Woodruff & Co. v. Saul
| Citation | 70 Ga. 271 |
| Court | Supreme Court of Georgia |
| Decision Date | 28 February 1883 |
| Parties | Woodruff & Company. vs. Saul. |
Debtor and Creditor. Fraud. Contracts. Presumption. Laws. Before Judge Clark. City Court of Atlanta. June Term, 1882.
Reported in the decision.
Reuben Arnold; Samuel Barnett, Jr., for plaintiffs in error.
C. W. Smith; Mynatt & Howell, for defendant.
W. W. Woodruff & Company sued W. S. Saul on an account for the sum of $116.05; the defendant filed no plea, but answered at the first term, and relied upon that as the filing of the general issue. Under amendments made to the plaintiffs' declaration, and the testimony submitted, the case finally turned upon the liability of the defendant to pay the account, notwithstanding the factthat the plaintiffs, under a deed of assignment, had agreed to accept fifty cents in the dollar in full payment of the said debt. This liability was claimed upon the ground that this acceptance and agreement was procured by the false and fraudulent representations of the defendant, and therefore void. Under the evidence and charge of the court, the jury found for the defendant.
The plaintiffs moved for a new trial, upon the several grounds contained in their motion, which was refused, and they excepted. The grounds of the motion which control the case arise upon the law as charged, and the refusals to charge certain legal principles, requested in writing by the plaintiffs in error. Many requests to charge were asked, but they involved in substance only two legal principles. These were, first, that if the defendant debtor made any secret arrangements with a portion of his creditors, by which he was to give them anything outside of the settlement, and more than was to be paid to the other creditors, then the composition agreement was void, because a fraud on them; and second, that if there were any misrepresentations or concealments by the debtor as to his assets or liabilities, this was a fraud upon the creditors, and made the contract of settlement and acceptance void.
1. That these are correct legal principles there can be no question. Where a debtor agrees with his creditors that he will pay them a certain per cent, of his liabilities, in consideration that they are to discharge him from his debts, if he privately agree to give a better or further security, or to pay to one more than the others, the contract with the other creditors is void. Story's Eq. Jur., §§378, 379, and notes; Kerr on Frauds, 214 and cases cited; 4 East, 380; 11 Ib., 393; 6 Ves., 300; 15 Ib., 55; 4 Barn. & C, 511.
2. If a debtor misrepresents or suppresses any...
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Alropa Corp. v. Pomerance
...with reference to the common law of England. Eubanks v. Banks, 34 Ga. 407; Selma, Rome & Dalton Railroad Co. v. Lacy, 43 Ga. 461; Woodruff v. Saul, 70 Ga. 271; Jones Rice, 92 Ga. 236, 18 S.E. 348; Patillo v. Alexander, 96 Ga. 60, 22 S.E. 646, 29 L.R.A. 616; Massachusetts Benefit Life Ass'n ......
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Old Hickory Products Co., Ltd. v. Hickory Specialties, Inc.
...or defense immediately dismissed. He still might prevail if he could find support for his position in the common law. In Woodruff & Co. v. Saul, 70 Ga. 271, 273 (1883), for example, plaintiff sued Saul for the sum of $116.05, based on a fraudulent "contract of composition" made in Tennessee......
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Bass v. Seaboard Air Line R. Co.
... ... upon him.' See also Reese v. Wyman, 9 Ga. 430; ... Bailey v. Jones, 14 Ga. 384; Terhune v ... Dever, 36 Ga. 648; Woodruff v. Saul, 70 Ga ... 271; Newman v. H. B. Claflin Co., 107 Ga. 89(1), 32 ... S.E. 943; Benson v. May, 149 Ga. 555, 101 S.E. 177; ... Beavers ... ...
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City of Dalton v. U.S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 21089
...It ought not to be questioned in any court professing to administer justice.' See also Reese v. Wyman, 9 Ga. 430, 439(7); Woodruff & Co. v. Saul, 70 Ga. 271(3); Newman v. H. B. Claflin Co., 107 Ga. 89, 94, 32 S.E. 943; Wellborn v. Johnson, 204 Ga. 389, 396, 50 S.E.2d In the present case, th......