Irvin v. Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway Co.

Citations

• 92 Ill. 103

Syllabus

<p>1. Partnership—when it does not exist. Where there is no joint expense, no joint property, no joint fund, no joint losses, no joint profits and no arrangement to share loss and profit, there is no partnership. A communion of profit is of the very essence of the contract of partnership, for without this communion of profit, a partnership can not, in contemplation of law, exist.</p> <p>2. Where there was an arrangement between different railroads connecting with each other whereby each road agreed to carry the cars of the others having the name “ Green Line ” painted thereon, over its own road, without, breakage of bulk, at such rates as might be agreed on, each company fixing its own rates of freight passing over its own road and collecting the same as the freight passed over its .road, and having no interest'in freights not reaching its road, each road desirous of making a through rate over other roads via these Green Line cars, would ascertain the rates the intermediate road or roads charged, and, adding the same to its own rates, fix its own schedule of through rates, which it termed “ Green Line Rates,” and there was no joint expense or loss or profit, except that where a loss could not be located on any particular road a pro rata share of the loss was borne by all that carried the freight, it was held, there was no partnership as between the different roads.</p> <p>3. Estoppel. And where there was an arrangement like the foregoing, the fact that the words “ Green Line ” were painted on the roof of a wharf-boat, and were also printed at the top of the bills of lading, the name of the railroad company being also printed on the bills of lading, would not estop such railroad company from denying there was such a partnership.</p>