Fishburn v. Londershausen

92 P. 1060, 50 Or. 363, 1907 Ore. LEXIS 215
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 17, 1907
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 92 P. 1060 (Fishburn v. Londershausen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fishburn v. Londershausen, 92 P. 1060, 50 Or. 363, 1907 Ore. LEXIS 215 (Or. 1907).

Opinion

Opinion by

Mr. Commissioner King.

The points for determination are: (1) Is a negotiable promissory note, when found in the possession of its owner, and free from any liens, subject to attachment and sale under execution? (2) Does it appear from the complaint that, in the action between Lewis and Probert, there was sufficient compliance with the statutory requirements relative to service of summons to give the court jurisdiction to enter the judgment and order the sale of attached property?

1. In support of the first point, it is urged that the complaint is insufficient, in that it there appears that the note came [367]*367into plaintiff’s possession through attachment proceedings and the execution sale based thereon; that no provision is made by the statute for the attachment of negotiable promissory notes, and proceedings had in reference thereto are therefore void. The statute bearing on the question provides, in effect, that all-property in this state, not exempt from execution, shall be subject to attachment; that the writ of attachment shall be directed to the sheriff of the county in which the property of the defendant may be situated, requiring him to attach and safely keep any property of the defendant, not exempt from execution, sufficient to satisfy plaintiff’s demands; and that personal property capable of manual. delivery, and not in the possession- of á third person, shall be attached by the sheriff taking it into his possession, from which time until the writ is executed the plaintiff, as against third persons, shall be deemed -a purchaser in good faith: B. & C. Comp. §§299, 300, 301, 302. The complaint discloses that, at the time of the attachment, Arthur C. Probert was the sole owner and holder of the note involved, and that at the time of the levy it was not in the possession of any third person, but in the bank of which Probert was not only the sole owner, but the only one entitled to have charge thereof. The question as to the right to levy upon a negotiable promissory note and sell it under an execution issued for the sale of attached property has not heretofore been directly before this court; and all the authorities to which we have been referred, with but one exception, are from states where the codes in force at the time the decisions were rendered expressly included promissory notes with other kinds of property subject to levy and sale. That the right of attachment is not a common-law remedy, but must depend upon the statute of the state where invoked, is too well settled to admit of serious doubt, nor do we understand it to -be questioned here; the contention by plaintiff being that the word “property,” as used in our code, when indicating what may be levied upon^ includes notes, while defendants insist that notes are neither expressly nor impliedly made the subject of attachment or sale. The effect, therefore, to be given [368]*368to the provisions of the statute upon the subject, depends upon the construction to be placed upon the word “property”; that is to say: Does the code, by the use of the words “property” and “personal property,” include negotiable promissory notes? In this connection it must be remembered that a special procedure is provided by Section 301, subd. 3, supra, under which personal property, not capable of manual delivery and in the possession of third persons, may be reached, commonly known as garnishment proceedings; but this process is limited to property not in the possession of the defendant, frám which it follows that this note, having been found in defendant’s possession, if attachable at all, must be reached by the sheriff taking it into his custody, as provided in subdivision 2 of Section 301 of the statute.

2. “Property” is defined as “the right and interest which a man has in lands and chattels to the exclusion of' others” (2 Bouvier, Law Diet. p. 780); and “personal property” as being any right or interest which a man may have in things movable, and “includes money, chattels, things in action, and evidence of debt”: 2 Bouvier, Law Dict. p. 662; McLaughlin v. Alexander, 2 S. D. 226 (49 N. W. 99); Streever v. Birch, 62 Hun, 298 (17 N. Y. Supp. 195). The word “property” is the most comprehensive of all terms which can be used, as it “is indicative and descriptive of every possible interest which the party can have”: 3 Stroud, Jud. Dict. (2 ed.), p. 83; McLaughlin v. Alexander, 2 S. D. 226 (49 N. W. 99). It means everything of exchangeable value: 6 Words & Phrases, p. 5694. In Willis v. Marks, 29 Or. 493 (45 Pac. 293) it is held that a claim against an estate, verified by the original claimant and assigned to a third party, is such evidence of indebtedness as to lend to it the character of property and subject it to an action in replevin. Much stronger, then, is the reason for holding a negotiable promissory note to be personal property, which is defined by our statute (B. & C. Comp. §4586) as “an unconditional promise in writing made by one person to another, signed by the maker, engaging to pay on demand, or at a fixed or determinable future time, a sum certain in money to order [369]*369or to bearer.” .The advantage therefore of such instrument over a mere verified and unapproved claim, not only in value and convenience, but as to its usefulness in commerce, is too apparent to admit of discussion, and, under the decisions citedj such instrument cannot escape being classed as property and as coming clearly within the meaning of the term as used in the statute. Tiedeman, Com. Paper, § 251, construes the words “'personal property,” as used here, to include promissory notes, stating: “An attachment of commercial paper is also held, to be permissible under a general authority to attach all kinds of property, in Oregon, Texas, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, and perhaps in other states.” The statement quoted refers to no authorities in its support, but is given as the construction placed by the author upon the term “property,” as used in the statute relative -to attachment.

Property is recognized as including things which may be sold and that may be assessed for taxation. The Constitution of Louisiana (1868, Art. 118) provides, inter alia,, that “all property shall be taxed in proportion to its value.55 Wben the effect of this provision was under discussion in the ease of City of New Orleans v. Mechanics’ & Traders’ Ins. Co. 30 La. Ann. 876 (31 Am. Rep. 232), it Avas urged that “credits,” including promissory notes, Avere not property within the meaning and intent of that article, and, accordingly, that the legislature had no authority to impose a tax upon them. The court, in passing upon the point, held promissory notes to come within the meaning of the word “property” and subject to taxation, and observed: “The argument by which it is attempted to be shoAvn that notes, bills, bonds, stocks, etc., are not property, is too sublimated and metaphysical to be practical in matters of legislation. . If they are not property, they represent value and produce revenue. But to say that our constitution forbids them to be considered as property would be to expunge from our codes provisions and principles that are as old as the civil law. * * They are classed as Things,5 may be bought, sold, appraised, seized, and make up and constitute the wealthiest patrimonies [370]*370in the world.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
92 P. 1060, 50 Or. 363, 1907 Ore. LEXIS 215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fishburn-v-londershausen-or-1907.