Stewart v. Parnell

Citations

• 147 Pa. 523
• 23 A. 838
• 1892 Pa. LEXIS 884

Syllabus

<p>Contract — Gambling transaction — Stocks.</p> <p>A purchase and sale of stocks, although upon speculation, is not a gambling transaction, if the stocks are delivered.</p> <p>Equity — Money lost in stock gambling.</p> <p>A court of equity will not lend its aid to a party sui juris to recover the money he has invested and lost in stock gambling: Ruchizky v. De Haven, 97 Pa. 202, distinguished.</p> <p>Principal and agent — Estoppel—Stock speculation.</p> <p>On a bill in equity for an account, it appeared that the plaintiff’s intestate deposited a sum of money with the defendant, her agent, to be devoted at the agent’s discretion to speculation in stocks for the benefit and at the risk of the owner. The agent applied the money in the way intended, in the utmost good faith, but the speculations were unsuccessful and the money was lost. The agent did not communicate to her principal the facts of the loss, but sought to retrieve it by using her own money in other speculations for that purpose. Remittances to a large amount were sent to the principal, who was allowed to regard them as proceeds of investments of the agent with the money intrusted to her. Held, that the conduct of the agent did not estop her from showing the truth as to the condition of her account with the principal. The position of the principal was in no ways prejudiced by the agent’s conduct.</p>