49 Wis. 384 | Wis. | 1880
The ruling of the county court sustaining the demurrer to the complaint is clearly supported by the decision in Taylor v. Pratt, 3 Wis., 674, decided by this court a quarter of a century ago. The facts stated in the complaint are substantially the same as those presented on the record in that case; consequently the order cannot be reversed without overruling Taylor v. Pratt.
We are decidedly opposed to unsettling a rule of law of such practical importance in the business transactions of every day, which was established so long ago upon the fullest argument, after great deliberation, whatever might be our views upon the point as a new question. “Stability and certainty in the law are always of the first importance. They are more
Mr. Justice Paine combated the views of the chief justice in an opinion marked by his usual clearness of reasoning and logical precision, saying that while the decision in Taylor v. Pratt stood opposed to an indefinite number of authorities, there was still no doubt that it was in accordance with the statute of frauds, and he thought the contract of defendants in Houghton v. Ely came within the principle decided in the former case. But the majority did not, in Houghton v. Ely, attempt to overrule Taylor v. Pratt, and the latter case stands to-day as the law of this state upon the point decided. That point was, as stated by Mr. Justice Paine, in his opinion just
By the Court. — The order of the county court is affirmed.