E. G. Rall Grain Co. v. Missouri Pacific Railway Co.

Citations

• 94 Kan. 446
• 146 P. 1180
• 1915 Kan. LEXIS 106

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>Sale of Wheat — False Bill of Lading — Innocent Holder■ — •Conclusive Against Railroad Company — Liability of Those Responsible for the Fraud. In the purchase of a car of wheat by a grain dealer a bill of lading with a draft attached was forwarded to a bank and was paid and taken up by the dealer. The grain dealer then sold the car of wheat and procured the railway company to issue an exchange bill of lading showing a much larger quantity of wheat than was in the car or shown by the original bill of lading, and to the exchange bill of lading a draft was attached which covered the excess. The agent of the railway company had the original bill of lading before him when the exchange bill of lading was issued, and the grain dealer also knew of the excess and collected for it from the purchaser. When the false bill of lading with the draft attached was presented to the plaintiff to which the wheat was sold it paid the draft and took up the bill of lading. Later the car arrived, and although the plaintiff had then learned of the shortage of grain in the car it paid the freight on the car and accepted and used so much of the' wheat as was in the car and then sued the railway company which issued the false bill of lading, and the grain dealer which procured it to be issued, to recover for the shortage of wheat and also for the freight which plaintiff had been required to pay to obtain the wheat actually shipped. Held, that the plaintiff is entitled to recover from the railway company and also from the grain dealer for the loss resulting from the issuance of the false bill of lading which includes not only the shortage of wheat but also the freight charge paid by plaintiff, and it is further held, that the railway company is entitled to a judgment against the grain dealer for the amount which it is required to pay on the judgment rendered against it.</p>