Kansas State Bank v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co.

251 P. 188, 122 Kan. 77, 1926 Kan. LEXIS 133
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedDecember 11, 1926
DocketNo. 26,880
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 251 P. 188 (Kansas State Bank v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kansas State Bank v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co., 251 P. 188, 122 Kan. 77, 1926 Kan. LEXIS 133 (kan 1926).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Hopkins, J.:

The action was one to recover the value of twenty-two cars of crude oil shipped over the lines of the defendant and delivered without surrender of the bills of lading therefor. Plaintiff prevailed and defendant appeals.

[78]*78The facts substantially were as follows:

One C. C. Morgan was engaged in buying crude oil at Tonkawa, ' Okla., from the Golden Rule Oil Company. The oil was loaded in the defendant’s cars, bills of lading issued to Morgan as consignee, “Notify the Sheridan Refining Company,” and thereupon sent to the Kansas State Bank with a draft attached, drawn by the Golden Rule Oil Company for the entire purchase price due from Morgan. The bank, upon their arrival, would pay the drafts and thereby become the owner of the bills of lading and the shipments of oil represented thereby. In some instances the bills of lading bore Morgan’s indorsement when they reached the bank. Those which were not so indorsed were indorsed on Morgan’s behalf by one of the officers of the bank, who had been authorized so to do by Morgan. Morgan had made arrangements to sell the oil to the Sheridan Refining Company, the bank to draw a draft on the refining company for the amount of the purchase and send it with the bill of lading attached to its correspondent at Npwkirk, where the refining company would pay the draft and take up the bill of lading. The refining company desired to obtain possession of the oil without paying for it in advance. It therefore furnished the defendant with an indemnity bond, the effect of which was to hold the defendant harmless on account of making delivery of the oil without surrender of the bills of lading. Thereafter the refining company obtained from the defendant the twenty-two shipments in controversy without surrendering the bills of lading which had been, by the bank, handled in its usual manner, that is, by sending the same with a draft attached on the refining company, to its correspondent at Newkirk. The refining company failed to pay for the oil, the drafts being returned protested for nonpayment. The bank asked the defendant to divert the cars which had been consigned to the refining company, and learned that the cars had already been delivered. The bank then made demand on the defendant, after which it brought this action to recover the value of the oil.

Thereafter, on January 29,1924, the bank was closed by the bank commissioner. On July 17 following, a receiver was appointed, and on September 6 the receiver sold the assets of the bank, among which were the claims sued upon in this action and pending in the district court, to the Security State Savings Bank. Afterwards, on February 13, 1925, the Security Bank filed its motion to revive this action against the defendant and to be substituted for the Kansas State Bank. The motion was allowed March 23, 1925, and- an [79]*79amended petition later filed; in due course trial was had, resulting in judgment against the defendant.

The defendant maintains that plaintiff, the Kansas State Bank, “died” January 29, 1924, the day the bank was closed by the bank commissioner; that the order of revivor and substitution entered on March 23, 1925, was of no effect because more than one year had elapsed since the death of the plaintiff. Various statutes and authorities cited by defendant in support of its contention have no application to the facts under consideration, and the contention is without merit. The Kansas State Bank was a corporation organized and operating under the laws of Kansas. It cannot properly be said to have gone out of existence until its dissolution. The statute provides two ways by which a corporation may be dissolved: first, by expiration of the time limited in its charter; and second, by judgment of dissolution rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction. (R. S. 17-807.) In the case of banks, a special method for voluntary liquidation is also provided. (R. S. 9-132.) It is not contended, however, that the Kansas State Bank went into voluntary liquidation, nor that the time limited in its charter had expired, nor that a judgment of dissolution had been rendered against it. If it was “killed” January 29, 1924, as maintained by the defendant, it was not killed by the bank commissioner’s having taken charge of it under the provisions of R. S. 9-130, which provides that when it appears that a bank is insolvent or has willfully violated any requirements of the banicing act, it shall be the duty of the bank commissioner to take charge of such bank. The bank commissioner may appoint a special deputy to take charge of the affairs of an insolvent bank temporarily until • a receiver is appointed. Upon taking charge of any bank the bank commissioner shall, as soon as possible, ascertain by an examination into, its affairs its actual condition, and whenever he becomes satisfied that it cannot resume business or liquidate its indebtedness to the satisfaction of its creditors he shall forthwith appoint a receiver to wind up its affairs. The statute makes it the duty of the bank commissioner to appoint a receiver forthwith upon having ascertained that it cannot resume business or liquidate its indebtedness to the satisfaction of all its creditors. It will be presumed, in the absence of a showing to the contrary, that the commissioner did his duty and appointed a receiver as soon as he became satisfied the bank could not resume business and liquidate its indebtedness. It would appear, therefore, that the bank commissioner had not determined until about July 17, [80]*801924, that the bank was insolvent and could not resume business. Therefore, it had not “died” before July 17, 1924. When after that its dissolution may have occurred is immaterial so far as the present áction is concerned. It was not dead until dissolution.

“Insolvency of a corporation and the appointment of a receiver to manage its business and wind up its affairs do not work a dissolution of the corporation, nor will these things, of themselves, impair its capacity to sue or to enforce judgments previously obtained.” (Leonard v. Hartzler, 90 Kan. 386, 133 Pac. 570. See, also, State, ex rel., v. Pipher, 28 Kan. 127; Bank v. Sewing Society, 28 Kan. 423; 14A C. J. 1118, 1119; 8 Fletcher on Corporations, 9056; notes in 2 L. R. A. 256, and 50 L. R. A., n. s., 383.)

• The defendant contends that the delivery of the oil without the surrender of the bills of lading was a performance of its contract rather than a breach thereof. It claims that it delivered the shipments of oil in accordance with the terms of an agreement for such delivery entered into at the instance, request and full knowledge of the Kansas State Bank.

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Bluebook (online)
251 P. 188, 122 Kan. 77, 1926 Kan. LEXIS 133, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kansas-state-bank-v-atchison-topeka-santa-fe-railway-co-kan-1926.