Woo King-Hsun v. Pemberton & Penn, Inc.

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of appellee, defendant below, on its counterclaim in an action brought by appellant to recover damages for alleged breach by appellee of a contract of agency and to recover from appellee certain other moneys, alleged to be due and owing to appellant. The amount of the counterclaim offset the amount of damages claimed by appellant. The nature of the counterclaim and the transaction out of which it arose will be more fully described hereinafter.

The contract of agency between the parties commonly known as a eompradore agreement, was executed on February 15,1931, and provided that appellant and one Zar DongZsn, appellant’s partner, both citizens of China, would act as compradores, or commission merchants, on behalf of appellee, an American corporation doing business in China, for the sale of the latter’s tobacco in China, on a commission basis, for a period of one year from the date of the agreement.

Various pertinent provisions of the contract are as follows: “The compradores shall undertake to farther to the fullest extent of their ability the business of the Company in leaf tobacco of all grades and descriptions in which the Company…