Hooker & Woodward v. Vandewater
New York Supreme Court
Motion to set aside the report of a sole referee. The action was assumpsit upon a written agreement, dated August 1,1842, executed by the plaintiffs and the defendant and by several other parties, all proprietors of forwarding lines on the Erie and Oswego canals.
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Motion to set aside the report of a sole referee. The action was assumpsit upon a written agreement, dated August 1,1842, executed by the plaintiffs and the defendant and by several other parties, all proprietors of forwarding lines on the Erie and Oswego canals. It commenced by setting forth that “ the undersigned forwarders on the Erie and Oswego canals, [the proprietors of each line forming a party to this instrument,]for the purpose of establishing and maintaining fair and uniform rates of freight, and equalizing the business among themselves, and to avoid all unnecessary expense in doing…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court, Jewett, J.
It is a general proposition that an agreement to do an unlawful act cannot be supported at law—that no right of action can spring out of an illegal contract ; and this rule applies not only when the contract is expressly illegal, but whenever it is opposed to public policy, or founded on an immoral consideration-—-the maxim being ex turpi causa non oritur actio. (1 Sel. N. P. 63, 10th ed. Chit. on Cont. 657, ed. 1842.) A court of law will not lend its aid to enforce the performance of a contract which appears to have been entered into by the contracting parties for the…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- People v. FisherNew York Supreme Court · 1835
3Cited by48 opinions
- United States v. Addyston Pipe & Steel Co.Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · 1898
- Gibbs v. Consolidated Gas Co. of BaltimoreSupreme Court of the United States · 1889
- People v. . BuddNew York Court of Appeals · 1889
- Matter of DaviesNew York Court of Appeals · 1901
- People v. . SheldonNew York Court of Appeals · 1893
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