In summing up to the jury, Lord Mansfield told them that the statute of usury was made to protect men who act with their eyes open, to protect them against themselves. Upon this principle, it makes it penal for a man to take more than the fixed rate of interest, it being well known that a borrower in distress would agree to any terms. "No person shall take directly or indirectly for the loan of money, &c., above the value of £5 for the forbearance of £100 for a year, and so, after that rate, for a greater or lesser sum, or for a longer or shorter time." They were therefore to consider whether the transaction between this defendant and Harris & Stratton was not, in truth, a loan of money, and the sale of goods a mere contrivance and evasion.

The most usual form of usury was, his Lordship said, a pretended sale of goods. He then stated the material parts of the evidence, and made some strong observations to show that it was not the intention of the parties to buy and sell, but to borrow and lend, and that the contract was, in truth, for a loan of money, though under the mask of a treaty for the sale of goods. The jury found the contract to be usurious.

The plaintiffs afterwards asked for a new trial. Lord Mansfield refused their application after hearing much argument. He said:

Therefore, the only question in all cases like the present, is, what is the real substance of the transaction, not what is the color and form.

This is one of the strongest cases of the sort I ever knew litigated. It is impossible to wink so hard as not to see that there was no idea between the parties of anything but a loan of money. His Lordship then recapitulated the striking parts of the evidence, and observed that the only purpose of Harris & Stratton was to contrive how to get more than legal interest. They first offered part in cash; then less, playing the defendant on, in order to increase his distress; and at last tempted him by an offer to conclude the business immediately if he would take the whole in goods; assigning to the last, as a reason for this, that they could not procure the money. They did not act as persons selling goods upon credit to be paid for at future day; but as lending on the security of the note and the assignment of the salary. The jury therefore had done perfectly right.

JOURNAL OF MERCANTILE LAW.

A LAW OF BANKS, BANKING ASSOCIATIONS, ETC., IN NEW YORK.

The following act passed the Legislature of New York State, March 28th, 1857, and is now in force. It is entitled

AN ACT IN RELATION TO BANKS, BANKING ASSOCIATIONS, INDIVIDUAL BANKERS, AND THE BANK DEPARTMENT.

SECTION 1. Whenever a banking association shall lawfully, by virtue of its articles of association or other proper authority, make any change in any of the particulars required to be stated in the certificate of association, the change shall not be of any force or validity until a certificate thereof, executed by the president and cashier, under the corporate seal of the association, shall have been recorded, and a copy filed, in the same manner as the certificate of association is by law required to be recorded and filed.

SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of either the president or cashier of every bank and banking association, and of every individual banker, having securities de

posited in the office of the Superintendent of the Banking Department of this State, once or more during each fiscal year, and at such time or times during the ordinary business hours as said officer, banking association, or banker may select, to examine and compare such securities with the books of said department, and if found correct, to execute to the Superintendent a receipt, setting forth in the same the different kinds and the amounts thereof, and that the same are in the possession and custody of the Superintendent at the date of such receipt. In case of the inability of an individual banker to make such examination, he shall make the same through an authorized agent appointed by him in writing, whose receipt shall have the same force and validity as if executed by him in person. If any bank, banking association, or individual banker, shall refuse or neglect to make such examination during the fiscal year aforesaid, the Controller, Secretary of State, and the Superintendent of the Banking Department, shall appoint some suitable and discreet person as agent of such bank, banking association, or individual banker who shall have neglected or refused to make the aforesaid examination; and such agent shall make such examination, and if the securities so held by the Superintendent shall be found to agree with the books of the department. shall execute the receipt before mentioned, and the same shall be of like force or validity as if executed by the president or cashier of the bank, banking association, or the individual banker, or by an agent by him appointed; and it shall be the duty of such bank, banking association, or individual banker, to pay on demand to such person so appointed, and making such examination, and executing a receipt as aforesaid, such compensation therefor as the Superintendent shall certify to be just and reasonable.

SEC. 3. Section nine of the act to organize a banking department, passed April 12, 1851, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

:

Instead of the Controller, Secretary of State, and Treasurer, it shall be the duty of the Superintendent of the Bank Department to fix upon and determine a day in respect to which the reports of incorporated banks, banking associations, and individual bankers shall be made, as provided in chapter four hundred and nineteen of the session laws of one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven; and the said Superintendent shall, at least once in each quarter of a year, fix and designate some Saturday in each preceding quarter in respect to which the said reports shall be made, and shall give notice thereof in the manner prescribed in the said chapter four hundred and nineteen; and the said reports shall be made to the said Superintendent as directed in the said chapter, and all willful false swearing in respect to such reports shall be deemed perjury, and subject to the punishments prescribed by law for that offense. In case of neglect to make such report within fifteen days from the mailing of the notice designating said day upon which such report shall be made, it shall be the duty of the Superintendent to cause the books, papers, and affairs of the bank, association, or banker so neglecting, to be examined as directed by the third section of the said chapter four hundred and nineteen; and the reasonable expenses of such examination, to be certified by the said Superintendent, shall be charged to the bank, association, or banker so neglecting, and shall be collected in the manner herein prescribed in respect to other charges against them; and it shall also be the duty of the Superintendent, in case of the failure or neglect of any bank, banking association, or individual banker to make said report within the time above mentioned, to prosecute the same in any court of record, and recover the sum of one hundred dollars for such neglect or refusal; and the money so recovered shall be paid into the Treasury of this State, to be used for the purpose of defraying the miscellaneous expenses of the Bank Department.

SEC. 4. Whenever any circulating notes of any bank, banking association, or individual banker shall be returned to the Bank Department for destruction and burning, it shall be the duty of such bank, banking association, or individual banker, or the trustees or officers thereof, to procure the attendance of an agent to witness the counting, destruction, and burning of such circulating notes at the Bank Department, and sign a certificate thereof. In case the individual banker, or the trustees or officers of any bank or banking association, returning circulating notes to the Bank Department for destruction and burning, shall re.

fuse or neglect to appoint or procure the attendance of an agent to witness the counting and burning thereof within ten days after the receipt of the bills at the Bank Department, it shall be the duty of the Superintendent to select and appoint some indifferent person, who shall, as the agent of such bank, banking association, banker, or trustees, witness and certify the counting and burning thereof; and it shall be the duty of such bank, banking association, banker, or trustee forthwith to pay on demand to such person so appointed, witnessing, and certifying as aforesaid. such compensation therefor as the Superintendent shall certify to be just and reasonable.

SEC. 5. That it shall be the duty of the Superintendent of the Banking Department, and he is hereby authorized and directed to destroy or cause to be destroyed, all bank-note plates in his custody, of banks, banking associations, or individual bankers, which have failed, or given notice of closing their business; and also all bank note plates in his custody that are not used, and any impres sions that may be on hand made therefrom; and hereafter, whenever any bank, banking association, or individual banker shall fail or discontinue the business of banking, it shall be the duty of the said Superintendent to destroy, or cause to be destroyed, all plates and impressions belonging to such bank, banking associa tion, or individual banker, and include in his next annual report a statement of the plates so destroyed.

SEC. 6. It shall not be lawful for the Superintendent of the Banking Depart ment to issue circulating notes to any individual hereafter commencing the business of banking under chapter two hundred and sixty of the laws of eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, and the various amendments thereto, designating such individual as a bank, unless as an addition to his own proper name the word "bank" is added thereto on such circulating notes; and in case such individual shall have partners in the business of banking at the time of commencing the same, such fact shall be shown by the words "and company," to be added to his own proper name, upon every note issued to him or them from the Banking Department.

SEC. 7. Section nine of chapter two hundred and forty-two, of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-four, shall not be so construed as to prohibit an individual banker from selling his business of banking, upon the securities deposited by him, with all the privileges thereof, to any person who, previous to the passage of said act of eighteen hundred and fifty-four, was the partner in good faith of such banker in the business of banking aforesaid; neither shall it be so construed as to prohibit an individual banker from bequeathing his business of banking, upon the securities deposited by him, to any person or persons; nor shall it be so construed as to prohibit the business from being continued after his death by his legatee or heir at law.

SEC. 8. The Superintendent of the Banking Department is hereby directed to pay into the Treasury of this State the sum of three hundred and sixty dollars and thirteen cents, now standing to the credit of the City Trust and Banking Company, the North American Bank, and the Farmers' Bank of Orange County; and the further sum of five hundred and seventy dollars and seventy-six cents, now standing to the credit of the Manufacturers' Bank of Ulster and the Farmers' Bank of Malone, to be applied to the current expenses of the Bank Depart ment.

SEC. 9. The Superintendent of the Banking Department is hereby authorized to compromise, sell, or dispose of, at public or private sale, as he may deem most for the interest of the Bank Fund, all or any portion of the assets of the City Bank of Buffalo, belonging to the Bank Fund, and pay the amount realized therefrom to the Treasurer on account of the Bank Fund.

SEC. 10. The terms "banking association" and "individual banker," as used in this act, shall be deemed to apply only to such banking associations and individual bankers as are or may be organized under the act of April 18, 1838, and the several amendments thereto.

SEC. 11. All acts or parts of acts, so far as the same are inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed.

SEC. 12. This act shall take effect immediately.

ACT IN RELATION TO LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS IN NEW YORK.

The following act, to amend the Revised Statutes in relation to limited partnership, (Chapter 414,) was passed by the Legislature of New York, April 14, 1857, and is now in force :

SECTION 1. Section three, article one, title one, chapter four, part second of the Revised Statutes, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

SEC. 2. The general partners only shall be authorized to transact business for the partnership, except as provided in section seventeen, and no special partner shall be authorized to sign for the partnership, or to bind the same.

SEC. 3. Section twelve of said article is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

SEC. 12. Every alteration which shall be made in the names of the partners, in the nature of the business, or in the capital or share thereof, or in any other matter specified in the original certificate, and the death of any partner, whether general or special, shall be deemed a dissolution of the partnership, and every such partnership, which shall in any manner be carried on after such alteration shall have been made, or such death shall have occured, shall be deemed a general partnership in respect to all business transacted after such alteration or death, unless renewed as a special partnership, according to the provisions of the last section.

SEC. 3. Section seventeen of said article is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

SEC. 17. A special partner may from time to time examine into the state and progress of the partnership concerns, and may advise as to their management; he may also loan money to, and advance and pay money for, the parnership, and may take and hold the notes, drafts, acceptances, and bonds of, or belonging to, the partnership, as security for the repayment of such moneys and interest, and may use and lend his name and credit as security for the partnership, in any business thereof, and shall have the same rights and remedies in these respects as any other creditor might have. He may also negotiate sales, purchases, and other business for the partnership, but no business so negotiated shall be binding upon the partnership, until approved by a general partner. Excepting as herein mentioned, he shall not transact any business on account of the partnership, nor be employed for that purpose, as agent, attorney, or otherwise. If he shall interfere contrary to these provisions, he shall be deemed a general partner.

SEO. 4. Section twenty-three of said article, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

SEC. 23. In case of the insolvency or bankruptcy of the partnership, no special partner shall, except for claims contracted pursuant to section seventeen, under any circumstances be allowed to claim as a creditor, until the claims of all the other creditors of the partnership shall be satisfied.

SEC. 5. This act shall take effect immediately, and shall apply as well to such partnerships existing at the time of the passage hereof, as to those thereafter formed.

ACT OF ILLINOIS IN RELATION TO CONVEYANCES.

The following act of the General Assembly of Illinois was approved February 14th, 1857 :

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, That where deeds conveying lands in this State have heretofore or may hereafter be executed by executors duly qualified in pursuance of due power vested in them by will, executed and proved out of this State, the same shall be evidence of title in the evidence or grantee to the same extent as VOL. XXXVII.—NO. III.

21

was vested in the testator at the time of his death, whether such will has been proved in this State or not.

SEC. 2. That all original wills, or copies thereof, duly certified according to law, or exemplifications from the record in pursuance of the law of Congress in relation to records in foreign States, may be recorded in the same office where deeds and other instruments concerning real estate may be required to be recorded, and the same shall be notice from the date of filing the same for record as in other cases.

SEC. 3. That where original deeds having tracts of land therein conveyed, lying in different counties, have been or may hereafter be recorded in any of such counties, it shall be lawful to record a certified copy of such deeds in counties where the original has not been recorded; and the recording of such certified copy here tofore or hereafter shall be notice in the same manner that the filing and recording of the original would be, and copies from such records shall be prima facie

evidence.

THE TARIFF-FORFEIT OF GOODS FOR UNDERVALUATION.

In United States District Court-July, 1857. Before Judge Betts :

The United States vs. Eighty-two Packages of Plate Glass.-This was a motion for a new trial. A libel of information was filed to forfeit the goods for undervaluation, under the 66th section of the act of March 2, 1799. The case was tried before a jury, who rendered a verdict condemning the goods. On the trial it appeared that the glass arrived at this port February, 1855, consigned to Schank & Downing, the claimants, by an association doing business near Namur, in Belgium, called the Floreffee Company. When it arrived, it was examined and appraised, and passed by the appraisers at the invoice valuation. But afterwards the appraisers sent to the claimants for a case of the glass, which was furnished and reapprised-informally, as the claimants alleged-and this action was commenced to forfeit it.

Held by the Court-That the forfeiture is incurred if the goods are not invoiced according to their actual cost at the place of exportation, with design to evade the duties, and it is immaterial whether the discovery of the fraud be made while the goods are passing inspection or afterwards. That it is not made to appear that the importation was made, or entry offered by manufacturers on their own account, and the collector must accordingly regard it as made by purchasers, and deal with it as such. That the collector had authority to cause a re-examination and valuation of the goods for dutiable purposes, and when so made the examination satisfies the legal prerequisities to an arrest of the goods. And it seems that the government have a right to adopt a seizure, if founded upon a good cause of forfeiture, and proceed for the condemnation of the goods, whether the seizure was regular or not. That the irregularity of appraisement, if any occurred, would not, under that doctrine, annul the action for the forfeiture. That the evidence of reappraisal was admissable to show authority for instituting the action. That "actual cost" is the cost of the goods at the place whence exported, with all dutiable charges added, and the claimants could not defend an undervaluation on the invoice, by proving that the goods could be manufactured for the price. That the ruling of the court on the trial was correct.

LIABILITY OF INDORSERS-POWERS OF PAYER OF A NOTE TO SUE INDORSERS. Moore vs. Cross and

Superior Court, General Term; March 24, 1857. McGervey.

McGervey, a retail dealer in coal, applied for credit to Moore, a wholesale dealer in the same article. The latter agreed to sell him coal, provided he would