American Bonding Company of Baltimore v. Laigle Stave & Lumber Company

• Decision Date: 19 January 1914
• Citation: 163 S.W. 167,111 Ark. 151
• Parties: AMERICAN BONDING COMPANY OF BALTIMORE v. LAIGLE STAVE & LUMBER COMPANY
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

163 S.W. 167

111 Ark. 151

AMERICAN BONDING COMPANY OF BALTIMORE v. LAIGLE STAVE & LUMBER COMPANY

Supreme Court of Arkansas

January 19, 1914

Appeal from Bradley Circuit Court; E. E. Williams, Special Judge affirmed.

Judgment affirmed.

D. A Bradham, for appellant.

1.Anders, by drawing on the Bradley Lumber Company for the $ 4,492, expressly requested that company, to that extent, to pay the note of the appellee, of which he and others were joint makers.Where one person, at the request of another pays an obligation for which the other is legally liable, he can recover the amount so paid from the person for whose benefit it was paid.28 Conn. 455;13 La.Ann. 627;97 N.W. 1056, 91 Minn. 339;58 A. 714, 77 Conn. 155, 27 Cyc. 833-837.

2.Where several are indebted on an obligation, and a third person pays the obligation at the request of one of the joint obligors, all may be sued in an action for money paid, and a recovery had against all of them.11 Wend. (N. Y.) 87; 2 Denio (N. Y.) 205.Anders' request, was, therefore, in law a request by all of the joint makers of the note.

3.Notwithstanding the money paid to discharge the debt of another may have been paid without a request on the part of the debtor, yet if the debtor adopts and enjoys the benefit of the payment, an action may be maintained against him for money paid.11 W.Va. 535;21 Ala. 473;39 Mo.App. 376;18 W.Va. 299.The note in question can not possibly be construed as the note of the plaintiff.The loan to Forsythe was personal, and it is manifest that the name of the Bradley Lumber Company was affixed to the note without any consideration moving to it, but merely as an accommodation to Forsythe.The note is not binding upon the Bradley Lumber Company.95 Ark. 368, 130 S.W. 162;4 N.Y.S. 385;68 Mich. 620, 36 N.W. 696;19 La.Ann. 202;82 Hun, 8, 31 N.Y.S. 44;18 Col. App. 378, 71 P.889.

B. L. Herring, for appellee.

The evidence makes it clear that Anders drew the draft for the $ 4,492, under directions of Bradley Lumber Company's manager, because he held that company's note for a greater amount.He was collecting a just debt when he made the draft, and did not undertake expressly nor by implication to repay the money procured by the draft.Forsythe or the company, perhaps both, owed the money.Whether Forsythe paid the note with his own funds or with money of the company, was immaterial to Anders.It did not change his attitude into that of a borrower with an implied undertaking to refund the money.27 Cyc. 833.

OPINION

MCCULLOCH, C. J.

Appellant, as assignee of the Bradley Lumber Company, instituted this action in the circuit court of Bradley County against the Laigle Stave & Lumber Company, a domestic corporation, and certain persons, to recover from them the sum of $ 4,492 and interest, the amount paid by the Bradley Lumber Company on a draft drawn on it by M. J. Anders, one of the defendants, who was secretary and manager of the Laigle Stave & Lumber Company.

The Bradley Lumber Company was, and is, a foreign corporation with domicile and principal offices at St. Louis, Missouri.It also maintained offices and operated a manufacturing and business plant at Warren, Bradley County, Arkansas.The business and affairs at Warren were under the management and control of one Forsythe, a trusted employee of the company, who accounted to the home office at St. Louis.An auditor was sent down at frequent intervals to check up and audit the accounts of the business.The authority of Forsythe to perform any act in the management and control of the business at Warren seems to have been complete.In December, 1909, Forsythe, acting for his principal, the Bradley Lumber Company, purchased a tract of timber land from the Laigle Stave & Lumber Company, acting through its manager, M. J. Anders, the consideration for the purchase being the sum of $ 5,000, which was paid by a draft of the Bradley Lumber Company.There was a previous understanding between Anders and Forsythe that the Laigle Stave & Lumber Company should lend the amount of the purchase price to Forsythe individually, which was done.The draft executed by the Bradley Lumber Company for the purchase price of the timber land was deposited in the Bradley County Bank to the credit of the Laigle Stave & Lumber Company, and Anders drew a draft on that fund in favor of Forsythe to cover the amount which he was lending the latter.Forsythe executed a note for the $ 5,000 in the name of his principal, the Bradley Lumber Company, due and payable ninety days after date, and delivered the same to Anders as security for the loan, and this note was by the Laigle Stave & Lumber Company assigned to the Bradley County Bank as security for money borrowed from the bank by the stave company and distributed to its stockholders.The bank also held, as security for the loan, another note executed by the Laigle Stave & Lumber Company and its codefendants, Adams, Anders and Colvin.On maturity of the note executed by Forsythe in the name of his principal to the Laigle Stave & Lumber Company, Anders made demand on Forsythe for the payment thereof, and Forsythe directed him to draw two drafts, one on him (Forsythe) for the sum of $ 650, and the other for the sum of $ 4,492 on the Bradley Lumber Company.These drafts were dated March 17, 1910, and were drawn and paid upon presentation through the Bradley County Bank.Forsythe was still in charge of the business, and when the draft on the Bradley Lumber Company was presented to him by a local bank at Warren, he paid it by drawing a draft for that amount on the Bradley Lumber Company at its home office in St. Louis, which draft was duly paid.In order to keep his books straight, and evidently to deceive his principal, he charged this amount on the books of the company to Anders as purchase price...