84 N.W. 553 | N.D. | 1900
Plaintiff is a farmer, residing near Buffalo, in Cass county. The defendant is a corporation doing a grain commission business in the city of Duluth. On October 6, 1898,
This wheat was grown upon a certain quarter section of land which plaintiff held by contract of purchase from the Maryland Land Company. The purchase was on the crop-payment plan, and plaintiff was bound to deliver the one-third of the crop to said vendor. On the preceding spring the plaintiff had given the Bank of Buffalo a chattel mortgage upon two-thirds of the crop to be grown upon said tract of land. Mr. More testified that this mortgage was given to secure an existing indebtedness, while plaintiff testified it was also to- secure future advances. The mortgage was not introduced. Prior to said October 6th the plaintiff had loaded two cars with wheat, grown upon said tract of land in said year, and had taken the bills of lading in the name of said bank, and delivered them to the bank. To exclude any appearance of actual
The assignment to the effect that the verdict is without support in the testimony must also be overruled. Upon the testimony the jury were warranted in finding that the bill of lading was left at the bank late in the evening for plaintiff’s convenience; that no authority was giyen to the bank or to Mr. More to draw upon defendant in plaintiff’s name; that the bank well knew at that time that it had received all the wheat covered by the mortgage; that neither the bank nor Mr. More had ever before drawn against a bill of lading taken in plaintiff’s name, and plaintiff had no knowledge of any custom so to do. These facts, if found, would negative any actual authority on the part of S. G. More to make the draft in question. Nor is there any evidence whatever that warranted the defendant in assuming that S. G. More had authority to' sign plaintiff’s name to the draft. If any transfer of title to the wheat could be assumed from the delivery of the bill of lading, such assumption was overcome by the fact that the draft was drawn in plaintiff’s name, which was in itself an assertion that the wheat belonged to plaintiff. The question must hinge upon More’s real or ostensible authority to sign plaintiff’s name to the draft. As we have seen, there was no actual authority, and, so far as this record shows, plaintiff and defendant had never had any correspondence, directly or indirectly, so that it is not possible that plaintiff could
There remains the question of ratification. The bill of lading was left at the bank late in the evening of October 6th. About 4 o’clock in the afternoon of the the 7th of October the draft was mailed to Duluth. On October 8th plaintiff called at the bank, and a partial settlement was had. Plaintiff had purchased supplies from a certain firm in Buffalo, and More was responsible for the bill, — “morally responsible,” he says, but under the evidence the jury might well have found a legal responsibility. The two cars of wheat that had been shipped in the name of the bank had been shipped some time before his partial settlement was made. At that time More requested plaintiff to get the bill for the supplies, and when the bill was produced More gave plaintiff a draft to pay for the same, which was accordingly done. This draft exceeded in amount the draft drawn against the car of wheat. More testifies, in effect, that plaintiff knew at that time that he (More) had drawn upon defendant, and that the proceeds of such draft went to pay the bill for supplies. Plaintiff, on the other hand, testifies that he had no knowledge whatever that More had drawn on defendant until, in answer to a letter which he caused to be sent to defendant asking for returns on said car of wheat, defendant wrote him, on October 20th, stating that it had remitted to Mr. More on a draft signed with plaintiff’s name by S. G. More. If the jury believed plaintiff, there could have been no ratification of the act of Mr. More, because there was no knowledge thereof. The verdict has support in the evidence, and the judgment is affirmed. All concur.