Lauer Brewing Co. v. Schmidt

Citations

• 24 Pa. Super. 396
• 1904 Pa. Super. LEXIS 194

Syllabus

<p>Principal and agent — Scope of authority of agent — Implied powers.</p> <p>As to third parties, the liability of the principal for the acts of his agent is measured not merely by the authority actually given, but by the authority essential to the business of the' agency, and the authority held out by the principal as possessed by the agent, or the apparent authority which he permits the agent to assume. No express terms are required to define the agent’s powers. The relation of principal and agent implies a grant of the powers necessarily incident to the purposes of the agency, or which, by established usage, may properly be employed in carrying out those purposes.</p> <p>A person dealing with an agent is bound to ascertain the- extent .of the agent’s authority, and this is particularly the case in dealing with him for the first time ; in subsequent dealing he may assume that the original authority continues, unless informed to the-contrary. The mere designation of general agent is not sufficiently specific. A general agency in a particular branch of the principal’s business implies no power in connection with any other branch.</p> <p>It is always competent for the principal to show the scope and extent of the agent’s authority ; and it is always competent for a person dealing with an agent to show that the acts of the agent, in excess of his express authority, are nevertheless within the scope of the authority which the principal has permitted him to assume, or which, by a course of dealing or otherwise, he has been held out by the principal, either to the public in general or to the person dealing with him, as possessing.</p> <p>The declarations of an agent are not competent evidence of the extent of his powers until after some evidence tending to show that he has the authority which he assumes to exercise. Evidence of an authority substantially different is insufficient.</p> <p>The general collector of a brewing company, whose power is limited to settling the