New Orleans v. Texas & Pacific Railway Co.

Citations

• 171 U.S. 312
• 18 S. Ct. 875
• 43 L. Ed. 178
• 1898 U.S. LEXIS 1606

Syllabus

<p>Where an undertaking on one side is in terms a condition to, the stipulation on the other, that is, where the contract provides, for the performance of some act, or' the happening of some event, and the obligations of the ■ contract are made to depend on such performance or happening, the conditions are conditions precedent; but when the act of one is not necessary to the act of the other, and the loss and inconvenience can be compensated in damages, performance .of the one is not a condition precedent to the performance of the other.</p> <p>It being shown by the record that the railway terminus from which the extension along Claiborne street was -to be made was never constructed; and that the crossing from Westwego to the land in front of the park was also never established, but, on the contrary, that the company extended its road down the river to Gouldsboro, where it made its main crossing, the right to the extension and the right to the use of the batture no longer obtains.</p> <p>The suspensive condition, by which the rights of the company under the original ordinance were held in abeyance, operates also upon the lease, and the mere payment' of rent did not change the nature of the suspensive condition, or work an estoppel.</p> <p>The ends of justice will be best subserved by not passing upon the third assignment of error, but the rights of both parties in relation thereto may be left open for further consideration in the court below.</p>