ppily, debts have come to light so large and numerous
that there is not property enough to pay all the creditors everything
that is due them. The executor says to the carpenter: "There is not
property enough to pay all of the creditors and you, unfortunately,
must fare like all of the rest, and you cannot be paid a larger
percentage on your share than the others." To the carpenter this would
be unwelcome news, and he would doubtless say to the executor: "I made
this contract with you expecting that you would pay me, and if the
property of the estate is not sufficient you ought to pay me this. I
am a poor man and cannot afford to lose any of my hard-earned money."
The executor might say to him: "I am as poor as you and I cannot
afford to pay you out of my own pocket, and in law you cannot compel
me to do this." And, in truth, the carpenter could not do this unless
the executor had made a contract in writing, agreeing in any event to
pay whether there was money enough belonging to the estate or not.

Another clause says that _a person cannot be required to pay the debt
of another unless the agreement is in writing_. If A went into a store
to buy goods and B should be a little afraid to trust him, and C, a
friend of A's, should happen to be present and say to the merchant,
"Let A have these goods and if he does not pay you I will," this would
be the promise to pay the debt of another; and if A should not pay it
C could shield himself behind this statute and escape without paying
anything.

There is another clause relating to the sale of ordinary merchandise.
The law says that _contracts for ordinary merchandise must be in
writing if the amount is over_ $50. In some States the amount is $35.
Long ago it was decided that this statute did not relate to contracts
for work, and they therefore must be carried out or fulfilled in the
same manner as though no statute existed, _for work is not
merchandise_.

VIII. CONTRACTS FOR THE SALE OF MERCHANDISE

To make a contract of sale there must be, as we have seen, two or more
parties, and a consideration must also be given. The sale is complete
when the _property_, or _title_, or _ownership_ in the thing bought
passes from the seller to the buyer. It is not necessary in order to
make a valid sale to deliver the thing bought. If the _title_ or
_ownership_ in the thing is not transferred, the sale still remains
incomplete.

The law supposes or assumes that a person will always pa