179 Ga. 863 | Ga. | 1934
Some of the issues involved in the present writ of error have several times been before this court. The original plaintiffs, now defendants in error in the main bill of exceptions in the case at bar, are heirs at law of Mrs. J. B. Waters, who died intestate in 1925. The litigation had its origin in a rule brought by these heirs at law, asking a settlement by one R. D. Easterling, who had been appointed administrator of Mrs. Waters’ estate. The judgment of the court of ordinary was appealed to the superior court. It is not necessary to refer to the appeal, because the petitioners filed an equitable petition against the administrator and his bondsmen. While this suit was pending, the plaintiffs by amendment prayed that the Peoples Bank of Glennville be made a party defendant. Demurrers to this amendment were sustained by the trial court, and upon exceptions to this ruling this court held that the writ of error sued out by the plaintiffs was prematurely brought. Burkhalter v. Peoples Bank, 169 Ga. 645 (151 S. E. 389). Thereafter the heirs of Mrs. Waters filed a separate action against the Peoples Bank, which the trial court dismissed on general demurrer; and this court reversed that judgment. Burkhalter
After careful consideration of the evidence upon which the auditor’s report is based, and of the exceptions of both parties so far as the exceptions themselves require any examination of the evidence, we have reached the conclusion that the court did not err in overruling the exceptions of both parties and in rendering the decree. The main bill of exceptions alleges that the court erred in overruling exceptions to the auditor’s report instead of approving them, from which it follows naturally as a consequence that the court erred in rendering the decree awarding to the plaintiffs the sums mentioned.
The exceptions to the auditor’s report filed by the defendants are clearly without merit. They apparently proceed upon the theory that officials of a bank (whose duty it is to keep apprised of its acts and doings, so as not to be wholly ignorant, perhaps intentionally) will be wholly absolved from all responsibility as officials in charge of a bank by remaining ignorant of those things which in the interest of the public it is their duty to know, and of which by law they are charged with notice and knowledge. The adoption of such a theory is not sanctioned by the law. There were various circumstances in the evidence before the auditor which authorized him to
The court did not err in'overruling the exceptions of the plaintiffs. There seems to have been no effort made to comply with the rule which requires evidence referred to in exceptions to be embodied in the exceptions. A sentence is sometimes quoted from the evidence in these exceptions, and then the court is referred to named pages where the evidence to which reference is made may be found by an examination of the record. With such reference we are unable to judge of the merits of the exceptions. We therefore have no hesitation in presuming that the lower court did not err in overruling these exceptions.
Judgment affirmed on Tooth hills of exceptions.