Supreme Court of Michigan, 1887
66 Mich. 568, 33
N.W. 919
MORSE, Justice.
Replevin for a cow. Suit commenced in justice's court;
judgment for plaintiff; appealed to circuit court of Wayne county, and verdict
and judgment for plaintiff in that court. The
defendants bring error, and set out 25 assignments of the same.
. . . The
defendants reside at Detroit, but are in business at Walkerville, Ontario, and
have a farm at Greenfield, in Wayne county, upon which were some blooded cattle
supposed to be barren as breeders. The Walkers are importers and breeders of
polled Angus cattle. The plaintiff is a banker living at Plymouth, in Wayne
county. He called upon the defendants at Walkerville for the purchase of some
of their stock, but found none there that suited him. Meeting one of the
defendants afterwards, he was informed that they had a few head upon their
Greenfield farm. He was asked to go out and look at them, with the statement at
the time that they were probably barren, and would not breed. May 5, 1886,
plaintiff went out to Greenfield, and saw the cattle. A few days thereafter, he
called upon one of the defendants with the view of purchasing a cow, known as
"Rose 2d of Aberlone." After considerable talk, it was agreed that
defendants would telephone Sherwood at his home in Plymouth in reference to the
price. The second morning after this talk he was called up by telephone, and
the terms of the sale were finally agreed upon. He was to pay five and one- half cents per pound, live weight, fifty pounds
shrinkage. He was asked how he intended to take the cow home, and replied that
he might ship her from King's cattle-yard. He requested defendants to confirm
the sale in writing, which they did by sending him the following letter:
"WALKERVILLE, May 15, 1886.
"T.C.
Sherwood, President, etc.--DEAR SIR: We confirm sale to you of the cow Rose 2d
of Aberlone, lot 56 of our catalogue, at five and half cents per pound, less
fifty pounds shrink. We inclose herewith order on Mr. Graham for the cow. You
might leave check with him, or mail to us here, as you prefer.
"Yours, truly,
HIRAM WALKER & SONS."
The
order upon Graham inclosed in the letter read as follows:
"WALKERVILLE, May 15, 1886.
"George
Graham: You will please deliver at King's cattle-yard to Mr. T.C. Sherwood,
Plymouth, the cow Rose 2d of Aberlone, lot 56 of our catalogue. Send halter
with the cow, and have her weighed.
"Yours truly,
HIRAM WALKER & SONS."
On the twenty-first of the same month the plaintiff went to defendants'
farm at Greenfield, and presented the order and letter to Graham, who informed
him that the defendants had instructed him not to deliver the cow. Soon after,
the plaintiff tendered to Hiram Walker, one of the defendants, $80, and
demanded the cow. Walker refused to take the money or deliver the cow. The
plaintiff then instituted this suit. After he
had secured possession of the cow under the writ of replevin, the plaintiff
caused her to be weighed by the constable who served the writ, at a place other
than King's cattle-yard. She weighed 1,420 pounds. . . .
The defendants then introduced evidence tending to show that at the
time of the alleged sale it was believed by both the plaintiff and themselves
that the cow was barren and would not breed; that she cost $850, and if not
barren would be worth from $750 to $1,000; that after the date of the letter,
and the order to Graham, the defendants were informed by said Graham that in
his judgment the cow was with calf, and therefore they instructed him not to
deliver her to plaintiff, and on the twentieth of May, 1886, telegraphed
plaintiff what Graham thought about the cow being with calf, and that
consequently they could not sell her. The cow had a calf in the month of October
following. On the nineteenth of May, the plaintiff wrote Graham as follows:
"PLYMOUTH, May 19, 1886.
"Mr.
George Graham, Greenfield--DEAR SIR: I have bought Rose or Lucy from Mr. Walker, and will be there for her Friday
morning, nine or ten o'clock. Do not water her in the morning.
"Yours, etc.,
T.C. SHERWOOD."
Plaintiff explained the mention of the two cows in this letter by
testifying that, when he wrote this letter, the order and letter of defendants
was at his home, and, writing in a hurry, and being uncertain as to the name of
the cow, and not wishing his cow watered, he thought it would do no harm to
name them both, as his bill of sale would show which one he had purchased.
Plaintiff also testified that he asked defendants to give him a price on the
balance of their herd at Greenfield, as a friend thought of buying some, and
received a letter dated May 17, 1886, in which they named the price of five
cattle, including Lucy, at $90, and Rose 2d at $80. When he received the letter
he called defendants up by telephone, and asked them why they put Rose 2d in
the list, as he had already purchased her. They replied that they knew he had,
but thought it would make no difference if plaintiff and his friend concluded
to take the whole herd.
The foregoing is
the substance of all the testimony in the case.
The circuit judge instructed
the jury that if they believed the defendants, when they sent the order and
letter to plaintiff, meant to pass the title to the cow, and that the cow was
intended to be delivered to plaintiff, it did not matter whether the cow was
weighed at any particular place, or by any particular
person; and if the cow was weighed afterwards, as Sherwood testified, such
weighing would be a sufficient compliance with the order. If they believed that
defendants intended to pass the title by writing, it did not matter whether the
cow was weighed before or after suit brought, and the plaintiff would be
entitled to recover. . . . The court also charged the jury that it was
immaterial whether the cow was with calf or not. . . .
It appears from the record that both parties supposed this
cow was barren and would not breed, and she was sold by the pound for an
insignificant sum as compared with her real value if a breeder. She was
evidently sold and purchased on the relation of her value for beef, unless the
plaintiff had learned of her true condition,
and concealed such knowledge from the defendants. Before the plaintiff secured
the possession of the animal, the defendants learned that she was with calf,
and therefore of great value, and undertook to rescind the sale by refusing to
deliver her. The question arises whether they had a right to do so. The circuit
judge ruled that this fact did not avoid the sale and it made no difference
whether she was barren or not. I am of the opinion that the court erred in this
holding. I know that this is a close question, and the dividing line between
the adjudicated cases is not easily discerned. But it must be considered as
well settled that a party who has given an apparent consent to a contract of
sale may refuse to execute it, or he may avoid it after it has been completed,
if the assent was founded, or the contract made, upon the mistake of a material
fact,--such as the subject- matter of the sale, the price, or some collateral
fact materially inducing the agreement; and this can be done when the mistake
is mutual. . . .
If there is a difference or misapprehension as to the
substance of the thing bargained for; if the thing actually delivered or
received is different in substance from the
thing bargained for, and intended to be sold,--then there is no contract; but
if it be only a difference in some quality or accident, even though the mistake may have been the
actuating motive to the purchaser or seller, or both of them, yet the contract
remains binding. . . .
It seems to me, however, in the case made by this record,
that the mistake or misapprehension of the parties went to the whole substance
of the agreement. If the cow was a breeder, she was worth at least $750; if
barren, she was worth not over $80. The parties would not have made the
contract of sale except upon the understanding and belief that she was
incapable of breeding, and of no use as a cow. It is true she is now the
identical animal that they thought her to be when the contract was made; there
is no mistake as to the identity of the creature. Yet the mistake was not of
the mere quality of the animal, but went to
the very nature of the thing. A barren cow is substantially a different
creature than a breeding one. There is as much difference between them for all
purposes of use as there is between an ox and a cow that is capable of breeding
and giving milk. If the mutual mistake had simply related to the fact whether
she was with calf or not for one season, then it might have been a good sale,
but the mistake affected the character of the animal for all time, and for its
present and ultimate use. She was not in fact the animal, or the kind of animal,
the defendants intended to sell or the plaintiff to buy. She was not a barren cow, and, if this fact
had been known, there would have been no contract. The mistake affected the substance of the whole
consideration, and it must be considered that there was no contract to sell or
sale of the cow as she actually was. The thing sold and bought had in fact no
existence. She was sold as a beef creature would be sold; she is in fact a
breeding cow, and a valuable one. The court should have instructed the jury that
if they found that the cow was sold, or contracted to be sold, upon the
understanding of both parties that she was barren, and useless for the purpose
of breeding, and that in fact she was not barren, but capable of breeding, then
the defendants had a right to rescind, and to refuse to deliver, and the
verdict should be in their favor.
The judgment of the
court below must be reversed, and a new trial granted, with costs of this court
to defendants.
SHERWOOD, Justice
(dissenting).
I do not concur in the opinion given by my brethren in this
case. I think the judgments before the justice and at the circuit were right. .
. .
As has already been stated by my brethren, the record shows
that the plaintiff is a banker and farmer as well, carrying on a farm, and
raising the best breeds of stock, and lived in Plymouth, in the county of
Wayne, 23 miles from Detroit; that the defendants lived in Detroit, and were
also dealers in stock of the higher grades;
that they had a farm at Walkerville, in Canada, and also one in Greenfield in
said county of Wayne, and upon these farms the defendants kept their stock. The
Greenfield farm was about 15 miles from the plaintiff's. In the spring of 1886
the plaintiff, learning that the defendants had some "polled Angus cattle"
for sale, was desirous of purchasing some of that breed, and meeting the
defendants, or some of them, at Walkerville, inquired about them, and was
informed that they had none at Walkerville, "but had a few head left on
their farm in Greenfield, and asked the plaintiff to go and see them, stating
that in all probability they were sterile and would not breed.” . . . The
record further shows that the defendants, when
they sold the cow, believed the cow was not with calf, and barren; that from
what the plaintiff had been told by defendants (for it does not appear he had
any other knowledge or facts from which he could form an opinion) he believed
the cow was farrow, but still thought she could be made to breed. The foregoing
shows the entire interview and treaty between the parties as to the sterility
and qualities of the cow sold to the plaintiff. The cow had a calf in the month
of October.
There is no question but that the defendants sold the cow
representing her of the breed and quality they believed the cow to be, and that
the purchaser so understood it. And the buyer purchased her believing her to be
of the breed represented by the sellers, and possessing all the qualities
stated, and even more. He believed she would breed. There is no pretense that
the plaintiff bought the cow for beef, and there is nothing in the record
indicating that he would have bought her at all only that he thought she might
be made to breed. Under the foregoing facts,--and these are all that are
contained in the record material to the contract,--it is held that because it
turned out that the plaintiff was more correct in his judgment as to one
quality of the cow than the defendants, and a quality, too, which could not by
any possibility be positively known at the time by either party to exist, the
contract may be annulled by the defendants at their pleasure. I know of no law,
and have not been referred to any, which
will justify any such holding, and I think the circuit judge was right in his
construction of the contract between the parties.
It is claimed that a mutual mistake of a material fact was
made by the parties when the contract of sale was made. There was no warranty
in the case of the quality of the animal. When a mistaken fact is relied upon
as ground for rescinding, such fact must not only exist at the time the
contract is made, but must have been known to one or both of the parties. Where
there is no warranty, there can be no mistake of fact when no such fact exists,
or, if in existence, neither party knew of it, or could know of it; and that is
precisely this case. If the owner of a Hambletonian horse had speeded him, and
was only able to make him go a mile in three minutes, and should sell him to
another, believing that was his greatest speed, for $300, when the purchaser
believed he could go much faster, and made the purchase for that sum, and a few
days thereafter, under more favorable circumstances, the horse was driven a
mile in 2 min. 16 sec., and was found to be worth$20,000, I hardly think it
would be held, either at law or in equity, by any one, that the seller in such
case could rescind the contract. The same legal principles apply in each case.
In this case
neither party knew the actual quality and condition of this cow at the time of
the sale. The defendants say, or rather said, to the plaintiff, "they had a few head left on their farm in
Greenfield, and asked plaintiff to go and see them, stating to plaintiff that
in all probability they were sterile and would not breed." Plaintiff did
go as requested, and found there these cows, including the one purchased, with
a bull. The cow had been exposed, but neither knew she was with calf or whether
she would breed. The defendants thought she would not, but the plaintiff says
that he thought she could be made to breed, but believed she was not with calf.
The defendants sold the cow for what they believed her to be, and the plaintiff
bought her as he believed she was, after the statements made by the defendants.
No conditions whatever were attached to the terms of sale by either party. It
was in fact as absolute as it could well be made, and I know of no precedent as
authority by which this court can alter the contract thus made by these parties
in writing,--interpolate in it a condition by which, if the defendants should
be mistaken in their belief that the cow was barren, she could be returned to
them and their contract should be annulled. It is not the duty of courts to
destroy contracts when called upon to enforce them, after they have been
legally made. There was no mistake of any material fact by either of the
parties in the case as would license the vendors to rescind. There was no
difference between the parties, nor misapprehension, as to the substance of the
thing bargained for, which was a cow supposed to be barren by one party, and
believed not to be by the other. As to the
quality of the animal, subsequently developed, both parties were equally
ignorant, and as to this each party took his chances. If this were not the law,
there would be no safety in purchasing this kind of stock.
I entirely agree with my brethren that the right to rescind occurs whenever "the thing actually delivered or received is different in substance from the thing bargained for, and intended to be sold; but if it be only a difference in some quality or accident, even though the misapprehension may have been the actuating motive" of the parties in making the contract, yet it will remain binding. In this case the cow sold was the one delivered. What might or might not happen to her after the sale formed no element in the contract. . . .