17 Pa. Super. 376 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1901
Opinion by
In May, 1896, the defendant bought of Stine, a retail grocer, his stock of goods and put Stine in possession as the manager of the business at a salary, to be paid monthly, “ equal to one half of the net profits of the mercantile business so conducted.” The defendant was engaged in a different business elsewhere to which he gave his chief attention, but he admits that he visited the store two or three times a week. From time to time, while so conducting the business, Stine bought goods from the plaintiffs for the store and made payments on account. This action of assumpsit was brought to recover the balance alleged to be due “ for goods sold and delivered by the plaintiffs to the defendant through H. G. Stine, his agent.”
It is an elementary principle that acts of an agent within the scope of his ostensible, but in excess of his real, authority are binding upon his principal as to third persons who have relied upon the agents possessing such authority as he appears to have. Therefore, notwithstanding the agreement between Stine and the defendant that no purchases should be made by Stine without the written consent of the defendant first had for that purpose, the foregoing facts made a prima facie case for tlie plaintiffs, as the jury must have understood from the following explicit instructions of the court: “ When one places his business in the hands of another, and that business requires the buying of goods and the selling of goods, there the law implies that he
But a third person having notice of the extent of the authority expressly conferred is not justified in assuming powers in the agent in excess of such authority. Much less is he justified in ignoring the special limitations upon the authority of the agent to deal with him to which he has given his express assent. A principal may put one in charge of his business with the apparent authority, so far as the general public is concerned, of a general agent to buy, yet if he limits his authority as to the persons from whom he shall buy or as to the amount of debt that he may incur, third persons who, with the knowledge of these limitations, permit the agent to exceed his authority in his dealings with them do so at their peril. To be more explicit, if at the beginning of their dealings with Stine as the representative of the defendant the latter notified the plaintiffs not to sell Stine goods, and give him credit beyond a certain amount, something more was required to make the defendant liable for the excess than proof, merely, that the goods were ordered by and delivered to Stine. See White v. Cooper, 3 Pa. 130. There was ample evidence, we might say a preponderance of evidence, to sustain the defendant’s allegation that when the plaintiffs solicited the priviledge of selling goods to Stine the defendant expressly limited them as to the amount of such sales, and subsequently warned them not to go beyond that amount. But as there was a denial of this allegation the question was for the jury, and in our opinion was submitted to them with adequate clear and impartial instructions. There was some obscurity in the evidence as to the amount of the limit, whether $150 or $200, and the jury resolved that question in favor of the plaintiffs : but that the latter were limited as to the amount of the credit which they might give Stine as the defendants’ representative is conclusively established by the verdict.
We come now to the question raised by the answer to the plaintiffs’ point, (fifth assignment) and the instructions complained of in the third assignment. In August, 1897, the de
It is argued in support of the two remaining assignments that if the judgment as ordered by the court stands, it compels the plaintiffs to receive the $150 paid into court as a tender, less the prothonotary’s statutory commission, and $50.00 in satisfaction of the verdict in their favor for $200. We are not convinced that this is the necessary construction of the order; but, to remove all doubt upon that point, we will amend the judgment so as to express the evident intention of the jury and the court below, as we have power to do under sec. 8, par. 8 of the Act of June 24, 1895, P. L. 212.
Now July, 1901, as of March 28, 1900, judgment is entered in favor of the plaintiffs on the verdict for $200, together with interest thereon from December 15, 1899, the date of the verdict, and accrued costs in the court below, with leave to the plaintiffs to take out of court the sum of $150, less prothonotary’s commission on the last mentioned sum and to issue execution for the balance of the judgment. As thus modified and amended the judgment is affirmed.