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18 Mass. 343

Clark v. Van Northwick

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · decided 1823-03-15

Assumpsit. At the trial, before Parker C. J., it appeared, that on the 22d of May, 1819, the plaintiff sent several boxes of lemons and oranges from Boston to the defendants at New York, with directions to sell them for cash.

Decided 1823-03-15

Per Curiam.

¶1Upon the evidence of the usage, which was properly adm tted, the jury have, found that this was a cash sale ; and it would embarrass business very much if it were not so considered. The defendants did not intend to allow the purchaser a credit for any length of time. They might have sued him immediately after the delivery of the fruit. Such a sale is no violation of orders to sell for cash, unless it is made to a person in insolvent circumstances, which is not *352the case here. The letter of the defendants does not mean that they had trusted the purchaser for a week, but that the money would be collected in that time.1

¶2It is not necessary to determine whether the defendants had a right to reseize the fruit remaining unsold. They had made a sale to a person in good credit, and they might reasonably expect that he would recover from his illness in a few days, and pay their demand. The Court are all of opinion that they were not bound to run the risk of re-seizing the fruit, but that if they had a right to do so, it was a subject for their discretion whether they would exercise such right. Motion for a new trial overruled.

¶3 See Day v. Noble, 2 Pick. 615; Greely v. Bartlett, 1 Greenl. 172.

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