Daugherty Bros. v. Central Nat. Bank
Daugherty Bros. v. Central Nat. Bank
Opinion of the Court
Whatever may be the rights of a party, whose debt is due and payable, to compel an insolvent debtor to set off a claim against him not due, a party, whose debt is not due, has no equitable claim to have it set off against a debt of his own already due, in the hands of a party who is insolvent. Spaulding v. Backus, 122 Mass., 553; Bradley v. Angel, 3 N. Y., 475; In re Commercial Bank Corporation of India and the East, L. R., 1 Ch. App., 538. In the latter case it was said that where there is, on one side, a debt presently due, and on the other a liability which will accrue due at a future day, the debt cannot be set off at law against the liability, nor can it be set off in equity. This is at variance with Lindsay v. Jackson, 2 Paige, 581, where the defendants, who held notes of the plaintiffs not due, were restrained from negotiating them, to the end that they might be applied as a set off against a debt then due by the defendants to the plaintiffs. But it is ruled in Bradley v. Angel, supra, that one whose debt is not due, has no equitable right to set off against a debt due to him from an insolvent estate, and the decision in Lindsay against Jackson is confined in its operation to such facts as constitute its base. A bank has no lien on money standing to the credit of one of its depositors for the amount of a note of such depositor, discounted by the bank, but which has not matured. The purpose is that the customer may draw out at pleasure the avails of his discount. A debtor in one sum has no lien upon money in his hands for the payment of an unmatured debt owing to him, and a bank is debtor for the discount which is placed to its depositor’s credit. If it could retain the money against the note, the discount would be useless to the borrower. Jordan v. Shoe and Leather Bank, 74 N. Y., 467; Fourth National Bank of Chicago v. City National Bank of Grand Rapids, 68 Ill., 398.
The owner of a debt may assign it for value, and give title as against the debtor, though he holds liabilities of the creditor not yet matured at the time he received notice of the assignment. Jeffryes v. Agra and Masterman’s Bank, L. R., 2 Eg., 673.
The question is, shall the defendant, having discounted the plaintiffs’ note and extended their credit for its amount, and upon learning of their insolvency, before payment to, no notice of any checks or assignments by them, having withdrawn the credit and tendered back the consideration, be compelled to pay the money? If so, it would be against everybody’s sense of right. The point is not merely one of set off, whether legal or equitable.
Justice and equity forbid that one man’s money shall be applied to the payment of another man’s debts. On this is based the right of a vendor to stoppage in transitu, which arises solely upon the insolvency of the buyer. Where a vendor has delivered goods out of his possession, into the hands of a carrier for delivery to the buyer, if he discovers that the buyer is insolvent, he may retake the goods, if he can, before they reach the buyer's possession, and thus avoid having his property applied to paying debts due by the buyer to the other people. It was long a mooted question whether the effect of this remedy of the vendor is a rescission of the sale, or a restoration of possession of the goods with the rights of an unpaid vendor; but now it seems the better
The consideration so failed that the defendant was warranted in tendering it back, and an equity arises as against the legal plaintiffs, which prevents their enforcement of the contract. To permit them to recover after their note, the foundation of their claim, is proved worthless, would be the grossest injustice. The defendant’s agreement to take the renewal note was not wittingly made for an empty promise.
Plaintiffs contend that Hunter and Weir are innocent purchasers for value. In what sense? They asked no information before taking the checks; no paper of any kind was given by defendant, showing that the plaintiffs had the right to draw or assign. Before presentment or notice of the checks, the plaintiffs’ insolvency was shown by a notorious act, and their right to draw was immediately denied by defendant. A vendor’s right of stoppage in transitu is defeasible in one way only, and that is, when the. goods are represented by a bill of lading, which is in the vendee’s possession with the vendor’s assent, and is transferred to a third person who in good faith gives value for it. Here, the defendant did nothing to mislead third persons, and the plaintiffs had no writing to assign. The facts reveal no superior equity in the person for whose use action is brought.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- DAUGHERTY BROS. & CO. v. CENTRAL NAT. BANK
- Status
- Published