21 Ind. 90 | Ind. | 1863
Amzi L. Wheeler sued the Bank of the State, as indorser of a bill of exchange-. The bank defended on. the ground that the indorsement was made by the cashier, as was or might have been known to the plaintiff, for the ac
“The Court finds, that on the 15th day of January, 1861, Luther J. Abbott and Ephraim A. Abbott drew the bill of exchange, which is the foundation (of this action, on Nicholas Abbott, and thereby requested said Nicholas to pay, sixty days after date, to the order of M. Lair Harter, at the Earle Bank, in the city of New York, and State of New York, five thousand dollars; that said Nicholas, on the same day, accepted the same in writing on the bill; that said M. Lair Harter, on the same day, indorsed said bill in blank, and delivered it to said Nicholas Abbott; that the bill was dated January 15th, 1861.
“The Court further finds, that H. Early was, for a long time before and after, and at the date of said bill, the cashier of the Plymouth Branch of the Bank of the State of Indiana, and was, also, as was said Nicholas Abbott, a director in said bank; that said Early, as such cashier, on said 15th day of January, 1861, discounted said bill of exchange for, and purchased the same of, said Abbott, and paid Mm for it with the money of the bank, the purchase being made for the bank; that afterwards, on the same day, said Early, as such cashier, and for and on behalf of the bank, sold and indorsed said bill to the plaintiff, Wheeler, who tben and there paid the bank the purchase-money therefor. íhe indorsement was to 'H Early, cashier,’ and by ‘H. Early, cashier.’
“The Court further finds, that said bill was not discounted by the directors of said branch bank; that the said Early and Nicholas Abbott knew, when they discounted said bill, that it was against the instructions of the directors; and that, to conceal the transaction, said Early made false entries on the books of the bank; but the Court finds, that the plaintiff’, Wheeler, purchased said bill, and paid for it in good faith,*92 and without notice that it had not been purchased by the bank, and that it had not authorized its indorsement to him; and that he had previously agreed with the cashier, Early, that if the bank discounted the bill, he would re-discount it, if the bank should need the money.” See, as to the effect of this finding, Bolton v. Howell, 18 Ind. 181. The Court found that all the steps to charge indorsers had been duly taken.
The Court found, as a conclusion of law, upon the facts set forth, that the bank was liable to the plaintiff for the amount of the bill, costs of protest, &c., and rendered judgment accordingly. A motion for a new trial was overruled.
The Bank of the State, by charter, has power to deal in bills of exchange, &c., to appoint a cashier, and require him to give a bond, &c. See the charter.
In Wild v. Bank of Passamoquoddy, 3 Mason, 505, a case much like the present, Judge Story said: “The cashier of a bank is, virtute officii, generally entrusted with the notes, securities, and other funds of the bank, and is held out to the world, by the bank, as its general agent in the negotiation, management and disposal of them. Prima facie, therefore, he must be deemed to have authority to transfer and indorse negotiable securities, held by the bank, for its use and behalf.”
In that case, the plaintiff recovered against the bank, upon an indorsement of the cashier. The case has since been followed as authority. Dunlap’s Pal. Ag. p. 156; Story on Ag. sec. 114; Ang. and Am. on Corp. sec. 300; Bank of Gennesee v. Patchin Bank, 19 N. Y. Rep. 312. See, also, 17 Ind. pp. 550, 559.
And in Story on Promissory Notes, &c., 127, it is laid down, that an indorsement of a note to the cashier of a bank, will be deemed an indorsement to the bank, the indorsement being in this-form, “to A B, cashier.”
In the case at bar, the transactions were the purchase and sale of a bill of exchange. It does not appear, in the case, that the
From the evidence, the Court might find, without any strained construction of it, that L. J. and E. A. Abbott, of Troy, Ohio, wanted money; that their father, Nicholas Abbott, who resided with them in Ohio, and who was a director in the Branch of the Bank of the State of Indiana, at Plymouth, Indiana, and a member of the discount committee, undertook to procure the money for his sons; that he had applied to Amzi L. Wheeler, a private banker at Plymouth, to discount a note for his sons; that Wheeler had promised to do so, if the note had certain names on it; that Nicholas brought to Wheeler a note for discount, but, it not having on it the specified names, Wheeler refused todo the note; that Nicholas then applied to the branch bank to discount the note; that
The case, in one view of the evidence, is this: A person comes to town to sell, or to get discounted, a note. There are two banks in town — one has plenty of money to spare, with which to buy the note, but refuses to do so because it is not certain as to the goodness of the paper; the other is hardly able to spare the money for the purchase of the note, but is satisfied of the goodness of the paper, and is desirous to purchase it, and willing to do it if it can ascertain where it can sell the paper, and raise money, if finding itself in need. It learns that bank No. 1, in the town, will buy the paper if it is offered to it by bank No. 2, with its indorsement
Per Curiam. — The judgment is affirmed, with 1' per cent. damages and costs.