First Nat. Bank of St. Paul v. Scott County

• Decision Date: 01 January 1869
• Citation: 14 Minn. 59
• Parties: FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF ST. PAUL v. COUNTY COM'RS SCOTT COUNTY.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 59

14 Minn. 59

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF ST. PAULv.

COUNTY COM'RS SCOTT COUNTY.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Appeal by defendants from a judgment of the district court, Ramsey county.

John H. Brown, for appellants, cited:

Bigelow & Clark, for respondent, cited:

WILSON, C. J.

This suit was brought on certain bonds of Scott county. The act under which they were issued authorized the board of county commissioners of that county "to issue bonds. * * * Said bonds shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding 7 per cent. per annum, and shall be made payable at any time not less than five years from the date thereof, * * * and the county auditor of said county may, when authorized by said board of commissioners, draw warrants on the county treasurer for the amount of interest due on said bonds." Sp. Laws 1861, pp. 280-1.

The referee has found as a matter of fact that by the bonds issued under this law, and on which the plaintiff has brought this action, "the said county of Scott obligated itself, for value received, to pay one Justis H. Sweet, or the holder thereof, the sum of______, at the treasurer's office, in the said county of Scott, on the first day of April, 1866, with interest thereon at the rate of 7 per cent. per annum, payable annually, on the presentation of the corresponding interest warrants."

The particular form of the bonds or coupons is not given. The bonds in suit were lost by or stolen from the owner, and subsequently, in July, 1865, purchased by the plaintiff in good faith, at their market value, with all the coupons attached thereto.

The plaintiff's right to recover is disputed on several grounds, but one of which we consider. It appears from the enabling act, and the facts found by the referee, that the contract for the payment of interest is in the bond. The coupon is evidence of a sum due on the bond for interest, and it is attached as a matter of convenience merely. It serves as a warrant to the holder to receive the sum due, and a voucher when the money is paid. In other words, it is a mere token ticket or interest warrant indicating the time and place when and where certain sums would be due and payable for interest on the bond. Arents v. Com. 18 Gratt. 750, 771, 772.

The fact that it appeared upon the face of the bonds, that the interest for several years was overdue and unpaid, was, we think, a circumstance of suspicion sufficient to put the plaintiff on its guard. The bonds were thus dishonored on their face. The...