177 Pa. 344 | Pa. | 1896
Opinion by
By the terms of the agreement between these parties the plaintiff was interested in the transactions of the defendants under the contract, in the manner of a partner. The manufac
We have not the slightest hesitation in holding that the case was a proper one for equitable jurisdiction. Whether on the ground of discovery, which was absolutely necessary, or mistake, or complicated accounts, or community of interest in a common enterprise where all the accounts were in the hands of one of the parties, and the situation was one which involved a trust and confidence, it is perfectly clear that the only suitable and complete remedy was by a bill in equity. There is but little controversy on this subject. The serious matter of contention grows out of the long delay of the plaintiff and his repeated acts of acquiescence in the method of stating accounts pursued by the defendants. For sixteen years the plaintiff received semiannual statements from the defendants, purporting to state the cost of materials and labor, and dividing the resulting profits, of which he accepted his share without complaint. The learned court below dismissed the bill on this ground. In ordinary circumstances it would be sufficient.
The decree of the court below is reversed and the plaintiffs bill is reinstated at the cost of the appellees. And it is now ordered, adjudged and decreed that an account shall be taken of all the dealings and transactions between the complainant and the respondents under the agreement of 28th of February, 1871, and the supplemental agreements thereto.- It is ordered and decreed that the accounting heretofore made by the respondents is incorrect and untrue, in that they did without the knowledge of the complainant charge him improperly and erroneously with a higher price for materials than was just under said agreement; that they charged him with a greater cost of labor than was actually paid by them, and that the accounts between the complainant and respondents be opened and the respondents account de novo.
It is ordered that the respondents shall account for all their receipts under said agreements; that in said account they shall be allowed a credit for materials furnished, not at the wholesale selling price of such materials as established by their sales to others, but at the usual wholesale selling price of said materials in the market at the time of furnishing the same; that they shall be allowed a credit only for the actual cost of the labor furnished and done by them in the manufacturing of articles under said agreement, and that when the balance is ascertained due to the complainant upon the taking said account they shall pay over the same to the plaintiff with interest and costs.
It is ordered that this account shall be taken before D. Webster Dougherty, Esq., of Philadelphia; and that he shall take all testimony necessary thereunder; and that he shall report to the court said account thus taken and the balance due to the plaintiff thereunder. The record is remitted to the court below in order that this decree may be carried into effect.