Ramsey v. Johnson
Ramsey v. Johnson
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The question here is, Did the Court err in overruling the demurrer ? This point was decided by this Court in the case of Tindall against Bright.
It seems to me that this argument involves something' like a contradiction. If the signature of the payee to such joint note is a mere nullity, it would be viewed as surplus-age, and would leave the remedy against the other joint' makers unaffected. This, then, cannot be the true reason for the English decisions. If a judgment is recovered against joint obligors or makers, and satisfied by one of them, he has his remedy against the others for their proportions. This remedy is not affected by our Statute making joint obligations, &e. joint and several. If then a recovery-could be had against all the joint obligors or makers where the obligee or payee is one of them, the whole amount might be made out of the property of the payee to be paid to himself ; and it would be necessary for him to proceed separately against the others for their respective proportions, or the whole amount might be made out of any one of the others ; and thus he might be compelled to resort to his action against the man who had recovered of him, in order to get back again a part of that which had just before been recovered. This could not be tolerated ; and this is one reason why a recovery cannot be had on such obligation. But, in addition to this, when one or more persons enter into a note to pay another money, it is considered that the payee has parted from the whole consideration; and although each of the payors is presumed to have received only his proportion of it, they are securities for each other, and the payee may recover the whole amount from any one of them, leaving them to arrange the proportions among themselves. But when the payee or obligee is one of them, can it be pre-sumed that he has parted from the whole .consideration .?
Let the judgment be affirmed.
Ante, 103.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.