Trustees of Schools v. C. H. McCormick & Bros.

Citations

• 41 Ill. 323

Syllabus

<p>1. Principal and agent— payment of the agent's debts vjith property of the principal. A creditor who has knowledge that his debtor has property in his possession merely as the agent of another, for sale, has no right to receive such property from the agent in payment of his debt.</p> <p>2. Same — ratification of the act of the agent. But if the principal ratifies such a transaction, with a full knowledge of the facts, by receiving from his agent the notes of other parties in payment for the property, he thereby waives his right to hold the creditor of the agent liable for the value of the property thus received in payment of the agent’s indebtedness.</p> <p>3. Instructions — should, not be misleading. Although instructions may contain nothing objectionable as abstract legal propositions, yet if they tend, standing by themselves, to mislead the jury by directing their attention away from the true issue in the case, they should be so modified as to present the real question involved.</p>