Lehigh Zinc and Iron Company v. Bamford

Citations

• 150 U.S. 665
• 14 S. Ct. 219
• 37 L. Ed. 1215
• 1893 U.S. LEXIS 2415

Syllabus

<p>The owners of a mine leased it to parties who agreed to pay certain royalties upon its products. The lease contained a further provision that “ in case the .royalty due and payable to the parties of the first part according to the above rates shall in any year fall below the sum of one thousand dollars, then the party of the second part shall pay to the parties of the first part such additional sum' of money as shall make the royalty for such year amount to the sum' of one thousand dollars, which sum shall be held and taken to be the, royalty for that year: Provided always, that if sufficient ores cannot be found to yield said minimum payment, and said party of the second part shall in consequence thereof fail to pay said minimum sum of one thousand dollars yearly, then said party of the second part shall, if required by said parties of the first part, relinquish this lease and the privileges, hereby granted, and the same shall cease thereupon.” Held, that the lessees engaged to pay, as rent, in each year, the royalties fixed in the lease; and if, in any year, the royalties fell below the sum of one thousand dollars,' they were to make up the deficit, so that the latter sum should, in any event, be paid annually as rent.</p> <p>■A person who makes representations of material facts, assuming or intending to convey the impression that he has actual knowledge of the existence of such facts, when he is conscious that he has no such knowledge, is as much responsible for the injurious consequences of such representations to one who believes and acts upon them, as if he had actual knowledge of their falsity.</p> <p>Deceit may be predicated of a vendor or lessor who makes material, untrue representations in respect to. his own business or .property, for the purpose of their being acted upon, and which are in fact, relied upon by the purchaser or lessee, the truth of which representations the vendor or lessor is bound, and must be presumed, to know.</p> <p>General asserti