77 Pa. 118 | Pa. | 1875
delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court,
Eleven errors are assigned, but they are all resolvable into one question. Was there anything upon the face of the note in suit, or the. circumstances under which it was discounted, to give notice to the plaintiff below that the endorsement of the firm name of Moorehead, Adams & Co. was without authority ? It is not disputed that if it had been offered by Whitten & Co., that circumstance of itself would have been notice that Moorehead, Adams & Co., were merely accommodation endorsers and sufficient to have put the plaintiff upon inquiry. Hence an attempt was made to fix upon Patterson, the bill-broker from whom the plaintiff received it, the character of his agent, and that he was to be' affected with whatever knowledge the agent possessed. But this position cannot be sustained and was but faintly urged in the argument. Patterson was clearly the agent of Whitten & Co. to sell, not of Gilmore to buy. Though Gilmore knew he was a broker he was not bound to ask by whom he was employed, nor if he had would Patterson have been hound to inform him. Bill-brokers are a very important class of persons in commerce, and their usefulness and business would be entirely destroyed if it were to be held that persons purchasing negotiable paper from them are affected with whatever knowledge they may have of the character of the paper which they offer in the market for discount. It comes back then to the simple question, was there anything upon the face of the paper as offered to put the plaintiff upon inquiry. It is admitted
Judgment affirmed. ,