Time of maturity. Lost bills. bill of exchange is considered due the moment the drawee becomes bankrupt, and the holder may have it protested. But the drawer and indorser may delay the payment till the bill falls due, by giving security (a). Portugal.-A bill of exchange payable at a specific time is payable on the day when it becomes due at 'change hours, or until sunset, if it be not an exchange day. A bill of exchange payable at sight is payable on presentation, within the same hours. A bill of exchange is deemed to become due the moment the drawee becomes bankrupt, in which case the holder may have it protested at once. Yet the drawer and indorsers may, in such a case, by giving security, postpone the payment till the bill becomes due. If a bill of exchange has been issued on a set of many copies, and the drawee has accepted several of them, he is bound to pay all those accepted copies which may be in the hands of different holders, though he would have a right of recourse against those who have made double use of the bill. The acceptor is not bound to pay a bill which has been lost to the party who presents it, unless the latter can prove his right to it, and unless he gives sufficient guarantee for the security of the acceptor. The naked holder of a bill may have it protested in any case where the law requires it, and demand payment of it by giving security, if he can prove by writing that the bill was sent to him to get cashed. The holder of a bill who had received payment, as well as all the preceding indorsers, are responsible towards the party who paid it for the validity of the preceding indorsements. The acceptor is not bound to pay, if the holder does not give up the bill which bears his acceptance, duly discharged, except where the bill was lost. In case of part payment, the acceptor may demand that the same shall be noted in the bill, and that a receipt of the sum be given to him, but he has no right to ask that the bill be given up (b). Russia.-A bill of exchange payable at sight is not due until twenty-four hours after its presentation for acceptance. The maturity of a bill of exchange payable at one or several days after sight, is presumed to have arrived after the expiration of the last of the days indicated in the bill, not including the day of presentation, from which date the days must be reckoned. (a) Dutch Code of Commerce, $$ (b) Portuguese Code, §§ 370-395. 149-154. The maturity of a bill payable at so many days or months after date, is considered to have arrived after the expiration of the last day. A bill of exchange payable at usance, is due fifteen days after its presentation for acceptance. The maturity of a bill of exchange at twelve months takes place in the following year, on the same day, and in the same month, when the bill was signed. If it be leap-year, and the bill bears date the 29th of February, it shall fall due on the 28th February in the following year. For bills of exchange coming from abroad, the maturity is calculated according to the new calendar, and for those coming from the interior, according to the old one. Generally speaking, if the bill falls due on a holiday, or royal fête, it is payable on the next day. The same rule is prescribed as regards the Saturday amongst the Jews. If it so happen that there are several blank days following each other, the bill will fall due on the day after the first blank day. And bills which fall due on the following days are then payable, although they should be blank days. All these regulations relative to maturity apply equally to both kinds of bills. The days of grace are reckoned from the morning of the day which follows that on which the bill becomes due; and they are, on bills of exchange payable at sight, three days, and on bills payable on a specific day, ten days, including holidays. If the last day of grace falls on a holiday, that day would not be reckoned. The same rule is observed as respects the Jews for Saturdays. Days of grace are not granted on bills of exchange payable at fairs, nor on those whose acceptance has been refused (a). Sweden. After a bill of exchange has become due, six days Days of grace. of grace, including Sundays and holidays, are granted for the payment; if the day the bill falls due is Sunday, the bill is payable the day preceding. Such days of grace are optional as regards the maker or drawee. A bill of exchange payable at sight, or at two or three days after presentation, does not enjoy days of grace; it must be paid on the day it falls due, or, at the latest, within twenty-four hours. A bill of exchange payable at half a month, is due on the 15th; it enjoys the days of grace. A bill of exchange payable after date, or at a certain period after its maturity, enjoys only such days of (a) Russian Code, §§ 350-363. VOL. I. F F grace as may remain to run, computing from the day of maturity (a). Who should pay. To whom payment should be made. When pay: ment should be made. SECTION XII. PAYMENT. BRITISH LAW. Payment of bills and notes may be made by the drawee or maker, or by any party with his consent, and by the acceptor for honour or under protest. Payment by the acceptor or maker is a satisfaction as to all parties (b), and payment by the drawer is held as made for the benefit of the acceptor, though the drawer preserves his right against him (c). Payment should be made to the real proprietor of the bill, or his agent duly authorised (d). Where the payee is a minor, payment should be made to his guardian, and if a married woman, the discharge of her husband is necessary (e). Under any circumstances the possession of the instrument is prima facie evidence of the holder's right to receive payment (f). Payment bond fide made to a thief or finder, or to a bona fide holder of a bill stolen or found, is a valid payment (g). But when notice has been given of the loss, payment should not be made without proper caution, by calling upon the finder, or any other person, to establish a clear title. or give adequate security (h). Payment to a bankrupt, with notice of his having committed an act of bankruptcy, is void (i). But if made without notice, it would be valid. Payment should be made when the bill becomes due, and not before. Payment made under exceptionable or suspicious circumstances, such as before the bill became due, or long after it is due, will not discharge the payer. The party has (a) Swedish Ordinance, chap. 8. (c) Williams v. James, 15 Q. B. 498. (e) Barlow v. Bishop, 1 East, 432; Baker v. Bank of Australasia, 1 C. B. N. S. 515. (f) Robarts v. Tucker, 16 Q. B. 560. (g) Raphael v. Bank of England, 17 C. B. 161; De la Chaumette v. Bank of England, 2 B. & Ad. 385; Pierson v. Hutchinson, 2 Camp. 211; Bevan v. Hill, 2 Camp. 381. (h) Da Silva v. Fuller, Sel. Ca. 238. (1) Kitchen . Bartsch, 7 East, 53. the whole day, and till the last moment of it, to pay the bill or note, though, in the case of foreign bills, the holder may insist upon payment being made within business hours, to enable him to send notice of dishonour, if necessary, on the same day (a). The payment must be made in money, and not in goods or bills (b). The reception by the holder of a cheque upon another banker, or even of a country banker's note, though payable on the same day, discharges the drawers and indorsers (c). If the holder gives time to the acceptor of the bill or maker of this note, the drawer and other parties in this bill or note would be thereby discharged (d). When, however, there are two or more joint acceptors, the giving time to one of them would not discharge the other acceptors, unless the security was accepted in satisfaction of the prior demand, or that injury was thereby caused to the other parties (e). But a release to one of two or more joint acceptors would discharge all the other parties in the instrument, unless there was a special reservation to sue the other parties (ƒ). The holder may receive part payment from the acceptor or indorser, without prejudice to his rights against the other parties, provided he does not release or give time for the payment of the residue (g). How the bill should be paid. What will discharge the drawer and indorsers. The person paying is entitled to a receipt of payment, which The payment is usually indorsed on the back of the bill or note (h). When a bill is paid under mistake of facts, the money may be recovered back as being paid without consideration, provided the mistake be discovered in the morning of the day payment is made, and notice thereof be given to the holder of the bill in time to enable him to give notice of dishonour to the prior parties (i). (a) Tassel v. Lewis, 1 Ld. Raym. 210; Lodge v. Dicas, 3 B. & Ald. 611. 743. (b) Howard v. Chapman, 4 C. & P. 508. (c) Robinson v. Hawksford, 9 Q. B. 52; Lichfield Union v. Greene, 1 H. & N. 884. (d) Philpot v. Bryant, 4 Bing. 717; English v. Darley, 2 B. & P. 61. (e) Bedford v. Deakin, 2 B. & Ald. (ƒ) Cheetham v. Ward, 1 B. & P. 630; Nicholson v. Revill, 4 A. & E. 675. (g) Gould v. Robson, 8 East, 576; Walwyn v. St. Quintin, 1 B. & P. 652. (h) 43 Geo. 3, c. 126, s. 5. (i) Milnes v. Duncan, 6 B. & C. 671; Wilkinson v. Johnson, 3 B. & C. 435. should be receipted. Payment made under mistake. How and when is issued in a set. FOREIGN LAWS. France. A bill of exchange ought to be paid in the money should payment be made. indicated therein. The party who pays a bill before it becomes due, is responsible for the validity of the payment. But where a person pays a bill at maturity, and without opposition, he is presumed to be validly discharged. The holder of a bill of exchange cannot be forced to receive payment of it before maWhen the bill turity. The payment of a bill of exchange made upon a second, third, fourth, &c., is valid, when the second, third, fourth, &c., bear that such payment annuls the effect of the others. He who pays a bill of exchange upon a second, third, fourth, &c., without receiving back that upon which his acceptance is inserted, does not effect his own discharge as against the party bearing his acceptance. No opposition can be offered to the payment of a bill except in case of the loss of the bill of exchange, or of the bankruptcy of the holder. In case of loss of a non-accepted bill of exchange, the party to whom it belongs is entitled to sue for payment upon a second, third, fourth, &c. If the lost bill of exchange was accepted, the payment cannot be exacted upon a second, third, fourth, &c., except by an ordinance of the judge, and upon security being given. Should the party who has lost the bill, whether it was accepted or not, not be able to produce the second, third, or fourth, he may demand payment of the bill by obtaining an ordinance of the judge, upon his establishing his claim to the sum by his books, and giving security for the same. Payment of lost bill. Protest of a lost bill. In case of refusal of payment upon demand, the proprietor of a lost bill of exchange will still preserve all his rights by protesting the bill. The protest ought to be made the day after the maturity of the lost bill; and it ought to be notified to the drawer and indorsers in the forms and times prescribed for the notification of protest. The owner of a lost bill of exchange, ought, in order to procure the second, to address himself to his immediate indorser, who is bound to lend him his name and aid in proceeding towards his own indorser; and thus ascend, from indorser to indorser, to the drawer of the bill. The owner of the lost bill must bear the expenses. The responsibility of the surety ceases |