UV IDA NIIIA R.
seven lobed leaves, is found from Connecticut south to Florida and west to Texas and Mexico. In the South, where the tree is common, it at tains a height of 100 feet or more. The timber, which is often called satin walnut in the markets, is valuable. A resinous gum exudes from the tree similar in its quality to the storax of the Orient. The best-known species of the Eastern Hemisphere is Liquidambar orientalis, a native of Asia Minor. It is very similar to the Ameri can species.
by the breach. The law on this subject is in fluenced by the attitude of the courts toward 'penalties' provided for under similar circum stances, which are held void on the same prin ciples that usury is generally prohibited. How ever. the right of the parties to a contract to anticipate that there may be a breach by one of them, either with or without good cause, and to estimate and determine in advance what will be a fair and reasonable compensation to the injured party, is recognized and protected by the courts. The chief concern of the courts in the interpre tation of agreements is to determine whether the sum thus named is. in fact. the result of an hon est effort to fix a sum which will approximately make good the loss which may he suffered in case of breach, or whether it is out of all pro portion to the probable amount of damages sus tained, and therefore in the nature of a penalty, and accordingly illegal and void. The courts will give great weight to the intent of the contracting parties, as far as it can be ascertained by con sidering the language employed by them, and the surrounding circumstances which induced them to insert such a provision. It is common to fix the amount of damages for delay in case of building operations. and it is in this class of eases that the courts have been most lenient in the construction of these stipulations. For ex ample. if A contracts to build a factory for B, who now occupies premises the lease on which will expire in one year, and A agrees to complete the factory within that time, it is legally com petent for them to provide that A shall pay B a certain sum for every day the building re mains unfinished after the expiration of the time agreed upon, as B may be compelled to move from the premises be then occupies and thereby suffer great. damage, and in any event
the damages occasioned by the loss of the opportunity to do business in the factory planned to suit his peculiar requirements would be hard for a jury to estimate. and the determination of the parties is a safer guide. The advantage of thus fixing the dam ages in advance is that the aggrieved party is spared the trouble and possible expense of offering proof of the items of his damages at the trial, and that the uncertainty as to what a jury might consider adequate is avoided. Generally speaking, when damages can he easily ascertained by computation merely, and the amount named as liquidated damages is greatly in excess of that amount, or where the contract is for the payment of money only, and a sum in excess of what would he the highest rate of legal interest is fixed, the courts will regard it as a penalty. The term em ployed by the parties to describe a sum so fixed will not be given much weight by the court's, for obvious reasons. The courts will not disregard such an agreement merely because the .um named will be liberal compensation for the probable loss sustained, but only when it seems grossly out of proportion to the loss. _However, it seems that these agreements are regarded with suspicion; as where the intention. as expressed, is ambigu ous, and there is doubt as to whether the sum is to be deemed as liquidated damages or as a penalty, the courts incline toward the latter con struction. See DAMAGES; PENALTY; and consult the authorities referred to under likm.kuEs.