Peckham v. Lane

Citations

• 81 Kan. 489
• 106 P. 464
• 1910 Kan. LEXIS 379

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Contracts — Specific Performance — Statute of Frauds. The statute of frauds does not prevent the maintenance of an action for the specific performance of a contract by which the defendant, being the owner of a tract of land, agreed to convey a portion of it of a certain size, to be selected by himself, to the plaintiff.</p> <p>2. -Same. Where in such an action the plaintiff asks for the conveyance of a specific tract, upon the ground that the defendant had selected it, although such selection may be ineffective because not made in writing, the petition is not on that account demurrable, for it may state facts sufficient to entitle the plaintiff to a conveyance of some portion of the larger tract, although he may not be entitled to the very part claimed.</p> <p>3. -Legality — Breach of Trust — Officer of a Corporation. A contract made by a managing officer of a railroad company by which he is to receive a personal benefit in consideration of the location of a station at'a particular place is void as against public policy.</p> <p>4. -Presumption — Trustee Acting for Himself or Beneficiary. In passing upon a demurrer to a' petition in an action by a managing officer of a railroad company for the specific performance of a contract by which the owner of a tract of land agreed to convey a part of it to him in consideration of the location of a station thereon, the court will not presume, in the absence of averments to that effect, that he made the contract and brought the suit in behalf of the company or that he had contracted with it for the right to hold the land himself.</p>