Rowland & Co. v. Plummer

50 Ala. 182
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedJanuary 15, 1874
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 50 Ala. 182 (Rowland & Co. v. Plummer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rowland & Co. v. Plummer, 50 Ala. 182 (Ala. 1874).

Opinion

PETERS, C. J.

No objection was made to the form of the issue, or the pleadings, in the court below. On the trial of such an issue, the plaintiff in attachment is the actor,' and assumes to show that the assignment of the note is invalid. Grady’s Adm’r v. Hammond, 21 Ala. 427 ; Goodwin v. Brooks, 6 Ala. 836. It would seem that, if the truth of the answer is not denied, the assignment, or transfer of the note, is admitted. 33 Ala. 454. This puts the assignee, or transferee, in the attitude of a party in possession ; and this possession is assailed by the plaintiffs in the attachment. Then, the assailing parties should show that they have a better title than the claimant, who is the party in possession of the note ; because possession of property is evidence of title against all the world, save the real owner. 1 Greenl. Ev. § 34 ; 3 Phil. Ev. (C. &H. Notes), pp. 457, 458, and cases there cited. In this case, upon the pleadings shown in the record, Plummer comes into court in possession of the note in dispute, and claims to hold it as trustee of Mrs. Annie E. Johnson. Before the plaintiffs can disturb this possession, they must show that this title is insufficient. As was said by Ormond, J., in the case above cited (6 Ala. 838), “ The design of the law was to enable the plaintiff in attachment to contest the validity of the alleged transfer, or assignment.” By taking issue upon the facts thus set up by the claimant, the plaintiffs admit the sufficiency and legality of [193]*193the title alleged, but deny the facts which support it. It would seem, therefore, that if these facts are proved to be true on the trial, the verdict must necessarily be for the claimant, and the garnishment must be discharged.

2. If the husband was indebted to the wife, for the use of the moneys of her separate estate which were under his control, he was bound to pay her what he so owed. Ryan v. Bibb, 46 Ala. 323; Barclay v. Plant, at the present term. This he could do, if he chose, without suit; and if he could not pay in money, he might take such other steps to secure the payment as could be taken with any other person. Marriage, in this State, does not degrade a woman, as a creditor, below the dignity and rights of any other creditor. What any other creditor may do, to enforce payment of his debts, or to secure their payment or composition, she may do as to her separate estate, under the limitations of the laws enacted for her protection. Becton v. Selleck, at the January term, 1872; Barclay v. Plant, supra. Placing the note, then, in the hands of Plummer, for the use of Mrs. Johnson, was not an act forbidden by law.

3. Plummer was a mere bailee, to hold in trust for Mrs. Johnson. His solvency or insolvency could not have affected the legality of the transfer, nor her rights under it; neither could it have affected his duties as her trustee. He was the father of Mrs. Johnson, and therefore a fit person to become her trustee. There was no error in rejecting the attempt to prove his insolvency as a badge of fraud.

4. The objections to the competency of Johnson, the defendant in attachment, and of Foster, the attorney of Johnson and his wife, rest upon similar, if not identical grounds. The pith of these objections seems to be this : that to admit the testimony of witnesses so situated is immoral, and against the public policy. This would be a competent objection, if it were true. This was the objection allowed at common law against a party testifying in his own case, or in a case in which he might be interested in the judgment. It may now be gravely doubted whether this rule of the common law applies in any civil suit since the adoption of the Revised Code. The old rule of exclusion on account of interest, and connection with the case as a party, is now abolished, except in a single instance, which is not this case. Rev. Code, § 2704. All parties to the suit may now be compelled to testify in favor of the opposite party, when such party may choose to require it. Rev. Cede, §§ 2731 et seq. The oath of the witness demands an exhibition of the whole truth, so far as the party testifying knows it. Rev. Code, § 2703; 1 Greenl. Ev. § 828. This would compel the witness to disclose all that passed between him and his attorney, so far as it is pertinent to the issue. The party to the [194]*194suit being thus bound to tell the whole truth of the matter, and what he had said about it to others, if demanded, as a means of testing his own veracity, there would seem to be little reason in protecting the attorney from a like disclosure. The object of the law is to elicit the whole truth, and this object must govern its policy. The law is the command of the sovereign power, and it speaks the public policy of the State. The law makes all parties to the suit competent, except in certain cases (of which this is not one). The husband is a competent witness for the wife, and the wife is a competent witness for the husband, in such a case as this. Robinson v. Robinson, 44 Ala. 227; Rev. Code, § 2704.

6. As to the attorney, his privilege is personal, and the client may waive it. 1 Phil. Ev. (Cowen’s ed. 1849) p. 163 ; 3 lb., Notes, pp. 182 et seq. It seems, also, that the disclosures which are forbidden to be made, are such as would be prejudicial to the client. He could not complain of that which did him no injury. 3 Phil. Ev. 162. Foster, then, was not incompetent, and he was properly admitted.

6. The testimony shows that the proper stamp was appended to the indorsement on the note, before it was offered in evidence. It could not, then, have been used with intent to defraud the government of the United States. Such an instrument is competent as evidence in a state court. Foster v. Holly, at the last term; also, Dailey v. Coker, 33 Texas, 815; S. C. 7 Amer. Rep. 279; Rheinstrom v. Cone, 26 Wis. 163; S. C. 7 Amer. Rep. 48, and cases cited in note. There is nothing in the fourth assignment of error.

7. The sixth assignment assails the accuracy of charges given by the court on the trial below, which are numbered 1, 2, and 3. The obligation of Tweedy and Ashford on the note in controversy was to pay to the legal owner the amount due thereon. The indorsement passed the title out of W. R. Johnson, and vested it in his indorsee. Rev. Code, §§ 1838, 2523. After such indorsement, it ceased to be the property of the indorser, and could not be seized on attachment as his property. Only his property could be attached for his debt. Rev. Code, §§ 2943, 2944. The indorsement, in this case, was older than the levy of the attachment by service of the garnishment on Tweedy and Ashford. In such event, the indorsement must prevail over the garnishment. This is the substance of charge number 1, of the learned judge on the trial below. It was correct.

8. Charge number 2 is not objected to as a whole. The portion objected to as set out in the bill of exceptions is thus stated: “ And plaintiffs excepted to the part of the said charge about ‘ the jury being bound to believe the evidence unless im[195]*195peached or discredited.’ ” The oath of the juror is, that the verdict must be rendered u according to the evidence.” Rev. Code, § 4092. This means all the evidence that has been delivered to them on the trial.

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Bluebook (online)
50 Ala. 182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rowland-co-v-plummer-ala-1874.