Acme Manufacturing Co. v. Reed

Citations

• 181 Pa. 382
• 37 A. 552
• 1897 Pa. LEXIS 555

Syllabus

<p>Practice, C. P. — Plaintiff's statement — Copy of contract or other writing in settlement — Affidavit of defense.</p> <p>To entitle plaintiff -to judgment for want of an affidavit or a sufficient affidavit of defense all the essential ingredients of a complete cause of action must affirmatively appear in the statement and the exhibits which are made part thereof; the statement of his demand must be self sustaining ; that is to say, it must set forth, in clear and concise terms, a good cause of action, by which is meant, such averments of fact as, if not controverted, would entitle him to a verdict for the amount of his claim.</p> <p>The requirement of the procedure act of 1887 that the statement ‘ ‘ shall be accompanied by copies of all notes, contracts, book-entries, . . . upon which plaintiff’s claim is founded,” is not merely directory, but is absolutely imperative; and if the copy of the written or printed contract on which the action is founded, or any part thereof, does not accompany the statement, and its absence is not satisfactorily accounted for, the omission cannot be supplied by averments of the contents, or the substance of the missing paper.</p> <p>In an action founded upon a written contract plaintiff annexed to his statement of claim a blank form of order containing blank spaces evidently intended to be used in specifying the kind, quantity and value of the goods to be ordered. These blanks were unfilled. The only written words which the order contained were the signature of the person giving the order and the words “ quantity and specifications already sent in.” Held, that the statement was incomplete and insufficient, and the defendant was not bound to file an affidavit of defense to it.</p>