Chamber of Commerce v. Sollitt

Citations

• 43 Ill. 519

Syllabus

<p>1. Contract—failing to comply with. If one party to an executory contract induces the other to believe that he has withdrawn from the contract, the other contracting party need not wait until the day of performance before making new arrangements; nor does he lose his remedy against the delinquent party by providing at once against losses likely to arise from such delinquency.</p> <p>3. Hence, where a carpenter had contracted to construct the wood work of a building at a stipulated price, and at a fixed time, and before the time arrived for him to begin, he wrote to the other party announcing his entire inability to perform, except on certain new conditions. They were not bound to wait until the arrival of the very day for his commencement of the work, before providing for the contingency of his failure.</p> <p>3. And where, in such a case, the other party at once notified the carpenter that they should not accede to his new conditions, but should contract with other parties, and charge the losses to him, and he remained silent, making no objection, and showing no willingness to proceed with the work himself, they were fully justified in treating the contract as abandoned by him.</p>