West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1906-06-14
POPULAR TALKS ON LAW
William c. Sprasue, President Sprasus
Correspondence School Of Law.
Paper Number four-Contraeis by
Mail. Telegraph, Telephone.
copyrighted 1900


and an acceptance.
An offer or proposal for contrac
may be made IN person, by agent,
by telegraph, or by letter, and an
assent to 1t or an acceptance of IT
may be given in the same manner.
Ii the proposition is made by
letter, and is sent by mail the person
making the offer may retract by
subsequent letter which reaches the
offeree at any time before an answer
OF acceptance has been written and
put in the mail.
Example: A in Detroit mails
letter on Friday to b in New York
offering to sell him FIVE hundred
dozen eggs at eight. cents dozen.
This letter reaches B Saturday noon.
Saturday morning A writes a letter
to b Withdrawing his offer, which
letter reaches &. Monday morning,
while he is in She act of writing
a letter accepting the offer. 1t is
too late for him to mail the letter
and thereby accept it.
As soon as an acceptance is put
into the mail the contract is closed
as to both parties.
Example: On Friday, A in De-
troit writes letter TO b in New
York, offering him five hundrid
dozen eggs at eight cents dozen.
The letter reaches b Saturday noon.
Saturday afternoon at 3 O'Clock b
writes letter accepting the offer
and deposits it in the mail box
provided by the post office authorit-
les, at the street corner. On the d
O'Clock delivery B receives letter
from A Withdrawing his offer. AS
withdrawal is too late; the contract
was closed at 3 o'clock.
An acceptance by letter takes
effect from the time when it is mailed
and not from the time of its receipt
by the party making the offer.
A retraction, however, takes
effect when the letter of retraction
is received and not at the time of
mailing it.
The law as to the making of con-
tracts by letter, telegraph, etc, grew
out of the practice in early days of
transmitting communications by
private agencies. In an early case it
was decided that a sale was com
plete when the letter Of acceptance
was mailed in response TO a mailed
e,ter containing the Offer, the court
merely deciding that by sending the
offer through the mail the offerer
made the mail his agent for the
receipt of his acceptance.
The theory is therefore that where
man making an offer uses the
United States mails for the purpose
of transmitting his offer he makes
the postoff.ce department his agent,
and an acceptance delivered to an
agent is the same as if delivered to
the principal. 1t is on this theory
that contract is complete when
the acceptance is delivered to the
postofficc for transmission; while a
retraction is not complete until it is
delivered to the person to whom it
is addressed, the mail not being the
agent of the acceptor but the agent
of the Offerer, that being the means
he has chosen by which to communi-
cate his offer.
The fact that the post has become
a public agency and not a private
agency, as formerly, does not pro-
hibit the application of the theory;
one may make a public agency his
own agent as he can make a private
individual his agent.
So one may be bound when he
really does not know that he IS
bound, as one does not usually
know the moment when an accept
ance is put into the mails.
If a proposition and its retraction
reach the person to whom they are
sent at the same instant OF time the
question arises as To- the result Of
an acceptance. II has been held
that IL the offer was opened aud an
acceptance posted before the letter
of retraction is opened and read,
the contract is binding II the
letter containing the offer is opened
and read and afterwards the letter
of retraction IS read, and then a
letter accepting is posted, it is not
a contract. The person must have
had no actual notice Of the re,rac-
ton at the time when he mails his
acceptance in order that the con
tract may be complete.
II A should send by mail an offer
OF goods at certain price, and ten
hours later TO ensure a sale, send a
second offer Of the same goods for
less money, and - mails an accept