Ferguson-Hendrix Co. v. Fidelity & Deposit Co. of Maryland

Citations

• 79 Wash. 528
• 140 P. 700
• 1914 Wash. LEXIS 1237

Syllabus

<p>Constitutional Law — Police Power — Factors — Regulation— Equal Protection op tee Laws. It is a valid exercise of the police power of the state to require of commission merchants engaged in selling farm, dairy, orchard, or garden produce, to obtain a license and give a bond to the state “executed by a surety company,” authorized to do business in this state, in the sum of $3,000, for the benefit of persons causing produce to be sold on commission; and it is not unconstitutional as a denial of equal protection of the laws, in that it required a surety bond in place of a money deposit or personal security.</p> <p>Contracts' — Validity — Violation op Statutory Regulations— Collateral Contracts — Factors—Indemnity—Depenses. It is no defense to an action on a bond given by a compensated surety, guaranteeing the fidelity of an employee of a commission merchant, that the merchant was doing business without a license or bond, in violation of Rem. & Bal. Code, § 7024 et seq., making it “unlawful” and a misdemeanor so to do; since the act does not invalidate the contracts made by such a commission merchant, and the failure to comply with the statute was collateral to the bond.</p>