21 S.D. 418 | S.D. | 1907
Claiming the right of immediate possession by virtue oí a prior mortgage, respondent corporation brought this action against the sheriff of Yankton county to recover the possession of a certain piano which had been seized and taken from the mortgagor, Dr. Edwin A. Weimer, under ala execution, and also a chattel mortgage taken by F. A. Brecht upon the property, with actual knowledge of the earlier mortgage, and that the debt secured thereby was unpaid. The right of trial to a jury was expressly waived, and, for the avowed purpose of saving the trouble and expenses of procuring testimony, the issues made by the pleadings were all eliminated by a stipulation of facts, upon which it was expressly agreed that the court might make its conclusions and render judgment. According to the conclusive recitals of such judgment, the court made and filed its decision in favor of respondent upon such stipulated facts, and no other evidence was introduced at the trial.
Contrary to the contention of counsel for appellant, the conclusions of law were properly based on the stipulation which rendered the making of any finding’s of fact wholly unnecessary. Even without the agreed statement of facts, it would have been entirely competent for the parties to waive findings, and, in the absence of anything in the record to overcome the presumption of such waiver, it,s existence would be presumed, if necessary to support the judgment. Chandler v. Kennedy, 8 S. D. 56, 65 N. W. 439; Brown v. Brown, 12 S. D. 506, 81 N. W. 883.
Counsel for appellant urge as reversible error the disallowance of their amended answer, in the nature of a plea in abatement of the action, proposed after the issues were joined and ready for trial on the merits. The evident purpose of the amendment was to enable appellant to show the failure of respondent, a foreign corporation, to comply with our statute requiring the appointment of an agent authorized to accept and receive service of pro
No question being raised by the pleadings or included in- the stipulation of facts relative to the mortgagee’s making a full, true, and complete copy of the mortgages, and the delivery thereof to the mortgagor at the time of their execution, the acknowledgment of the receipt of such copies over his signature affixed to each of the mortgages in duplicate is sufficient evidence that such delivery was made, and counsel’s claim of noncompliance with the statutory requirement is unavailable. Foss v. Van Wagenen, 20 S. D. 39, 104 N. W. 605.
The right of respondent to the possession of the property at the commencement of the action is further contested, on the ground that its alleged chattel mortgages filed in the office of the register
The contention of counsel for appellant that the mortgages executed in duplicate by Weimer to respondent upon the two different occasions should be regarded as mere copies, and void against creditors and subsequent incumbrances, is based on the foregoing, and the further fact that the register of deeds certified as to the day and hour of filing, giving the book and page, and over his signature stated that he had compared the instrument “with the original, and it is a true copy of the same.” By filling out a blank on the back of each mortgage, Charles P. Edmunds, a notary public and one of the persons, who signed as a witness, certified that he had “compared the within instrument with the original mortgage given by Edwin E. Weimer to the Cable Company, and find it is a true and correct copy of the same and the whole thereof.” While in the grammatical construction of sentences the words “copy” and ■ “duplicate” are never synonymous, unless employed as verbs, the practice of indiscriminately using them as such is quite prevalent, and the extrinsic facts presented by the record in this case fully justify the inference that the term “copy” was used only with reference to and to designate the instruments executed by Dr. Weimer, as mortgagor, to respondent as mortgagee, and duly filed for record in the proper county. Differing from a “copy,” a “duplicate” instrument . in writing is the exact repetition thereof, and according to judicial lexicographers has all the validity of an original. “A duplicate writing has but one effect. Each duplicate is complete evidence of the intention of the parties.” Bou. Law Die. “A document the same in all respects as some other document, from which it is indistinguishable in its essence and operation.” Anderson’s Law Die. “An original instrument repeated; a document which is -the same as another in all essential particulars, and differing from a mere copy in having all the validity of an original.” Bur.Law. Die.
The circumstances of the case, viewed either from a legal or an equitable standpoint, do not justify a reversal, and the judgment appealed from is affirmed.