Porter v. City of Janesville
| Decision Date | 01 January 1880 |
| Citation | 3 F. 617 |
| Parties | PORTER v. THE CITY OF JANESVILLE. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Wisconsin |
Wm Ruyor, for plaintiff.
Ed. F Carpenter and John Winans, for defendant.
BUNN D.J.
This action is brought by the plaintiff, who is a citizen of Massachusetts, against the city of Janesville, in Wisconsin to recover the amount of a certain bond for the sum of $1,000 and interest issued by the defendant to the Rock River Valley Railroad Company, a corporation in Wisconsin, and assignee to the plaintiff.
The following is a copy of the bond:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, STATE OF WISCONSIN, JANESVILLE, July 1 1853.
$1,000. JANESVILLE SCRIP. No. 47.
This certifies that the city of Janesville is indebted to the Rock River Valley Union Railroad Company in the principal sum of $1,000, payable to said company or its assignees at the end of 20 years from the first day of July, 1853, with interest at the rate of 8 per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually in the city of New York, on delivery of the interest warrants hereto annexed, as they shall respectively become payable, until said principal sum is fully paid. In testimony whereof, and pursuant to a vote of the common council and citizens of the city of Janesville, in a city meeting duly notified and held for that purpose, I, A. Hyatt Smith, mayor of said city, hereunto subscribe my name, and cause the seal of said city to be affixed.
Dated at Janesville, July 1, 1853.
Subscribed and sealed this first day of August, 1853.
By A. HYATT SMITH, Mayor.
Countersigned by J. W. HOBSON, Treasurer.
Annexed to the bond set out in the complaint are 40 coupons, for the payment of semi-annual interest, in this form:
INTEREST WARRANT FOR FORTY DOLLARS.
On the first day of July, 1873, the city of Janesville, Wis., will owe and will pay to the Rock River Valley Union Railroad Company, or bearer, $40, being for the half year yearly interest on city certificate No. 47, for $1,000, payable in the city of New York.
J. W. HOBSON, Treasurer.
The defendant demurs to the complaint, and the point relied upon is that the Rock River Valley Union Railroad Company, being a Wisconsin corporation, could not assign the bond to a citizen of Massachusetts so as to enable him to bring an action in this court; and the question presented is whether the bond in suit is a promissory note, negotiable by the law merchant, within the intent and meaning of section 1, c. 137, of the act of March 3, 1875, defining the jurisdiction of circuit courts.
It is contended by the defendant-- First, that the instrument sued on is a bond and not a promissory note; second, that, if a note, it is not negotiable by the law merchant, it not containing the words 'bearer' or 'order.'
In regard to the first point, sealed instruments of this character, providing for the payment of money at a future time, certainly have in this country, with very few exceptions, been held promissory notes rather than specialties. In fact, the instrument in suit answers every definition and requisite of a promissory note by the law merchant.
It is not in form a bond, but it is a simple acknowledgment of indebtedness, and a promise to pay a certain sum of money at a time certain,...
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