Oregon Iron & Steel Co. v. Kelso State Bank

224 P. 569, 129 Wash. 109, 38 A.L.R. 178, 1924 Wash. LEXIS 604
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 27, 1924
DocketNo. 18457
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 224 P. 569 (Oregon Iron & Steel Co. v. Kelso State Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Oregon Iron & Steel Co. v. Kelso State Bank, 224 P. 569, 129 Wash. 109, 38 A.L.R. 178, 1924 Wash. LEXIS 604 (Wash. 1924).

Opinion

Mackintosh, J.

This action is here without any statement of facts and the only question is whether the findings of fact justify the conclusions of law and the judgment. The findings, conclusions and judgment are as follows:

I.
“That the Oregon Iron & Steel Company, Ladd & Tilton Bank, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, United States National Bank of Portland, and the Kelso State Bank of Kelso, Washington, are all corporations duly organized and existing.
II.
“That John P. Duke is the duly qualified and acting supervisor of banking of the state of Washington; that on the 17th day of March, 1921, the said Kelso State [110]*110Bank became unsound and insolvent and its assets were taken, charge of under the banking laws of the state of Washington, and since that time it has been in liquidation and T. H. Adams is now in charge as the special deputy supervisor of banking liquidating the Kelso State Bank.
III.
“That for a long time prior to the 17th day of March, 1921, and until the bank was taken in charge by the bank officials of the state of Washington, F. L. Stewart was the cashier and general manager of the said Kelso State Bank and had been its cashier in charge of the affairs of the bank and the managing officer thereof for a number of years previous thereto.
IY.
“That on or about the 15th day of March, 1921, the said F. L. Stewart drew his personal check on the Kelso State Bank for the sum of $3,237.64, payable to the order of the Oregon Iron & Steel Company, the plaintiff herein; that said check was forwarded in due course of mail to the Oregon Iron & Steel Company at Portland, Oregon, and endorsed by it and delivered to the Ladd & Tilton Bank in Portland, Oregon, for collection, and was endorsed by the Ladd & Tilton Bank of Portland to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Portland branch, for collection.
Y.
“That on or about the 16th day of March, 1921, the said Federal Reserve Bank presented to the Kelso State Bank items drawn on the Kelso State Bank aggregating $4,891.08, and that among the items so presented to said Kelso State Bank was the check drawn by the said F. L. Stewart and payable to the Oregon Iron & Steel Company, the plaintiff herein; that when said items were presented to said Kelso State Bank it issued its draft, No. 298, dated March 16, 1921, in the sum of $4,891.08, payable to the Portland branch of the Federal Reserve Bank and drawn on the United States National Bank of Portland.
[111]*111VI.
‘ ‘ That on March 17,1921, said Federal Reserve Bank presented said draft to the United States National Bank at Portland and payment was refused and the draft returned marked ‘bank closed’ by the United States National Bank, and said draft was on March 18,1921, protested for nonpayment and notice given to the officials in charge of the Kelso State Bank and the said draft was subsequently returned to the Kelso State Bank by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
VII.
‘ ‘ That at the time said check was drawn by the said F. L. Stewart he had no sufficient funds to pay the same and it constituted an overdraft to the amount of $3,164.38 and continued an overdraft in the same amount until the bank closed.
VIII.
“That at said time and for a long time prior thereto the said Kelso State Bank was in an insolvent condition and unable to meet its liabilities and its condition was well known to the said F. L. Stewart.
IX.
“That said draft was payable to the order of the Portland branch of the federal reserve bank at Portland and that upon its receipt by the said Federal Reserve Bank at Portland the said Federal Reserve Bank acting as agent for the plaintiff herein refused to accept the same or any part thereof, but repudiated the draft and returned the same to the said Kelso State Bank and notified the officers in charge of the bank of its refusal to accept the draft and said draft was never accepted by the Portland branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, either for itself or for the plaintiff, and was never accepted by the plaintiff, but plaintiff refused to accept the same.
X.
“That at no time from the time the original check was issued by the said F. L. Stewart was there sufficient funds to the credit of the said F. L. Stewart to [112]*112pay said check or the draft referred to and they amounted to an overdraft in the sum of $3,164.38.
Conclusions of Law:
“That at the time the check in question was issued by the said F. L. Stewart he had no funds to his credit with which to pay said check and the issuance of the same constituted an overdraft and was in violation of law;
“That at the time said draft was issued there were no funds to pay the same and it was issued in violation of law and was therefore void;
“That the plaintiff refused to accept the draft and it was never accepted or became a binding obligation against the Kelso State Bank;
“That plaintiff is not entitled to recover in this action and the defendant is entitled to a judgment of dismissal.
Judgment:
“It is ordered and adjudged that plaintiff’s action be dismissed and that defendant recover judgment for his costs.”

The court having found that the draft given by the Kelso bank in payment of the check was repudiated and never accepted by the appellant, the appellant is bound by that finding, and it is, therefore, to be borne in mind that this is not an action against the respondent upon that draft. The theory upon which any judgment in favor of the appellant can be granted is that the respondent is liable by virtue of having accepted and honored the Stewart check.

The sections of the code applicable to the facts are: that portion of § 3453, Rem. Comp. Stat. [P. C. § 4133], reading as follows: “The acceptor by accepting the instrument engages that he will pay it according to the tenor of its acceptance . . . ” and that portion of § 3522, Rem. Comp. Stat. [P. C. § 4203], reading: “The acceptance of a bill is the signification by the drawee of his assent to the order of the drawer. ’ ’ And [113]*113§ 3579, Rem. Comp. Stat. [P. C. § 4260], as follows:

“A check of itself does not operate as an assignment of any part of the funds to the credit of the drawer with the bank, and the bank is not liable to the holder unless and until it accepts or certifies the check.”

The court found that the respondent accepted and honored the check, but that the appellant refused to accept the draft given as payment for the check, which the appellant had a right to do, for if the bank accepted the check, the obligation was then on the bank to pay the proceeds to the appellant in cash if the payee did not request some other form of payment.

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Bluebook (online)
224 P. 569, 129 Wash. 109, 38 A.L.R. 178, 1924 Wash. LEXIS 604, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oregon-iron-steel-co-v-kelso-state-bank-wash-1924.