Northern Grain & Warehouse Co. v. Holst

Citations

• 95 Wash. 312
• 163 P. 775
• 1917 Wash. LEXIS 804

Syllabus

<p>Limitation of Actions — Accrual—Particular Actions — Public Officers — Breach of Duty. Upon demand made for grain represented by a warehouse receipt, and refusal of the demand by a warehouseman who was permitted to do business without bond by the public service commission, the cause of action against the officials for failing to perform duties imposed by law becomes complete and the statute of limitations begins to run from that date.</p> <p>Same — Particular Actions — Public Officers — Breach of Duty— Statutes. An action for damages based indirectly upon the failure of public officers to perform duties imposed by law, falls within Rem. Code, § 165, fixing a two-year limitation for the commencement of actions for relief “not hereinbefore provided for;” and not within Id., § 159, subd. 2, fixing a three-year limitation for actions for taking or injuring, or for the return of, personal property “or any other injury to the person or rights of another not hereinbefore enumerated,” which relates only to certain direct invasions or personal property or rights therein enumerated and cannot be so construed as to nullify § 165.</p> <p>Same — Particular Actions — Public Officers — Contract or Tort. Such an action does not fall within the three-year limitation of Rem. Code, § 159, subd. 3, relating to actions upon contract express or implied which are not in writing and which do not arise out of any written instrument, as the action arises, if at all, in tort and not on contract, and the word “liability” relates to contractual liability, especially in view of the fifth subdivision and of § 161 relating to liabilities for certain official acts or omissions.</p> <p>Same — Particular Actions — Breach of Duty — Officers — Nature of Liability. The public service commission’s failure to perform its duty of exacting a bond from a warehouseman, who refused to deliver wheat upon demand, is not the direct cause of the loss, which is directly caused by the refusal to deliver, hence ac