Tatsuno

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of the defendant entered upon the verdict of a jury, and also from an order denying the plaintiff a new trial.

The action was founded upon a written order drawn upon the defendant in favor of the plaintiff by W. Mori, Tanaka Bros., and W. Wantanabe, Japanese labor contractors, who had previously entered into a contract with the defendant to furnish laborers for the. work of canning salmon during the fishing season of 1909 at defendant’s cannery at Bristol Bay on the coast of Alaska. The order in question requested the defendant to pay to the plaintiff the sum of seven hundred and fifty dollars “from the balance that may become due to us in the final payment of our salmon contract with you for this season.” This order was accepted in writing by the defendant “subject to the amount becoming due contractors signing same.-”

Plaintiff’s complaint alleged, among other things, that at the time of the commencement of the action there was a balance of several thousand dollars due to the Japanese contractors. The defendant answered denying that such balance or any amount whatever was due from him under the contract. Further answering the…