Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“ They did not understand that they were acting as a corporation, nor did their cealings so far purport to be dealings of a corporation as to preclude the finding that was made. Now suppose that we take nothing more than the facts that one man furnishes capital and another his personal service in disposing of it, and that the latter is admitted to be interested in the profits, if any, and, at the same time, not to be a debtor of the former. We have a right to infer that, if a man furnishes capital, he expects some gain from it. ”

“ As to James, not only is it admitted that he was interested in profits, but there is some evidence that he contributed to the assets, as we shall explain.
If we take it as established that both brothers were interested in the business, it is not a difficult step to infer that the capital of the business was firm capital. Whether capital shall be attributed to the firm or to a partner is a matter that often escapes the attention of the members. ”

“ We do not say that we necessarily should have come to this conclusion if the case had been tried before us in the first instance, but, upon a pure question of fact, the error, if there was one, is not so plain as to call upon us to depart from our usual rule. ”