Holman v. Frost & Co.

Citations

• 26 S.C. 290
• 2 S.E. 16
• 1887 S.C. LEXIS 36

Syllabus

<p>1. Section 1196 of the General Statutes, which fixes the rate for the storage and weighing of cotton, and imposes a forfeiture for a greater charge, is a penal statute and must be construed strictly.</p> <p>2. This statute prohibits the making, not the paying, of a greater charge than that therein prescribed. Therefore, the owner of a lot of cotton cannot recover any forfeiture from his factor for paying excessive weighing and storage charges.</p> <p>3. A factor to whom cotton has been consigned for sale on commission is the agent of the consignor, and all acts done by the factor within the scope of his agency are the acts of his principal; and if such factor pays a wharf owner illegal charges for weighing and storage, the remedy of the principal, under this statute, is against the wharf owner and not against the factor.</p> <p>4. In action by a principal against his agent to recover a penalty under a statute, the liability of the agent to account, or for malfeasance, cannot be raised.</p> <p>5. Defendant, the agent, was not bound to prove a negative — that he had not made, but only paid, the charges complained of — still, he had the right to so prove on the cross-examination of one of plaintiff’s witnesses.</p>