Ft. Worth Elevator Co. v. State Guaranty Bank of Blackwell
| Decision Date | 09 October 1923 |
| Docket Number | 11658. |
| Citation | 220 P. 340,93 Okla. 191,1923 OK 757 |
| Parties | FORT WORTH ELEVATOR CO. v. STATE GUARANTY BANK OF BLACKWELL. |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied Nov. 13, 1923.
Syllabus by the Court.
Under Act of Congress approved August 29, 1916, § 34 (U. S. Comp St. § 8604qq), the person who negotiates or transfers for value a bill by indorsement or delivery unless a contrary intention appears warrants that the bill is genuine; that he has a legal right to transfer it; that he has knowledge of no fact which would impair the validity or worth of the bill that he has a right to transfer the title to the goods, and the goods are merchantable or fit for a particular purpose whenever such warranties would have been implied, if the contract of the parties had been to transfer without a bill the goods represented thereby.
Where a bank receives from a party a draft with a bill of lading attached, and the bank gives the party credit for the amount and then indorses the bill, and sends through his usual channel to the party on whom it is drawn, and the same is paid, and the bill proves to be a forgery, said bank is liable to the person paying same for the amount paid by him.
Commissioners' Opinion, Division No. 1.
Appeal from District Court, Kay County; J. W. Bird, Judge.
Action by the Fort Worth Elevator Company against the State Guaranty Bank of Blackwell. From a judgment for defendant, plaintiff appeals. Reversed and remanded, with directions to enter judgment for plaintiff.
L. A Maris, of Ponca City, for plaintiff in error.
J. E. Curran, of Blackwell, for defendant in error.
The parties appear in this court as they did in the court below and will be referred to as plaintiff and defendant. This is a suit by the plaintiff against the defendant for the payment of an amount paid on a draft with bill of lading attached for $2,440 drawn by H. L. Tankersley and deposited in the bank of defendant at Blackwell, Okl., who sent it through its usual course to the plaintiff at Fort Worth, Tex., who paid the draft. The bill of lading attached to the draft proved to be a forgery. It was on the regular form of bills of lading issued by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé Railway Company at Hunnewell, Kan., and purported to be a carload of wheat shipped to Galveston, Tex. As before stated, the draft with the bill of lading was deposited in the State Guaranty Bank at Blackwell, Okl., being the bank of defendant, and Tankersley was given credit for same on his account. This draft was dated January 26, 1917, and something like 30 days, or, to be exact, on December 30, 1916, Tankersley had drawn another draft with bill of lading attached, which was identical with the draft and bill of lading involved in this case, except date and amount. That draft was proved to be a forgery, and a suit involving that draft was instituted in Texas, and reached the Civil Court of Appeals, and was decided by that court in May, 1919, and reported in 214 S.W. 656. The court in that case held the bank not liable. It is insisted that that case is not a precedent for the case at bar, for the reason that the Act of Congress approved August 29, 1916 (U. S. Comp. St. § 8604aaa et seq.), relating to bills of lading in interstate and foreign commerce, by the last section of this act (U. S. Comp. St. § 8604w), which is as follows: That "this act shall take effect and be in force on and after the 1st day of January next after...
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