FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 9185. January 25, 1915. ]
GERALDINE COLEMAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. HOTEL DE FRANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant.
Beaumont & Tenney for Appellant.
Southworth, Hargis, Adams & Jordain for Appellee.
SYLLABUS
1. ALIENS; CONTRACT LABOR; ACTORS. — In express terms, professional actors are excluded from the provisions of the United States Immigration Act of February 20, 1907, applicable to contract labor; and one who is by profession an acrobat or artistic gymnasts included in the term "professional actors."cralaw virtua1aw library
2. CORPORATIONS; CAPACITY TO CONTRACT. — When a contract is not on its face necessarily beyond the scope of the power of the corporation by which it was made, it will, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be presumed to be valid. Corporations are presumed to contract within their powers. The doctrine of ultra vires, when invoked for or against a corporation, should not be allowed to prevail where it would defeat the ends of justice or work a legal wrong.
3. ID.; ID.; HOTEL CORPORATIONS; VAUDEVILLE ENTERTAINMENTS. — The execution of a contract by a hotel corporation which had for its object the giving of vaudeville entertainments, including acrobatic exhibitions, at the hotels operated by the corporation, for the purpose of entertaining its guests and attracting patronage held to be included within the powers incidental to the express powers for which such corporation was created.
4. MASTER AND SERVANT; WRONGFUL DISCHARGE; DAMAGES. — Upon proof of the breach of a contract of employment by the employer the employee is entitled to recover the full amount which it appears he might have earned under the contract but for the breach, less such compensation as he actually obtains or might obtain in some other employment during the term of the contract which had not yet expired at the date of the breach, the burden of proof as to the amount by which the amount which might have been earned under the contract may thus be reduced being upon the defendant. (Aldaz v. Gay, 7 Phil. Rep., 268.)
2. CORPORATIONS; CAPACITY TO CONTRACT. — When a contract is not on its face necessarily beyond the scope of the power of the corporation by which it was made, it will, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be presumed to be valid. Corporations are presumed to contract within their powers. The doctrine of ultra vires, when invoked for or against a corporation, should not be allowed to prevail where it would defeat the ends of justice or work a legal wrong.
3. ID.; ID.; HOTEL CORPORATIONS; VAUDEVILLE ENTERTAINMENTS. — The execution of a contract by a hotel corporation which had for its object the giving of vaudeville entertainments, including acrobatic exhibitions, at the hotels operated by the corporation, for the purpose of entertaining its guests and attracting patronage held to be included within the powers incidental to the express powers for which such corporation was created.
4. MASTER AND SERVANT; WRONGFUL DISCHARGE; DAMAGES. — Upon proof of the breach of a contract of employment by the employer the employee is entitled to recover the full amount which it appears he might have earned under the contract but for the breach, less such compensation as he actually obtains or might obtain in some other employment during the term of the contract which had not yet expired at the date of the breach, the burden of proof as to the amount by which the amount which might have been earned under the contract may thus be reduced being upon the defendant. (Aldaz v. Gay, 7 Phil. Rep., 268.)
D E C I S I O N
CARSON, J.:
This is an appeal from a judgment rendered April 29, 1913, by the Honorable A. S. Crossfield in favor of the plaintiff, Geraldine Coleman, and against the defendant, the Hotel de France Company, for the sum of P585.42 as damages for the breach of a written contract made September 13, 1912, at Sydney, Australia, between plaintiff, a professional gymnast, and the defendant company, through its manager, Ignacio Arnalot, whereby the latter hired the former to entertain the patrons of its hotel at Manila for the period of three months at a salary of
