14 Tex. 226 | Tex. | 1855
This suit was brought by the endorsee against the drawer and endorser of a bill of exchange, drawn on a mercantile firm in New Orleans, and not paid when presented. The liability of the defendant was not fixed according to the Law Merchant; because, although the draft appears to have been presented, there is no evidence that notice in any form was given. The liability therefore, must arise, if at all, under the provisions of our Statute, that establish the liability by a suit brought to the first Term of the Court after failure of payment, or to the second Term, and showing good cause why suit was not instituted before the first Term next after the right of action accrued. (Art. 2528, Hart. Dig.) It appears from the evidence, that from the time of the maturity of the draft sued on, until the commencement of the first Term of the Court in the county of the residence of the maker and endorser, sixteen
The Act of the Legislature of the 24th December, 1851, (vol. 4, p. 23,) has been commented on by the appellant’s counsel. We see no difficulty in the construction of this Act. Its object was, and such its effect, to give ten per cent, on drafts drawn by a merchant within this State, on a person out of the State. It was not designed to extend to and embrace a draft drawn by any person not a merchant; for instance, a draft drawn by a planter on his agent or factor out of the State, would be excluded from the operation of the law, and the ten per cent, would not be allowed on such draft. The evidence shows that the drawer and endorser were both merchants, and that the bill was drawn on a mercantile firm in New Orleans, and that it was clearly within the Statute giving the ten per cent. The judgment is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
Mistake for twenty or twenty-three.—See statement of facts. Reps.