[573]. William Hankford, Justice of the Common Pleas in 1398, afterwards, in 1414 (1 H. 5), Chief Justice of England.—Reporter’s note.
[574]. Cattle v. Stockton Co., L. R. 10 Q. B. 453, 458 (semble); Angle v. Chicago R. Co., 151 U. S. 1; Bitterman v. Louisville R. Co., 207 U. S. 205, 222–23; Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. Park & Sons Co., 220 U. S. 373, 394 (semble); Heaton Co. v. Dick, 55 Fed. 23, 52 Fed. 667; Heath v. American Book Co., 97 Fed. 533; Tubular Co. v. Exeter Co., 159 Fed. 824; Motley v. Detroit Co., 161 Fed. 389; Chipley v. Atkinson, 23 Fla. 206; Doremus v. Hennessy, 176 Ill. 608; Heywood v. Tillson, 75 Me. 225, 236 (semble); Knickerbocker Ice Co. v. Gardiner Dairy Co., 107 Md. 556; Walker v. Cronin, 107 Mass. 555; Beekman v. Marsters, 195 Mass. 205; Joyce v. Great Northern R. Co., 100 Minn. 225; Mealey v. Bemidji Lumber Co., 118 Minn. 427; Lally v. Cantwell, 30 Mo. App. 524; Van Horn v. Van Horn, 52 N. J. Law, 284; Haskins v. Royster, 70 N. C. 601; Jones v. Stanly, 76 N. C. 355; Flaccus v. Smith, 199 Pa. St. 128; Delz v. Winfree, 80 Tex. 400, 405; Raymond v. Yarrington, 96 Tex. 443; Brown Co. v. Indiana Stove Works, 96 Tex. 453; Duffies v. Duffies, 76 Wis. 374, 377 (semble); Martens v. Reilly, 109 Wis. 464; Hewitt v. Ontario Co., 44 Up. Can. Q. B. 287 Accord.
Boyson v. Thorn, 98 Cal. 578; Barron v. Collins, 49 Ga. 580 (semble); Chambers v. Baldwin, 91 Ky. 121; Bourlier v. Macauley, 91 Ky. 135; Kline v. Eubanks, 109 La. 241 (semble); Ashley v. Dixon, 48 N. Y. 430; De Jong v. Behrman, 148 App. Div. 37; Laskey Feature Play Co. v. Fox, 93 Misc. 364; Swain v. Johnson, 151 N. C. 93; Sleeper v. Baker, 22 N. D. 386 Contra.
It was decided before the case of Lumley v. Gye that an action for slander of title was maintainable where the only special damage laid was the breach by a third person of his contract with the plaintiff. Green v. Button, 2 C. M. & R. 707. But see, contra, Kendall v. Stone, 5 N. Y. 14; Brentman v. Note, 3 N. Y. Sup. 420 (N. Y. City Court).
So an action would doubtless lie for defamatory words, not actionable per se, which induced a third person to break his contract to marry the plaintiff. But compare Davis v. Condit, 124 Minn. 365 (seduction of plaintiff’s fiancée).
As to justification, see Leonard v. Whetstone, 34 Ind. App. 383.
On the general subject, see also Sweeney v. Smith, 167 Fed. 385; Mahoney v. Roberts, 86 Ark. 130; Citizens’ Light, &c. Co. v. Montgomery Light, &c. Co., 171 Fed. 553, 560, 561; McGurk v. Cronenwett, 199 Mass. 457; Globe Ins. Co. v. Fireman’s Ins. Co., 97 Miss. 148; Biggers v. Matthews, 147 N. C. 299; Thacker Coal Co. v. Burke, 59 W. Va. 253; Huffcutt, Interference with Contracts and Business in New York, 18 Harvard Law Rev. 423.
[575]. The statement of facts and the dissenting opinion of Lord Coleridge, C. J., are omitted.
[576]. “That this was a wrongful interference on the part of the Omaha Company, and that it resulted directly in loss to the contractor and to the Portage Company, is apparent. It is not an answer to say that there was no certainty that the contractor would have completed his contract, and so earned these lands for the Portage Company. If such a defence were tolerated, it would always be an answer in case of any wrongful interference with the performance of a contract, for there is always that lack of certainty. It is enough that there should be, as there was here, a reasonable assurance, considering all the surroundings, that the contract would be performed in the manner and within the time stipulated, and so performed as to secure the land to the company.
“It certainly does not lie in the mouth of a wrong-doer, in the face of such probabilities as attend this case, to say that perhaps the contract would not have been completed even if no interference had been had, and that, therefore, there being no certainty of the loss, there is no liability.” Brewer, J., in Angle v. Chicago R. Co., 151 U. S. 1, 12.