West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1906-07-19
POPULAR TALKS ON LAW
William c. SpFasue, President SpraSue
Correspondence School Of Law.
Paper Number Six CONTRACTS b Y
Mail, Telegraph, Telephone
Copyrighted 100

NN"Si m"hhSi VIII not CONS II kute a
contract.
Example: a in Detroit wires B
in New York, that he will sell him
FIVE hundred dozen eggs at eight
cents dozen, and adds, "Wire &C
ceptance. On receipt OF the offer
b writes and mails letter of accept
ance. On the following morning,
before the letter of acceptance is
received by A, A sells the eggs to-
another customer. y is with recourse.
An acceptance wired, however, in
case the offerer had said, email ac-
ceptance" would probably be suf
| fcient.
a persoo making an offer may re.
quire that the acceptance be com.
municated to him, and in such case
an acceptance not communicated
although actually Set, will not fulfill
the requirement Of contract.
Ia Massachusetts the law is con
trary TO the generally accepted law
as laid down in this article. There,
it appears, the receipt of the &C
ceptance is always deemed necess-
airy to the completion of the con-
tract.
a person may not make an offer
and stipulate "It | do not hear
from you | will conside. this o fer
as accepted" and bind the person
to whom he has made the offer by
that PERSONS mere silence. Mere
silence in the law is not consent,
generally speaking, though there
are instances where this common
saw, "silence gives cons ent," is
true in the law.
An answer given the price of an
article in response to an inquiry as
to its price Is not necessarily a pro-
posal or an offer to sell 1t to the
particular person inquiring the price.
Example: b in New York writes
a in Detroit asking the price of five
hundred dozen eggs. A wires,
"efght cents dozen" b responds,
al will take them" A contrac
is not thereby completed. AS
state ment of price does not necess-
arly mean that he will sell them to
the person inquiring.
Most, if not all the rules relating
to contracts by letters are equally
applicable to contracts made by
use of telegraph.
Where one party makes an offer
BY telegram which is accepted by
the other party by telegram, the
contract is as valid as though il
had been made by letters through
the mails, or even directly by the
parties in person The contract is
completed by telegraph when the
acceptance is written and handed
to the telegraph company, or its
agent, for transmission.
II the offer is communicated by
mail and the acceptance is com.
municated by telegraph, when is
the contract complete? The
doctrine of agency, to which we
have referred, and by which the
otterer makes the post his agent, and
by reason of which the delivery of
the acceptance to the post is the
affirming of contract, would not
seem to apply here, as the making
of the offer by mail cannot make
the telegraph company an agent of
the offerer. If the offer is made by
post and the acceptance is made by
telegraph, the telegraph company is
really the agent of the acceptor, and
therefore the notice of acceptance
in the case of telegraphic message
In reply 20 letter must be delivered
to the offered or to his duly autho.
rized agent, before the contract Is
complete binding.
When an officer is made by tele
graph it is best to accept it by tele-
graph. as the handing Of the mes
sage OF acceptance to the telegraph
company for transmission completes
the contract, the telegraph beng the
implied agent of the officer. By
mailing letter accepting an offer
made by telegraph one IS liable to
be defeated in his acceptance by re-
ceiying a retraction of the offer be-
fore the acceptance reaches the Of
ferer. The post-ofdce in that case
cannot be considered as the agent
Of the oferer, he haven chosen the
telegraph as the means oil commun.
icatiOn
Persons using the telegraph as a
mode Of communication are not re
sponsble for nor bound by the or.
rors Of the operators in transmitting
messages.
Example b in New York tele.
graPhed a 10 Detroit asking on
what terms he would sell him ore