Court Opinion

ID: 9812841
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 22:49:55.968647+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:26:51.754200
License: Public Domain

Hoke, J.,
dissenting: On tbe facts established by the special verdict in tbis case, I am of tbe opinion that tbe title to tbis beer was in tbe defendant, tbe Colonial Club, and that tbe transaction by which a portion of it was from time to time *196passed over to the members constituted a sale, and in violation of our statute-law on the subject. If the matter could be properly regarded as a separated series of transactions, considering each one just at the point when it would favor defendant’s position, some support might be found for the ruling by which defendant is to be exonerated; but, to my mind, the arrangement should be considered and dealt with as a whole, and in that view, as I interpret the verdict, it appears that the member desiring beer gave a statement of the kind and quantity to defendant’s treasurer and manager, and paid him the amount of money required. This money was covered into the club treasury and became, in form at least, a- part of its general funds. The treasurer then gave an order for beer to a nonresident dealer, sending the club’s check for the price, and the beer was shipped to the defendant, and on arrival it was taken charge of by the treasurer and became a part of a general and larger quantity of beer in the care and control of the club, to be kept and cooled and handed over on demand of the members by the small. The order went from the club to the dealer, the money was taken from the general treasury and paid for by the cheek of the club’s manager. The beer was shipped from the dealer to the club and became an unidentified part of a larger quantity of beer or other liquor procured on the same general plan. Such an arrangement clearly put the title to the beer in the club, and this result is not prevented by the fact that the name of the individual member was placed on the crate when it was shipped. It was sent to the club to be taken charge of by its treasurer and to become, as stated, a part of a general larger quantity of beer kept on hand for its members, and was so intended by all of the parties from the beginning. The title, therefore, passed from the dealer to the club, and when it was passed over to the individual member by the small on receipt of a coupon prepared for the purpose and representing value, this was a sale violative of law, and should be so considered and dealt with.
■The Grain Elevator cases referred to and, to some extent, relied upon in the opinion of the Court bear very little resemblance *197to the facts presented here, and even they are regarded by authors of approved excellence, Mr. Benjamin and others, as rather an exception to the general law applicable to sales.
The contrivance or “system” resorted to in this instance can hardly be classed as ingenious — it is too bald. It does not require a costly dwelling-place or an attractive environment to constitute a club, and if this transaction can be upheld as lawful, there is good reason to apprehend that the legislation we have enacted in the effort to minimize the evils of the liquor traffic will have been in vain.