The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-08-03
DREOGER MEN WILL
GET THEIR BONUS

A decision handed down yesterday
by the Supreme Court by which Clark
& Henery, contractors, who dredged the
Pearl Harbor channel, win out against
H. Hackfeld & Co., the decision of Cir
cult Judge De Bolt giving Clark &
Henery one-third of SIG, 600, as bonus
agreed to by Hackfeld & Co, and Cas-
tie & Cooke, being sustained. Castle
& Cooke did not object to the payment
of the bonus, but Hackfeld & Co.
brought the matter into the Supreme
Court. The HackfeId side contended
that the contract had not been salts
factorily carried out and therefore they
were not under obligations to carry out
the agreement. Justice Hatch wrote
| the decision, Chief Justice Frear
and Judge Gear concurring. The opin-
| ion, in part, is as follows:
"A written instrument addressed to
firm of contractors, and signed by the
respective agents of two corporations.
| which recites that the agents knowing
| that the directors of the corporation
have this day pledged the above COM
panies to pay you $4,000 upon the open
ing of Pearl Harbor, by the completion
by you, and the acceptance by tile
United States Government of channel
| into said Pearl Harbor of 200 feet wide
at the bottom and 80 feet deep, do here
NV y7fa
solutions passed, copies of which are in
your possession, is an absolute and in
| dependent undertaking on the part of
| those signing it to make the payment
upon the contingency stated, and not a
| collateral contract of guaranty depend
ent for its validity upon the existence
| of another contract between the cor
porations and the contractors.
THE action of the contractors in such
case in entering into a contract for
| the dredging of Pearl Harbor and their
completion of the work to the salts
faction of the United States govern
ment, which accepted the work, was
sufficient acceptance of the guaranty
contained in the written instrument
| signed by the defendants, and is suffi-
cient to support finding of an accept
ance of the offer.
Where the contractors, after the re-
ceipt of such writing from the defend
ant entered into a contract with the
United States Government to dredge
Pearl Harbor, relying upon the under
taking of the defendants to pay them
the sum of $4,000 in addition to the
amount of their bid, the entering into
such contract with the United States
Government constituted valuable con-
sideration for the promise of the de-
PENDANTS to pay them the $4,000 addi-
tional, regardless of whether or not the
defendants would be benefited thereby.
1.-THE fact that the resolution of the
directors of one of the companies pledg-
ed the company to pay part of the $685.
600, provided that the agents of the
company are satisfied that the opening
of the channel to Pearl Harbor will
open the same to commerce. and that
the contract of the defendants was to
guarantee said payment as per resolu-
lions passed. did not render it neces-
sary, in order to make such agents La
BILE on their contract, for the contrac-
tors to prove that the agents We're sat
isfied after the work was completed,
that it opened the harbor to commerce
as the action of the agents in signing,
the contract amounted to an unequivo-
cal expression of satisfaction on their
part that the opening of the channel
according to the specifications, would
open the same to commerce.
Henry Smith, clerk of the Supreme
Court, yesterday filed remittftur in the
above case, remanding the matter to
the Circuit Court with instructions that
the exceptions presented by the bill of
exceptions of the defendant, Hackfeld
& Co., Ltd, are overruled.