25 Mo. App. 421 | Mo. Ct. App. | 1887
The execution by the plaintiffs of the written order addressed to the defendants, directing them to pay the amount due to plaintiffs to Ballew, stood admitted under the pleadings. The answer alleged the execution of said order by the plaintiffs ; the reply was not under oath. Rev. Stat., sect. 3653 ; Rothschild Frensdorf, 21 Mo. App. 320.
There was neither fraud nor misrepresentation on the part of the defendants or any of their agents inducing the plaintiffs to sign the said order, and the terms of it were clear, plain and unmistakable. In such a case the plaintiffs were bound by what they signed as fully and as completely as if they had read it. They are presumed to have read the order and are bound by its terms. Ins. Co. v. Fletcher, 117 U. S. 533. On this subject it is said by Mr. Wharton : “Thus, a party who neglects to read a document he signs, cannot have it set aside because it turns out to contain provisions contrary to his intentions; and, as a general rule, where there has been no misrepresentation, and where there is no ambiguity in the terms of the contract, the defendant cannot be allowed to evade the performance of it by the simple statement that he has made a mistake.” 1 Wharton on Cont., sect. 196, and authorities cited ; see, also, Rothschild v. Frensdorf, supra, and Taylor v. Fox, 16 Mo. App. 527. The order had the effect to make
The judgment is affirmed.