McMillan v. James

Citations

• 105 Ill. 194
• 1882 Ill. LEXIS 250

Syllabus

<p>1. Arbitration and award—certainty in the award. The matters involved in a suit in chancery instituted for the dissolution of a partnership existing between the parties, for an accounting, and for the appointment of a receiver, etc., were referred to arbitrators. The business of the firm was the manufacture and sale of lumber. One clause of the award provided “that the two-thirds interest in the land occupied by E. 3. (one of .the partners,) for his saw-mill, be charged to him at $10 per acre,—descriptions and acres being as follows:” giving a description of the land, the number of acres, and. the amount as being $307.33. On objection that it was uncertain from the award whether the partner E. 3. was to have title to the land described in this clause at the sum of $307.33, or whether that sum was to be charged to him for the use of the land, it was considered, reading that clause by itself would raise a doubt in that respect. But subsequent clauses in the award found that the partnership did not own any of the improvements on the land so described, and directed that the partners convey all the partnership lands, including the tract occupied by the mill, to the receiver, to be sold for partnership purposes. This cleared up the uncertainty complained of, and showed that the partner E. 3. was not to have title to the land so occupied by him, but was to be charged $307.33 for its use and occupation.</p> <p>2. Same—award to be liberally construed. An award being the judgment of a tribunal of the parties’ own choosing, should be liberally construed to sustain it.</p> <p>3. Same—what is embraced in the submission—as to the scope of a bill in chancery—allowance of interest on money advanced by a partner. A bill in chancery for the dissolution of a partnership, the appointment of a receiver, and the settlement of the partnership accounts, in a statement of the condition of the firm as to solvency, under the head of its indebtedness, gave the following: “For capital invest