Estate of Stone v. Central Republic Bank & Trust Co.

248 N.W. 446, 211 Wis. 518, 1933 Wisc. LEXIS 271
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedMay 9, 1933
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 248 N.W. 446 (Estate of Stone v. Central Republic Bank & Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Stone v. Central Republic Bank & Trust Co., 248 N.W. 446, 211 Wis. 518, 1933 Wisc. LEXIS 271 (Wis. 1933).

Opinions

Nelson, J.

The claim herein is based upon a written guaranty dated October 7, 1929, signed by Nat Stone and delivered to the National Bank of the Republic of Chicago, Illinois (hereafter called'the “bank”), which guaranty was thereafter assigned to claimant, the Central Republic Bank & Trust Company. At all of the times to be mentioned, DeWolf & Company, Inc. (hereafter called the “company”), was engaged in the business of selling stocks and bonds, both as principal and as broker, and had its account at the bank. It was the practice of the company to deposit with the bank various stocks and bonds, principally the latter, on which loans were made. Transactions of that character were numerous, in fact of almost daily occurrence, and involved frequent changes of collateral. The company had no open or unsecured line of credit at the bank. Prior to September, 1929, the account of the company was large and in such a condition as to give the bank some concern. About September 1, 1929, the company applied to the bank for a special [520]*520clearing loan” of $50,000. A “clearing loan” is one made to a bond dealer who brings to a bank an issue of bonds on which he desires a temporary loan while the bonds are being sold. The bonds involved in the “clearing loan” mentioned were issued by Inland States Service Company, and were originated by the company. When the application for the $50,000 loan was made the bank held a large amount of collateral to other loans made to the company. A considerable part of the collateral held by the bank was apparently unsatisfactory because of the fact that many of the bonds pledged originated with the company and had no satisfactory outside market. When application for that loan was made the bank apparently demanded security other than the proposed deposit of the Inland States Service Company bonds. Evidently Nat Stone was induced by the company to supply the additional security required. Just how he was induced to assist the company in the situation which confronted it does not appear. However, it appears that on September 3, 1929, Mr. Stone wrote the company, among other things, as follows :

“Upon the representation of your president, I have this day signed accommodation note for $50,000, collateral-ized by $65,000 worth of bonds, which I am assured are now selling on the market for $96 and up.
“This loan has been negotiated by your Mr. DeWolf with the National Bank of the Republic of Chicago, and is purely an act of accommodation on my part, DeWolf & Company as a corporation, John E. DeWolf, Sr., individual, and John E. DeWolf, Jr., individual, being guarantors and indorsers upon this transaction.”

On the same date Mr. Stone wrote to the president of the bank in part as follows:

“I have this day signed a note for $50,000 payable at your bank, indorsed by John E. DeWolf & Company, John E. DeWolf, Sr., and John E. DeWolf, Jr., and collateralized [521]*521by $65,000 worth of bonds in a utilities corporation, which the DeWolf Company assures me it is now, and has been for a long time, selling on the public market at $96 and up. These bonds, I am advised, are in your possession as collateral security and the note matures within thirty days.
“I have accommodated Mr. DeWolf to this extent and appreciate your confidence in accepting my name for this extraordinary amount of -money.”

On September 4th Mr. Stone again wrote the bank in part as follows:

“I addressed a letter to your institution yesterday regarding a note which I signed for $50,000, indorsed also by DeWolf & Company, John E. DeWolf, Sr., and John E. De-Wolf, Jr.
“I am advised that my use of the word ‘accommodation’ removes my liability and therefore does not cover the purpose which I intended it to represent. Please disregard the word ‘accommodation’ for I did not intend to remove myself or place any subterfuge in my communication that would relieve me of my responsibility in case of a default by De-Wolf & Company.
“I fully recognize that this is a loan made to me, which I am turning over to them as a personal transaction, and you are holding securities of $65,000 in bonds, which the De-Wolf Company advised me it is selling daily around $96.
“Will you please accept the note as I have it signed, holding the securities as collateral pending its maturity, it being a thirty-day collateral note signed as stated above.
“Thanking you for the confidence you are demonstrating, I am.”

All three of the letters just mentioned were received in evidence over the objection of the claimant. The note mentioned in Mr. Stone’s letters was evidently not acceptable to the bank. What further negotiations were thereafter had between the bank, Mr. Stone, and the company does not appear. It is, however, undisputed that on September 5, 1929, the company delivered to the bank its note for $50,000, [522]*522and on the same day Mr. Stone signed and delivered to the bank his written guaranty of the company’s note. The note is as follows:

“491644 $50,000.
“Chicago, Ill., September 5, 1929.
“Thirty days after date, for value received, the undersigned (jointly and severally) promise to pay to the order of the National Bank of the Republic of Chicago fifty thousand and no-100 dollars at its banking house in Chicago, Illinois, with interest at the rate of seven per cent, per annum after maturity until paid. The undersigned hereby deposit . . . with and pledge ... to said bank as collateral security for the payment of this note and of all other liabilities of the undersigned and of any and of each of the undersigned (if more than.one) to said bank, or the legal holder of this note (whether direct or contingent, joint or several, heretofore or hereafter contracted, and howsoever and whensoever acquired by said bank or legal holder), the following property, the value of which is sixty-five thousand dollars ($65,000), viz: No. T-l Temporary Inland States Service Company Convertible 6% Secured Gold Bond S for sixty-five thousand dollars ($65,000). . . .
“In case said bank or the legal holder of this note shall at any time hereafter be of the opinion that said property (including all substitutes therefor and additions thereto) is worth less than or has declined below the value above stated, or in case the undersigned or any or either of the undersigned (if more than one) shall fail to furnish additional security satisfactory to said bank or legal holder whenever called for, or shall fail to pay at maturity or any time thereafter this note or such other liabilities, or shall be or become insolvent, or shall die, or a judgment or decree be entered against the undersigned, or any or either of the undersigned (if more than one), then, and in each and every such case or contingency full power and authority is hereby given to said bank or legal holder to sell, assign, and deliver said property and all substitutes therefor and additions thereto, or any part thereof, at any time and from time to time, at any brokers’ board or at public or private sale, at the option of said bank or legal holder, without advertising the same, or making protest, or demanding payment, or giving any notice of any kind to any one, and said bank or legal holder may be a pur[523]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
248 N.W. 446, 211 Wis. 518, 1933 Wisc. LEXIS 271, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-stone-v-central-republic-bank-trust-co-wis-1933.