Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-01-28

A DECISION interesting to people gener-
ally has just been handed down by the
court of appeals at Montreal. 1t bears on
the contract which telegraph companies
have printed on the blanks which they
furnish. The case was that of Laurence
VS.. The Great Northwestern company.
When Lionel Laurence was in New York
one of his employees sent him dispatch
saying: "Writing you tonight. :" The
sentence was made to read: Waiting
you tonight" Consequently Mr.. Laurence
made an unnecessary trip from New York
to Montreal, and sued the telegraph COM
pany for 5000 damages. The court in he
first instance awarded $50, the actual cost
of the trip from New York. The com
pany appealed from this decision.
The proof established the fact jhat
the error was due to the negligence
of the employees of the company, bUr the
appellant set up the plea that dispatches
were sent under contract which decl tred
that it would not be liable for damages
resulting from errors unless the dispatch
was repeated, and then only to the amount
of fifty times the price paid for the mes
sage. Such contract the court declared
to be contrary to public policy, and any
contract by which a party sought to fix
The punishment for his faults was illegal.
The judgment was confirmed, which
means that like the contrac. on the back
of railway pass exempting the company
from liability in case of accident, the coh-
tract on the reverse side of a telegraph
blank Is of no effect. The railing in the
case of the telegraph company, where the
service is actually paid for, is unquestion-
ably sound.
STOCKHOLDERS LIABILITY.
The Minnesota supreme court has just
rendered d decision Of momentous interest
not only t. corporations doing business in
that state )ut to individual creditors
thereof. Virtually the court holds that
stockholders in a corporation are liable
for corporate debts to an amount equal to
their subscription, and that in this respect
there is no distinction between unpaid
and paid-up capital; between stock sub
scriptions and any other assets of the cor
poration.
The court, however, makes distinc-
ton between bona fde creditors, becom-
ing such in good faith during the sol
vency of the corporation, and parties who
may purchase claims against an insolvent
incorporation, for the purposes Of spocu-
ation. Here the court holds that where
a creditov asks for relief against a stock
FOLDER he must show his own
equities entitlo him to such relief
While it Is true that he may enforce a
valid claim against the full amount of the
chartered capitalization Of the corporation
sued, at the same time payment can never
be enforced in favor of one VINO became a
creditor after the corporation had become
insolvent and its affairs placed in the
hands Of receiver. Thus it appears from
the decision just rendered that the stock
holders of a corporation capitalized for
100000, with but s25, 900 paid in, are
liable to the full amount of $1,000, 600
provided the claim is held by one becom-
ing creditor in good faith before in
solvency of the corporation, and who had
relied uEon representations of the corpora
ton that its capital was actually
100000
The decision will have d tendency to
impel better general knowledge of the
bona fde resources of corporations.