Rockefeller v. Merritt

Citations

• 76 F. 909
• 35 L.R.A. 633
• 1896 U.S. App. LEXIS 2188

Syllabus

<p>1. Construction of Contracts.</p> <p>In the construction of a contract the court may put itself in the place of the contracting parties, and then, in view of all the facts and circumstances surrounding them at the time the instrument was executed, consider what they intended by the terms of their contract. When the intention is manifest after such consideration, it will control in the interpretation of the instrument, regardless of careless recitals or inapt expressions.</p> <p>2. Same — Exchange of Stocks and Securities.</p> <p>Parties to an agreement for the exchange of mining and railway stocks and securities of various corporations for the bonds and stock of a new corporation agreed in the contract upon the values at which the exchanges should be made. Held, this agreement did not constitute a contract that the stocks, bonds, and securities were of the actual market values specified in the contract.</p> <p>3. Measure of Damaoes — Breach of Contract.</p> <p>The true measure of the damages suffered by one who !s fraudulently Induced to make a contract of sale, purchase, or exchange of property is the difference between the actual value of that which he parts with and the actual value of that which he receives under the contract.</p> <p>(Syllabus by the Court.)</p>