Charles Evans Hughes

“ Immediately following the words quoted, the court said:
'It is a general rule of law that where collateral security is received for a debt with power to convert the security into money, this is specifically applicable to the payment of such debt; the same person being the party to pay and receive, no act is necessary and the law makes the application. If the proceeds equal or exceed the amount of the debt it is de facto paid; no action would lie for it, and proof of these facts would support the defense of payment. ”

“ It is said by the petitioner that 'if we assume that the Port Arthur branch did, contrary to its instructions, permit Clarkson to take over the flour, then to the extent of the value of the security that was thereby released it may have been responsible.' But it is argued that 'although the bank did without warrant release the security,' still no damage resulted to the Seattle bank if Clarkson & Company were in fact able to pay their draft, and that there was abundant evidence that Clarkson's financial standing in Port Arthur at this time was good ”

“ This action was brought by the Russo-Chinese Bank to recover money which it had paid to the Seattle bank, and, with respect neither to the express promise to refund nor the promise implied in law, can it be said that the plaintiff was entitled to succeed if, at the time of the payment to the Seattle bank, it paid merely what it owed. There is no theory which permits it to recover, save that it paid under a mistake of fact ”