strument assigned. (Chit. B. 137; Broom Com. 428; 2 Ste. Com. 113, 121.) An exchequer bill, the blank in which has not been filled up with any person's name, is also transferable by delivery. (Chit. B. 138.) Bills of lading are transferable by indorsement, so as to vest the contract in the indorsee. And a cheque or draft on a banker is as negotiable as a bill of exchange. (Chit. B. 138; Mau. & Pol. 226-7.) There are other instruments which, though saleable by mercantile usage, are not, properly speaking, negotiable; for none but the original contractee can sue upon them. And instruments which are negotiable in one state, may be deprived of their negotiable character. Thus, a bill or a note, when indorsed in blank, is negotiable; yet, by a special indorsement, the holder may cause its negotiability to (Sm. Merc. Law, 203.) cease. Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes. PART III. TIT. II. CAP. VI. change de A bill of exchange (frequently termed a Bill of exdraft) is a written order or request, signed, fined." but not sealed, by one person to another, for the payment of a sum of money, at a specified time, unconditionally. The person making this order or request is called the drawer; PART III the person to whom it is addressed, the TIT. II. CAP. VI. drawee, and, if he accepts it, the acceptor; Accommodation bill. the person in whose favour it is made, the payee. (Sm. Merc. Law, 206; Chit. B. 5; Broom Com. 433-6; Byles, 1.) An accommodation bill is a bill which is accepted without value passing, merely to accommodate the drawer, by enabling him to get it discounted. And it sometimes happens that two persons agree to mutually draw upon one another, without any value passing; and the drawer in each case gets his banker, or some other person relying on the credit of the drawer and acceptor, to discount the bill, so as to raise money, for purposes of speculation and other purposes; the discounter not knowing but that the full value passed, and the acceptor hoping to have funds to pay the bill at maturity. In these cases there is an implied contract on the part of the drawer, as the party accommodated, to pay the bill at maturity, and to indemnify the acceptor in case he is obliged to pay it for him. (Ste. Lect. 50-2; Broom Com. 436, 481.) Holder of a, The owner of a bill is called the holder, or, where it is transferable by delivery, the bearer. (Chit. B. 19.) bill. Cheque defined. A cheque is a species of bill of exchange. It is an order or request, made in writing, or partly in print and partly in writing, to a banker by his customer, to pay a certain sum to a person or bearer or order, on demand. PART III. TIT. II. CAP. VI. defined. A bank-note is a promissory note made by Bank-note a banker, payable to bearer on demand, and circulated as money. (Sm. Merc. Law, 206; Broom Com. 473; Byles, 9, 13.) between a cheque and a of exchange. A cheque is in general subject to the same Difference rules as a bill of exchange. But it does not require acceptance, and, in the ordinary course, it is never accepted: it is not intended for circulation, but is given for immediate payment, and should be presented for payment, or, if the parties live at a distance, forwarded for presentment, not later than the day after the day on which it is received: it is not entitled to days of grace: it may be, but it is not ordinarily, indorsed. (Broom Com. 454; Add. Torts, 204; Byles, 13, 18, 19.) note defined. A promissory note (or note of hand) is a Promissory written promise, signed by the promisor, but not sealed, to pay, at a specified time, a certain sum of money, unconditionally. The promisor is called the maker; and the promisee, or person to whom the promise is made, is called the payee. (Sm. Merc. Law, 206; Chit. B. 10; Broom Com. 464, 467; 2 Ste. Com. 123; Byles, 5.) PART III. TIT. II. Those only can be parties to a bill or note CAP. VI. who would be capable of entering into any other contract. A married woman cannot Parties to a bill or note. Requisites in a bill or note. charge either herself or her husband by making, drawing, accepting, or indorsing negotiable instruments, except as agent for her husband; or except he is under a civil incapacity of residing here, or she has been judicially separated from him. But in certain cases she may render her separate estate liable in equity. If, however, a bill or note is made or indorsed payable to the order of a married woman simpliciter, her husband may negotiate or sue upon it, either in his own name or in the joint names of himself and his wife. But if it is made or indorsed payable to her alone, or in terms excluding him, he cannot either sue upon it in his own name, or transfer it, but he may reduce it into possession, by receipt of the sum payable, or by suing upon the instrument in the joint names of himself and his wife. (Sm. Merc. Law, 221; Byles, 58-60; Chit. B. 8, 12-17.) It is not essential that a bill or note be in any particular form of words. But there is an established form, to which it is very desirable to adhere, in order to prevent questions PART III. TIT. II. A CAP. VI. from arising. bill. The following is the form of an inland bill: Form of a London, January 1, 1862. £100 08. Od. At sight [or on demand, or at (Stamp) days after sight, or at days or months after date] pay to C.D. or order [or to C. D. or bearer, or to JOHN WOOD. To Mr. Thos. Jones, Merchant, at Liverpool. * A mere acknowledgment of a debt, which requires no stamp, and on which an action may be brought, is often made thus: IO U. London, January 1, 1862. Mr. A. B. I O U £100. C. D. (Byles 26, 27.) |