. Now what was it you say you said to Tee?
“A. Must be a great mistake here, I say.”
According to the rules of pleading fraud as established by the precedents in this state, there are four elements which must be stated; first a rehearsal of the representations claimed to be false and a showing of their materiality; second, the truth must be averred so that the court may determine whether the alleged fraudulent statement was false; third, it must be alleged that the party charged with the fraud either knew that the statements were false or, in lieu thereof, that he made them recklessly without any knowledge of whether they were true or not,
Moreover, as determined in Wimer v. Smith, 22 Or. 469 (30 Pac. 416), the doctrine according to the syllabus there is that “A party seeking relief on the ground of fraud perpetrated upon him by means of false representations, must not only clearly prove the fraud, but must also show that he relied upon the false representations; and although such false representations were made as alleged, yet, if, having full
Spearin v. United States, 51 Ct. of Cl. 155; Id., 248 U. S. 132 (63 L. Ed. 166, 39 Sup. Ct. Rep. 59), cited by the plaintiff, was a case where the government had let a contract for the construction of a drydock, including the change of a six-foot sewer which ran through the city so as to run around the location and
Another of the plaintiff’s citations is Hollerbach v. United States, 233 U. S. 165 (58 L. Ed. 898, 34 Sup. Ct. Rep. 553, see, also, Rose’s U. S. Notes). In that instance the plaintiff sought to recover upon a contract made with the government for the repair of a dam in Green River, Kentucky. There the specifications provided:
“That the quantities given are approximate only and that no claim shall be made against the United States on account of any excess or deficiency, absolute or relative, in the same.”
“The dam is now backed for about 50 feet with broken stone, sawdust and sediment to a height of within two or three feet of the crest and it is expected that a cofferdam can be constructed with this stone after which it can be backed with sawdust or other material. The excavation behind the dam will be required to go to the bottom and it is thought that a slope of 1 horizontal to 1.2 vertical will give ample room.”
It appeared that when the contractors proceeded with the work of removing the material behind the dam, it was found that the dam was not backed with broken stone, sawdust and sediment but that the backing was composed of a soft, slushy sediment in part, and below that to the bottom of the required excavation was cribwork consisting of sound logs filled with stone to an average height of 4.3 feet, and it was shown that to remove the cribwork as thus situated was far more difficult and expensive than to take out the broken stone, sawdust and sediment mentioned and represented in the specification. Here, it will be observed, are two elements considered by the court; one, that the fact that the quantities given are approximate, and the other the absolute, unqualified statement that the material to be excavated was broken stone, sawdust and sediment. Concerning these two elements, the court said:
“The term ‘quantities’ as used in paragraph 20, may doubtless refer to estimates of the amount of different kinds of work which are specified in the contract. We do not see how it could control the statement of paragraph 35 definitely made as to the character of the material back'of the dam.”
In other words, the court clearly distinguishes between the tentative statement of the amount of work to be done and the positive statement, on the other
Christie v. United States, 237 U. S. 234 (59 L. Ed. 933, 35 Sup. Ct. Rep. 565, see, also, Rose’s U. S. Notes), involved the rights of the contractor for compensation for work done under a government contract for the construction of locks and dams on a river in Alabama. The representation contained in the specification and the drawings to which they referred was positive that the material to be excavated consisted of “gravel, sand and clay of various descriptions,” whereas in truth it was composed “largely of stumps below the surface of the earth, buried logs, of cemented sand, and gravel, and of sandstone conglomerate,” all more difficult to excavate than that represented by the specifications. On account of this direct and positive statement without qualification concerning the material to be excavated which, it transpired, was false, the court allowed damages. In the same case, however, the same court refused to allow a claim of $45,000 for excavation of material caused by defect in the “angle of repose” of the embankment. On that point the specification was that “the limits of the excavation and quantities to be excavated will depend on the ascertained angles of repose. The limits shown on the drawings and the amounts herein given are approximate and may be greater or less as the local conditions may demand or justify.” These cases, some of which are cited by the plaintiff here, do not depend upon the question of fraud. The precept laid down there is that a positive, direct statement of fact must be treated as made and is in the nature of a warranty which must be strictly adhered to but where an approximation is given and it is so stated, the party
At best, the plaintiff presents only a case where there has been a question about the construction of the plans and specifications which he has referred to the engineer. Among the specifications already quoted under such circumstances as this, that officer has “the right to order any details without additional cost to the city, should it become evident that such details were originally intended or that they were essential to the proper construction of the work.” Furthermore, the specifications made part of the contract and introduced in evidence by the plaintiff prescribe that “anything- necessary to the proper completion of the work, if not shown on the plans or mentioned in the specifications, shall be done by the contractor without claim for extra pay.” The plaintiff was notified by the plans and specifications of what was required and he contracted with reference to them. He and the engineer differed in their constructions of those plans and specifications and, without any appeal to the council in whom is lodged the exclusive power of contracting under charter restrictions, he yielded to the engineer who had no authority to bind the city, and adopted that officer’s construction of the specifications.
If the plaintiff only contracted to move 17,087 cubic yards of earth, he was not obligated to move more. This must be true if his deduction that the
On the other hand, his bid was offered on those same plans and specifications and on them as part thereof the contract was made. If such data being the same throughout the transaction required 28,5.67 yards of embankment, they required it at all times without variation so that the plaintiff was bound to perform accordingly. In other words, if the table showing 17,087 cubic yards of fill was conclusive, he complied with his contract when he put in that amount of earth and was not entitled to go further. But if the whole document construed together required 28,567 cubic yards, he was bound to perform it without further compensation.
The court was in error in striking out the defendant’s statement of the contract, the plaintiff’s failure to give notice of any mistake or error in the contract until after completion thereof, together with the charter provisions affecting the procedure in making such an improvement. The plaintiff was contracting with a municipality, an artificial person. It was competent for that defendant to set up limitations upon its powers differentiating it from a natural person and to show that the plaintiff had not proceeded according to the rules laid down in the charter which is the rule of action prescribed by the people for that municipality. The pleadings on both sides are plethoric with statements of evidence and might well have been made more concise.
As to denials in an answer or reply, the pleader may employ either the general or the specific form: Or. L., § 73. Moser v. Jenkins, 5 Or. 447, was decided-while yet the statute required specific denials of all controverted matter. Afterwards the section was amended so as to allow either a general or a specific denial. Concerning the latter method, Mr. Justice McArthur in Moser v. Jenkins wrote thus:
“It will be observed that the first and second denials are in the conjunctive form and are also what is known as literal denials. They are insufficient to raise any issues, and are virtual admissions of the truth of the allegations they were intended to deny.”
This rule has been followed ever since then in this state: McCormick Machine Co. v. Hovey, 36 Or. 259 (59 Pac. 189); Whitney Co. v. Smith, 63 Or. 187 (126 Pac. 1000); Minter v. Minter, 80 Or. 369 (157 Pac. 157); White v. East Side Mill Co., 81 Or. 107 (155 Pac. 364, 158 Pac. 173, 527); McIntosh Live Stock Co. v. Buffington, 108 Or. 358 (217 Pac. 635).
As measured by the rule so long established by these precedents, the plaintiff in his reply failed to traverse material allegations in the defendant’s answer. The trial court ought to have sustained the defendant’s objection to the introduction of testimony by the plaintiff while his reply was in that condition. The amended reply is subject to the same criticism. The vice of such pleading was a sufficient ground for a judgment of nonsuit. The reason of the rule about
Summing up: 1. The plaintiff failed to prove tbe allegation of Ms complaint to tbe effect that the table of quantities quoted therein was the entire and exclusive specification on that subject. On the contrary, he established beyond controversy that it was distinctly specified that the quantities given were proximate and not only so, but also that no claim should be made against the city on account of any excess or deficiency. 2. Instead of proving fraud as he attempted to aver, he only shows a clerical mistake in adding together the quantities in the several cross-sections. TMs was a failure of proof because a necessary element in fraud is an intent to deceive and there is an absence of any intent in mistake. 3. There was no concealment practiced by the city; the plaintiff did not rely on the representations of the city, whatever they were, but made independent investigation with full opportunity to ascertain the actual conditions. 4. His reply fails to traverse material and controlling averments of the answer. 5. The case presented by his evidence is one where he did not concur with the engineer in the construction of the contract, the terms of which made the latter’s determination controlling without additional expense to the city.
The Circuit Court erred. The judgment is reversed, with directions to enter a judgment of involuntary nonsuit. Reversed With Directions.
Rehearing
Rehearing denied October 14, 1924.
On Petition eor Rehearing.
(229 Pac. 380.)
A very earnest petition for rehearing has arrayed the latest opinion of this court directing a judgment of nonsuit against the former opinion approving the action of the Circuit Court in sustaining a demurrer to the original complaint. The effort of the petition for rehearing seems to be to establish that between the two opinions there is irreconcilable conflict. It is enough to say on this point that the first opinion was upon demurrer to the complaint, which, admitting’ all the statements . of that pleading to be true, yet hold they did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, while in the present condition of the case the pivotal question is whether the plaintiff has succeeded in proving his charges of fraud. In the first opinion the question was one of pleading. In the second it relates to the sufficiency of the evidence.
It is freely admitted as a principle that the charter and ordinances of the city did not give it license to defraud anyone, 'but it is equally true that a municipal corporation has its rules of existence and its limitations upon powers prescribed in those public enactments of which anyone dealing with it must take notice and be governed accordingly.
As extracted from the amended complaint, the charge in substance is that the city caused plans,
His allegations of fraud were controverted and the question at present to be determined is whether he succeeded in maintaining the issue on his part. His counsel persists in the contention that in the latest opinion the matter had been treated as an action upon the contract. This supposition, however, is erroneous. The plans and specifications made part of the contract were not considered as if the action was upon the contract. They were referred to in the opinion as containing the representations of the city as to what was required. They pointed out the rules by which they were to be interpreted. For instance, it was said that:
“The plans and specifications are to be interpreted as mutually supplementary and therefore any feature shown in one and not on the other shall have the same force and effect as if shown on both.”
“The quantities given are approximate only, and no claim shall be made against the City on account of any excess or deficiency, absolute or relative in the same.”
Thus warned of what was required, the defendant made his bid in writing in which he said:
“The undersigned further affirms that he fully understands the plans and specifications, and has made full local examinations, and his bid is based upon this understanding. ’ ’
We learn from the complaint that after having entered upon the performance of the contract, the plaintiff discovered that it would take in round numbers, 28,000 cubic yards of earth to complete the embankment required by the contract. In other words, 28,000 cubic yards was in truth included in the specifications which the contract undertook to fulfill. There is no pretense anywhere, either in the pleadings or the testimony, that the plans or specifications were in any way altered or changed, nor that any representation was made by the city except those
Let us advert once more to the rule respecting a plea and proof of fraud, quoting Mr. Justice Bean, in Wheelwright v. Vanderbilt, 69 Or. 326, 328 (138 Pac. 857, 858):
“To constitute actionable fraud it must appear (1) That defendant made a material representation; (2) that it was false; (3) that when he made it he knew it was false, or made it recklessly without any knowledge of its truth, and as a positive assertion; (4) that he made it with the intention that it should "be acted upon by plaintiff; (5) that plaintiff acted in reliance upon it; and (6) that he thereby suffered in
All the data upon which the improvement was projected were on file and referred to in the advertisement for bids. The specifications likewise were on file and so mentioned. "Warned by them that the quantities given were approximate only, and no claim should be made against the city on account of any excess or deficiency, absolute or relative, the plaintiff, according to the testimony introduced by himself, made full local examinations and based his bid upon a full understanding of the plans and specifications, and those examinations. True enough, in his testimony given orally at the trial, he says in substance that his actual examination was only a casual inspection of the earth to be excavated. Plaintiff, however, cannot thus alter the effect of his written representations made to the city in connection with his bid. He does not pretend that anyone did anything to prevent him from making such examination and study of the plans and specifications as he represented in writing he had done.
Bearing in mind the rule that all these elements of fraud must be proved, without exception, we will examine some precedents relating to the element that the plaintiff acted in reliance upon the alleged fraudulent representations. Farnsworth v. Duffner, 142 U. S. 45 (35 L. Ed. 931, 12 Sup. Ct. Rep. 164, see, also, Rose’s U. S. Notes), was a suit for the rescission of a contract of purchase, and to recover the moneys paid thereon on the ground that it was induced by the false and fraudulent representations of the vendors. The court, speaking by Mr. Justice Brewer, said:
“But if the neglect to make reasonable examinations would preclude a party from rescinding a contract on the ground of false and fraudulent representations, a fortiori is he precluded when it appears that he did make such examination, and relied on the evidences furnished by such examination, and not upon the representations.”
Again, in Southern Development Co. v. Silva, 125 U. S. 247, 259 (31 L. Ed. 678, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 881, 887, see, also, Rose’s U. S. Notes), in speaking of this feature of fraud, namely, that the plaintiff relied upon the alleged representations, Mr. Justice Lamar said:
“It is essential that the defendant’s representations should have been acted on by complainant, to his injury. Where the purchaser undertakes to make investigations of his own, and the vendor does nothing to prevent his investigation from being as full as he chooses to make it, the purchaser cannot afterwards allege that the vendor made misrepresentations.”
The same doctrine is advanced by Mr. Justice Bean of this court, in Reimers v. Brennan, 84 Or. 53, 59 (164 Pac. 552, 554), in this language:
“A purchaser must use reasonable care for his own protection and should not rely blindly upon statements made by a seller, and between parties dealing at arm’s-length, where no fiduciary relation exists and no device or artifice is used to prevent an investigation, it is the general rule that a purchaser
Suppose for illustration that the city had definitely made the figures of embankment at 17,000 cubic yards with the intention to cheat and defraud any bidders. Yet, it is plain from the authorities cited that if one proposing to enter into a contract to do the work had inspected the ground and perused the plans and specifications giving, the actual data upon which the yardage was computed, he could not recover for the fraud. Yet that is the situation presented by the plaintiff’s own testimony. He was pointed to the plans and specifications. He was warned by those very specifications that the plans and specifications were to be so interpreted that any feature shown in one and not in the other should have the same effect as if shown in both. He was plainly told that the quantities given were approximate only, and no allowance would be made for any increase. On his part he represented to the city that he had made examination of all these things and thoroughly understood them. Even if the city had made the representation with design to perpetrate a fraud on bidders, he represented himself to be a person upon whom such a fraud could have no effect and advised the city, in effect, that he had not relied upon any representations. By Ms own testimony he has failed to prove one of the essential elements laid down in Wheelwright v. Vanderbilt, supra, viz., that he relied
It is true that in the former opinion, Mr. Chief Justice McBride said that it was not “incumbent upon the contractor to make new surveys or calculations from an independent profile, if this profile and the accompanying specifications were all that were on file, in order to verify the city surveyor’s calculations.” But he did not say that the plaintiff was justified in shutting his eyes to every other provision of the plans and specifications. They all were open for his inspection. His attention was directed to them. Throughout the period of advertisement there was opportunity for him to examine and become familiar with them. According to his own written declaration, he did so. Not the least effort was made to prevent him. Dealing, as he was, at arm’s-length with the city, it was his duty to take care of his own interest. Civil engineering is not an occult craft, neither is computation of fills and excavations among the hidden mysteries of modern industry. With all the data before him that the city employed and having made himself familiar with them, he cannot complain if his contract proves to be unprofitable.
The testimony shows clearly that the approximate figures of 17,000 yards was the result of merely a mistake in addition. It is so characterized by the plaintiff himself and explained by the engineer for whose veracity the plaintiff vouched by calling him as a witness. On this point we refer to Whalen v. Tipton, 31 Or. 566 (50 Pac. 1016), which was a suit to cancel a deed conveying to the defendants a tract
“But this is not enough to constitute fraud. It is a necessary ingredient of fraud, even in equity, that the act or omission by which the undue advantage is obtained should be willful and intentional. A mere mistake is not sufficient. 2 Pomeroy’s Equity Jurisprudence, § 873. Now, there is no evidence whatever to show that defendant’s statement as to the amount due on the mortgage was willfully or designedly made, or that it was not made in the utmost good faith, and with an honest belief that it was true. ’ ’
See, also, Banfield v. Banfield, 24 Or. 571 (34 Pac. 659), where the dispute, was about the amount due upon a bond, the factors for calculating* which were in reach of the plaintiff as well as the defendant and as a consequence the court held the plaintiff was not entitled to relief on the ground of fraud. McGovern v. McClintic-Marshall Co., 269 Fed. 911, was a case where the dispute was about the estimate of quantities of steel required in the construction of an elevated railway. After an exhaustive consideration of the case the court said:
“After entering into a solemn contract assuming obligations, where opportunity was afforded the defendants below to avail themselves of estimating to determine the tonnage required, which was equal to that of the plaintiff below and as available to them, they should not now be relieved of their obligations
The following cases cited in the petition for rehearing have, had our consideration: Wyandotte & D. R. Ry. Co. v. King Bridge Co., 100 Fed. 197 (40 C. C. A. 325), wherein no fraud was involved. The work for which compensation was claimed was outside the contract. The same is true of County of Cook v. Harms, 108 Ill. 157. This was an action to recover the extra cost of construction of a courthonse where the original plans had been abandoned and new plans and specifications installed, involving a very much larger cost for work not at all included in the original contract. Salt Lake City v. Smith, 104 Fed. 457 (43 C. C. A. 637), was an instance where a change was made in the line of a conduit whereby, instead of running through comparatively level country, the last mile was made to traverse hills, rocks and gulches: Plum Bayou Levee Dist. v. Roach, 174 Fed. 949 (99 C. C. A. 453), involved the extra cost of construction of a levee on the Arkansas Eiver. The original plans called for construction on the dry ground along the bank of the river, but by a subsequent change the line was made to run one-half mile back from the river and through a swamp, being a substantial alteration and being a new contract. All these cases were based npon contract and not upon tort.
In the instant case, as stated, there is no pretense that there was any change in the plans or specifications from the time the transaction was initiated until the time it was concluded. The only question is: "What did the plans and specifications require? If they required only 17,000 yards of embankment that was what the plaintiff was entitled to perform
The concluding allegation of the complaint, is:
“That the sum expended by plaintiff for such work and labor, so occasioned by defendant’s said false representations and so performed by plaintiff for defendant City, at the order and direction of defendant’s said City Engineer and City Surveyor, is the sum of $14,235.24.”
There is no averment that this was a reasonable sum to be expended for the so-called extra work. If a recovery can be had upon such an allegation, all that would be necessary for a contractor to do when he has made an improvident agreement is to seize upon some innocent mistake, pad his pay-roll and demand that the city reimburse him at his 'own figures. In no event could the contractor recover more than the reasonable value of the alleged extra work, and if he would recover, even on a charge of
The essence of the case is that having made an independent investigation of the plans, specifications and work to be done, or at least having reported that condition to the defendant in writing, and having ample opportunity to inform himself of the true amount of embankment, the plaintiff has failed to prove the indispensable essential that he relied on the representations of the defendant. Under the doctrine in Wheelwright v. Vanderbilt, supra, this is fatal to plaintiff’s recovery.
The petition for rehearing is denied.
Rehearing Denied. • Second Petition eor Rehearing Denied.