San Joaquin Valley Bank v. Bours
San Joaquin Valley Bank v. Bours
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff is a banking corporation, and the defendant, from the 30th day of March, 1868, to March 17, 1877, was its cashier. By the by-laws of the bank the president and cashier were each empowered “to discount bills, notes, or other evidences of debt, to buy and sell bills of exchange, to make loans with or without security .... and generally to transact and carry on the business of the bank, subject to the direction of the board of trustees expressed through the by-laws or such express resolution as may, from time to time, be passed, and they shall each report to the board of trustees, when required, each and everything by them, or either of them, transacted.”
The by-laws required that the board of trustees should every month examine into the affairs of the bank, count its cash, and compare its assets and liabilities with the balances on the general ledger, for the purpose of ascertaining the condition of the bank, and -whether the books were correctly kept. The duty thus imposed upon the board seems, from the record, to have been grossly neglected; for prior to the month of March, 1877, the cash does not appear ever to have been counted by it, and none but the most superficial examination made into the affairs of the bank. The board, however, met monthly, and to it at each meeting the defendant presented as his report a book of general balances, which, among other things, purported to represent the amount of cash on hand. These representations—so far at least as the item of cash was concerned—were untrue; for the amount of cash represented by the book of general balances was more than the amount of cash in the vaults of the bank by the amount represented by the “tags” already alluded to. The defendant thus represented to the board of directors that certain money of the bank was in the vaults, whereas in truth he had loaned it to a man, not only without security and without taking from him the slightest evidence of indebtedness, but, so far as appears, without interest, and from whom he never made the
Judgment and order reversed and cause remanded for a new trial.
McKee, J., and McKinstry, J., concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY BANK v. B. W. BOURS
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Oobpobatioi?—Bank—Cashieb—Liability fob Loans.—The cashier of a banking corporation, having authority to loan the money of the bank with or without security, is liable for losses arising from loans without security, not entered in the books of the bank, nor reported to the board of trustees, but treated in his reports to the board as cash on hand. Id.—Negligence of Tbustees.—Negligence of the trustees in the discharge of their duties to the bank is no defense to the cashier. Id.—Salaby of Cashieb—Turpi,ran Agreement.—The cashier was first appointed for three months, his salary being fixed by a verbal agreement at S200 per month. At the expiration of that period, he was appointed for one year, and thereafter continued to act for several years under annual appointments. The salary was never fixed by any resolution of the board of trustees, and during a portion of the time after the first three months, he drew the same salary as originally agreed upon, but subsequenely drew 5300 per month. The amounts so drawn were charged to him in the booksmf the bank, and reported to the board. Meld, that these facts were sufficient to establish an implied agreement between him and the board, increasing the salary to 5300 per month.