Section 2: This Is a Very Important Class and Leads Us to Call Attention

to the distinction between a guaranty and a contract somewhat similar. Suppose A writes to Jordan, Marsh Company: "Please sell B six good shirts and charge the same to my account." That is not a guaranty. A is in that case a purchaser just as much as if he ordered the shirts sent to himself. Nor is it any more a guaranty if it was further agreed between A and B that B should pay A for the shirts. On the other hand, if A should write to Jordan, Marsh Company, "Let B have six shirts and if he doesn't pay, I will," then you would have a guaranty. It is of the essence of a guaranty that there should be a principal debtor and that the guarantor's liability should be only secondary. A guaranty must be in writing. To put the matter in another way, when there are three parties to a transaction like the above, the writing is necessary. Where there are two parties, no writing is necessary. Where A says to Jordan, Marsh Company, "Let B have six shirts, and if he doesn't pay, I will," we have three parties: A, the guarantor; B, the principal debtor, and Jordan, Marsh Company, the creditor. This must be in writing. Where A says to Jordan, Marsh Company orally, "Give B six shirts and charge to my account," we have simply two parties, A, the principal debtor, and Jordan, Marsh Company, the creditor. Hence no writing is necessary. In connection with this section, it must be kept in mind that some oral contracts which would be good under this section may not be enforceable under another section which we shall refer to later, because the amount involved is over a specified sum.