Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court And, at Law, in the Court of Errors and Appeals of the State of New Jersey (Volume 57)

This historic book may have numerous typos or missing text. Not indexed. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1896. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... Excelsior Electric Co. v. Sweet. 67 N. J. L. clause were the sum of $1,000. The verdict awarded the plaintiff $1,457 for his damages. For this discrepancy between the verdict and judgment thereon, and the declaration, it is contended that the judgment should be reversed. The cases cited by the counsel of the plaintiff in error (Lake v. Merrill, 5 Haht. 288; Hawk v. Anderson, 4 Id. 319) were decisions on certiorari to the justice's court, and were made before the Amendment act. The power of amendment conferred by this statute extends to the court in error, and will be exercised where no injury has been done to the party complained by or through error in mere form. American Life Insurance Co. v. Day, 10 Vroom 89. The statement in a declaration of the sum claimed as damages is purely a matter of form, and an amendment in that respect, if applied for at the trial, would be granted ex debito justitia. This power of amendment by the court on error extends to matters of substance as well as of form. Price v. New Jersey Railroad Co., 2 Id. 229. If the real question in controversy appears to have been fully and fairly tried and correctly settled, the court on error will not reverse for an objection that might have been avoided by an amendment of the pleadings, but will itself exercise the power of amendment. Ware v. Millville Fire Insurance Co., 16 Id. 177. This assignment of error must be disregarded. The remaining assignments of error, thirty in number, were each based upon an exception taken at the trial. The number of these exceptions is due to the multiform manner in which the objections to the conduct of the trial were made and taken. An examination of these exceptions in detail is impracticable. A consideration of the subjects to which they relate will be th...