Boughton D.H., Banki ekonomia finanse
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//-->LAW OF NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS.Origin of the (6Law 1’I~chant.p9The idea of negotiability as applied to- modern businessaffairs is a product of commercial intercourse. Indeed,without this principle, or some equivalent which the wit ofman. might have devised, it is safe to say that the world’scommerce and consequently its civilization would have beengreatly retarded.An interchange of commodities leads to an interchangeof ideas. An interchange of ideas quickens the pulse of civ-ilization and increases the demand for the nece.ssaries andluxuries of life. This in turn quickens commercial activity.and the world’s civilization moves on step by step; Thedoctrine or idea of negotiability as ,applied to certain legaldocuments has been and still is one of the salient factors inthis movement. It has crossed the frontiers of nations andbrought men of different. countries and of different races in-to contact, breaking down the ‘barriers of prejudice andopening channels of trade and trafic..In the earlier. stages of society when man was yet in asavage, nomadic state and generally at war with all theworld beyond his own tribe, commerce was of necessity lim-ited to a narrow sphere and to the exchange, or barter, ofthe rude articles which savage ingenuity could devise. Theadvent of agriculture led to the foundation of communitieswith fixed habitations. Tribal barriers were removed andnations were formed. Manufacturing followed leading toNote.-Onaccount-of the frequency with which armyofficers are called upon to handle commercial paper, not only ontheir own account, but for the government as well, it has beenthought advisable to present the most necessaryfeaturesof thelaw on that subject in the form of a printed lecture which studentofficers can take with them as a means of ready reference.2demands for distant products. The exchange of commo-dities, however, article for article, was difficult and burden-some. This rendered apparent the necessity for some med-ium of exchange, some representative of value, that wouldpass current in commercial centers. Gold and silver satis-fied this requirement and early became the recognized med-ium of exchange or standards of value. This was a longstep in advance but commerce was still barnacled withmany difficulties that were overcome only with the slow pro-gress of centuries. Piracy at sea and robbery on land, ra-cial jgealousy, universal warfare, and tedious communica-tions were obstacles not lightly brushed a.side and renderedcommercial enterprises dangerous in the extreme.Naturally those engaged in traffic, especially at ‘sea,would seek to secure the acceptance of rules that would af;fordsome p,rotection to the undertakings in which they wereengaged. These efforts were first manifested in the“SeaLaws” of the Mediterrane.an cities which, lying in the trackof oriental trade, constituted during the; middle ages thegreat commercial centers of the world.One of the features growing out of these crude mari-tim.e regulations was what came to be known as the law-merchant (lex mercatoria), comprising, those usages of tradewhich merchants regarded as binding in commercial trans-actions. *Blackstone states that’the law-merchant is a branchof the law of ‘nations, and that it has been ingrafted into andmade a part of the common law, being allowed, for the Ben+fit of trade, to be of the utmost validity in all commercialtransactions. **And even though they may havebeenuw* Chase’s Blackstone;880,He s,ays,’ “Inmercantile questions,such as bills of exchange and the lik6: in all marinecauses, relating to freight, average, dem,urrage, idsurances,bottomary, atid others of a similar nature; the law-merechant, which is a branchr of the law of nations, is regularlyand constantly adhered to.*+ Id. 41.3known to Blackstone usages of trade and commerce are ac-knowledged by courts to be a part of ’ the common law*though of more universal auth0rity.tWhen the law-m,erchant came to be recognized as a partof the common law is not easy to say, It is referred to in Tthe Magna Charta and also in the statutes of the Plantage-nets and TudorsQL It was, however, in the time of Black-stone, fully regarded as a part of the common law. , Forsome time a distinction was maintained between foreign anddomestic mercantile contracts, the former being construedaccording to the “usages of trade”’ or law of merchants,the latter according to the ordinary law of contracts. The.construction applicable to the law-merchant was afterwardsextended to local transaction when merchants were parties,those engaged in other avocations or trades being still ex-cluded. Finally, in. 1666, the courts declared, “That thelaw of merchants is the law of the land, and the custom isgood enough generally for any man, without naming himmerchant.’ ‘WtMention has already been made of, the great advantageto civilization resulting from the adoption of a medium ofexchange which made possible the purchase of commodities ..without an actual exchange of goods. But the perils of theIsea and of the road rendered the shipment of gold or silverunsafe. Some means of discharging an indebtedness at adistance without always making an actual remittance ofmoney or a tran.sfer of goods was plainly necessary, and this* Mercer vs, Hackett, I Wall. 83; and see further on this sub-ject Merchants’ Bank vs. State Bank, IO Wall. 651; andWoodbury vs. Roberts, 59 Iowa, 349. In this latter base itwas said, “The rules applicable to commercial paper were, transplanted into the common law from the law merchant.They had their origin in the customs and course of busi-nessof merchants and bankers, and are now recognizedby the wants and convenience of the mercantile world.”T Randolph’s Corn. Paper, Sec. I.ft Norton’s Handbook, 3d Edition, p. 2.ttt Id.4the “usages of trade” soon supplied. Jt is probable thatRome had not long been mistress of the Mediterranean whenthis necessity became manifest and the -BII,I, Ol? lf$X-CHANGE, or something analogous thereto, had been de-vised to meet it. Nevertheless the origin and early historyof this simple commercial expedient are involved in. ob-scurity.THE BIIJ., OF EXCHANGE.Chancellor Kent is of the opinion that the bill of ex-change was known to the ancient Greeks. * But accordingto Story the medium of exchange employed by the ancientsdiffered in form and purpose from those now in, use .**The nearest app-roach ,was the custom which prevailed atRome where one paid money to another in that city to . berepaid by the latter at another place. This contract ismentioned by Cicero and a like contract is supposed to bereferred to in the Pandects, Other writers assert that thereis no vestige of our contract of exchange to be found in theRoman I,aw.*** However this may be, with the downfall ofthe Western Roman Empire and the advent of the DarkAges commerce declined and for centuries there was littlecall for contracts of this character. But with the revivalof commerce consequent upon the Crusades and the generalawakening at that time they gradually came into use and” ere long the bill of exchange was a well recognized featureof the commercial world.-According to Hallam? the merchants of Lombardy andthe south of France took up the business of remitting-moneyby bills of exchange and making profits on loans in theearly part of the 13th century, an.d within the next two.* 3 Corn. Sec. 44.** Bilk of Exchange 6, 4th Ed.*** Id. ‘7.f Middle Ages, Chap. IX, Part II, Money Dealings of the J&w. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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//-->LAW OF NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS.Origin of the (6Law 1’I~chant.p9The idea of negotiability as applied to- modern businessaffairs is a product of commercial intercourse. Indeed,without this principle, or some equivalent which the wit ofman. might have devised, it is safe to say that the world’scommerce and consequently its civilization would have beengreatly retarded.An interchange of commodities leads to an interchangeof ideas. An interchange of ideas quickens the pulse of civ-ilization and increases the demand for the nece.ssaries andluxuries of life. This in turn quickens commercial activity.and the world’s civilization moves on step by step; Thedoctrine or idea of negotiability as ,applied to certain legaldocuments has been and still is one of the salient factors inthis movement. It has crossed the frontiers of nations andbrought men of different. countries and of different races in-to contact, breaking down the ‘barriers of prejudice andopening channels of trade and trafic..In the earlier. stages of society when man was yet in asavage, nomadic state and generally at war with all theworld beyond his own tribe, commerce was of necessity lim-ited to a narrow sphere and to the exchange, or barter, ofthe rude articles which savage ingenuity could devise. Theadvent of agriculture led to the foundation of communitieswith fixed habitations. Tribal barriers were removed andnations were formed. Manufacturing followed leading toNote.-Onaccount-of the frequency with which armyofficers are called upon to handle commercial paper, not only ontheir own account, but for the government as well, it has beenthought advisable to present the most necessaryfeaturesof thelaw on that subject in the form of a printed lecture which studentofficers can take with them as a means of ready reference.2demands for distant products. The exchange of commo-dities, however, article for article, was difficult and burden-some. This rendered apparent the necessity for some med-ium of exchange, some representative of value, that wouldpass current in commercial centers. Gold and silver satis-fied this requirement and early became the recognized med-ium of exchange or standards of value. This was a longstep in advance but commerce was still barnacled withmany difficulties that were overcome only with the slow pro-gress of centuries. Piracy at sea and robbery on land, ra-cial jgealousy, universal warfare, and tedious communica-tions were obstacles not lightly brushed a.side and renderedcommercial enterprises dangerous in the extreme.Naturally those engaged in traffic, especially at ‘sea,would seek to secure the acceptance of rules that would af;fordsome p,rotection to the undertakings in which they wereengaged. These efforts were first manifested in the“SeaLaws” of the Mediterrane.an cities which, lying in the trackof oriental trade, constituted during the; middle ages thegreat commercial centers of the world.One of the features growing out of these crude mari-tim.e regulations was what came to be known as the law-merchant (lex mercatoria), comprising, those usages of tradewhich merchants regarded as binding in commercial trans-actions. *Blackstone states that’the law-merchant is a branchof the law of ‘nations, and that it has been ingrafted into andmade a part of the common law, being allowed, for the Ben+fit of trade, to be of the utmost validity in all commercialtransactions. **And even though they may havebeenuw* Chase’s Blackstone;880,He s,ays,’ “Inmercantile questions,such as bills of exchange and the lik6: in all marinecauses, relating to freight, average, dem,urrage, idsurances,bottomary, atid others of a similar nature; the law-merechant, which is a branchr of the law of nations, is regularlyand constantly adhered to.*+ Id. 41.3known to Blackstone usages of trade and commerce are ac-knowledged by courts to be a part of ’ the common law*though of more universal auth0rity.tWhen the law-m,erchant came to be recognized as a partof the common law is not easy to say, It is referred to in Tthe Magna Charta and also in the statutes of the Plantage-nets and TudorsQL It was, however, in the time of Black-stone, fully regarded as a part of the common law. , Forsome time a distinction was maintained between foreign anddomestic mercantile contracts, the former being construedaccording to the “usages of trade”’ or law of merchants,the latter according to the ordinary law of contracts. The.construction applicable to the law-merchant was afterwardsextended to local transaction when merchants were parties,those engaged in other avocations or trades being still ex-cluded. Finally, in. 1666, the courts declared, “That thelaw of merchants is the law of the land, and the custom isgood enough generally for any man, without naming himmerchant.’ ‘WtMention has already been made of, the great advantageto civilization resulting from the adoption of a medium ofexchange which made possible the purchase of commodities ..without an actual exchange of goods. But the perils of theIsea and of the road rendered the shipment of gold or silverunsafe. Some means of discharging an indebtedness at adistance without always making an actual remittance ofmoney or a tran.sfer of goods was plainly necessary, and this* Mercer vs, Hackett, I Wall. 83; and see further on this sub-ject Merchants’ Bank vs. State Bank, IO Wall. 651; andWoodbury vs. Roberts, 59 Iowa, 349. In this latter base itwas said, “The rules applicable to commercial paper were, transplanted into the common law from the law merchant.They had their origin in the customs and course of busi-nessof merchants and bankers, and are now recognizedby the wants and convenience of the mercantile world.”T Randolph’s Corn. Paper, Sec. I.ft Norton’s Handbook, 3d Edition, p. 2.ttt Id.4the “usages of trade” soon supplied. Jt is probable thatRome had not long been mistress of the Mediterranean whenthis necessity became manifest and the -BII,I, Ol? lf$X-CHANGE, or something analogous thereto, had been de-vised to meet it. Nevertheless the origin and early historyof this simple commercial expedient are involved in. ob-scurity.THE BIIJ., OF EXCHANGE.Chancellor Kent is of the opinion that the bill of ex-change was known to the ancient Greeks. * But accordingto Story the medium of exchange employed by the ancientsdiffered in form and purpose from those now in, use .**The nearest app-roach ,was the custom which prevailed atRome where one paid money to another in that city to . berepaid by the latter at another place. This contract ismentioned by Cicero and a like contract is supposed to bereferred to in the Pandects, Other writers assert that thereis no vestige of our contract of exchange to be found in theRoman I,aw.*** However this may be, with the downfall ofthe Western Roman Empire and the advent of the DarkAges commerce declined and for centuries there was littlecall for contracts of this character. But with the revivalof commerce consequent upon the Crusades and the generalawakening at that time they gradually came into use and” ere long the bill of exchange was a well recognized featureof the commercial world.-According to Hallam? the merchants of Lombardy andthe south of France took up the business of remitting-moneyby bills of exchange and making profits on loans in theearly part of the 13th century, an.d within the next two.* 3 Corn. Sec. 44.** Bilk of Exchange 6, 4th Ed.*** Id. ‘7.f Middle Ages, Chap. IX, Part II, Money Dealings of the J&w. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]