Davidson v. Goldstein

Plaintiff sues for rent due on a written lease, made long before the United States entered into the present war. The only defense to which evidence was addressed at the trial is that defendant’s use of the premises for the purposes for which the lease was made became unlawful or at least unprofitable by reason of certain regulations made by the Federal Government, under its war powers, regarding the sale of tires and tubes. In support of the judgment for defendant he invokes the doctrine of “commercial frustration,” as it is sometimes called, claiming that he can no longer carry on with…