Pendergast v. Bank of Stockton

19 F. Cas. 135, 2 Sawy. 108, 4 Am. Law T. Rep. U.S. Cts. 247, 1871 U.S. App. LEXIS 1762
CourtU.S. Circuit Court for the District of California
DecidedNovember 4, 1871
DocketCase No. 10,918
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 19 F. Cas. 135 (Pendergast v. Bank of Stockton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the District of California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pendergast v. Bank of Stockton, 19 F. Cas. 135, 2 Sawy. 108, 4 Am. Law T. Rep. U.S. Cts. 247, 1871 U.S. App. LEXIS 1762 (circtdca 1871).

Opinion

SAWYER, Circuit Judge.

The object of the bill in this ease, is, in part, to compel the defendant, a banking corporation, to transfer to complainant on its books, one hundred shares of its stock. The bill alleges, that one Howard was the owner of two certificates of stock of the Bank of Stockton, each stating that the said Howard is the owner of fifty shares of the capital stock of the said bank transferable only upon the books of said bank, personally, or by attorney, upon the surrender of the respective certificates; that said Howard delivered said two certificates of stock to said complainant, after having indorsed upon said respective certificates, an instrument in writing, whereby the said Howard sold, transferred and assigned, the said shares of stock in said respective certificates specified, to complainant, and duly authorized said complainant to make the necessary transfer of said shares of stock upon the books of said defendant; that said complainant afterward presented the said certificates of stock, together with the said assignment and authority to transfer indorsed thereon, at the same time offering to surrender the same to said defendant, and requested said defendant to transfer the said stock upon its books in pursuance of said authority; and that said defendant refused so to do.

After a general denial of the allegations of the bill, the defendant for a further answer alleges, that before and at the time of the said transfer of stock from said Howard to complainant, the said Howard was indebted to the defendant for money, before that time loaned to him, in the sum of five thousand dollars, which sum still remains due and unpaid; that before said assignment, the defendant had established and adopted among others, the following by-law, to-wit: “No transfer of stock shall be made upon the books of the bank, until after the payment of all calls and assessments, made or imposed thereon, and of all indebtedness due to the bank by the person in whose name the stock stands on the books of the bank, except with the consent, in writing, of the president;” that the president of said bank had never consented in any manner to the transfer of said stock; that said by-law had been adopted, and was in full force at the time of the issue of said stock and of all the stock issued by said bank; and that said stock was issued to, and held by, said Howard subject to the said provisions of said bylaw, of all which said complainant had due notice.

The complainant excepts to the sufficiency of this special answer, the ground of the exception relied on being, that the said corporation had no power to make the said by-la-w, forbidding a transfer of stock until all indebtedness of the holder to the bank is paid, and this is the question to be now determined.

The defendant’s counsel refer to the act of April 14, 1853: ‘.‘To provide for the formation of corporations for certain purposes,” as the act under which the Bank of Stockton is incorporated, St. 1S33, p. S7. The fourth [136]*136section of this act provides, that the corporations formed under it, shall have power, among other things, “to make by-laws not inconsistent with the laws of this state, for the organization of the company, the management of its property, the regulation of its affairs, the transfer of its stock, and for carrying on all kinds of business within • the objects and purposes of the company.” Id. 87, S8, § 4, subd. 6.

The ninth section provides, that, “the stock of the company shall be deemed personal estate, and shall be transferable in such manner as shall be prescribed by the by-laws of the company, but no transfer shall be valid, except between the parties thereto, until the same shall have been so entered on the books of the company, as to show the names of the parties by and to whom transferred, the number and designation of the shares, and the date of the transfer.” Id. 88, § 9.

These are the only provisions of the statute called to my attention, that affect the question; for, under the first and twenty-seventh sections of the act, the provisions of the act of May 22, 1850, have no application. Larrabee v. Baldwin, 35 Cal. 173. It is insisted by complainant that the stock of the company is personal property, held by the stockholder in which the corporation has no interest, legal or equitable, and over which it has no power other than that expressly conferred by the statute, or, such as is necessarily inferred from powers expressly granted; and that no power is found in the act authorizing the corporation to make á by-law, which shall affect the absolute right of the shareholder to have his stock transferred; that the provisions of the statute referred to only authorize the corporation to prescribe the manner in which the act of transfer shall be performed on the books, and does not reach the right of the holder to have a transfer made at his option, or, the conditions upon which it shall be made, or withheld.

Bank of Attica v. Manufacturers’ Bank, 20 N. Y. 501, is relied on as the strongest case in support of this view. In that case, the corporation adopted a by-law, that “no transfer of shares of stock can be made, unless the person making the same shall previously discharge all debts and demands due, or contracted by him, or her, to the bank, unless by consent of the board." The court of appeals held that the corporation had no power to make this by-law. But upon what ground? It will be seen by a critical examination of the case, that the decision was put upon the ground that the general banking law under which the bank was incorporated provided that “the shares shall be transferable on the books of the association in such manner as may be agreed upon in the articles of association,” not in such manner as should be prescribed by by-laws. The court say, “The manner of the transfer, including, according to this assumption, any qualification or restraint which it may be thought expedient to attach to the right of transfer, Is to be such as may be agreed upon — -not by a by-law, or by any act of the directors — but in the articles of association.” “It was not necessary to insert negative words to exclude any other manner of performing the same thing; for, by the most common rules of construction, where a matter is authorized to be done in a particular way, every other different method of doing it is excluded. And the difference between a restraint upon alienating the shares in these associations, contained in the articles, which must receive the assent of all the primary shareholders, and by which all persons holding derivative interests must be bound, and a like restraint imposed by the agents of the association in the form of a by-law, which may, or may not, come to the knowledge of the shareholders, and which, if known, may be disapproved of by them, is very marked. A person may generally agree by express contract to any qualification of his rights of property, not repugnant to the rules of law; but if another person undertakes to attach such qualifications in his behalf, he must show his authority for the act. I am unable to find any authority for the directors in these associations to insert such a provision in a by-law.

The by-law was held void, because the statute provided that the manner must be regulated in the articles of association, which must be subscribed by all the original cor-porators as a fundamental condition of the association, and, this excluded the right of the directors, who are usually but a small portion of the parties interested, and who are mere agents, from doing it by by-law.

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Bluebook (online)
19 F. Cas. 135, 2 Sawy. 108, 4 Am. Law T. Rep. U.S. Cts. 247, 1871 U.S. App. LEXIS 1762, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pendergast-v-bank-of-stockton-circtdca-1871.