tutes rela tive to was required, such note is good. To obviate the objection on account Decisions Under the former acts, qualifying the right to re-issue bills after pay- If a bill or note be made in any part of the King's dominions, as in Jamaica, where by the law of such place a stamp is required, such instrument cannot be recovered upon in any court here, unless properly stamped, according to the law of the place where the same was made; but our courts do not regard the Revenue Laws of a foreign independent State."(75) When a bill of exchange or promissory note is not properly stamped, [ 58 ] it has been held, that a neglect to present it for acceptance or for payment, will not discharge the drawer or indorser from liability to pay the original debt, in respect of which it was indorsed or delivered to the holder; and if there be any such original debt, between the holder and Taylor v. Hague, 2 East, 414. Callow v. Lawrence, 3 M. &. S. 95. • Roach v. Edie, 6 T. R. 425. Boucher Holman v. Johnson, Cowp. 343. Clugas Wilson v. Vysar, 4 Taunt. 288. Ac- 1 (75) It seems that the courts of one country do not take notice of the stamp acts of another country, so far as to enforce a violation of them by denying effect to written contracts made in a country, and not stamped according to its laws. Therefore where a note was executed in France by a person resident there, payable at New York to another person resident there, as agent of a third person resident in France, and by the laws of France existing at the time all notes for the payment of money were required to be stamped, without which no note could be recovered in that country, it was held that a suit could be maintained thereon in the courts of New York, notwithstanding the note was not stamped. The Court said, that they did not sit to enforce the revenue laws of other countries; nor to take notice of a violation of them; and if it were otherwise, it might be said that the parties in that case never contemplated exacting payment of that note in France. Trustees of Randall v. Van Renssellaer, 1 John. Rep. 94. A note not duly stamped according to the act of congress of 6th July, 1797, cannot be read in evidence in an action brought upon it since the repeal of that act, unless the holder has complied with the provisions of the repealing act of the 5th of April, 1802, by paying a stamp duty of ten dollars. Edeck v. Ranuer, 2 Johns. Rep. 423. A promissory note made in Scotland is negotiable in England and an action may be maintained upon it by the indorsee against the maker. Milne v. Graham, 1 Barn. & Cressw. 192. utes tive stamps. to Decisions such drawer or indorser, the holder, though he cannot recover upon such on the stat-instrument, may nevertheless sustain his action for such original debt;" rela and if any banker pay any bill, draft, or order, insufficiently stamped, he is not to be allowed the payment in account. But where there is no privity between the plaintiff and the defendant, as in the case of a remote indorsee and the acceptor, the former will have no remedy against the latter, if the stamp be defective, and not remediable by the above provisions, and a court of equity will not in general afford him relief. But where a party had entered into an express agreement, to give a valid note, and had given one upon an improper stamp, a court of equity enforced the delivery of a valid note; and if a defendant in an action at law, pay money into court, upon the whole declaration, he is precluded from objecting to the sufficiency of the stamp on which the bill was dren. where made. 2dly, Place (2)-It is proper, in all cases, to superscribe the name of the place where the bill is really made, and when the maker is not a person well known in the commercial world, it is advisable for him to mention the number of his house, and the street in which he resides, in order that the [59]holder may be the better enabled to find him out, in case his responsibility is doubted, or in case acceptance, or payment should be refused by the drawee. According to the form in the schedule contained in the 17 Geo. 3. c. 30. in certain cases where bills are under £5, it is absolutely necessary to insert the name of the place where they are made; and if this be omitted in a check on a banker it will not be exempt from the stamp duties imposed by the 55 Geo. 3. c. 184. and the prior acts. b 3dly, Date. (3)----As the time, when a bill is to become due, is generally regulated by the time when it was made, the date of the instrument ought to be clearly expressed, and although it is the common practice, to write the date in figures, yet, in order to prevent intentional, or accidental alteration, which may invalidate the instrument, even in the hands of an in bill drawn by H. on B. and accepted by Ruff v. Webb, 1 Esp. Rep. 129. As- But in Swears v. Wells, 1 Esp. Rep. 317. Where a creditor had agreed to take part of his debt in hand, and a note for the remainder at a future day, but which note was by mistake given upon a wrong stamp. it was held; that having taken the money to be paid in hand, he was compellable to wait till the time when such security would become due, unless in the mean time the party had refused to give a note properly stamped, and see Chamberlain v. Delarive, 2 Wils. 353. See the cases in the last note, and Brown v, Watts, 1 Taunt. 353. Alves v. Hodson, 7 T. R. 243. and Tyte v. Jones, cited 1 East, 58, n. (a.) Puckford v. Maxwell, 6 T. R. 22. White v. Wilson, 2 Bos. & Pul. 118. Wilson v. Kennedy, 1 Esp. Rep. 245. Wade v. Beazeley, 4 Esp. 7. * 55 Geo. 3. c. 184. s. 13. nocent holder, it may be advisable to write the date at full length in 3dly, Date. words, and it has been recently enacted, that it shall not be lawful for any banker or other person to issue any promissory note for the payment of money to the bearer on demand, liable to any of the duties imposed by the act, with the date printed therein, under a penalty of £50. There is no legal objection to a bill being dated on a Sunday ; and the date of a bill or note is prima facie evidence of its having been made on the day of the date. A date, however, is not, in general, essential to the validity of a bill, for where a bill has date, the time, if necessary to be inquired into, will be computed from the day it was issued; and if a bill of exchange be made payable two months after date, and no date be expressed, the court will intend it to be payable two months after the day on which it was made. A check, if post dated and not stamped, we have seen is invalid ; and though it has been decided that a bill of exchange may be post dated; yet we have seen that this cannot be done so as to postpone the payment for more than two months or sixty days from the time it is issued, unless the increased duty be paid. By [ 60 ] the statute 17 Geo. 3. c. 30, however, it is enacted, that all bills of exchange, or drafts in writing, being negotiable or transferrable for the payment of twenty shillings, or any sum of money above that sum, and less than five pounds, or on which twenty shillings, or above that sum, and less than five pounds, shall remain undischarged, shall bear date. before or at the time of drawing or issuing thereof, and not on any day subsequent thereto. (78) (4)-There is no necessity for the superscription of the sum for which thly, Sum the bill is payable, provided it be mentioned in the body of the bill; payable. but the superscription will aid an omission in the body; and it is the Master v. Miller, 4 T. R. 320. 55 Geo. 3. c. 184. s. 18. • Drury v. De Fontaine, 1 Taunt. 131. Taylor v. Kinlock, 1 Stark. 175. The date upon a promissory note made by a bankrupt, of a time antecedent to an act of bankruptcy, is prima facie evidence to show that the note existed before the act of bankruptcy was committed, so as to establish a petitioning creditor's debt in an action by the assignees. Armit v. Breame, 2 Ld. Raym. 1076. 1082. An award which directed the removal of some scaffolds within 58 days from the date of the award, had no date, an objection being taken upon this ground, the court said the time was to be computed from the delivery. See also 2 Show. 422. Goddard's Case, 2 Co. 5. (a.) Sel. Ni. Pri. 283. Bac. Ab. Leases, 1. 1. Com. Dig. Fait, B. 3. De la Courtier v. Bellamy, 2 Show. 422. Case on a foreign bill of exchange, (78)otes made or first delivered after the time they bear date are valid only from the day of delivery, and are to be considered as drawn on that day. Lansing v. Gaine, &c. 2 John. Rep. 300. And if a statute has made notes of a particular description illegal if issued after a particular time, it is competent for the maker to prove that a note was ante-dated to evade the statute. Bayley v. Taber, 5 Mass. Rep. 286. A note may for honest purposes be dated as of a day antecedent to that on which it was really made. Richter v. Selin, 8 Serg. & Rawle. 425. payable. 4thly. Sum advice of Beawes," that the sum payable be expressed so distinctly both in words and figures, that no exception can be taken to the instrument; and it is now the usual mode, to subscribe the sum payable, in figures at the head of the instrument, and in words in the body of it. In drawing a check on a banker, the sum is generally subscribed. place payment. (5)-By a French ordinance, it was required, that bills of exchange Time, and made in that country, should express the time when they were to be paid, of or otherwise they would be invalid; but there being no positive regulation affecting bills in this country, they would be valid although no time be mentioned in them, and would operate, as in the case of a check on a banker, as payable on demand. It is advisable, however, in all cases, to express the time of payment as clearly and intelligibly as possible, and it is therefore usual to write it in words, particularly as they are less subject to alteration than figures; and where a bil! is drawn in one country using one style, and payable in a country using another, it is said that the drawer sometimes makes the date both according to the old and new style." With respect to the time when payment is to be made, it depends entirely on the agreement of the parties, and there is limitation in point [61]of law, though the payment must not be contingent. But by the 17th Geo. 3. c. 30. negotiable bills and drafts under £5, of the description above-mentioned, must be payable within twenty-one days after the day of the date thereof. The operation of this act is suspended with respect to drafts payable to bearer on demand, by the statute 37 Geo. S. c. 32. and other subsequent acts. Foreign bills are frequently drawn payable at usance or usances, but they, like inland bills, may be drawn payable at sight, or at days, weeks, months, or years, after sight or date, or on demand: bills, however, are very seldom drawn payable on demand; but usually, when it is intended they should be payable immediately, are drawn payable at sight. If drawn at sight, the drawer of a foreign bill should express that it is payable according to the course of exchange at the time of making it;t for otherwise, it seems, that the drawee must pay according to the exchange of the day when he has sight of the bill. Checks on bankers very seldom express any time when they are to be paid, and consequently, as will be seen hereafter, are demandable immediately they are delivered to the payee or bearer. (80) The forgery being proved, it was urged Beawes, tit. Bills of Exchange, pl. 3. Poth. pl. 32. Pardessus droit Commerciál, 1 tom. 352. P Boehm v. Sterling, 7 T. R. 427. Kyd. 8. Mar. 91. Bayl. 113. • If a bill of exchange be made payable at never so distant a day, if it be a day that must come, it is no objection to the bill. Per Willes, C. J. in Colehan . Cooke, Willes, 396. "En especes au cours de ce jour." Poth. pl. 174. (80) The time of payment is part of a contract, and if no time of payment be expressed on a note the law adjudges it payable immediately; and parol evidence is inadmissible to show a different time of payment Thompson v. Ketcham, 8 John. Rep. 189. So to show a note payable in 1810, was so made by mistake for 1811. Fitzhugh v. Runyon, 8 John. Rep. 375. 5thly, With respect to the time when a bill drawn payable in either of these Time and ways becomes due, the reader is referred to that part of the work which place treats of the presentment for payment. If it be intended that the bill shall be payable at a particular place, the drawer should so frame the bill which he may do either in the body of the bill, or in the direction to the drawee, as by the words, "payable in London."" payment. quest of to (6)-It is said by Beawes, in his Lex Merc. that payment of a bill [62] should be ordered and commanded; it is sufficient, however, if it be 6thly, Rerequested; and according to Marius, the direction to pay the money pay. need not be contained in the body of the bill, or even on the same side of the paper, but this form is not recommended. * (7, 8)-Inland bills, checks, and notes, consist only of one part, but foreign bills, in general, consist of several parts, in order that the bearer having lost one, may receive his money on the other ; but if the drawer only give one bill, he will, if it should be lost, be obliged to give another of the same date, to the loser. The several parts of a foreign bill are called a set; each part contains a condition, that it shall be paid, provided the others remain unpaid; in other respects all are of the same tenor. This condition should be inserted in each part, and should, in each, mention every other part of the set, for if a person, intending to make a set of three parts should omit the condition in the first, and make the second with a condition, mentioning the first only, and in the third alone take notice of the other two, he might, perhaps, in some cases be obliged to pay each; for it would be no defence to an action by a bona fide holder on the second, that he had paid the third, nor to an action on the first, that he had paid either of the others. But an omission is not, perhaps, material, which upon the face of the condition must necessarily have arisen from a mistake, as if in the enumeration of the several parts, one of the intermediate parts were to be omitted, for instance, pay this my first of exchange, second and 66 7thly & Sthly,Of se veral parts. |