Truth. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1901-1908, 1906-08-18
POPULAR TALKS ON LAW.

reSpOndence School of Law
Contracts.
AS we have learned, in order to con-
stitute a contract there must be an
offer and an acceptance. The offer
need not be to any partic-
ular person, but may be made
to the public in general. An
instance of this is an advertisement
of reward offered. An acceptance in
such case is necessary in order to
make a contract, and the acceptance
must be with a knowledge of the offer.
In such case the contract is executed
by the act itself. The person accept
ing need not notify the person making
the offer. The offer is accepted by his
going ahead and doing the work or
performing the act
An offer made to the public may be
withdrawn before it is acted upon, and
IL the offer was made by advertise
ment, withdrawal may be so made,
and the mere fact that the person per-
forming the act did not see the ad-
vertisement withdrawing the offer
does not entitle him to the reward. AS
rule, an offer may be withdrawn by
the same means used in making it,
VI course an offer may be presumed in
law to have been withdrawn by lapse
OF time. No withdrawal having been
actually made, the offer will be pre-
sumed to stand for a reasonable time.
We now ented upon the discussion
of who are competent to make con-
tracts. Not every one may make a
contract. The law books designate
six classes of persons who, in gener-
al, are incompetent to make binding
contracts, either wholly or in part
l. Aliens. 2. Corporations. 8. In
fants. A. Insane persons. 5. Drum
kards. 6. Married women.
In the first place, 1t may be under.
stood that a man cannot make a con-
tract with himself. In other words,
there must be at least two parties to
a contract. One attempts to make a
contract with himself when as an
agent for some one else he attempts
to buy goods of his principal; or when,
as executor, he attempts to buy the
goods of the testator; or when as auc
tioneer he tries to buy the goods he is
offering for sale. The mere fact that
one cannot sue himself would make
the rule necessary. The same applies
where one attempts to make a con-
tract with himself and another. One
cannot sue two persons one of whom
is jointly interested with himself as
defendant. Neither can one make a
contract with fictitious person; the
person must be living.
There is no law preventing the MAX
ing of contracts between persons of
different nationalities, or owing allie.
glance to different flags. Such con-
tracts, however, made between aliens,
that is, citizens of countries at war,
are declared in the law to be null and
void. In the case of the Spanish-Amer-
lean war a contract entered into be-
tween a Spaniard and an American
during the existence of the war was a
nullity. Even after peace was de-
clared, the contract could be of no eff
feet AS to contracts made before
the war, these are merely suspended
during the continuance of the war.
They revive when peace returns. In
the same way a suit on a contract
made before the war began cannot be
carried on in the courts while the war
continues If brought before the war
began, suit may be brought or the
case may be revived after the war
has closed.
A corporation Is child of the state.
1t has no inherent right to make con-
tracts above and beyond such as are
expressly given to it by the state.
Any contract that it attempts to make
that is not within its power as de-
II. To-, hi 81,