35 N.Y.S. 944 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1895
This action was begun February 23, 1893, to recover on a promissory note made and indorsed by the defendant October 31,1890, whereby, for value received, he promised to pay to his own order $14,250, three months after date, at the North River Bank, in this city. The defense interposed is that the note was made and indorsed for the accommodation of the bank, and upon the agreement of its president that the defendant should not be held liable thereon. At the time the note was made, the defendant was-a clerk of Paige, Carey & Co. Mr. Paige, the senior partner, was a director of the North River Bank, and had extensive dealings therewith. The defendant testified that, in 1889, Mr. G-edney, the president of the bank, requested him to make a note for $15,000, but that he objected, saying that his note for that amount would not be good, and that he did not wish to do it; that Mr. Gedney replied: “The note is for the bank. You will get nothing for it, and you will not be held on the note.” The defendant made the note, which was passed to the bank, and went to the credit of the account of Paige, Carey & Co. This note was four times renewed, the last renewal being the one in suit. When or by whom the indebtedness to the bank was reduced from $15,000 to $14,250 does hot appear. The defendant testified that, when the note was last renewed, he objected to signing it, and that Mr. Gedney replied: “You take no risk. You are not held on the note, and you assume no obligation.” The defendant received no benefit from the original note or any of its renewals. The cashier of the bank testified that the avails of the first note, of which all others were renewals, were credited to the loan account of Paige, Carey & Co. It is conceded
It is urged that the plaintiff’s exception to the following question was well taken: “Q. Was there ever credited to you with the North River Bank any sum of money or any credit by reason of the note in suit, or any of its predecessors?” The defendant answered, “No.” It was entirely competent to show that the defendant received no benefit from the note. The cashier of the bank so testified at folio 52. It cannot be said that the verdict of the jury was contrary to the evidence. It was simply a question of credibility between the defendant and the president of the bank; and the circumstances under which the note was made, the way the avails were used, and the situation of the defendant, who was a mere clerk of Paige, Carey & Co., to whose credit the avails were placed, strongly tended to render it highly probable that the defendant testified to the truth.
The judgment and order should be affirmed, with costs. All concur.