200 The Farmer's Business Handbook 



now almost universally the rule that their con- 

 tracts stand on the same basis as those of men 

 or unmarried women. 



It very often happens that after parties have 

 made a contract they differ as to what they 

 meant to agree to, and sometimes even allege 

 that they have been deceived in the course of 

 their negotiations. The law considers cases of 

 this kind under the following heads: — Mistake, 

 Fraud, Duress and Undue Influence. We shall 

 treat them in that order. 



Mistake. — There are so many different kinds of 

 mistakes of intention, etc., that it will be im- 

 possible to deal with them here more than to 

 say that in a majority of instances a person 

 must stand by his contract if the mistake was 

 entirely one of his own making, and was not 

 induced by the other party. In other cases he 

 may very generally be excused from the perform- 

 ance of the contract; but the only safe way to 

 do is to explain the whole matter to your lawyer 

 and trust him to find some way of correcting 

 the error. 



Fraud consists of representations known to be 

 false, or made with reckless disregard as to 

 their truth or falsity. They must be made with 

 the intention that the deceived party shall act 

 upon them, and he must act upon them to his 

 damage. In such cases fraud will excuse the 



