42 S.C. 272 | S.C. | 1894
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Joseph S. Cloud, a merchant, who had
He had been negotiating for a loan of $12,000. Of course, the excitement as to his ability to pay would affect this effort at a loan. -On the morning of the 9th of November, 1891, he went by rail to Charlotte, N. C., and sought the advice of learned counsel as to the legality of his securing to his wife, Mrs. J. S. Cloud, the sum of $3,500, that he owed her for money borrowed of her in the management of his commercial ventures, and also of his securing to his manager clerk, J. A. McDowell, some $1,000 that he owed him as his wages, by a mortgage on the property of the McDowell Clothing Company in Charlotte, N. C. This course was advised against; but it was finally suggested that this stock of goods might be sold by J. S. Cloud to his wife and J. A. McDowell, their debts credited on the purchase, and notes given him by Mrs. Cloud and J. A. McDowell for the balance.
The following arrangement was made: J. S. Cloud, acting for his wife (she was in Spartanburg at that time), and J. A. McDowell agreed to purchase the business, paying- fifty cents on
With these notes J. S. Cloud hurried on his return on that day to Spartanburg, at which place, when he reached it, he freely disclosed what he had done to his creditors. That night he was aroused at about midnight by one of his counsel, Andrew E. Moore, Esq., of the Spartanburg bar, and told that said counsel had learned that some of his creditors proposed to attach said notes, and thereby get an advantage over his other creditors, and such couusel advised him that the only way to prevent such a result was to make an assignment of his whole estate for the benefit of his creditors. This he very reluctantly, and after much persuasion by his lawyer, consented to do. The assignment was made that night by deed to George W. Nicholls, Esq. Such assignee at once entered into the possession of the assignor’s whole estate, and on the 10th November, 1891, issued a notice of his assignment, and called on the creditors to meet in the city of Spartanburg on the 17th November, 1891, as required by the statute in such cases made and provided, to elect an agent, etc.
On the 13th day of November, 1891, Ambach, Burgunder &
On the 17th November, 1891, one-third in the amount of the creditors of J. S. Cloud met with the assignee in Spartanburg, and did not elect an agent or agents, but authorized the assignee to issue a notice to creditors as the judgment of the creditors there assembled, that a compromise at fifty per cent, of their debts should be made by the creditors with J. S. Cloud. On the 18th day of November, George W. Nicholls, as assignee, notified the creditors that on the 18th day of December, 1891, he would proceed to pay the creditors who would accept and release by that time, such assets as were in his hands. On the 1st December, 1891, the said George W. Nicholls, as assignee, sold the stock of goods of J. S. Cloud, at Spartan-burg, to Yorhees, Miller & Co., at fifty-three cents on the dollar, in cash.
On the 5th December, the present action was commenced in the Court of Common Pleas for Spartanburg County, in the State of South Carolina, by Adler Bros. & Co. and the Empire Novelty Company, as plaintiffs, against J. S. Cloud and George W. Nicholls, as assignee of J. S. Cloud, as defendants^ setting out in details the facts hereinbefore recited, and praying for judgment against Cloud for their respective demands; that the
The answers of J. S. Cloud and George W. Nicholls, as assignee, controverted every fact in the complaint necessary to-the plaintiffs obtaining the relief prayed for. The testimony, under an order therefor, was taken before H. B. Carlisle, Esq., as master. The cause came on to be heard before his honor, Judge Norton, at the spring term, 1893, of the court for Spartanburg, and on the 14th August, 1893, he filed the following decree:
“This is a creditors’ action to declare a sale made by J. S. Cloud, in Charlotte, N. C., of his stock of goods there to his wife and clerk, as part of an assignment for the benefit of his creditors made by him afterwards on the same day in Spartan-burg, S. C., and to declare the whole void; and, if they be not one assignment, that each be declared fraudulent and void. I am convinced that J. S. Cloud is honest, according to his conception of the term, and, therefore, I rely upon his direct statements of matters of fact, and the same may be said of all the witnesses, and any contradictions in testimony may be attributed to misapprehension at the time, or forgetfulness of the precise occurrences or language used, as the case may be. It seems to me, however, that J. S. Cloud conceived that he might honestly provide for his wife and children at the expense
“With this thought uppermost in his mind, he went to Charlotte and consummated the sale of the stock of goods there to his wife and J. A. McDowell. Knowing himself to be insolvent, he incidentally thought proper to secure the debts due to the respective purchasers, lest this expedient might fail to tide him over. J. A. McDowell and Mary F. Cloud, his wife, had reasonable grounds to believe that J. S. Cloud was insolvent. At the time of making such sale, J. S. Cloud thought he could, and intended to, continue business, and was not contemplating the making of an assignment for the benefit of his creditors. On his return to Spartanburg, on the advice of his attorney, he changed his mind, and made the assignment. The two transactions are, therefore, separate and distinct, not connected at all in j. S. Cloud’s mind nor in fact, and cannot, therefore, together constitute an assignment under our statute; but the' facts stated do render the sale obnoxious to section 2015 of our General Statutes. This view of the case leaves the validity of the assignment to be considered as a separate instrument. Every conveyance of property or agreement is made subject to law, and is to be read as if every provision of the law were incorporated in the conveyance itself. And it seems to me that our assignment act of 1828 was made to aid the creditors in promptly securing their own under an assignment without appealing to the Court of Equity. For instance, by providing that they [the creditors] may order a distribution of the funds. In the cases of Tennant v. Stoney, 1 Rich. Eq.,.233, and Beall v. Lowndes, 4 S. C., 258, it is said that when no time is fixed for creditors to accept, who are on that condition to be preferred, they may accept at any time before the distribution of the fund. I do not think the failure to fix a time for preferred creditors to accept vitiates the assignment.
“Plaintiffs also contend that the provision in regard to J. S. Cloud’s homestead renders the assignment obnoxious to section 2014, Gen. Stat., because it directs the conversion of the estate into money, and its distribution when so converted [‘after setting apart whatever the assignor is entitled to under the homestead act’], arguing that it requires the setting apart of money instead of property, to the detriment of creditors, at least, to the extent of the commissions, and the risk of depreciation in the value of property between the time the homestead would be set off in kind and the time required to effect its conversion into money. I do not think this the proper construction, but rather that the assignor, by the clause within the brackets, contemplated the setting apart of his homestead in kind. If he did not, but meant to have his homestead in kind sold, that would necessarily be at his own expense. I do not regard the risk of fluctuation in this small amount of property, in the short time required for its conversion, of sufficient consequence to avoid the assignment, but it is covered by the rule, de minimis non curat lex.
“I think the discretion of the assignee is not inconsistent with the provisions of the statute wherein it regulates his conduct, and that the statute is to be read as a part of the assignment, and makes a valid paper in this particular. Common sense, common law, and the statute require the assignee to take
The plaintiffs appeal from this decree upon various grounds, and although we do not reproduce them just now, we propose to consider and pass upon each one before we close. The defendants give notice, under the practice recognized by this court, of additional-grounds upon which the decree of the Circuit Judge maybe bottomed, other than those submitted in the decree itself. If, after thorough consideration of the grounds of appeal, we should affirm the decree, it will not be necessary to consider these suggestions of the defendants (respondents); otherwise, we must consider them. We have concluded to consider the grounds of appeal in this form: First, those that allege error in the admission of certain testimony at the trial; second, such as allege error in the findings of fact by the Circuit Judge; third, such as allege error in conclusions of law by the Circuit Judge.
There was no testimony to the contrary. No injury has come to appellants by its introduction. This exception (tenth exception) is overruled.
The case shows that the examination of this witness covered about fifteen pages of printed testimony. Thus the court is asked to sift all this testimony, to see when plaintiffs objected, and to surmise the grounds upon which such objections were based. It was the design of the rules of this court on this subject to prevent such a result. The appellants are not entitled to be heard in this form. Such exception is overruled.
Such a step is consistent with the purpose on his part, which is in proof here, and uncontradicted, that he had arranged to borrow $12,000 in cash to carry on his business, for it had been the habit of Mrs. Cloud, his wife, to lend her credit and substance to him in his business; and no doubt, and it is reasonable to suppose that, he intended to obtain from her the use of this mortgage for $3,500 on such stock in trade in Charlotte as the basis for the loan of money. The bank in Spartanburg was accustomed to take Mrs. Cloud’s paper. She had property of her own. This debt of $3,500 was actually due her by J. S. Cloud. When the counsel in Charlotte, by their knowledge of the laws of that State, showed Mr. Cloud that his mortgage could not be given to his wife and McDowell, it was suggested by them that a sale of the property would be valid. This was made, and the debts of Mrs. Cloud and McDowell paid by this sale, and their notes for $2,000 then made, and $1,700 after-wards were made and placed in his hands. H.ow unnatural it
The sixth exception of appellants, in so far as it relates to a finding of fact by the Circuit Judge, may be thus stated: Appellant alleges that it was an erroneous finding of fact by the judge when he held that at the time of making said sale (that at Charlotte), J. S. Cloud thought he could, and intended to, continue business, and was not contemplating the making of an assignment for the benefit of his creditors, and the transactions are separate and distinct. This finding of the Circuit Judge has plenty of testimony to support it, nor is it opposed by the manifest weight of the testimony. The finding is correct, or otherwise there has been wilful and corrupt perjury by two witnesses in this cause, namely: J. S. Cloud and Andrew E. Moore. Both swear that Moore waked him up at the hour of midnight on the 9th November, 1891, when Moore for the first time told Cloud that he must make an assignment, the deed for which he (Moore) of his own accord had prepared and brought with him; that the motive to this haste was the anticipated at
Third. It is a fundamental principle in law, that where one person receives the money, goods or other property of another by purchase on a credit, he thereby incurs an obligation to the former owner of such money, goods or other property, which is not discharged until such obligation is fully paid. This is a relation of a debtor to his creditor. Hence it is that all the property owned by the debtor, or in which he has any interest, is made responsible for the payment of such obligations of indebtedness. The tenderness of the law exonerates a certain part of a debtor’s estate, real and personal, from liability under legal process, from liability to pay debts, provided such exemption is in existence at the time the debt is created. As long ago as the year 1828, in this State, when a debtor owed more than he could pay, he was allowed to assign his property for the payment of his debts. Instead of provoking opposition from his creditors by pursuing this course, a debtor, under such circumstances, is to be commended, for he thereby voluntarily does what the law would do for him. Under this old law and the amendments to it, it is required that a debtor shall in good faith surrender his whole estate. He is not allowed to reserve any benefit, secret or otherwise, to himself, under his deed of assignment, except that he is allowed to stipulate that to creditors who shall accept under such assignment, and execute a release of their respective demands, a preference shall be given.
The plan, under these laws, is that the whole estate of the assignor shall vest in the assignee, freed from any interference or control'of the assignor; that the assignee shall call on the
In 1882, it was provided that if any person, being insolvent, within ninety days before making any assignment, shall, with a view to give a preference to any creditor, procure or suffer any part of his property to be attached, sequestered, or seized on execution, or make any payment, pledge, assignment, transfer, or conveyance of his property, directly or indirectly, absolutely or conditionally, the person receiving such payment, etc., of his property, and having reasonable cause to believe such person to be insolvent, and that such attachment, sequestration, seizure, payment, pledge, assignment, or conveyance is made in fraud of this chapter (Gen. St., ch. 72; 1 Rev. Stat., eh. 80), the same shall be void, and the assignee may recover the property, or the value of it. So much for a reference to the general provisions of our laws regulating assignments, which may be found in sections 2137 to 2148, inclusive, of 1 Rev. Stat.
We will now undertake to examine the propositions involved in the grounds of appeal here, wherein the conclusions of law of the Circuit Judge are impugned. In the first ground of appeal appellants allege several reasons why the assignment should have been held fraudulent and void by the Circuit Judge.
Appellants next contend that the assignment is fraudulent and void for the following reasons dehors the deed:
It is the judgment of this court, that the judgment of the Circuit Court be affirmed, but without prejudice to the rights of plaintiffs to apply for judgments in this action against J. S. Cloud on their respective demands.