The Federal Reporter (Annotated), Volume 171: Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit Courts of Appeals and Circuit and District Courts of the United States. September-October, 1909. Page: 26
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26 171 FEDERAL REPORTER.
But it is said that the plaintiff is estopped from asserting its title
and from recovering possession of its cattle from the defendant until
it repays to the' defendant the $2,000 which the latter paid upon the
first draft, by reason of the facts that after the agreement of sale had
been made and before the delivery of the cattle the plaintiff informed
its bank that it had sold-its herd of cattle, asked the bank to inquire of
the defendant whether or not the vendee's draft upon it for $2,000
would be paid, the bapk inquired, the defendant answered that 4t would
pay thc draft if it was drawn for cattle for immediate shipment, and
the bank, although the plaintiff had never authorized it, or' any individ-
ual, to state that-the draft was drawn against any shipment of cattle
or to make any other statement about the sale, told the defendant that
the draft was for cattle bought for immediate shipment and that the
cattle had been shipped, although they had not been, and the plaintiff
had not stated that they had been, .Thereupo the defendant paid the
draft' in reliance upon the statement of, the bank that it was drawn
for cattle bought for' immediate shipment. My mind refuses to as-
sent to the conclusion that these facts raise such an. equitable estoppel
as deprived the plaintiff. of it legal title and right to the possession
of its cattle, or that it bound it to .repay the $2,000, or that it fasten-
ed a lien upon its cattle for that amount.
1. The statement of the plaintiff to the bank that it had sold its
herd of cattle and its request that the bank would ask the defendant if
Putnam's draft for the $2,000 would be paid gave no actual or ap-
parent authority to the bank to make on behalf of the plaintiff any
statement or representation, much less any false statement or repre-
sentation, which the plaintiff had not communicated to it in relation
to the sale of the cattle, and for that reason the plaintiff, it seems to
me, was not bound by any statements of the bank. If A. makes a sale
of property for $15,000 to B. on condition that B. shall pay for it in
full before it is delivered, and B. gives him a draft upon C. for $2,000,
and A. tells his bank that he has sold his property, asks it to inquire
of C. if the draft for $2,000 will be paid, does that authorize the bank
to deprive C. of the entire value of his draft by making statements
about A.'s sale of his property which A. never made and never direct-
ed the bank to make? It is common practice for payees of drafts on
distant drawees to' ask their banks to inquire of the drawees whether
or not the drafts will be paid, but no authority in the banks to make
statements regarding the property of the payees which will deprive
them of that property or compel them to repay the money due them
on such drafts can in my opinion be lawfully inferred from such re-
quests. 'A direction to or a request of the bank by the payee to make
the controlling statement, it seems to me, would be indispensable to
an estoppel of the payee by such a statement.
2. More than a statement or conduct which leads another to do what
he would not otherwise have done is indispensable to an equitable
estoppel which will destroy the lawful title of the owner to property,
although the maintenance of such title may subject another to loss,
or injury, or disappointment of expectations upon which he acted.
Either a willful intent to deceive, or such gross negligence of the
rights of others as is tantamount thereto, is essential to such an estop-
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The Federal Reporter (Annotated), Volume 171: Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit Courts of Appeals and Circuit and District Courts of the United States. September-October, 1909., legislative document, 1909; Saint Paul, Minnesota. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc38217/m1/38/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.