Consolidated Dressed Beef Co. v. Philadelphia

Citations

• 245 Pa. 268
• 91 A. 367
• 1914 Pa. LEXIS 872

Syllabus

<p>Contracts — Municipalities—Contract to supply beef — Defalcation — Certificate.</p> <p>1. A municipality cannot be estopped by the illegal, neglectful, or dishonest acts of its former officials, and the fact that a contractor has for many years been contracting with a municipality to supply it with beef of a certain quality and has been allowed by such officials to supply beef of inferior grade does not relieve the contractor from the duty of fulfilling its contract in accordance with its plain terms.</p> <p>2. In an action by a beef supply company against a municipality to recover the contract price of beef, a verdict for the defendant with a certificate is properly directed where it appears that the plaintiff failed and declined to perform the contract in question in accordance with its terms and sought to excuse its default on the sole ground that it and others who had been contracting with the city for meat for many years had been allowed by former officials to overlook the provisions of similar specifications, and it further appearing that the city suffered a loss by such failure of the plaintiff to perform to the amount of the certificate.</p>