53 Me. 410 | Me. | 1866
This is an action against the defendant as drawer of a bill of exchange. To charge him, the plaintiif must show the dishonor of the draft and seasonable notice of such dishonor. In the numerous cases cited in argument, the notices sent by the notary or the holder of the draft to the drawer were before the Court, and in each case the sufficiency of the notice was determined by the language of such notice. It is otherwise in the case under consideration, for the notice sent has not be.en produced.
By the Act of 1858, c. 44, § 1, "the protest of any foreign bill of exchange or promissory note, or order, duly certified by any notary public under his official seal, shall be legal evidence of the facts stated in such protest, as to the same and also as to the notice given to the drawer or in-dorser, in any court of law.”
The notary, in his protest, after giving the date and his official position, proceeds as follows: —"at the request of the holder, Mace Tisdale, Esq., (I) went with the original bill of exchange, which is hereto annexed, the time limited and grace having elapsed, to the Suffolk Bank and demanding payment was answered that the acceptor had no funds there.
" The .draft remaining unpaid, I duly and officially notified the drawer at Bangor, Maine, and the indorser at Bangor and at Portland, Maine, per mail, requiring payment.”
Such, too, is the entire weight of judicial authority. In Gallada v. Bank of the Union, 2 Head, (Tenn.,) 57, the only proof of notice was in this sentence in the body of the protest: — "I then,notified the drawers and indorsers.” The statute of the State provided that, when " the notary shall have certified, either in or on his protest, that he has given notice of demand and payment and refusal, or the dishonor of such bill,” &c., "to the indorsers, makers or others concerned, such protest shall be prima facie evidence of the fact of notice.” " The fact,” observes Caruthers, J., "is to be stated, by the notary either in or on his protest. But it is said that he must state the time when the notice was given, the postoffice to which it was sent and all the particulars necessary to make out a good legal notice under the law merchant. The Act does not expressly require this. The notary is a public officer, and when he certifies that he has done an official act, it must be presumed that he has done it correctly, unless some statute or rule of law prescribes a particular mode, until the contrary appears. It is only made prima facie evidence. It is no hardship on a defendant, who is relying on strict law, and generally without merit, to get clear of a debt, to require him to rebut this presumption. It would be easy to prove by the notary, if
The decisions in this State are to the same effect. In Lewiston Bank v. Leonard, 43 Maine, 144, the notarial certificate was that, he " duly notified the indorsers by written notices, sent them by mail,” &c. It was held a reasonable inference that the notices sent contained all that was essential to charge the indorser. In Orono Bank v. Wood, 49 Maine, 26, the certificate of the notary that he had "duly notified the drawer and indorser” was held sufficient, in the absence of contradictory proof.
The protest makes out a prima fade case for the plain
Defendant defaulted.