MR. JUSTICE MILLER delivered the opinion of the court.
The appellant here, complainant below, was a corporation organized under the laws of West Virginia, engaged in the business of raising and selling petroleum. It became very much embarrassed in the early part of 1867, and borrowed from the defendant the sum of $2,000, for which a note was given, secured by a deed of trust, conveying all the property, rights, and franchises of the corporation to William Thomas, to secure the payment of said note, with the usual power of sale in default of payment. The property was sold under the deed
The first question which arises in this state of the facts is, whether defendant's purchase was absolutely void.
That a director of a joint-stock corporation occupies one of those fiduciary relations where his dealings with the subject-matter of his trust or agency, and with the beneficiary or party whose interest is confided to his care, is viewed with jealousy by the courts, and may be set aside on slight grounds, is a doctrine founded on the soundest morality, and which has received
The present case is not one of that class. While it is true that the defendant, as a director of the corporation, was bound by all those rules of conscientious fairness which courts of equity have imposed as the guides for dealing in such cases, it cannot be maintained that any rule forbids one director among several from loaning money to the corporation when the money is needed, and the transaction is open, and otherwise free from blame. No adjudged case has gone so far as this. Such a doctrine, while it would afford little protection to the corporation against actual fraud or oppression, would deprive it of the aid of those most interested in giving aid judiciously, and best qualified to judge of the necessity of that aid, and of the extent to which it may safely be given.
There are in such a transaction three distinct parties whose interest is affected by it; namely, the lender, the corporation, and the stockholders of the corporation.
The directors are the officers or agents of the corporation, and represent the interests of that abstract legal entity, and of those who own the shares of its stock. One of the objects of creating a corporation by law is to enable it to make contracts; and these contracts may be made with its stockholders as well as with others. In some classes of corporations, as in mutual insurance companies, the main object of the act of incorporation is to enable the company to make contracts with its stockholders, or with persons who become stockholders by the very act of making the contract of insurance. It is very true, that as
If it be conceded that the contract by which the defendant became the creditor of the company was valid, we see no principle on which the subsequent purchase under the deed of trust is not equally so. The defendant was not here both seller and buyer. A trustee was interposed who made the sale, and who had the usual powers necessary to see that the sale was fairly conducted, and who in this respect was the trustee of the corporation, and must be supposed to have been selected by it for the exercise of this power. Defendant was at liberty to bid, subject to those rules of fairness which we have already conceded to belong to his peculiar position; for, if he could not bid, he would have been deprived of the only means which his
The next question to be decided is, whether, under the circumstances of this case, the complainant had a right to avoid this sale at the time this suit was brought.
The bill alleges, that, both prior to the sale and since, the defendant made various declarations to other stockholders to the effect that he only designed to purchase the property for the benefit of all or a part of the stockholders; and there is some testimony to show, that, after the sale, he did propose, that, if his debt was paid by the company or the shareholders, he would relinquish his purchase.
But we need not decide whether any of these declarations raised a legal obligation to do so or not; nor whether, without such declarations, the sale and deed were voidable at the election of the complainant, — a proposition which is entitled to more consideration, resting solely on the fiduciary relations of the defendant to the plaintiffs, than on the evidence in this case of the declarations alluded to.
We need not decide either of these propositions, because plaintiff comes too late with the offer to avoid the sale.
The doctrine is well settled, that the option to avoid such a sale must be exercised within a reasonable time. This has never been held to be any determined number of days or years as applied to every case, like the statute of limitations, but must be decided in each case upon all the elements of it which affect that question. These are generally the presence or absence of the parties at the place of the transaction, their knowledge or ignorance of the sale and of the facts which render it voidable, the permanent or fluctuating character of the subject-matter of the transaction as affecting its value, and the actual
In fixing this period in any particular case, we are but little aided by the analogies of the statutes of limitation; while, though not falling exactly within the rule as to time for rescinding, or offering to rescind, a contract by one of the parties to it for actual fraud, the analogies are so strong as to give to this latter great force in the consideration of the case. In this class of cases the party is bound to act with reasonable diligence as soon as the fraud is discovered, or his right to rescind is gone. No delay for the purpose of enabling the defrauded party to speculate upon the chances which the future may give him of deciding profitably to himself whether he will abide by his bargain, or rescind it, is allowed in a court of equity.
In the recent case of Upton, Assignee v. Tribilcock, supra, p. 45, it was held that the purchaser of stock in an insurance company, who had offered to rescind within two or three months because his note had been sent to a bank for collection in fraud of the agreement to the contrary, could not avail himself of that offer to let in as defence other fraudulent representations then unknown to him, when he was sued by the assignee in bankruptcy for the unpaid instalments on that stock after the bankruptcy of the company.
The authorities to the point of the necessity of the exercise of the right of rescinding or avoiding a contract or transaction as soon as it may be reasonably done, after the party with whom that right is optional is aware of the facts which give him that option, are numerous and well collected in the brief of appellees' counsel. The more important are as follows: Badger v. Badger, 2 Wall. 87; Harwood v. R.R. Co., 17 id. 78; Marsh v. Whitman, 21 id. 178; Vigers v. Pike, 8 Cl. & Fin. 650; Wentworth v. Lloyd, 32 Beav. 467; Follansbee v. Kilbreth, 17 Ill. 522.
The cases of Bliss v. Edmonson, 8 DeG. M. & G. 787, Prendergast v. Turton, 1 You. & Coll., while asserting the same general doctrine, have an especial bearing on this case, because they relate to mining property.
The fluctuating character and value of this class of property is remarkably illustrated in the history of the production of mineral oil from wells. Property worth thousands to-day is
While a much longer time might be allowed to assert this right in regard to real estate whose value is fixed, on which no outlay is made for improvement, and but little change in value, the class of property here considered, subject to the most rapid, frequent, and violent fluctuations in value of any thing known as property, requires prompt action in all who hold an option, whether they will share its risks, or stand clear of them.
The case before us illustrates these principles very forcibly. The officers, and probably all the stockholders, who were not numerous, knew of the sale as soon as made. As there was no actual fraud, they knew all the facts on which their right to avoid the contract depended. They not only refused to join the defendant in the purchase when that privilege was tendered them, but they generally refused to pay assessments on their shares already made, which might have paid this debt.
The defendant then had a survey made of the ground leased to the corporation, the lease being the main thing he had acquired by the sale. When the lines were extended, the lease was found to embrace a well, then profitably worked by another company. Of this piece of good luck he availed himself, and by suit and compromise he obtained possession of that well. He put more of his money into it, and changed what had been a disastrous speculation by the company into a profitable business. With full knowledge of all these facts, the appellant took no action until this suit was brought, nearly four years after the sale; and not until all the hazard was over, and the defendant's skill, energy, and money had made his purchase profitable, was any claim or assertion of right in the property made by the corporation or by the stockholders.
We think, both on authority and principle, — a principle
Decree affirmed.
Comment
User Comments