61 Vt. 375 | Vt. | 1889
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This suit was brought to recover money which it is claimed was paid to the defendant upon a wagering contract between the Public Grain and Stock Exchange, in the city of New York, and its customers. The Public Grain and Stock Exchange were dealers in stocks, and jin 1886 they made an arrangement with the plaintiff by which he was to act for them in the sale of stocks, and was to have a certain commission upon what he might sell. They at the same time opened an account with the defendant, and it was a part of the arrangement made with the plaintiff, that upon the receipt of every order for ten shares of stock he should deposit in the defendant bank to the credit of said exchange ten dollars. In pursuance of that arrangement the plaintiff procured large orders for stock, forwarded them to the exchange and made the deposits as required by said arrangement in the defendant bank, and it is found that the bank stood for said company, and that the deposits by the plaintiff were as payments to the company. That of the amount so paid to the plaintiff- $467.50 was on trades or orders of his own, and the rest was on orders of customers. The bank opened and kept the account with the company the same as with any other depositor, and knew in a general way that the plaintiff and said company were engaged in stock transactions, but did not know their nature or character. Many other facts appear in the record descriptive of the way and manner in which the business was carried on, and from them it is claimed by the plaintiff that the court should find that it was illegal, and by the defendant that it was legal. But we do not feel called upon to decide
In Petrie v. Hanny, 3 Term Rep. 422, Ch. J. Kenyon said, It is a rule that those who come into a court of justice to seek redress must come with clean hands, ^nd must disclose a transaction warranted by law.” Those rules have ever since been regarded as sound law, and, applying them to the facts shown by the record, the plaintiff would have no legal right to the money which he seeks to recover in this action.
The judgment is affirmed.