Opinion
Argued June 26, 1885
Decided October 6, 1885
John L. Lindsay for appellant.
J. Woolsey Shepard for respondents.
The referee found, upon sufficient evidence to justify the finding, that the reasons assigned by the defendant on the 21st of September, 1881, for refusing to receive the balance of the brick of the cargo of the schooner Ellen, were groundless. He further found that the brick were of the quality specified in the contract, and that there was a sufficient available space for piling them. Upon the defendant's refusal to permit the plaintiffs' cartmen to continue the delivery, the plaintiffs offered to deliver the balance of the cargo, and stated to the defendant that if brick advanced in price, they could not be held responsible for the delivery on the contract. The defendant persisted in his refusal to receive any more brick from the cargo of the Ellen, assigning the reasons before stated, viz.: defective quality and want of space. The plaintiffs had a right to make delivery on the contract, on the 21st of September. The written memorandum is silent as to the time of delivery, but the evidence shows that prompt delivery and acceptance was contemplated, and that this was one of the considerations upon which the plaintiffs entered into the contract. The tender and refusal constituted, we think, a breach of the contract by the defendant. It was not necessary that the plaintiffs should tender the whole four hundred thousand brick in order to put the defendant in default. It was not contemplated that the entire number should be delivered in one mass, but as is evident from the situation of the parties and the surroundings, they were to be delivered from time to time, at the convenience of the plaintiffs, but without delaying the defendant in prosecuting the work in which they were to be used. When the defendant refused without adequate reason to accept the cargo of the Ellen, the plaintiffs were at liberty to treat the contract as broken, and were not bound to make an actual tender of the remainder of the brick before bringing the action. This would have been a useless ceremony. The warning given by the plaintiffs to the defendant, that his refusal would absolve them from any obligation on the contract, was not, as is claimed, equivalent to an assertion of a right on their part to regard the contract as still subsisting and executory, or as a reservation of a right to deliver the brick if they should so elect. The letter of October 4, 1881, shows that on several occasions after the 21st of September, the plaintiffs were willing to go on with the contract, but the defendant was not ready and only became ready when brick had greatly advanced in price. The right of action having accrued from the transaction of September 21st, it was not waived as matter of law by a subsequent offer on the part of the plaintiffs to furnish the brick, which was not accepted by the defendant until the advance in the market had materially changed the situation. The price which the plaintiffs received for the brick on sale to other parties was immaterial in view of the facts that they were delivered on contracts made prior to September 21st, and that the plaintiffs had the ability to furnish all the brick required for all their contracts, including that with the defendant.
The judgment should be affirmed.
All concur.
Judgment affirmed.