Brown v. Southern Grocery Co.
| Decision Date | 13 April 1925 |
| Docket Number | (No. 298.) |
| Citation | 271 S.W. 342 |
| Parties | BROWN v. SOUTHERN GROCERY CO. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Appeal from Monroe Chancery Court; Jno. M. Elliott, Chancellor.
Action by the Southern Grocery Company against W. S. Brown. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Affirmed.
This action was brought in the circuit court by the Southern Grocery Company against W. S. Brown to recover $702.35, alleged to be the balance of an account due the plaintiff by the defendant.
The suit was defended on the ground that the plaintiff was a cotton factor and had been guilty of bad faith in selling the cotton shipped to it by the defendant, and that it had also charged him an excessive amount for storage and insurance.
The record shows that the plaintiff was a cotton factor and wholesale grocer at Pine Bluff, Ark., and the defendant was engaged in farming in Monroe county, Ark. On December 13, 1919, Brown wrote to the Southern Grocery Company as follows:
The cotton was duly received by the Southern Grocery Company, and on December 16, 1919, it wrote to W. S. Brown at Brinkley, Ark., the following:
"Dear Sir: We inclosed check of $1,125 advance on nine bales of cotton which we have for your account."
On March 11, 1920, Brown shipped to the Southern Grocery Company another bale of cotton and wrote the following:
On June 21, 1920, the Southern Grocery Company sold one of the bales of cotton for $238.36, and after deducting commission and other charges, there was left a balance of $225.06. An account of sale was sent to Brown when it was made. In the fall of 1920, the Southern Grocery Company wrote to Brown that, on account of the serious decline in the cotton market, the banks were calling on it for margins and this forced it to call in turn on its customers. Brown was requested to send in $300 on the nine bales of cotton which he had previously shipped to it. On December 29, 1920, Brown wrote the Southern Grocery Company that he had had several letters from it in regard to his cotton, and that he had been trying to sell some new cotton in order to send the $300 to cover margin as requested. The letter, also, contained the following:
The letter concluded by promising to remit the margin as requested as soon as he could make some collections.
Attached to the deposition of a bookkeeper of the plaintiff is a statement of account showing a balance due on February 8, 1923, of $687.50. In it the Southern Grocery Company charged Brown with $1,125.00 and interest for three years amounting to $212.25. Brown is given credit as follows: June 21, 1920, net proceeds of sale of one bale of cotton in the sum of $225.06; July 24, 1921, net proceeds of sale of one bale of cotton $26.62; July 30, 1921, net proceeds of sale of three bales of cotton $111.70; August 21, 1921, net proceeds of sale of one bale of cotton $24.54; September 9, 1921, net proceeds of sale of one bale of cotton $39.20; and January 31, 1922, net proceeds of sale of three bales of cotton, $158.58.
According to the evidence for the plaintiff, as each bale of cotton was sold, an account of sale was sent to the defendant showing the price for which it was sold and the insurance, storage, and commission charged.
J. W. Wilkins, president and general manager of the Southern Grocery Company, was a witness for it. According to his testimony the first he knew that Brown was going to ship any cotton to his company was when the letter inclosing the bill of lading for the nine bales of cotton was received. On receipt of the cotton the plaintiff advanced to Brown the sum of $1,125 on December 16, 1919. The amount charged for insurance, storage, and commission was the usual sum charged at that time by cotton factors. In 1920, there was a serious decline in the price of cotton and the Southern Grocery Company had on hand three or four thousand bales of cotton of about the same staple as that shipped to it by Brown. The company suffered a considerable loss in selling the cotton, and during the year 1920, tried to make the best sale of it possible in the principal markets of the United States. It, also, tried to sell some of it in Canada. The cotton of Brown was finally sold in good faith for the best price obtainable after Brown refused to put up any more margin on it. No one anticipated the heavy decline in the price of cotton which occurred in 1920 and 1921.
The testimony of J. W. Wilkins was corroborated by that of his son, W. J. Wilkins, who was the treasurer of the company. According to his testimony the account of sales accurately showed the weight of each bale, the price received, the charges for storing, insurance, and commission, and the net proceeds. The charges were the usual charges made at that time by cotton factors, and the sales were made in good faith after Brown had refused to put up any more margin on the cotton, and because cotton kept steadily declining. No one anticipated that the price of cotton would go as low as it did in 1920. There was no market for this class of cotton in 1920 and 1921.
W. H. Kennedy, another cotton factor, corroborated their testimony as to the reasonableness of the storage, insurance, and commission charges of the plaintiff, and to the further fact that there was a serious and unexpected decline in the price of cotton during the year 1920. He further stated that there was no market for the class of cotton in controversy during the year 1920.
W. S. Brown was a witness for himself. According to his testimony, when he shipped the nine bales of cotton to the Southern Grocery Company his instructions were as follows:
"As soon as this cotton arrives, let me know what you can get for it, and I will advise whether to hold or sell it."
At that time Brown could have gotten 45 cents per pound for his cotton at Brinkley, Ark. After that he called the plaintiff over the telephone and told it to let him know what it would get for his cotton. Some one in the office of the plaintiff answered the telephone and told him that the cotton would not be sold until he was advised what he could get for the cotton and would authorize them to sell it. Brown told them he would instruct them whether or not he wanted to sell it for the price reported. On January 23, 1920, Brown wrote to the...
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