Indorser

“ If the party intended at the time to be bound only as guarantor of the maker, he shall not be an original promisor; and, if he intended to be liable only as a second indorser, he shall never be held to the payee as first indorser. ”

“ Indorsers, it is sometimes said, are sureties, but their contract, which is a new one as compared with the marker of the note, differs in some important respects from that of the surety, who is a joint promisor with the principal, as the holder of such an instrument is under no obligation to use diligence to enforce payment against the maker in order to hold the indorser. ”

“ As regards the right of a bon a fide holder of a bill to write over a blank indorsement, to whom the bill shall be paid, at any time before or after the institution of a suit against the indorser; it has long been the settled doctaine in the English and American courts; and the holder, by writing such direction over a blank indorsement, ordering the money to be paid to particular persons, does not become an indorser. ”

“ Nor is it necessary to extend the operation of the statute so as to include an indorser, in order to satisfy the literal scope of the language employed. 'Persons, bound as security for another,' are the words of the statute, which undoubtedly includes sureties proper in a bond, bill, or note, but it would be extending the words of the statute beyond their reasonable meaning, to hold that it includes an indorser whose liability is fixed by the required notice of the dishonor of the bill or note. ”

“ The indorser cannot, like a surety, call upon the holder of the note to proceed and collect it of the maker; for the indorser, though in the nature of a surety, is answerable upon an independent contract, and it is his duty to take up the note when dishonored. An accommodation indorser stands in the relation of a surety towards the party for whose accommodation the indorsement is made, and may recover against him the costs to which he has been subjected ”

“ Responsibility of Indorser.—When a person endorses any commercial paper, he not only expresses thereby his consent to the transfer of it, but he also enters into a conditional contract with each person who may afterward come into possession of the paper, whereby he becomes responsible for its payment, if the principal debtor fails to meet his obligation. ”

“ In the present case, the paper was transferred by an indorsement, imposing the ordinary liability upon the indorser. It may, perhaps, be distinguished from cases where the title to the paper is transferred by an indorsement without recourse, or by mere delivery. ”

“ That a prior indorser is, in the regular course of business, liable to his indorsee, although that indorsee may have afterwards indorsed the same note, is unquestionable. When he takes up the note he becomes the holder as entirely as if he had never parted with it, and may sue the indorser for the amount. The first indorser undertakes that the maker shall pay the note ”

“ Again, where a note is drawn or indorsed to a person as cashier or other fiscal officer of a bank or corporation of which he is the officer, it may be negotiated by either the indorsement of the bank or corporation or by the indorsement of the officer. And where the name of a payee or indorser is wrongly designated or misspelled he may indorse the note as therein described, adding, if he thinks fit, his proper signature. The holder may at any time strike out any indorsement which is not necessary to the title. ”

“ The obligation of an indorser is at least a 'claim,' and hence a debt so far as defined by section 1 (11) ; and the language of section 63, which permits proof of a claim 'founded * * * upon a contract express or implied,' is broad enough to embrace the liability of an endorser upon negotiable paper which has not matured at the time of the adjudication. ”

“ Although it is, in fact, an indorsed note, and so declared on, yet it is admitted to have originated in a negotiation between the maker and indorser, and whatever defence would be good as against the promisee, is admitted to be maintainable against this indorser, the indorser standing only on the ground of a security or ordinary collateral undertaker to the maker. ”

“ An indorser of a promissory note is only secondarily liable. His responsibility is, in its nature, a contingent one, and ordinarily, performance of the condition to make demand of the maker and give notice of his default in due time is an essential part of the title of one who asserts an indorser's liability. ”

“ This Territorial statute does not give to the assignee or indorsee of a bond any more 'rights, powers, or capacities,' than 'might have been possessed by the assignor or indorser.' The restrictive words, 'the same,' used in the law, show such intention by the legislature. Defendant in error cannot sue as indorsee, unless the words 'the same' are construed to mean more. ”

“ Originally they meant the same thing, but they do not now, for both er and ee are applied, in law, to persons, and ed to things, so that we want all three terminations. For example, indorser means the man who indorses; indorsee the man to whom the indorsement is made; but the note itself we say is indorsed. So vendor means the man who sells, vendee the man to whom something is sold, and the thing sold is vended. ”

“ To fix responsibility upon an indorser, payment must be demanded of the principal debtor on the very day when the obligation matures, and if payment is not made notice of the fact must be sent to the indorser before the end of the following day. ”

“ And when it appears that the indorser is not in fact an assignee of the paper, suit may be brought in a Federal court by a holder having the requisite diverse citizenship, notwithstanding the indorser might have been a citizen of the same state with the defendant. ”

“ The delivery of a bill of exchange signed and indorsed in blank only authorizes the receiver, as between himself and the drawer and indorser, to fill it up in conformity with the authority given him. If there has been no agreement, the authority is general ”

“ The same view is taken in Daniels on Negotiable Instruments, sect. 718, where the author states, as a resulting conclusion that embodies the true principle applicable to the subject, that, 'in an action by immediate indorsee against an indorser, no evidence is admissible that would not be admissible in a suit by a party in privity with the drawer, against him.' If the commercial contract of indorsement is treated as a contract in writing, this conclusion is undoubtedly correct. ”

“ Mathews, [2] that if the indorser, with full knowledge of the fact that no demand has been made or notice given, makes a subsequent promise, he is liable, and cannot, when sued, set up as a defence the want of such demand and notice; and to the same effect are the decisions of the courts in this country generally. [3] Applying the principle of these decisions to the admitted facts of this case there is no difficulty in charging the indorsers. ”

“ The statute requires a transfer to be made by the indorsement of the person to whom the note is payable, and the interpretation of it is, that, where a note is payable to the order of several persons not in partnership, all must separately sign their names as indorsers. ”

“ In 3 Salk. 67 it is ruled, that where a Bill is drawn payable to a man, ‘‘ an order,’’ it is within the custom of merchants; and such a Bill may be negotiated and assigned by custom and the Contract of the Parties. And in 1 Salk. 133 it is expresly said by the Court, that the words ‘‘ or to his order,’’ give the authority to assign the Bill by indorsement, and that without those words the Drawer was not answerable to the indorsee, although the Indorser might. ”

“ In mercantile pursuits the business man who gives a letter of recommendation to a friend to enable him to obtain credit from a stranger is regarded as morally responsible for the integrity of his friend and his ability to meet his obligations. A reformatory law which would enforce this principle against all indorsers of persons for public place would insure great caution in making recommendations. ”

“ Yes Madam, I would have Law Merchant for that too—and in all cases of slander currency, whenever the Drawer of the Lie was not to be found, the injured Party should have a right to come on any of the indorsers. ”

“ A cheque payable to order and a blank indorsement. [12] An authorised stamped indorsement is as good as a written one. Whether such indorsements are accepted or not depends upon the regulations of the clearing-house in the particular city in which they are offered for deposit. The written indorsement is considered safer for transmission of out-of-town collections. If you are indorsing for a company, or society, or corporation, write first the name of the company (this may be stamped on) and then your own name, followed by the word "Treas." ”

“ Securities of a negotiable character may be transferred by indorsement made at the time they are delivered, or if indorsed in blank or made payable to bearer, they may be transferred by mere delivery without any new indorsement. ”

“ Properly construed, the indorsement is nothing more than a reference of the whole subject to the Secretary of the Treasury for his decision, and it is not pretended that the contract was ever in any respect or to any extent approved or ratified by the secretary. Even when regarded as a mere recommendation, it should be observed that the indorsement does not in any sense extend to the whole contract under which the services were performed. ”

“ In indorsing, especially, a man should be restrained by law, under pains and penalties, from indorsing to amounts exceeding one-half of his property; and no indorsement in excess of that amount should be allowed to constitute a legal claim. ”

“ The want of Stivers's indorsement is no objection to the title of the plaintiffs. They had a right to fill up the blank indorsement by an assignment to themselves, as they did. (A number of cases cited. 11 Pet., 81, &c.) ”

“ It is in the power of the endorser to fix the jurisdiction, by making a special endorsement, as it is in the power of the drawer to escape the Federal jurisdiction by making the note payable to a citizen of the same State. ”

“ TILDEN TO——
"New York, Dec. 28, '55.
"My dear Sir,—Your letter in answer to mine in respect to your debt to the Bk. N. A., on which I am endorser, came to hand. It was not what I supposed from your previous assurances I had a right to expect, nor what seems to me just. Whether it be even wise for yourself, I will not undertake to judge.
"An endorsement made for a man's accommodation is called confidential, because it is supposed to impart a very high and sacred obligation to protect the friend who incurs such a liability in your behalf and for your benefit. ”

“ Bryan, (6 Wheat. Rep. 146.) has decided, that an endorsee who resides in a different State, may sue his immediate endorser, residing in the State in which the suit is brought, although that endorser be a resident of the same State with the maker of the note; but in this case the suit is brought against a remote endorser, and the plaintiffs, in their declaration, trace their title through an intermediate endorser, without showing that this intermediate endorser could have sustained his action against the defendant in the Courts of the United States. ”

“ Giving a letter of introduction is simply lending your name with a man as collateral, and if he's no good you can't have the satisfaction of redeeming your indorsement, even; and you're discredited. The first thing that a young merchant must learn is that his brand must never appear on a note, or a ham, or a man that isn't good. I reckon that the devil invented the habit of indorsing notes and giving letters to catch the fellows he couldn't reach with whisky and gambling. ”

“ The public interest requires that the same presumptions should attend an indorsement made by the president of a bank which exist in favor of an indorsement made by a cashier, and that banks should be held bound by acts of that nature when done by either of such officers in the ordinary course of business. ”

“ If defendants acquired any interest in the paper, it was not by virtue of that indorsement, but by some course of dealing with Harris & Sons, or by some other matter outside of the indorsement. The character of this indorsement also takes the case out of the rule asserted in the first proposition embraced by the exception.
Perhaps no subject connected with commercial paper has been more the subject of controversy, and of opposing and well-balanced judicial decisions, than the proposition here relied on. ”

“ If the money is not called for within ninety days after the date of the order, there will be difficulty in obtaining it. The regular form of the order must not be clipped or mutilated. When the payee of an order desires the same to be paid to any other person, he must fill up and sign a form of indorsement, and furnish such second party with the information required to obtain payment of his order, who upon receiving payment must sign his name upon the face of the order. More than one indorsement is prohibited by law, and will render the order invalid and not payable. ”

“ We deem it unnecessary to determine this question. That the presentation for discount by the maker of paper drawn to his own order, and bearing the indorsement of another party, does create a presumption that the indorsement is a matter of accommodation, is affirmed by the following, among other authorities: Bloom v. ”

“ The very form of the paper itself carries notice to a purchaser of a possible want of power to make the indorsement, and is sufficient to put him on his guard. If he fails to avail himself of the notice, and obtain the information which is thus suggested to him, it is his own fault, and, as against an innocent party, he must bear the loss. ”