Rhea v. Adder Mach. Co., 33494.
| Decision Date | 06 July 1920 |
| Docket Number | No. 33494.,33494. |
| Citation | 178 N.W. 359,189 Iowa 1085 |
| Parties | RHEA v. ADDER MACH. CO. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Municipal Court of Des Moines; W. G. Bonner, Judge.
Suit for commission on sales of adding machines resulted in judgment as prayed. The defendant appeals. Affirmed.Read & Read, of Des Moines, for appellant.
G. H. Winans, of Des Moines, for appellee.
On April 2, 1917, the parties hereto entered into a contract by the terms of which plaintiff became the exclusive sales agent of the defendant, “to dispose of, by lease and sale under the company's regular contracts with customers, Wales visible adding and listing machines, as now are or may be manufactured by the company,” within designated counties. In pursuance thereof plaintiff obtained an order from the Commercial Savings Bank of Farragut, Iowa, for a model 30 machine on June 29, 1917, an order from the Farmers' & Merchants' State Bank of Corydon July 25, 1917, and another order from Hammill College, Council Bluffs, three days later. These orders were promptly accepted, and commissions credited to plaintiff, but defendant did not fill them. The first was canceled by the purchaser March 25, 1918, the second about January 1, 1918, and the third in the fall of 1917. Such cancellations were acquiesced in by defendant, for that it was unable to deliver machines such as were sold. Suit is for recovery of these commissions.
The defendant contends that it is relieved of liability by exemptions therefrom contained in the contract. It is stipulated therein that upon receipt of an order, which is accepted, the full amount allowed as commission was to be entered on the company's books as a credit. Paragraph 45 thereof stipulates that:
“In case the purchaser fails to pay any note or any part of the purchase price of a machine, and your commission on the machine has been paid to you or credited to your account, the commission on the amount unpaid is to be charged back against your account.”
“Such credits or commissions as outlined above, when entered in your account on the books of the company, shall constitute full compensation and remuneration for your services and expenses.”
A previous paragraph (23) stipulated that--
“It is mutually agreed that no damages or commissions are to be claimed by reason of delays in filling orders, or should accidents, fire or strikes occur, or other causes beyond our control arise.”
The agent also agreed to--
“abide by all the decisions, rules, and regulations of the company, which are hereby made a part of this contract.”
Paragraph 57 of the Decision Book contains the following:
The sole question is whether these stipulations relieved the defendant from liability for commissions. Manifestly none of these conditions were available, save possibly paragraph 23, relating to damages or commissions “claimed by reason of delays in filling orders.” The trouble, however, was deeper than the mere matter of delays. The company was without machines, such as it employed plaintiff to obtain orders for, and, moreover, it had not perfected its device for their manufacture. Its inability to furnish the machines appears from its letter of September 18, 1917, addressed to the Hammill College and Business Institute of Council Bluffs, Iowa, in which it says:
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