70 Md. 451 | Md. | 1889
delivered the opinion of the Court.
John Burrows sued Francis A. Klunk as joint maker or endorser of two promissory notes, each purporting
Charles F. Klunk is the son of the defendant Francis A. Klunk. The son had become indebted to the plaintiff Burrows in about the sum of $4000, and t,he plaintiff visited his house on the 5th of February and told him to get notes endorsed by his father to the amount of $1100, and that his (the son's) father-in-law would settle the balance. On the same day the son called upon his father with five promissory notes in favor of Burrows drawn up by the son and signed by him as maker for $50 each, and asked his father to endorse them which the latter positively refused to do. On the next day, Feb. 6th, the plaintiff and the son visited the father at his house, but the plaintiff testifies there was nothing then said about endorsing notes in the presence of the father, and that he went there simply for the purpose of being introduced as the gentleman who Avas furnishing the son with goods. On the following Tuesday, Feb. 8th, the son again called upon his father at his shop, again importuned him to endorse these five notes, and after a good deal of persuasion he agreed to endorse tAvo of them, Avhich matured respectively on the 1st of June and the 1st of July, 188*7. Before doing so he took them to his office, read them over carefully, saw they Avere for $50 each, that they Avere dated the *7th of Feb. and were payable to the order of the, plaintiff. He then wrote his name on the back of each, and delivered them to his son. The latter has
This statement is taken mainly from the testimony of the defendant, which in these particulars is uncontradicted. The notes themselves have been submitted to us for inspection. This inspection shows that if they were thus altered, the alterations must have been made by the son, after his father wrote his name upon them, and before thejr were delivered to the plaintiff, and that they must have been in such condition when signed by the defendant, as to admit of the alterations being so made as readily to deceive innocent third parties. There must have been a space between the and the figures “50” sufficient for the insertion of the figure “5,” and a blank before the word “fifty” sufficient to let in the words “five hundred and.” As they now appear they are throughout in the handwriting of the son, who signed them as maker, written with the same ink, and with no discoverable trace of erasure.
It was left to the jury, by the granting of the plaintiff's and defendant’s first prayers, to find whether the alterations had been made, and their verdict shows that they found this issue of fact in the affirmative. But the plaintiff has testified that he had no knowledge of these alterations when he received the notes, and the question is, can he recover upon them against the defendant, even if he had no such knowledge ? It is manifest that if the defendant is made liable for the full amount of these altered notes, he will suffer a wrong, and sustain a loss, by means of a crime not less serious than the forgery of his signature. If his signature had been forged, or if the notes had been
The case of Tome vs. Parkersburg Branch R. R. Co., 39 Md., 36, is quite different from this. The main question involved in that case was the extent of the liability of private corporations for the acts of their agents, done within the scope of their employment, expressed or implied. The party who committed the fraud was the treasurer and stock transfer agent of the company, entrusted with its seal, with books of stock certificates signed in blank by the president, and was
Nor is it a case where one signs a note in blank as to amount, and delivers it to another for use, with intention that the blank should be filled. In such case the instrument carries on its face an implied authority to fill the blank, and the signer makes the person to whom it is thus delivered his agent for that purpose, and is responsible to an innocent holder for value for whatever sum may be inserted. But here, each note was complete on its face when it left the*hands of the defendant. A sum payable was actually written in it, and the date, time of payment, and the name of the payee were all inserted. In such case there can he no inference that the defendant authorized any one to increase this amount, simply because blank spaces were left in which there was room to insert a larger sum. It may have been carelessness in the defendant to sign the notes without drawing lines through these spaces, but he was evidently not a business man accustomed to sign notes; and it was not his carelessness, but the crime committed by another, that was the proximate cause that misled the plaintiff.
Appellant’s counsel have placed great reliance upon the English case of Young vs. Grote, 4 Bing., 253. In that case a husband having occasion to leave home for several days signed checks upon his hanker in blank, left them with his wife with directions to have them filled up with such sums as the purposes of his business might require during his absence. The wife, in order
We approve and adopt the following reasoning in Holmes vs. Trumper, (supra): “The negligence, if such it can be called, is of the same kind as might be claimed if any man, in signing a contract, were to place his name far enough below the instrument to permit another line to be written above it in apparent harmony with the rest of the instrument; or, as if an instrument were written with ink, the material of rvhich would admit of easy and complete obliteration or fading out by spme chemical application which would not affect the face of the paper, or by failing to fill any blank at the end of any line which might happen to end far enough from the side of the pag'e to admit the insertion of a word.” * * *
“Whenever a party in good faith signs a complete promissory note, however awkwardly drawn, he should, ■we think, be equally protected from its alteration by forgery in whatever mode it maybe accomplished; and unless, perhaps, when it has been committed by some one in whom he has authorized others to place confidence as acting for him, he has quite as good a right to rest ujoon the presumption that it will not be criminally altered, as any person has to take the paper on the presumption that it^has not been; and the parties taking*464 such paper must be considered as taking it upon their own risk, so far as the question of forgery is concerned, and as trusting to the character and credit of those from whom they receive it, and of the intermediate holders.”
"If promissory notes were only given by first class business men who are skilful in drawing them up in the best possible manner to prevent forgery, it might be well to adopt the high standard of-accuracy and perfection which the argument in behalf of the appellant would require. But for the great mass of the people who are not thus skilful, nor in the habit of frequently drawing or executing such paper, such a standard would be altogether too high, and would place the great majority of men of even fair education and competency for business, at the mercy of knaves, and tend to encourage forgery by the protection it would give to forged paper.”
We are all of opinion that the defendant is not liable for the amount of these raised notes. In some of the cases, especially in Pennsylvania and Mississippi, recovery has been allowed for the amount of the note before it was thus altered. This, however, seems to ignore the principle, said to be of universal application, that any material alteration of a written instrument avoids it in toto as to any party to it who has not assented to such alteration. But that question does not arise on this appeal. The verdict and judgment were in favor of the plaintiff for the original amount of the notes with interest, and'the defendant has not appealed.
In thus disposing of the case we have assumed, and must not be understood as having decided, that the plaintiff is a holder for value. It follows from what wé have said that the Court below was right in admitting the testimony objected to in the, first exception,
Judgment affirmed.