Pontius v. Inglis
Pontius v. Inglis
Opinion of the Court
This cause comes into this court on error to the common pleas court of Cuyahoga county. In that court Richard Inglis, as a member of the partnership of Otis & Company, brought suit against Otis & Company, his copartners, and Ira R. Pontius, the state superintendent of banks, complaining in his petition that the defendants Otis & Company and the superintendent of banks in conformance with the provisions of Sections 710-2 and 710-3, General Code, would put an end to the use of the term “investment bankers,” which the firm of Otis & Company had been using in connection with its business and its
To this petition the superintendent of banks filed á demurrer, which demurrer was overruled. He then filed an answer admitting that Otis & Company had spent large subas óf money in advertising as investment bankers, denied for want of information that the sum amounted to half a million dollars, and alleged for his second defense that the partnership does not have printed on all its advertising matter and business stationery the word “iffiincorporated,” immediately following its name or business title, and for his third defense that it has been making investments f orbidderi by provisions of; the banking act to banks, therein defined. The second and third defenses were not argued before us, nor the effect of them, therefore we refrain from passing on either of them.
, , .The contentions raised in this court are two which W.ere raised by the plaintiff in. his petition in the Court below, , , . - ■ . ,
. . It .is conceded that. Otis & Company are not. bank-ops,, as defined in Section 710-2,.. General Code, , and it .is.claimed, that the..words “investment bankers” as,,used hy O.tis- & Company in.its advertisements do not, come within the inhibition, ..of. Section 710-3, General .Code. ..That-.section is,as follows.:.
...“The use of the.word ‘bank,’ ‘banker’ or ‘banking,’. op ‘trust’ or words ,of similar meaning in any .foreign; language, as a designation or name, or .part of a designation or name, under which business is o,r m^y b.e conducted in this state, is restricted to banks as .-defined in the preceding section. All other persons, firms or corporations are prohibited from soliciting, accepting or receiving deposits, as defined in. section 2 of this act and from using the word ‘bank,’ ‘banker,’ ‘banking,’ or ‘trust,’ or words of similar meaning in any foreign language, as a designation or name, or part of a designation or name, under which business may be conducted in this state. Any violation of this prohibition, after the day when this act becomes effective, shall subject the party chargeable therewith, to a penalty of $100.00 for each day during which it is committed or repeated. Sueh penalty shall be recovered by the superintendent of banks by an action instituted for that purpose, and in addition to said penalty, such violation may be
Now it will be noted that in order to bring Otis & Company within the provisions of this section the word “banker” or “bank” must be used either as a designation or a name, or part of a designation or part of a name, under which its business is conducted or transacted in this state; and the further contention is that if it does come within the prohibition of this Section 710-3 the section itself is unconstitvu tional and therefore void.
It has been conceded in this case by counsel for the defendants in error that “investment bankers” were words used in the conduct of their business, but it is claimed that these words were not a part of the designation of name of the company, and, although it is used upon stationery and in advertising, we assume that it is admitted.
What is meant by the phrase, “under which business is or may be conducted in this state,” appearing in the first paragraph of Section 710-3? It is contended by the plaintiff below and the defendants in error here that “investment bankers” is merely a descriptive term, and not a part of a designation or name, which, if true, is not prohibited by the statute. Did the legislature mean to use the word “name” as synonymous with “designation,” or “designation” as synonymous with “name?” The argument is that it did, that there were two ways, that “name” and “designation” are the two ways of putting it, both meaning the same thing. We must, in construing this statute, have in mind what the purpose of the legislature was in enacting the legislation, Undoubtedly the banking department of the state
That the firm of Otis & Company is responsible in every way, no one would for the moment question, but if responsible firms can use a name like that, if they may use “investment bankers” after a name, as a descriptive term, so may an irresponsible person, and the evil the legislature sought to cure would still exist.
Again, to show that designation and name are not used in opposition or contrast, I want to call attention to Section 8099, General Code, which provides that every partnership doing business under a fictitious name or designation, and not showing the names of partners, shall file and publish a certificate showing the full names and residences of its members.
In the case of Pendleton v. Cline, 85 Cal., 142, 24 Pac. Rep., 659, the court held, under a statute of the same character, that “designation” was not used in opposition or contrast with the phrase “fictitious name;” the former was supplementary to the latter.
Now, applying that doctrine to the case at bar, the words “name” and “designation” are simply supplementary one of the other, and in the expression “Otis & Company, Investment Bankers,” one is the name and the other the designation, and if the name “banker” or “banking” appears in either, then the term falls within the inhibition of the statute and the use of it would subject the user to the penalties provided for in the statute.
We think the legislature in using both “name” and “designation” had this very thing in mind, and an
“With respect to the particular bank here in question it is clear that the present use of the word ‘bank’ as effectually indicates and advertises the fact that banking is the business carried on as if the name ‘Munn Bank’ alone were used. In other words, the present use of the word ‘bank,’ in the manner and connection before noted, within the spirit of the statute at least brings this bank within the provisions of the act.”
The words which attorney general Hogan had under construction were “C. G-. Munn & Co.,” followed by “Successors to Munn Bank,” and he held that this language was a designation or name under which the business was conducted so as to render the institution subject to inspection of the banking department of the state of Ohio. ‘
Again, in Gease v. Carlisle, 15 O. D., N. P., 435, at page 438, the court says:
“ It is the duty of a court where different words are used in the statute, to give to each word a separate meaning, if consistent with the fair interpretation of that statute.” ' ‘
So,, in the ease at bar, when the legislature employed the word “designation,” it meant not only the name but any other word which should be used to convey the impression that the concern was a bank. Nobody can pick up the advertisement of Otis & Company, followed by the words “Investment Bankers,” without being immediately impressed with the
Nor will it answer the question to say that they may. in their letters say that they are investment bankers, nor will it do to say that they may advertise that they are investment bankers, because it is perfectly conceivable that they could do both and the juxtaposition of the words Otis & Company and investment bankers not appear, and therefore there would be no violation of the statute. We think the words “Otis & Company, Investment Bankers,” in the position they are used in the advertisement that has been shown us, and in some of the exhibits in this case, are within the prohibition of Section 710-3, they being as used in that way a part of the designation by which the firm of Otis & Company is known.-
Passing to the second proposition, that the law is unconstitutional. If we understand the court’s
We come now to the proper decision of this case. Prom the view we take of it, the plaintiff did not state a cause of action, and therefore the demurrer to the petition should have been sustained. An exception was taken to that and the right to prosecute error was reserved on that question and brought into this case in the record. It is true that the defendant below, the superintendent of banks, filed an answer, which was demurred to, and that that demurrer was sustained, and that the judgment entered upon that demurrer was the immediate occasion of the bringing of the action into this court; but if the case were here on appeal and we were hearing it de novo on demurrer to the answer filed, if we understand the rules of pleading, the demurrer searches the record and the whole case is to be reviewed by the court and judgment given where the first mistake was made, and even though it were on appeal and the demurrer was to the defendant’s answer we could overrule that demurrer and sustain the demurrer to the
Judgment reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.