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21 Can. B. Rev. 446 (1943)
The Implied Warranty of Merchantable Quality

handle is hein.journals/canbarev21 and id is 458 raw text is: 446 THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABLE QUALITY* Is there such a thing as a standard warranty of quality pre- sumptively to be implied in every sale of goods made by a dealer? Otherwise stated, are there certain minimum requirements of quality in the thing sold which every purchaser from such a dealer is entitled to demand unless there is express agreement to the contrary, or circumstances are shown which indicate a con- trary understanding? Section 15 (2) of the Uniform Sales Act' reads as follows: Where the goods are bought by description from a seller who deals in goods of that description (whether he be the grower or manu- facturer or not), there is an implied warranty that the goods shall be of merchantable quality. This section, which has been enacted thus far in thirty-four states, as well as the District of Columbia, Alaska and Hawaii,2 was copied almost verbatim from the first part of section 14 (2) of the English Sale of Goods Act' of 1894, which was itself a restatement and codification of the common law of England as it existed at that date.4 As it is stated in the American Act, the section undoubtedly represents the more prevalent, and certainly the better, holdings of our courts at common law.' Along with the rest of the Uniforn Sales Act, it is of persuasive authority in states where the Act has not yet been adopted,' and it has been recognized as merely declaratory of established common law rules.' * The present article appeared in 27 Minnesota Law Review 117 (Jan. 1943) and is reproduced with the kind permission of the Editor of that Journal and of the author, who is now Minnesota State Counsel, Office of Price Administration. Nothing in this article is to be understood as representing the views of the Office of Price Administration, or of any person other than the author. 12 Mason's 1927 Minn. Stat., sec. 8390 (2). 2 1 Uniform Laws Annotated, 1941, Supplement, p. 6. 1 56 &57 Vict. ch. 71, see. 14 (2) Where goods are bought by description from a seller who deals in goods of that description (whether he be the manufacturer or not), there is an implied condition that the goods shall be of merchantable quality; provided that if the buyer has examined the goods, there shall be no implied condition as regards defects which such examination ought to have revealed. 4 Chalmers, Sale of Goods Act (8th ed. 1920), 42-47. 5 Williston, Sales (2d ed. 1924), ch. IX. 6 The Sales Act, as of 1941, had not yet been adopted in the following states: Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia. 7 McNabb v. Central Kentucky Natural Gas Co., (1938) 272 Ky. 112, 113 S.W. (2d) 470; Hoback v. Coca Cola Bottling Works, (1936) 20 Tenn. App. 280, 98 S.W. (2d) 113; Child's Dining Hall v. Swingler, (1938) 173 Md. 490, 197 Atl. 105.

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