Edinburgh and District Tramways Co., Ltd v. Courtenay

Now the present action is raised by the Edinburgh Tramways Company in 1907 for the additional cost of these boards upon the outside and this fillet arrangement upon the window.”

From the correspondence it appeared that the defender had repudiated liability for the cost of the frames and boards in 1900 and 1901, when he was first called on to pay for them; that on 29th October 1901, while again repudiating liability, he offered £72, 10s. “in full settlement of all claims,” and that after receipt of this offer, which was not accepted, the pursuers did not communicate with him further on the subject till February 1907, when they sent him an account amounting to £1095, 10s. for frames and boards on 171 cars.

“First , that what he calls ‘decency’ boards are an integral part of every tramway car, and that in all his similar contracts in England, and he has many, he has been allowed by companies and corporations to make use of them for affixing to them his advertisement plates without any charge instead of being required to put up additional boards of his own. I do not think that concessions made to him by the parties to other contracts have any bearing on the question, and I do think that the Page: 104 ↓

If the parties supply me with the figures I shall give decree accordingly, and as Mr Courtenay has wholly resisted payment he must pay the expenses of his unsuccessful defence.”

[At the hearing on the reclaiming note counsel for the respondents admitted that there was no proof of any contract as to the cost of supplying the frames and boards. He stated that his case rested on an “honourable understanding” between the parties that Courtenay was to pay for the frames and boards in question.]