Nebraska National Bank v. Walsh
Decision Date | 17 November 1900 |
Citation | 59 S.W. 952,68 Ark. 433 |
Parties | NEBRASKA NATIONAL BANK v. WALSH |
Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Appeal from Pulaski Circuit Court, JOSEPH W. MARTIN, Judge.
STATEMENT BY THE COURT.
This is an action by appellant against appellee for the statutory liability arising upon the following sections of Sand. & H Digest:
The defendant pleaded the statute of limitations. The case was tried before the court, which, upon the evidence, made the following finding:
Judgment was entered accordingly, and this appeal duly prosecuted.
Judgment reversed.
Rose, Hemingway & Rose, for appellant.
The two-year statute of limitations on penal action (Sand. & H. Dig., § 4826) does not apply to this action. The liability fixed by that statute is not a penalty. 146 U.S. 567. Statutes creating a mere personal liability, however great, in favor of a person aggrieved, are not penal. 2 T. R. 148, 154, construing the English statute of limitation (re-enacted in this state). 31 Eliz. c. 5, § 5; 1 H. Blackst. 10; 2 W. Blackst. 1226; 9 Price, 301; 13 Pick. 94, 100, 101; 16 Pick. 128, 132; 20 Me 218; 38 Me. 107; 31 Me. 528; 18 Me. 166; 2 Story, 432; 12 Ga. 117. Debt was the proper action at common law for the enforcement of such a liability as in the case at bar. 16 Ala. 214; 1 Mason, 243; 13 Wall. 531; 15 id. 516; 1 Gall. 26; 11 Ohio 130; 8 Pick. 514; 15 Ala. 452; 7 Porter, 284; 1 Bead, 72; 18 Am. & Eng. Eric. Law, 274; Wood, Lira. § 25. Indeed, the statute under consideration is remedial, rather than penal. 2 Morawetz, Corp. § 908; 3 Thompson, Corp. § 4164; 12 Ga. 106; 18 Ga. 909; 30 Ga. 580; 1 Shower, 353-4; 4 Carth. 233; Comb. 194; 4 Mod. 129; 12 Mod. 27; 3 M. & Selw. 434; 22 Pick. 495; 6 Gray, 338; 103 Mass. 160, 162; 118 Mass. 298; 14 Cal. 265; 34 Cal. 505; 53 Vt. 632, 639, 640; 45 N.W. 922; S.C. 29 Neb. 545; 47 N.W. 208; S.C. 30 Neb. 798; 23 N.E. 1007; S.C. 132 Ill. 197; 76 F. 695; Wood, Lim. 682, 683; 118 N.Y. 365, 378; 23 N.E. 544, 547; 51 N.W. 117; 101 U.S. 188; 146 U.S. 679; 8 Oh. St. 215, 222.
Jno. M. Moore and J. A. Watkins, for appellee.
The statute on which this action is based is penal, and the action was barred by Sand. & H. Dig., § 4826. 115 U.S. 112, 122; 13 Abb. Pr. 225, 229; 233, 234; 64 N.Y. 173; 96 N.Y. 323; 101 U.S. 188; 12 Allen, 438; 3 Dutch. 166; 8 Oh. St. 215; 33 Md. 487; 23 Col. 472; 1 Robt. 383; 9 R. I. 541; Thompson, Corp. § 4164; 60 N.Y. 533; 17 N.Y. 458; 56 N.Y. 559; 11 Abb. Pr. (N. S.) 366; 10 Abb. Pr. 39; 35 N.Y. 412; 7 Robt. 391; 10 Hun, 65; 67 Barb. 9; 19 Mo. 327; 4 Biss. 327; 3 Col. 332; 12 Gray, 203; 30 N.J.Eq. 478; 7 Lans. 206; 60 N.Y. 396; 50 N.Y. 314; 27 N.J.L. 166; 103 N.Y. 242; 13 Abb. Pr. 225; 11 N.Y.S. 1049; 96 N.Y. 323; 64 N.Y. 173; 80 N.Y. 610; 83 N.Y. 156; 86 N.Y. 613; 103 N.Y. 242; 29 P. 183; 86 F. 85.
WOOD, J., (after stating the facts.)
The statute upon which this action was founded does not come within the scope of the statute of limitations of two years. That statute is as follows: "All actions upon penal statutes, where the penalty, or any part thereof, goes to the state, or any county or person suing for the same, shall be commenced within two years after the offense shall have been committed, or the cause of action shall have accrued." Sand. & H. Dig., § 4826.
First. The prime object of every statute strictly penal is to enforce obedience to the mandates of the law by inflicting punishment upon those who disregard them; and, in statutes primarily and properly penal, the provision for punishment never rests in uncertainty, is never based upon a contingency. The general public is supposed to be injured by the violation of every penal statute, whether any special injury results to any particular individual or class of individuals or not. The punishment is provided as a sanction to the law, and is imposed for the public good, to deter others from the commission of like offenses. It would therefore, be palpably incongruous to call a statute penal which did not contain a definite and certain provision for punishment in every case where the duties enjoined by it were ignored. Black, Law Diet. "Penal Statutes," "Penal Laws:" Bouvier, Law Dict. "Penal Statutes;" Potter's Dwarris on Star. & Con. 74. Measured by these simple but infallible tests, the statute upon which this action was based is not penal. Here the behests of the law may be ignored repeatedly by the officers failing to file the certificate required, and still no unpleasant or severe consequences would be visited upon them unless there were creditors who had debts contracted with the corporation during the period of such disobedience. And even then the officers could be made to pay only at the instance of these creditors, and not by them if the debts had already been paid by the corporation. This shows conclusively that the public in general is not one whir interested in the enforcement of the duties enjoined by this statute, and that punishment of the officers for failure to perform the duties it prescribes is not the dominant idea. The duty which the statute enjoins upon, and the liability which it creates against, the officers is in favor of creditors. The measure of the liability is the amount of the debts which the corporation has incurred. There is no arbitrary amount fixed as a pecuniary mulct against the officers for each failure to file the certificate required. The amount is fixed, for compensation and indemnity, at the actual amount due the creditors. No additional sum is allowed them against the officers. They are only required to pay to prevent a loss which would otherwise result, directly or indirectly, from their neglect or failure. "By the principles of the common law, says Judge Thompson, 3 Thompson, Corp. § 4164; National New Haven Bank v. Northwestern Guaranty Loan Co., 61 Minn. 375, 63 N.W. 1079. The liabilities created, and the remedies provided, by this statute are private and civil. There is nothing in the mere wording to give it even a penal semblance, which, of itself, is persuasive. We conclude, from these...
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