COURT OF APPEAL.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 97, 24 April 1912, Page 8

COURT OF APPEAL.

COMMISSION CLAIM. ' . ■-A. question of commission was the - ,point»»nbinitted to the Court of Appejd in a short case to-day. The-Bench was occupied, by the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) and Justices Dennisfcon, Cooper, and Chapman. ' , .The" parties were Thomas M'Kean, of TaumaEunni, farmer, appellant, and Francis Richard Hammond Bnce, of {Marion, commission agent, respondent. Mr- T. S. Weston appeared for aprjellant and Mr. C. B. Collins for respondent. • In the original action Brice claimed^ !£l5O from M'Keaa a* commission on the sale of 'a property. On 11th February, 1910, Mrs. M'Kean entered into an .agreement with Messrs- Smith, and Miles , to sell -them a section of brown land in the Hunua survey district held by ,Aer Tinder a license to occupy with righi of' purchase, for £2961. Of this £50U 'was to be paid ia cash and the equity ,-of redemption of certain properties in i"Wellington belonging* to the purchasers ■was to be accepted by Mrs. M'Kean m part satisfaction of tho purchase money, ■the balance 01 which was to be secured iby a second mortgage. Brice had been .endeavouring since.* May, 1909, to find: a purchaser, and for some time had been r-in negotiation with one Beard. The object of tho sale to Messrs. Smith and Miles appeared^ to, have been to enable them to resell" to Beard, for they sold the' section to him at the price of £31Sl. Tho Land Board refused permission for a transfer to Beard, who sought to impose a condition as to the future sale .of the section. Beard then agreed to resell to one Prince for £3355 13s. The ! Land Board approved of this proposed* transfer and the transaction was, about j ' io bs, completed when Prince Tef used to carry it out. The section was afterwards sold by Mrs. M'Kean to ancthe-r j purchaser for £2900, and the transaction was duly completed. The questioif submitted to the Supreme Court was whether, in these circumstances, plaintiff was entitled to recover any commission i in M^ieet to ths sale to Messrs. Smith j and Miles. / I „ Mr. Justice Sim gave judgment for .Brice for £75, and from this decision M'Kean appealed, on the ground that at was erroneous in point of law and rfact/ 'I'ho Court reserved judgment,