A FARM DEAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 December 1920, Page 5

A FARM DEAL.

AN IMPORTANT DECISION. A decision of importance to land agents and to vendors and purchasers o< land wns given by Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., in the Waverley Magistrate'.! Court on Friday.

Edward O'Meara and Richard Power, of Wanganui, sued Grant and Campbell, land agents, of Hawera, for £tt"> balance of deposit of £2OO paid by one Turner on the purchase of plaintiff's farm at Kohi, consisting of 18!) acres

The facta as stated to the Court were that plaintiffs put the farm into defrndants' hands for sale at £43 per acre, on a 2i per cent, commission basis, with £IOOO cash down. Turner offered £43 per acre with £6OO cash. Before the plaintiffs would accept this they asked Dillon, land salesman for the defendants, if he would reduce the commission from the 2 l / 2 per cent. basis, which amounted to £203 to £l5O. Dillon assented to this, not being able to communicate with his principals, who were away on holiday. Plaintiffs, however, both swore that Dillon agreed to reduce the commission to £IOO.

Mr. P. O'Dea, for defendants, submitted that the authorities showed that the authority of a servant like Dillon was co-extensive only with his usual employment, and the scope of his authority was to be measured by the extent of his employment; that his employment was to sell farms; that the contract for commission was only coilater to the main contract of selling a farm; that the contract for commission was on a printed form and could not be altered by the servant without the authority of his employers. In the case in question, the employers did not ratify his action if he reduced the commission to £WO (which was denied), and that therefore the plaintifts could not recover.

His Worship, in delivering judgment, said he preferred, to believe Dillon's statement, though he did not attribute other than mistake to the plaintiff's story. He, however, upheld the contention of defendants' counsel that a land salesman employed by a firm of land agents has no authority to alter a written authority given to his employers without their consent or subsequent ratification. He non-suited plaintiffs with costs.—Hawera Star.