Page:North Dakota Reports (vol. 48).pdf/583

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LANGER v. FARGO MERCANTILE CO.
559

duty to dispose of the good will, with the tangible assets of the bank, in the most advantageous manner. He failed to do so, but appropriated. it to the use of the new bank organized by himself and children. Bank of Tomah v. Warren, supra; Rowell v. Rowell, 122 Wis. 1, 99 N. W. 473; Slater v. Slater, 175 N. Y. 143, 67 N. E. 224, Mellersh v. Keen, 28 Beav. 453; Williams v. Wilson, 4 Sandf. Ch. 379. Under such circumstances the appropriation of the good will for the benefit of the new bank may be treated as a sale, and will be held valid or voidable at the option of the Rusks, for whom he was fiduciary. Rowell v. Rowell, supra; Harrigan v. Gilchrist, 121 Wis. 127, 99 N. W. 909. Under the rule of these authorities, the beneficiaries may require the new bank to account for the profits realized by it through the wrong of its organizers and owners in appropriating the asset of the good will of the old bank. The facts proven and found by the court sustain the judgment of the trial court in fixing the value of the good will and for the recovery of the profits realized thereon as capital stock of the new bank.”

Advantages that give value to the good will of a business developed along the lines of the business in question are readily appreciated in the business world, and their value is capable of being measured in money. This is evidenced by the frequency with which good will is made the subject of contract negotiation. Advantages attaching to the privilege of continuing a business like that in the case before us are well summarized by the Supreme Court of New York in the case of In re Silkman et al., 121 App. Div. 202, 105 N. Y. Supp. 872, where it is said:

“The great part of the sales were upon mail orders, or upon orders obtained by salesmen. The salesmen used cards bearing the name of Thurston & Braidich, and scoured the country, keeping in touch as much as possible with the old customers, while seeking for new. As the business dealt with articles more or less used in food products, it was important that the goods were pure. Is there no difference between a business in such products, established for 20 years in substantially the same place, with a list of 1,100 to 2,000 customers, and bearing the same name, and a new business, started under a different name, having to make its way? ‘The very fact that the business did not depend upon a display of goods emphasizes the importance of the repute and standing of the name. Was there no advantage in a traveling salesman