Lafayette Bank v. Buckingham

12 Ohio St. (N.S.) 419
Ohio Supreme Court·Decided December 15, 1861·Published

Opinion

Sutlifr, J.

The petition states certain facts, upon which the plaintiff relies as a cause of action, arid asks judgment. The demurrer denies that the facts stated constitute a cause of action.

The following is substantially the statement of facts presented by the petition : The plaintiff avers that he is a judgment creditor of the Licking county bank; that said bank was a branch of the state bank of Ohio, organized under the act of 1845; and that in 1852, said Licking county bank committed an act of insolvency, and that shortly afterward the board of control, under said bank act of 1845, appointed the defendant a receiver, into whose hands the remaining assets of said insolvent bank then came; that among the assets were certain credits of the bank, and parcels of’ real estate; that the real estate so belonging to the bank, has not been sold by the receiver, nor by him converted into money for the purposes of said trust, and that plaintiff does not know what disposition has been made of the other assets. The plaintiff then alleges that the defendant has, in disregard of his duties, purchased from the state bank of Ohio all its ben[422]*422eficial interest in the subject matter of said trust, and received from said state bank, a deed of conveyance of the said real estate, and claims the same as his own; and thereupon the plaintiff asks that the defendant be required to discover, -and account as to the assets so by him received, and that the plaintiff have judgment against him.

From this summary presentation,of the facts stated in the petition, it is evident that the right of action asserted by the plaintiff is one arising under the statute. It is, therefore, incumbent upon the plaintiff to set forth in his petition such facts as. clearly entitle him to a right by force of the statute, or, in other words, to constitute a right within the provisions of the statute, in order to constitute a cause of action.

What right, then, does the statute secure to a creditor of an insolvent bank; and does it afford any as against the receiver, under the state of facts set forth in the petition ?

The following provisions are to be found in the act entitled “ an act to incorporate the state bank of Ohio, and other banking companies,” passed February 24, 1845.

£< Sec. 16. The board of control, from the time of its organization until the first day of May, in the year 1866, and thereafter, until the affairs of the several branches of the state bank of Ohio shall be finally closed up, shall be a body corporate, with succession, and, by the name of£ the state bank of Ohio,’ capable of contracting, and of prosecuting and defending in suits, or actions at law, or in chancery, as fully as natural persons, and of 'doing all other acts and things necessary to effect the object contemplated in this act, by the formation of said board.”

It is provided by section 24, among other things, that upon an act of insolvency by a branch bank, “ all its property, credits, securities, liens, and assets of every description, shall forthwith vest in, and be the property, credits, securities, liens, and assets of the board of control, for the uses and purposes declared in this act.”

Section 25 provides: “ The board of control, on receiving information that any branch of the state bank of Ohio has ■committed an act of insolvency, shall forthwith appoint a [423]*423committee of one or more of its members, who shall make immediate inquiry into the truth of such information and report thereon to the board; and if the board shall be satisfied from the report of the committee that such branch has suspended the payment of its notes in gold and silver, they shall forthwith appoint a suitable receiver, or receivers, who shall take immediate possession of the books, records, money, choses in action and property of said branch of every description, and hold the same for the joint use and benefit of the other branches of the state bank of' Ohio, and the creditors of said failing branch; and said board of control shall immediately provide money, and place the same in such solvent branch or branches, as may be most convenient, for the purpose of redeeming the notes of such failing branch, and shall give public notice thereof in some newspaper printed in the place where such failing branch is located, and also in some newspaper of general circulation published at Columbus.”

Sec. 26. Each solvent branch shall contribute, in the ratio of the circulation to which it is entitled, to the- sum necessary for redeeming the notes of the failing branch, as provided’ in the preceding section, on the requisition of the board of control, and may be remunerated for such contribution from the safety fund, as soon as money sufficient can be raised from that fund, by a sale or hypothecation of the stook, funds, or other" securities belonging thereto.”

“ Sec. 27. The receiver or receivers appointed as provided in the 25th section, shall be. required to give bond in such sum, and with such sureties as the board of control shall judge sufficient; and under the direction of the said board, shall proceed to settle up its affairs, and convert its assets into money; the money so made shall be applied: 1. To reimburse all moneys which shall have been advanced by the several branches for the redemption of the notes and bills of the insolvent branch, and which may not have been previously reimbursed from the safety fund. 2. To reimburse all moneys advanced from the safety fund, other than moneys derived from that portion of the safety fund furnished by the failing branch. 3. To the payment and discharge of all the remaining [424]*424liabilities of such branch; and 4. The residue shall be divided among the stockholders of the failing branch, in proportion to the stock by them respectively held.”

The foregoing are perhaps all the provisions of the act of 1845, material to consider in determining the sufficiency of the plaintiff’s petition. Those are the particular provisions of the act under which the plaintiff must claim his statutory right of action, in this case.

The petition seems to charge the defendant as a trustee, delinquent in the discharge of his trust. But the provision, in the case of the alleged insolvency of the Licking county bank, as expressed by said section 24, is that — “ its property, credits, liens and assets of every description shall forthwith vest in, and be the property, credits, securities, liens and assets of the board of control, for the uses and purposes declared in the act” — to-wit, 1. To reimburse all moneys which shall be advanced by the several branches, as expressed in section 25; and, 2. To reimburse all moneys advanced from the safety fund, etc. : 8. To the payment and discharge of all the remaining liabilities of such branch; and, 4. To divide the residue, if any, among the stockholders of the insolvent bank.

By section 16, it will be remembered, the board of control ” in which the property is thus vested, is made a body corporate, by the name of the state bank of Ohio,” capable of contracting, and of prosecuting and defending suits or actions as fully as natural persons, and of doing all other acts and things necessary to effect the object contemplated in the act by the formation of said board.

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Lafayette Bank v. Buckingham, 12 Ohio St. (N.S.) 419 (Ohio 1861).

12 Ohio St. (N.S.) 419 (Lafayette Bank v. Buckingham) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.