Minot v. Russ
| Decision Date | 20 June 1892 |
| Citation | 31 N.E. 489,156 Mass. 458 |
| Parties | MINOT v. RUSS. HEAD et al. v. HORNBLOWER et al. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
Frank Brewster, for Minot.
F.R Jones, for Russ. Wm. C. Loring, for Head and others.
M. & C.A. Williams, for Hornblower and others.
The first case is an appeal from a judgment rendered by the superior court for the defendant on his demurrer to the declaration. The defendant on October 29, 1891, drew a check on the Maverick National Bank payable to the order of the plaintiff, and, being informed by the plaintiff that the check must be certified by the bank before it would be received, the defendant on the same day presented the check to the bank for certification, and the bank certified it by writing on the face of the check the following After it was certified the check was, on Saturday, October 31 1891, delivered by the defendant to the plaintiff for a valuable consideration. The declaration alleges that the bank stopped payment on Monday morning, November 2, 1891 "before the commencement of business hours of said day," and that on that day payment was duly demanded of the bank, and notice of nonpayment was duly given to the defendant. The second case is an appeal from a judgment rendered for the defendants by the superior court on an agreed statement of facts. On Saturday, October 31, 1891, the defendants drew their check on the Maverick National Bank, payable to the order of the plaintiffs, and delivered it to them in payment of stocks bought by the defendants of the plaintiffs. The check was received too late to be deposited by the plaintiffs for collection in season to be carried to the clearing house on that day, but during banking hours on that day the plaintiffs presented the check to the Maverick National Bank for certification, and the bank certified it by writing or stamping on its face the following: At that time the defendants had on deposit sufficient funds to pay the check, and the bank, on certification, charged to the defendants' account the amount of the check, and credited it to a ledger account called "Certified Checks," in accordance with their uniform custom. After certification, the plaintiffs on the same day deposited the check in the Hamilton National Bank for collection. It is agreed that if the check had been presented for payment on Saturday in banking hours it would have been paid; but the Maverick National Bank transacted no business after Saturday, and on Sunday the comptroller of the currency placed a National Bank examiner in charge, and the bank was put into the hands of a receiver. The clearing house on November 2d refused to receive checks on the Maverick National Bank, and the check was on that day duly presented for payment, and due notice of nonpayment was given to the defendants. Each of the checks was in the ordinary form of checks on a bank, and they were payable on demand, and no presentment for acceptance or certification was necessary to charge the drawer. In a sense, undoubtedly, a check is a species of bill of exchange, and in a sense, also, it is a distinct commercial instrument, but according to the general understanding of merchants and according to our statutes these instruments were checks, and not bills of exchange. Bullard v. Randall, 1 Gray, 603. The duty of the bank was to pay these checks when they were presented for payment if the drawers had sufficient funds on deposit. The bank owed no duty to the drawers to certify the checks, although it could certify them if it saw fit, at the request of either the drawers or of the holders, and if it certified them it became bound directly to the holders, or to the persons who should become the...
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