Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 2.djvu/492

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

ALBION LEAD WORKS V. WILIilAMSl. OBO CITY F. INS. CO. 485 �application, but, an oral aj)pIication having been made, he asked for a copy of it. At any rate, if he asked for a written application he did not receive one. The plan, with its mem- orandum, does not purport to be, and has none of the indicia of, such a document. The memorandum is a memorandum, and nothing more. There is in this case, therefore, no such plan, survey or application as this printed condition mentions. �The reference to the plan in the written part of the policy is, in its form, like the ordinary reference in a deed, for the purpose of identifying the subject-matter, and has a similar meaning. The true construction of the policy is not thai the Company agree to insure "as per plan," but they agree to' insure according to the pclicy, and what they insure is the building shown on the plan. A force-pump is shown on the plan, but this cannot be considered as a warranty that any particular kind of a pump shall always be maintained, ready for use. One would wish to know the character of the pump, and how it was worked, etc., as to ail which there is no information. If it depended upon the steam which carried the works, it would probably not be useful on Sundays and holidays, nor when the mill was stopped, and there ia surely no warranty that the mill shall never be stopped. It is impossible to reconeile the decisions upon this question of continuing warranty. When an underwriter asks about the particulars of a risk he probably takes for granted that things will remain as they are ; but when the courts are asked to convert this impression into a covenant, and make words in the present tense operate as a stipulation for the future, there is difficulty, and the authorities are doubtful and divided. The resuit, as far as I can gather it, is that when the fact appears to the courts to be a very important one, such as employment of a watchman, a majority of them have said that this ought to be considered a part of a con- tinuing engagement. When the fact does not appear to be so important, as that a dwelling-house is occupied, or that a clerk sleeps in a store, it is not of that character. �There is great objection to these continuing warranties when they are conventional, or made up from words which do ����