In the famous English "Statute of Frauds," which is the basis of the American local statutes on matters referred to in this section, the value of personal property requiring written contract was ten pounds or fifty dollars. In the United States the value varies in different states from $30 to $200. But if part of the property is delivered or part of the purchase money is paid the whole contract is binding, even if not in writing.
A guaranty is an agreement by which a person warrants that a certain third person shall duly perform an engagement. Thus if A obtains goods from B upon the assurance of C that they will be paid for, C is said to guarantee the debt.
A contract which may be performed within a year does not come under the statute, even if such performance seems improbable at the time of making the contract.
The style of the writing is immaterial—it may be formal or informal, in ink or pencil. It may be made by the principal or by his agent.
Pertinent Questions.
How are the laws—legislative enactments and decisions of the Supreme
Court—made public? Why are they thus published?
Tell whether the following agreements are valid contracts or not, and why:
1. An agreement to print a libel. A lease of a house for gambling purposes. A contract executed on Sunday. A contract for work to be done for five consecutive days, beginning on Friday. How would it affect the case if the work were the removing of goods from a building in imminent danger of falling? The agreement of a tinsmith never again to work at his trade. His agreement not to work at it within a specified time or in a certain town.
2. An agreement to swim across the ocean. To pay for a horse at the rate of one kernel for the first nail in the horse's shoes, two for the second, four for the third, eight for the fourth, and so on. To deliver goods at a certain time, though the delivery at the proper time may be prevented by some accident. Is a person released from responsibility by sickness?
3. An agreement by an orphan to pay for necessaries at some future time. If the price charged is exorbitant, is he bound to pay it or only a fair market price? A man while drunk buys a horse for which he has no use, but after becoming sober continues to use the horse. If the price is excessive, how much must he pay? When a married women buys goods on credit, is she acting as the principal or as her husband's agent?