Gallup Electric Light Co. v. Pacific Improvement Co.
New Mexico Supreme Court
Appeal from the District Court for McKinley County, against Ira A. Abbott, Associate Justice. A contract not to engage in business is a personal contract and. can only bind the parties to it. Kramer v. Old, 56 Am.
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Appeal from the District Court for McKinley County, against Ira A. Abbott, Associate Justice. A contract not to engage in business is a personal contract and. can only bind the parties to it. Kramer v. Old, 56 Am. St. Rep. 650, 119 N. C. 11; Jones v. Havens, L. R. 4 Ch. Div. 636; Reeves v. Sprague, 114 N. C. 647; Fleckenstein Bros. v. Fleckenstein, 57 At. 1025; Bird v. Lake, 1 H. & M. 111.; Lumlev v. Gye, 2 El. & Bl. 216; Emmert v. Richardson, 24 Pac. 480, 44 Kas. 268. The person who has agreed not to engage in a similar business, must, in order to be held guilty of a violation of his…
1Opinion of the Court
OPINION OF THE COURT.
ROBERTS, J.
There is some question as to whether this contract should not be held invalid, as being contrary to public policy, under the rule laid down in Charleston Gas Co. v. Kanawha Gas Co., 58 W. Va. 26, 50 S. E. 878, wherein the court says: “The supplying of illuminating gas is a business of a public nature, to meet a public necessity. It is not a business like that of an ordinary corporation, engaged in the manufacture of articles that may be furnished by individual effort. Hence, while it is justly urged that those public rules which say that a given contract is…
2Cases cited10 opinions
- United States v. Trans-Missouri Freight Assn.Supreme Court of the United States · 1897
- United States v. Joint Traffic Assn.Supreme Court of the United States · 1898
- Hopkins v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1898
- Gibbs v. Consolidated Gas Co. of BaltimoreSupreme Court of the United States · 1889
- People ex rel. Peabody v. Chicago Gas Trust Co.Illinois Supreme Court · 1889
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3Cited by12 opinions
- Aiken Industries, Inc. v. Estate of WilsonSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1978
- Espinoza Ex Rel. Espinoza v. Town of TaosNew Mexico Supreme Court · 1995
- Hedrick v. PerryCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 1939
- Nichols v. AndersonNew Mexico Supreme Court · 1939
- Valdez v. SalazarNew Mexico Supreme Court · 1940
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