Wills v. Manufacturers N. Gas Co.

Citations

• 130 Pa. 222
• 18 A. 721
• 1889 Pa. LEXIS 1177

Syllabus

<p>[To be reported.]</p> <p>1. An agreement in an oil lease, that, upon failure to drill a well withm a specified time, the lessee shall pay to the lessor “ the sum of $1,000 annually in advance thereafter, payable quarterly, until the well is completed,” means that payment is to be made quarterly in advance, until such completion, at the rate of $1,000 per year; such quarterly payments accrue separately and become an existing indebtedness only at the beginning of the respective quarters for which they are to be paid.</p> <p>2. A provision in such a lease that a failure by the lessee to perform any of his covenants shall work an absolute forfeiture, and the lease shall thereupon become null and void, being intended for the protection of the lessor, he has the option either to declare the forfeiture or to affirm the continuance of the contract, and if he does not choose to avail himself of the forfeiture, it cannot be set up by the lessee as a defence to an action upon the lease: Galey v. Kellerman, 123 Pa. 491, followed.</p> <p>3. Persons may contract in such a form as to authorize a party to take advantage of a forfeiture incurred by his own default; but a proviso to the effect that a forfeiture shall not prevent the collection of any sums due to the lessor immediately befoi-e it takes place, is not sufficient to manifest an intention that the lessee may defend against a suit for rentals on the ground that, before they accrued, the lease was forfeited by default in the payment of prior instalments.</p>