Page:St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co. v. Beidler.pdf/4

20 Rh  by Beidler, upon which to found the decree. Chrisman v. Partee, 38 Ark., 44.

The fourth section of the Statute of Frauds provides, that no action shall be brought upon any of the contracts there enumerated, unless the agreement, promise or contract, upon which such action shall be brought, or some memorandum or note thereof shall be in writing and signed by the party to be charged therewith, or signed by some other person by him thereunto properly authorized. Gantt's Digest, Sec. 2951, part 4.

What then is necessary to constitute this memorandum in writing sufficient to comply with the Statute?

This note or memorandum must, of course, be such as to import, generally, a transaction of the nature which is claimed to be proved by it. Form is immaterial, and several letters or other writings may be taken together to make the memorandum. In all cases the mutual relation of the several writings relied on must appear upon their face, and can not be established by parol evidence.

We cite only a few of the authorities referred to by Mr. Browne in his work on the Statute of Frauds. Sec. 346, Note 5, Morton v. Dean, 13 Met., 388; Mottle v. Buchanan, 11 ''Gill. & Johns., 314; Freeport v. Bartol, 3 Greenl., 310; Nichols v. Johnson, 10 Conn., 198; Adams v. McMillan, 7 Port. (Ala.), 73; Blair v. Snodgrass, 1 Sneed (Tenn.), 1; Willey v. Roberts, 27 Mo.,'' 388.

And it seems that fastening two or more papers together (when they do not refer to each other) after they have been separately prepared, is not sufficient. Tallman v. Franklin, 3 Duer., 395.

Although one writing refers specifically to another, the terms of the intended contract may still be left in doubt, and the requirements of the Statute be unsatisfied for want of