Bank of Portland v. McCredie Bank
| Citation | 300 S.W. 1018 |
| Decision Date | 03 January 1928 |
| Docket Number | No. 16167.,16167. |
| Parties | BANK OF PORTLAND v. McCREDIE BANK et al. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Callaway County; D. H. Harris, Judge.
Action by the Bank of Portland against the McCredie Bank and others. From the judgment, plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.
Baker & Baker and Cave & Cuthbertson, all of Fulton, for appellant.
W. B. Whitlow, of Fulton, for respondents.
This case comes from the circuit court of Callaway county, Mo. The case involves a claim in the sum of $1,472.60. The claim is by the Portland Bank v. Bank of McCredie, now in the hands of the state finance commissioner in the process of liquidation. The appellant contends it is entitled to have its claim allowed as a preferred claim.
The McCredie Bank, located at McCredie, Callaway county, Mo., was on September 27, 1926, and for a long time prior thereto, engaged in a general banking business. The Portland Bank was also doing a banking business at the same time at Portland, Callaway county, Mo. Portland and McCredie were about 25 miles apart.
The McCredie Bank closed its doors and was placed in charge of the state finance department on September 29, 1926. On September 27, 1926, the McCredie Bunk had outstanding drafts which would be presented at the Stockyards' National Bank on September 27th or 28th. without disclosing the imperative need, the cashier and the president of the McCredie Bank called at the home of the president of the Portland Bank and pursuaded the Portland Bank to transfer the sum of $5,500 from its correspondent bank in St. Louis to the account of the McCredie Bank in the Stockyards' National Bank, which was the correspondent of the McCredie Bank. This transfer was made by wire from the Portland Bank to its correspondent. In payment of that transfer, the officials of the McCredie Bank gave to the Bank of Portland a note signed by the McCredie Bank in the sum of $2,500. This note is not involved in this case. Certain customers' checks drawn on other banks were delivered. These checks were paid and are not involved in this case. A check was given by the McCredie Bank to the Portland Bank for $1,472.60 drawn on its account at the Callaway Bank, located at Fulton, Mo. This check was put in the usual course of collection, but did not arrive at the Callaway Bank until after the McCredie Bank was closed. This check, of course, was not paid, and the nonpayment of this check is the foundation of this claim.
The account of the McCredie Bank in the Callaway Bank, was not, on the date the check was given, sufficient to pay this check. At the time the McCredie Bank closed, it had on deposit the sum of $1,558.90 at the National Stockyards' Bank. This sum represented the balance of the money deposited by the Portland Bank to the credit of the McCredie Bank after paying the outstanding drafts of the McCredie Bank. In due time the claim was presented for the amount of $1,472.60, claimed by the Portland Bank to be a preferred claim. The claim was allowed as a general claim, and from the refusal to allow said claim as a preferred claim the Bank of Portland has appealed to this court.
The appellant relies upon the case of St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co. v. Millspaugh (Mo. App.) 278 S. W. 786. The facts in that case were that a railroad agent bought drafts and gave cash, or checks which were paid, therefor. The drafts were drawn on a Kansas City bank. The drafts were duly presented. Payment was refused because the bank was in the hands of the commissioner of finance. The ruling in St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co. v. Millspaugh, supra, rests upon the case of Stoller et al. v. Coates, 88 Mo. 514. In that case it was expressly held that there was no relation of debtor and creditor created. It further held that where a bank sells a draft to another bank and receives cash therefor, knowing or having reason to believe it is insolvent...
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