Owen J. Roberts

“ Notwithstanding our judgment denying to the Clearwater bank the right to counterclaim upon the drafts because the ownership of them is not in it but in its depositors, the depositors, if they have not already done so, are free to prove their claim against the Clearwater bank as a debtor, because they have never become owners of the drafts. The Clearwater bank, then, has no choice but to bear the burdens of ownership of the drafts which it has received and retains as owner. It should equally be entitled to the benefits. ”

“ There is no presumption, even under the Florida statute, that an agency of a bank to collect paper for its depositors survives the receipt by it of drafts in payment of the collection. Its survival necessarily depends on special circumstances not here disclosed. ”

“ Each deals, and is entitled to deal, with the other in reliance upon the security of the paper, indorsed without restriction, and transmitted, or expected to be transmitted, in the usual course of the transactions between them. ”