Cottrell v. Warren
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to tbe Common Pleas of Mifflin county. This was an appeal to August term, 1843, by Cottrell, from the judgment of a justice of the peace in a suit by Andrew Warren, jr., v. Cottrell & Fenn, on a promissory note. In October, 1846, on application on behalf of Cottrell on his affidavit being filed, it was ordered by the Court that the plaintiff produce his book of entries, and the order on which it was alleged that the goods were obtained.
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Error to tbe Common Pleas of Mifflin county. This was an appeal to August term, 1843, by Cottrell, from the judgment of a justice of the peace in a suit by Andrew Warren, jr., v. Cottrell & Fenn, on a promissory note. In October, 1846, on application on behalf of Cottrell on his affidavit being filed, it was ordered by the Court that the plaintiff produce his book of entries, and the order on which it was alleged that the goods were obtained. The deposition of A. Bryant was taken on 30th September, 1847, and he stated that from 1838 to 1842, he was in the employ of Andrew Warren (the…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered, by
Lowrie, J.
The Act of 1798 was intended to supply the want of a bill of discovery, so far as relates to the production of papers that are pertinent to the issue to -be tried, -and it ought to be enforced freely and decidedly in its true spirit, in those eourts especially which do not possess the remedy by bill, of discovery. But the latter is, in some respects, a much better remedy; for, by means of it, an opponent may be called upon, not only to produce all books and papers, but to admit all facts material to the issue, *489unless they relate exclusively…