THE STAMP BUSINESS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2147, 13 May 1914, Page 5

THE STAMP BUSINESS

; ; RASP BIG DEAL DISPUTE & LITIGATION , A judgment of "somo interest was delivered in the Supromo Court yesterday by Mr. Justice liosking. Tho caso was • v "Alexander llrodie v. The Stanley Stamp Company. The defendant company was a firm consisting of Charles Henry Osmond, ' ' of Wellington, and Alfred James StoneWigg, of Opald, farmer, and it car- \ Tied on business as postage stamp niervhants, under the name of the' Stanley Stamp Company. Plaintiff entered into negotiations with them; with the view to purchasing this business, and nought it and its assets. He alleged that he had been induced to do so by representations made by Osmond, acting with tho authority of his co-partner, to the i effect: (1) that the whole of the stock- . in-trade ,was- undamaged, and in good condition,:and (2) that tho firm had good book debts, amounting to £817 Bs. 4d.■ Ho further alleged that these representations were untrue, in that lajgo Mimbers of the stamps were damaged, and that only a small portion of the sum of £817 Bs. 4d. consisted of book . debts. Ho therefore; claimed a rescission of the contract, cancellation of the ngreement for sale, the' return of the monies, whicli he had. paid, and damages, and such further, or other,; relief us seemed meet to the Court. ' Plaintiff's puslnoss Knowledge. " In his judgment, His Honour said that tho evidence that, tho representations alleged wore made was that of i the plaintiff alone, and the evidence was positively contradicted by Osmond. With respect to some of tho collateral details given by the plaintiff in evidence, and denied by Osmond, Osmond was corroborated by his bookkeeper, and Mr. Watson, the solicitor, in respect of matters to which they could respectively speak. Osmond, in addition to having conducted tho stamp business, had been a life' insurance inspector and a sharebroker, and from the way in which he gave his evidence he had shown his acquaintance with mercantile terms', and mercantile business. Plaintiff, on the other hand, was a beihivo manufacturer by trade, and, from his evidence, and his manner .of giving it, was obviously but little versed in business matters of a mercantile character. Moreover, in giving his evidence he was obviously suffering , to Lome extent from some mental snd physical distress". His Honour made some allowance for him on that account. Business Sold for. £2407. Mr. Osmond was tho active member jbf the defendant firm, and conducted 'its business at hi3\oftice in Wellington. 1 Mr. Stone-Wigg was only' a sleeping partner, and had no part in the hego- \ ' tiations in question. Plaintiff had ar- ''. rived in Now Zealand on or about November 20 last. According to his own i account he'had indulged in stamp collecting, as an amateur, for about four years. He had achieved, somo success, for ho ha,d specialised in Capo of Good Hope stamps, and had sold this collection for £450 just before leaving England. He brought out with him the remnants of his Collection, to tho value here, he stated, of about £100. Attracted by the business advertisement of. the company he called, about two days after ' his arrival in New Zealand, and had an interview- with Osmond.' With a fried called Martin, whom Osmond described as a business' man, ho had a further i interview with' Osmond on the following day. A third interview followed on -, December 1, and, at that interview, an agreement was'come to for tho sale of the business for £2407. A ; written agreement containing the terms of the purchase, was signed on December 1 or 2, and a'deposit of £107 paid at the Eiime time. , !. No Relief for.Stamps. After dealing, with the terms of the agreement and the cvidoncoHis Honour went on to say that it was plain that tho plaintiff, had time'to' make, and did i make, a critical examination as to condition of stock, and the evidence of valuers called for the defendants showed that on his valuation he had allowed for ; damage, and had valued on a safe side. As regards the stamps, even if the representation: in question was made, ho was of opinion that tho plaintiff, by executing, the formal agreetacnt; paying the ' further sum of £1000, and taking control and possession of tho'business and its.assets, after having examined- tho stamps and discovering that more than a trifling number of them -were damy aged, elected to affirm the purchase, and could hot now trim',-round-- and claim to sot it aside.: And, assuming it to be tho fact that Osmond said at the first interview' that all tho stock was of tho description of the good clean copies ho exhibited, ,it was not, His Honour thought, made out by tho plaintiff that this statement was made in tho J course of tho negotiations for tho purchase, or that it was intended as a representation to bo acted upon, or that it ' was intended as such by the plaintiff, or that it was acted on by him. It appears to him, therefore, that,the plaintiff had not established this part of his case, and could bo granted no relief in respect of tho stamps. The Book Debts. The book dobts, 'in His Honour's opinion, stood on a different footing. Whatever was said on the subject, cither before the preliminary agreement was signed or in tho interval between that date and the signing of tho formal agrec--1 nient, the formal agreement expressly : included in tho sale the book and other dobts sot forth in tho second schedule, , .as dobts duo to the vendors on December 8, 1913, in connection with the busi- ' ness, and, as he had pointed out, tho total of £617 Bs. 4d., to a very large extent, con3is,ted of sums representing the invoiced values of tho stamps outstanding in the hands of agents or of ' clients on approval. These could not, in his be described as book or othor d'bts due to the vendors in any proper sense of those terms. Damages on Inquiry. The damages, His Honour thought, . had to bo measured by tho extent which ■ the bouk or other debts due to tho vendors at December 8, 1913, in conncc- ! tion with tho business, fell short of the total of £317 Bs. Id. The amount would, in part, depend upon what was actually due from agents or others at that date, and which ho had no materials to deter; mine. There would have, (6 bo an in? qujry before the Registrar at Wellington on the. subject, unless the parties could av.rce upon the amount. .Judgment was for tho plaintiff, for the amount which should, upon such inquiry,'be certified to bo due, together with costs, according to scale onVOio amount certified, and disbursements. Solicitors for the plaintiff wore Mr. C. ( 1!. Morison, K.C., and Mr. 0. Samuel, and for the deferdaut Mr. V. It. Meredith.