Commercial State Bank v. Antelope County

67 N.W. 465, 48 Neb. 496, 1896 Neb. LEXIS 96
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedMay 19, 1896
DocketNo. 8409
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 67 N.W. 465 (Commercial State Bank v. Antelope County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commercial State Bank v. Antelope County, 67 N.W. 465, 48 Neb. 496, 1896 Neb. LEXIS 96 (Neb. 1896).

Opinion

Ryan, C.

By error proceedings, plaintiff in error seeks to reverse a judgment rendered against it, in tbe sum of $3,641.14, by tbe district court of Antelope county. There were admitted by tbe answer in said court tbe averments of tbe petition of tbe county of Antelope that tbe Commercial State Bank of Neligb, tbe defendant, from December 1, 1891, till September 26-, 1894, was an incorporated bank, doing business as sucb in Antelope county; that from tbe 7tb day of January, 1892, to the 4th day of January, 1894, J. D. Hatfield was tbe duly elected, qualified, and acting treasurer of Antelope county, and that on or about January 10, 1892, tbe Commercial State Bank of Neligb applied in writing for tbe privilege of keeping tbe funds belonging to said county and controlled by said county treasurer. Tbe application, which it was denied by tbe answer was accepted, was in tbe following language:

“Nelig-h, Neb., January 1, 1892.

“To Hon. J. D. Hatfield, Gounty Treasurer, Antelope ■County: Tbe Commercial State Bank of Neligb,Nebraska, hereby agrees to comply with all tbe rules and regulations governing county depositories provided by tbe laws of tbe state of Nebraska, as set forth in tbe Session Laws of 1891, and to pay to Antelope county, Nebraska, interest at tbe rate of five per cent per annum, interest payable monthly, on all county funds deposited with said Commercial State Bank by tbe county treasurer; provided tbe Commercial State Bank is made tbe depository of all funds controlled by tbe county treasurer by virtue of his official position. Tbe Commercial State Bank further agrees to pay all Antelope county warrants at par [498]*498upon presentation during the time that the said funds are kept on deposit with the said bank.

“W. T. Wattles, “Presiden t.

“K. T. Richards,

“Cashier.”

In the answer there was also a denial of the averment in the petition that there was filed with the county clerk of Antelope county a bond in the following language:

“Know all men by these presents, that we, the Commercial State Bank of Neligh, Nebraska, as principal, and G. W. Wattles, of Carroll, Iowa, Sumner Wallace, of Rochester, New Hampshire, and W. T. Wattles, K. T. Richards, W. G. Galloway, C. Fisher, W. E. Relf, H. H. Jurgling, Wm. Campbell, Carl Roben, H. M. Cox, and J. H. Mills, of Neligh, Nebraska, as sureties, are held and firmly bound unto J. D. Hatfield, county treasurer of Antelope county, Nebraska, and unto Antelope county, Nebraska, in the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000), lawful money, to be well and truly paid to the said J. D. Hatfield, treasurer of Antelope county, Nebraska, or his successor in office. For the faithful performance of such obligation, we bind ourselves, our heirs, administrators, and assigns forever.

“The condition of the above obligation is such that whereas, the said the Commercial State Bank of Neligh, Nebraska, has been designated as a depository of the funds of Antelope county, Nebraska, which shall come into the possession of said J. D. Hatfield as treasurer of said county: Now, "therefore, if the said Commercial State Bank shall well and truly pay to the said J. D. Hatfield, treasurer of Antelope county, Nebraska, or his or their order, all sums of money they receive on deposit from treasurer aforesaid, then this obligation to be null and void, otherwise to be in full force and effect.”

To this bond was affixed the names of the sureties therein described. There were in the answer denials of the averments of the petition that said bond was ap[499]*499proved by tbe county board of supervisors of said Antelope county; that thereupon the several current funds of said county were by J. D. Hatfield, its treasurer, deposited with said Commercial State Bank, amounting to the sum of $37,746.78; that said county treasurer, between January 7, 1892, and January 4, 1894, collected the sum of $165,182.77 belonging to the several current funds of said county, all of which was by said county treasurer deposited in said bank; that said bank failed and refused to render, at the end of each and every month, to said treasurer a statement in duplicate showing the several daily balances and the amount of money of the county of Antelope held by it during the month as county depository, and the amount of accretions thereof; that the average daily balances belonging to the several current funds so on deposit between January 7, 1892, and January 4, 1894, was $60,000; that thereon the said bank had failed and refused to pay the interest,, amounting to the sum of $6,000, which latter sum, except $275.03, had never been paid.

It is not deemed essential to consider whether or not the bond above given was in strict compliance with the provisions of section 8, chapter 50, Laws, 1891, for a demurrer of all the parties who signed it was sustained, and thenceforward the action proceeded alone against the bank under the statute upon its written proposition. The bond, therefore, serves no purpose in this action, except in so far as its presentation to, and approval by, the proper county authority qualified the bank to be a depository. We find in the records of the board of supervisors of Antelope county a report of a committee of the board reciting that the county treasurer had selected the above named bank as a county depository, and had accepted the bid of the bank. In this report there was a recommendation that the bond of the bank be approved. There is in the bill of exceptions no transcript of the record of the board of county supervisors showing that this report was acted upon. The county treasurer, [500]*500however, made deposits in the bank which tendered the bond, and such bank received such deposits and paid interest to certain limited amounts, as though the bond had been regularly accepted. Under these circumstances the bank should not be permitted to assert that it was released from the obligations which arose out of its written proposition, in view of the oral evidence and reports of the bank, which show conclusively that all parties concerned acted upon the assumption that the bank was in fact a regularly constituted and approved depository of county funds.

The bank, however, insists that there was error in the refusal of the court to permit the filing of a certain amended answer tendered after the trial was concluded. In addition to the issues presented by the original answer, which have been fully described, this amended answer denied that a bond had been filed, and of new matter contained the following averments: “At the time of making the application set out in the petition, it was assumed and believed by J. D.

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Bluebook (online)
67 N.W. 465, 48 Neb. 496, 1896 Neb. LEXIS 96, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commercial-state-bank-v-antelope-county-neb-1896.