Exchange National Bank v. McCaffery

175 Iowa 451
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedApril 7, 1916
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 175 Iowa 451 (Exchange National Bank v. McCaffery) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Exchange National Bank v. McCaffery, 175 Iowa 451 (iowa 1916).

Opinion

Preston, J.

It is conceded by appellant there is no dispute as to the law, and the propositions are as to whether there was sufficient evidence to take the case to the jury.

■The testimony shows without any substantial dispute that H. K. Cochran was engaged in the grain business at Little Rock, Arkansas. About August 19, 1910, he arranged with the Union Grain & Elevator Company to sell him a carload of corn to be shipped over the Rock Island line from Council Bluffs to Little Rock, Arkansas. The com was placed in the car and consigned 'by the elevator company to its own order at Little Rock, with instructions to notify H. K. Cochran. The Union Grain & Elevator Company indorsed the bill of lading in blank, and this was attached to the sight draft. The sight draft, with bill of lading attached, was deposited with the Merchants National Bank of Omaha, and by it transmitted to the German National Bank at Little Rock. It was the practice of the plaintiff bank, in its dealings with Cochran, to place its O. K. upon checks drawn by Cochran, and these checks were in turn used for the purpose of taking up bills of lading and drafts. This O. K. of the check was for the purpose of enabling the banks to make prompt remittance without waiting for the checks to clear through the clearing house.

The defendant offered practically no evidence, and attempted to make its case upon the cross-examination of plaintiff’s witnesses and interrogatories attached to its amended and substituted answer. In other words, as appellant says, he was compelled to go into the camp of his enemies for his testimony.

The testimony of the witness Cochran and of Rather, who [454]*454was cashier of the bank at the time of the transaction, was that an agreement existed between plaintiff and Cochran, by which it 0. K.d the checks given by Cochran to take up sight drafts where- bills of lading were attached, and that the bills of lading became the property of the bank as collateral security for the money advanced by the bank to take up the sight draft and bill of lading. When this sight draft, with bill of lading attached, arrived at Little Rock on the 22d day of August, Cochran drew a check upon the plaintiff bank, which was O. K.d by it. He went to the German. National Bank and took up the bill of lading. The carload of corn had not then left Council Bluffs, as it was attached by the Cavers Elevator Company on the afternoon of the 23d day of August in the railway company’s yards at Council Bluffs, on a debt claimed to be due it from Cochran. On the 22d day of August, Cochran gave to the bank his demand note in the amount of $609, payable to the order of the Exchange -National Bank. The note was taken for a smaller sum than the amount of the cheek, because it was the custom of the bank to require a margin on corn to be covered.by other securities when the full amount of the draft is advanced. Cochran testified, and there is no dispute about it, that he had a general agreement with the bank that he was to furnish them collateral for moneys advanced in this way, and that the bill of lading, or other satisfactory security, must be furnished upon these and other transactions. Cochran states that his place of business was some distance from the plaintiff bank, and that it was his practice to take the securities to this bank, including bill of lading, after they were received from the bank holding the sight draft and bill of lading. After the attachment was issued, plaintiff replevined the corn in this proceeding, shipped it to its own order at Little Rock, sold the corn and applied the proceeds upon the note, the amount realized not being sufficient to cover the face of the note. Cochran’s account was overdrawn on the morning of the 22d of August. During the 22d, he deposited $1,561.76 to his credit, leaving [455]*455a net balance, as shown by the bank books, of $976.91 at the close of business; but on the. same day, the bank 0. K.d Cochran’s cheeks in payment of drafts to the amount of $2,971. These checks that were 0. K.d were not charged against his account until they were paid through the clearing house; and, on the morning of the 23d of August, at the opening of business, Cochran’s account was overdrawn in the sum of $2,966.01. The bank was not advised of the attachment until the 27th day of August.

1.!• goods’ indorsement?" priority.6111: 1. The first proposition is as to whether the plaintiff bank was the owner of this bill of lading, or entitled to its possession, at the time the levy was made by the officer under the attachment in question.- It is contended by appellant that, upon the taking up of the ÑU- of lading for the corn with the German National Bank on August- 22d by Cochran, the com became his property and . was attachable in the hands of the railroad company as such for a debt owed by him; and he cites Forcheimer v. Stewart, 65 Iowa 593, and Cragun v. Todd, 131 Iowa 250, 252, to the proposition that title to property passes to the purchaser when the bill of lading of property consigned to the shipper, with draft attached, is taken up by the purchaser. But, under the undisputed evidence, it appears that, when Cochran took up the bill of lading, he was acting as the agent for the plaintiff.

It is appellee’s contention that a bill of lading, when properly indorsed, is symbolic of the property and by transfer passes title to the holder, citing Schlichting v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 121 Iowa 502; Shaffer v. Rhynders, 116 Iowa 472; First National Bank v. Mt. Pleasant M. Co., 103 Iowa 518; Anchor Mill Co. v. Burlington, C. R. & N. R. Co., 102 Iowa 262, 266; Garden Grove Bank v. The Humeston & S. R. Co., 67 Iowa 526, 533. And further, that the fact that a bank which had received, a draft with bill of lading attached, as security for a loan for, the purchase of property shipped,, had obtained a guarantee from the consignee that the draft .would [456]*456be paid, does not release its lien as holder of the bill of lading, and the bank may enforce the same as against an attaching creditor of the borrower, citing Shaffer v. Rhynders, supra.

As before stated, the bill of lading for the corn was attached to the sight draft and indorsed in blank; and on August 22d, Cochran, against whom the sight draft was drawn, drew a cheek payable to the order of the German Bank to the amount of the draft, and then took the sight draft to plaintiff’s bank and had it 0. K.d under the arrangement before stated. Cochran’s check was approved, in conformity with this practice. This check was in fact paid by the bank on the morning of the 23d of August, and the corn was attached at Council Bluffs bn the afternoon of the 23d. It has been the holding of this court under the authorities before stated that a bill of lading is symbolic of the property, and that the bill of lading, when indorsed and delivered, passes the title to the property; so that plaintiff bank had the right to advance the money to take up this draft and to receive the note of Cochran and to take the bill of lading as collateral security for the payment of the note; so that plaintiff bank would be the lawful owner of the bill of lading and the carload of corn which it symbolized, unless it has been shown by the defendant that there was fraud in the transaction between Cochran and the Exchange National Bank.

2. Fraud : evldence: degree of proof. 2. The next proposition, then, is as to whether there was sufficient evidence of fraud to take the ease to the jury.

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Bluebook (online)
175 Iowa 451, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/exchange-national-bank-v-mccaffery-iowa-1916.