5 Whart. 288 | Pa. | 1840
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Although the. decision in The Mechanics Bank v. Earp, (4 Rawle, 389,) is distinguishable from the present — that being the case of a mere agent for transmission, who endorsed the note, this, of a factor who remitted a bill to his principal in payment — yet the principles settled there, rule the present case. Formerly there seems to have been in the law merchant a severe and inflexible rule applied, that whenever an agent or factor endorsed a bill, he was liable on his endorsement, unless he took care at the time to limit
But it is contended, that here the factor received five per cent, for commissions and guaranty, which included a guaranty of the remittance. This is a question of intention on the evidence. The general rule was very carefully considered by the Supreme Court of New York, in Leverick v. Meigs, (1 Cow. 664,) and it was decided, that under a contract by a factor to guaranty his sales, on a certain premium beyond the usual commission, the guaranty is only of the solvency of the purchaser, and not of the validity of the bill purchased in the usual course of business, and remitted on account of the principal.
Two bills of exception were taken to the evidence.
1. Mr. Spackman was called and examined by the defendant. On his cross-examination by the plaintiff, he stated that during the period in which he was selling certain bills drawn by Thompson, he heard that he was buying cotton in New York at higher prices than some others: but he never heard any suspicions or doubts of the goodness of his bills, before the news from Liverpool. His brother-in-law, Mr. Wilson, did not state any doubt on his mind about the goodness of the bills. The' plaintiff in reply called Joseph R. Evans, and offered to p2’ove by him a conversation which had occurred between him and Mr. Spackman, in which Spackman, before the news from Liverpool, had heard doubt and suspicion of the goodness of Thompson’s bills. The defendant objected. The plaintiff, referring to the above evidence, urged that the evidence was offered to contradict that part of Mr. Spackman’s .testimony. The Court admitted the evidence, and the defendant excepted.
The rule now relied on by the defendant is that which was estab
As to the second exception, we think the transactions of the defendant with Halliday, Jones & Brooks were not evidence in this pause, being res inter alios acta.
Judgment reversed, and venire facias de novo awarded.