Leader Publishing Co. v. Grant Trust & Savings Co.

91 N.E. 498, 174 Ind. 192, 1910 Ind. LEXIS 97
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedApril 8, 1910
DocketNo. 21,486
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 91 N.E. 498 (Leader Publishing Co. v. Grant Trust & Savings Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Leader Publishing Co. v. Grant Trust & Savings Co., 91 N.E. 498, 174 Ind. 192, 1910 Ind. LEXIS 97 (Ind. 1910).

Opinion

Jordan, J.

This suit was instituted in the court below to recover a personal judgment against appellants Leader Publishing Company and William B. Westlake, to foreclose a chattel mortgage alleged to have been executed by appellant Leader Publishing Company to appellee, as trustee, to secure the payment of certain bonds. Separate demurrers for want [194]*194of facts by each of defendants were overruled to the complaint. The answer was a general denial. There was a trial by the court, and a personal judgment for $32,345, including $500 as attorneys’ fees, rendered against appellant Leader Publishing Company. A foreclosure of the mortgage was decreed, and the court appointed a receiver to take charge of the mortgaged property. Appellants separately moved for a new trial. These motions were denied. A motion to modify the judgment was also overruled.

The errors relied on for reversal are based upon the foregoing rulings of the lower court.

The complaint is in one paragraph, and it alleges that on May 6, 1908, the Leader Publishing Company, a corporation of the State of Indiana, and "William B. Westlake, of Marion, Grant county, Indiana, executed to plaintiff, the Grant Trust and Savings Company, a corporation, as trustee, a certain mortgage, to secure the issue of eighty bonds in the principal sum of $30,000, with interest coupons attached thereto, bearing interest at six per cent, payable semiannually, said bonds to mature on July 1, 1917; that this mortgage was recorded in the recorder’s office of Grant county, Indiana, on May 6, 1908, and that a copy thereof is filed with the complaint and made a part thereof.

It is further alleged that plaintiff accepted the trust, authenticated the bonds, and distributed them to several persons, and that ‘ ‘ a copy of one of said bonds is contained in the mortgage filed herewith and made a part of this complaint, save that twenty of the bonds are in the principal sum of $1,000 each, ten of them in the principal sum of $500 each, and fifty of them in the principal sum of $100 each, with appropriate changes in the interest coupons attached thereto;” that defendants defaulted in the payment of the interest on said bonds for a period of ninety days; that the holders of sixteen of said bonds in the principal sum of $16,-000, being a majority in interest, gave notice to plaintiff, as trustee, by a written instrument, as provided in said mort[195]*195gage, of said default, and that they elected, under the terms of the mortgage, to regard the principal and interest of said sixteen bonds in the principal sum of $16,000 and interest in the sum of $480 as due and payable; that the principal and interest of the said eighty bonds, in the principal sum of $30,000 and interest in the sum of $900, are now due and unpaid. Certain facts are set out to show a right for the appointment of a receiver.

There are also averments to show that defendant Westlake guaranteed in writing the principal and interest of said bonds, thereby making himself personally liable for the payment thereof.

The prayer of the complaint is: “Wherefore plaintiff sues and demands judgment against defendants, Leader Publishing Company and William B. Westlake, separately and severally, in the sum of $31,500, with accrued interest on said bonds, that said mortgage, executed by defendant Leader Publishing Company be forthwith foreclosed, and that a receiver be appointed for said Leader Publishing Company, to take charge of the property of said Leader Publishing Company, secured by said mortgage,” etc.

The mortgage begins as follows:

“This indenture, made this 1st day of July, 1907, between the Leader Publishing Company, a corporation of the State of Indiana, and the Grant Trust and Savings Company, a corporation of the State of Indiana, as trustee, party of the second part, the Grant Trust and Savings Company being also hereinafter termed the trust company, witnesseth that, whereas, the mortgagor has deemed it necessary to borrow money for its corporate purposes, and to issue its bonds therefor, and to mortgage its property hereinafter described to secure the payment thereof, and to that end its board of directors has duly directed the issue of a series of bonds for the aggregate principal sum of $30,000, payable July 1, 1917, bearing interest at the rate of six per cent per annum, payable on the first days of January and July of each year, said bonds to be signed by its president, sealed by its corporate seal, attested by [196]*196its secretary, authenticated by the certificate of the Grant Trust and Savings Company, and to have interest coupons attached, with the signature of its present treasurer written thereon, which bonds, coupons and certificates are to bo substantially in the forms following, respectively, save that twenty of the bonds are to be issued for the principal sum of $1,000, ten for the principal sum of $500, and fifty for the principal sum of $100, with the appropriate changes in the coupons aUaclied thereto.”

Hero the mortgage sets out a copy of the bond contemplated to be issued by the Leader Publishing Company, the date of issue being July 1, 1907, as follows:

“For value received, the Leader Publishing Company, a corporation organized and authorized to transact business in the city of Marion, Grant county, Indiana, under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Indiana, promises to pay to the bearer the sum of $1,000, as hereinafter provided, together with interest at the rate of six per cent per annum, payable semiannually on the first days of January and July of each year, on presentation and surrender of the annexed coupons as they severally become due. 'Both the principal and the interest arc payable at the office of the Grant Trust and Savings Company in the city of Marion, Indiana. This bond is one of eighty, numbered consecutively one to eighty, both inclusive. The first twenty, numbered from one to twenty, each inclusive, are for $1,000' each. The next ten, numbered twenty-one to thirty, each inclusive, are for $500 each. The next fifty, numbered thirty-one to eighty, inclusive, are for $100 each.”

Here follows a further description of the bonds, which are to be issued. A copy of the coupon bond for $30, in form as prescribed in the mortgage, is as follows:

"On January 1, 1908, the Leader Publishing Company will pay to bearer $30 at the office of the Grant Trust and Savings Company, in Marion, Indiana, without deduction for taxes, upon surrender of this coupon, same being interest due this day upon this first mortgage bond. ’ ’

[197]*197The trustee certifies that this bond is one of a series of bonds mentioned and described in the mortgage before referred to. The mortgage then proceeds:

“And, whereas, the execution, issue and delivery of said bonds and coupons and of this indenture to secure the payment thereof have been duly authorized by the board of directors and the stockholders of the mortgagor.”

Then follow other provisions and a description of the property mortgaged.

By section one of the first article in the mortgage it is provided:

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Bluebook (online)
91 N.E. 498, 174 Ind. 192, 1910 Ind. LEXIS 97, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leader-publishing-co-v-grant-trust-savings-co-ind-1910.