Farmers' & Mechanics' National Bank v. Sprague
Farmers' & Mechanics' National Bank v. Sprague
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff’s cause of action against the defendants, as set out in the complaint, is founded upon their acceptance of a draft drawn upon them by the firm of A. Kinnick & Co., doing business in Buffalo as carriers upon the canal, which draft was discounted by the plaintiff. The affidavits do not tend ‘ to show that the defendants were guilty of any fraud in making the acceptance; and while they disclose some circumstances, tending to show that the defendants lived in a somewhat extravagant and expensive manner, in houses of great value for the occupancy of insolvents belonging to their respective wives, yet they fail to
It would appear, from the affidavits that, aside from the bills of lading, the defendants, as to the drawers of the draft, were accommodation acceptors, and that the plaintiff was aware of this at the time of the discount and of the acceptance by the defendants; and that the money secured by such bills was the fund relied upon by the plaintiff to secure the payment of the draft, and to indemnify the defendants against the liability incurred by the acceptance. These bills were indorsed to the plaintiff; and thus the right to the money, payable thereon, became vested in it. The appellant’s counsel insisted upon the argument that the defendants only became liable, upon their acceptance, for the payment of the money that they should thereafter collect upon the bills of lading, and that the action of the plaintiff, though in form upon the acceptance, is really for the recovery of this money. This position is incorrect. By their acceptance, the defendants became liable to pay the draft according to the tenor thereof, whether they ever collected anything upon the bills or not. Had the grain been lost during its transit to Hew York, they would have been equally liable upon the acceptance, as they were after its arrival there, and the collection of the money upon the bills. The action' is founded upon the liability incurred by the acceptance, and not for the recovery of the money collected by the defendants upon the bills. There is nothing in the complaint showing that any money has been collected thereon by the defendants, or that any bills of lading whatever have been delivered by the plaintiff to the defendants. Ho allusion is made in the complaint to any liability of the defendants to the plaintiff for money collected by them for the plaintiff, or which they were bound by contract to apply in any way for the benefit of the plaintiff. Ho facts are stated, entitling the
The order of the General Term, affirming that of the Special Term, must be affirmed.
All concur.
Order affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.