35 Ala. 476 | Ala. | 1860
A bill of exchange may be drawn upon a person, natural or artificial, by a name different from the proper name of such person, and may be accepted by a name variant from the proper name of the acceptor. — Edwards on Bills, 251, 91. The bill of exchange in this case is alleged to have been drawn upon the defendant, by the name and style of “ Steamer G. W. Dorrance and owners,” and to have been accepted by the defendant, in and by the name and style of “ St’r Nor-
Section 2279 must be construed in reference to sections 2280 and 2288 of the Code. Section 2280, in general terms, dispenses with proof of the execution of any instrument offered in evidence under the plea of set-off, or other plea in bar, unless the plaintiff put the execution of such instrument in issue by a replication, verified by affidavit. This section does not confine its operation to instruments which purport to be executed by the plaintiff. The terms
Section 2238, which must be construed in pari materia with section 2279, evidently contemplates that every plea which denies the execution by the defendant, his partner, agent, or attorney in fact, of an instrument which is the foundation of the action, shall be sworn to. It is a fair inference, that the rule of pleading here prescribed is co-extensive with the rule of evidence prescribed in section 2279; and that in the cases in which the plea of non est factum is, by section 2238, required to be sworn to, proof of execution is dispensed with by section 2279. We think the language of section 2279 of the Code susceptible of a construction, that would make it applicable to instruments which, according to the purport of the complaint, were signed by the defendant, his partner, agent, or attorney in fact; and that construction we are induced by the reasoning above set forth to adopt.
Judgment reversed, and cause remanded.