128 Iowa 275 | Iowa | 1905
The certificate sued on is as follows: “ $1500.00." Des Moines, Iowa, March 23, 1885. Capital City Bank. • Mary J. Penrose has deposited in this bank Fifteen Hundred Dollars, payable to the order of herself on the return of this certificate properly endorséd with '4 per cent interest, per annum. A. W. Naylor, President. No. 15108.” The demurrer- was sustained on the ground that the cause of action was barred by the statute of limitations, and the correctness of the ruling is the only question for determination.
A bank may receive or decline deposits, and do business with whom it pleases. It may receive a general deposit today, and to-morrow, for reasons of its own, it may return the amount deposited, and refuse absolutely to transact business further with such depositor. See 5 Cyc. and cases cited. But unless the banker desires to return the deposit, he is under no obligation to seek his creditor for the purpose of making payment. If no actual demand be necessary to mature the debt created by a deposit, then depositors may sue at once upon leaving the bank, and a transaction intended to be for the mutual benefit of both may become one of oppression and wrong to the bank, and this the law should not tolerate. That a certificate of deposit is distinguishable from a demand promissory note, we think clear. Morse on Banks and Banking (3d Ed.) section 298; Smiley v. Fry, 100 N. Y. 262 (3 N. E. Rep. 186); In re Hunt, 141 Mass. 515 (6 N. E. Rep. 554); Murphy v.
The decisions of many oí the other states are -to the same effect, but' we need cite no further authority on the proposition. Furthermore, the certificate in issue provides that it is payable on presentation properly indorsed, and its express language repels the thought that it is payable otherwise than on actual demand. Morse on Banks and Banking, section 302; McGough v. Jamison, supra; Cottle v. Marine Bank, supra; Girard Bank v. Bank of Penn. Tp., supra. And the principle is also analogous to that of a bill payable on or after sight, which is not due until it is presented and payment demanded. 3 Bandolph on Commercial Paper, 1608.
We think there is-no merit in the appelee’s contention that, if an actual demand is necessary to mature the certificate, such demand must be made within the period of the statute of limitations. The parties may contract as they will. The depositor having the right to demand the amount due him at any time, and the bank having the right to pay
The demurrer should be overruled, and the case is reversed.