name of the company, addressed "To the Cashier"; the holder may treat it as a note by the company." BILLS IN A SET 3. There is usually only one copy made of an inland bill, but of foreign bills there are generally several copies made, each containing a condition in effect that it is payable only in case the others are unpaid, and these taken together are called a set, or a set of exchange, while a bill so executed is said to be drawn in a set. The number of copies is usually three, but there may be either more or less; each separate copy is known as a part of the bill. The purpose of this is to avoid delay and inconvenience that may result from the loss or miscarriage of a foreign bill, and to facilitate and expedite its transmission; and, as was the case with the whole law merchants governing the subject of negotiable instruments, it grew out of an early custom, on the part of the drawer of a bill of exchange to draw and deliver to the payee several parts of the same bill." The usual form of a bill of exchange drawn in a set is as follows: $1,000. PHILADELPHIA, August 1, 1901. Thirty days after sight of this first of exchange, the second and third being unpaid, pay to the order of Amos Stirling, One Thousand Dollars, and charge the same to the account of AARON LEX. TO JOHN DOE, New York. This constitutes the first part of the bill; and the second part of the set reads: "Thirty days after sight of this second of exchange, the first and third remaining unpaid, pay," etc. Each part should contain its respective number, and be so worded as to give warning of the other parts; if such be the case, then the whole of the parts constitute one bill;" but, if one part of a set omit reference to the rest, it becomes a separate bill in the hands of a bona-fide holder," and the drawer is liable to him. 89 C. B. (Eng.) 574 (1850). 9 See subtitles General Remarks, Defi nitions, supra. 101 Dan. Neg. Inst., Sec. 113. 11 Eng. B. of E. Act, Sec. 71 (1); N. Y. N. I. L., Sec. 310. 12 Chal. Dig. Eng. B. of E. Act (5th Ed.), p. 235. The different parts of the bill are forwarded by the drawer to the payee by different conveyances-one by each of several consecutive mails; and the chances of the bill reaching the payee in due season are thus increased. All the parts should be delivered together, and in a transfer of the bill all should be transferred. If the bill be lost, another set may be demanded. But an action will not lie against prior parties, other than the drawer or payee, for such other parts without proof of their being in their possession.1a When any one of the parts of a bill is paid, the others stand void. But, when a bill of exchange drawn in a set is presented to the drawee for acceptance, he should take care not to accept more than one part, for if he accept more, and the several parts be negotiated to different holders in due course, he will be liable on each acceptance, as if it were a separate bill." A person who negotiates a bill of exchange drawn in a set is bound to deliver up all the parts in his possession, but by negotiating one part he does not warrant that he has the rest." If any person undertake to draw or deliver a foreign bill to another person, he is bound to deliver the usual number of parts." Where it is necessary that a bill of exchange should bear a stamp, only one part of a set must be stamped in order to be valid. The payee, indorsee, or holder of a bill drawn in a set should only indorse and negotiate one part of the set, for the indorsement of one part is a transfer of all; if he indorse two or more parts, and they get into the hands of different holders for value, he is liable as an indorser on every such part, and every indorser subsequent to him is liable on the part he has himself indorsed, as if such parts were separate bills." The drawer signs all the parts of a set, but, after that, only one part should be accepted, indorsed, and negotiated, by the drawee, payee, and indorsee or indorsees. The condition included in each part of a set, as in the 13 Rand. Com. Paper, Sec. 238. 14 Eng. B. of E. Act, Sec. 71 (4); N. Y. N. I. L., Sec. 313. 15 32 L. J. Q. B. (Eng.) 82 (1863). 161H. & N. (Eng.) 412 (1856). 17 Eng. B. of E. Act, Sec. 71 (2); N. Y. N. I. L., Sec. 312. illustration given, "the second and third being unpaid," serves as a notice to the world that all the parts constitute one bill, and that if the drawee pay any part, the whole is extinguished. The condition should mention every part of the set, for if a person intending to make a set of three parts should omit the condition in the first, and make the second with a condition, mentioning the first only, and in the third take notice only of the other two, he might be obliged to pay each, for it would be no defense to an action by a bonafide holder on the second that he had paid the third, nor to an action on the first that he had paid either of the others." But an omission is not material, which, upon the face of the condition, must necessarily have arisen from a mistake; as, if, in the enumeration of the several parts, one of the intermediate ones were to be omitted; for instance, "Pay this my first of exchange, second and fourth not paid.' 1920 Where a bill consists of several parts, each ought to be delivered to the person in whose favor it is made, unless one be forwarded to the drawee for acceptance; otherwise, there may be difficulties in negotiating the bill, or obtaining payment." Where two or more parts of a set are negotiated to different holders in due course, the holder whose title first accrues is, as between such holders, the true owner of the bill; but this does not affect the rights of a person who in due course accepts or pays the part first presented to him.” 4. The person who forwards one part of a set for acceptance ought to indicate on the other parts where such part will be found. The person to whom the part has been forwarded for acceptance is bound to deliver it up to, or according to the orders of, the indorsee." The acceptor should only pay that part which bears his acceptance, for if he pay another part, and the part bearing his acceptance be not delivered up to him, but is outstanding in the hands. of a holder in due course, he is also liable upon that 181 Dan. Neg. Inst., Sec. 114. 22 Eng. B. of E. Act, Sec. 71 (3); N. Y. N. I. L., Sec. 311. 23 Chal. Dig. B. of E. Act (5th Ed.), p. 237. part." When payment is demanded of the acceptor, it is sufficient if the accepted part be given up, without producing or accounting for the non-production of the other parts. An indorser should not pay a dishonored set, unless all the parts bearing his indorsement be delivered up to him or accounted for." Any part of a set may be presented for acceptance, and if not accepted, that is sufficient, and it is not necessary that any others of the set should be presented, but a right of action arises at once upon due notice against all the antecedent parties to the bill." When the part (whether the first, second, third, or fourth) thus presented for acceptance and dishonored has been protested for non-acceptance, and due notice thereof has been given to an indorser, on the trial of an action brought against him by the indorsee, the latter must produce the very part of the set which has been protested, but that alone is sufficient; he need not produce the others of the set, nor account for their non-production, as by proof of their having been lost, for there is no presumption that the missing parts have been improperly dealt with. The production of the protested parts is prima facie evidence of the liability of the drawer or indorser thereon; he may, if he can, show by way of defense either that some other bill of the set has been presented and accepted, or paid; or that it has been presented at an earlier time and dishonored, and due notice has not been given, or that another person is the proper holder, and has given notice of his title to the party sued; or that some other ground of defense exists which displaces the prima facie title made out by the plaintiff." 5. Where any part of a bill drawn in a set is discharged by payment or otherwise, the whole bill is discharged, unless the remaining parts have been issued or in some manner negotiated apart, and thus become in effect separate bills, or unless the acceptor pay the bill without requiring the part bearing his acceptance to be delivered up to him, and that part at maturity is outstanding in the hands of a holder in due course." If the acceptor or an indorser once pay the bill, without notice of any superior adverse claim, by a negotiation of another of a set to another party, he is completely exonerated." The party entitled to the bill should claim and hold all the parts, for the payment of any one part to another person may defeat him." But he to whom any one part of the set is first transferred acquires a property in all the other parts, and may maintain the action of trover even against a bonafide holder, who, subsequently, by transfer or otherwise, gets possession of another part of the set. For it is the duty of the person taking one part to inquire after the others; and he is advertised by their absence that they, or one of them, may be outstanding in the hands of a prior bona-fide holder." The parts of a set must be distinguished from copies of a bill. In England and the United States, no general use is made of copies of bills of exchange. But on the continent of Europe, where a bill is not drawn in sets, copies are sometimes negotiated, while the original is being forwarded for acceptance. In some cases, although the practice is not a safe one, a copy without indorsement is sometimes substituted by the drawer for the original bill which has been transferred and returned to him with many indorsements on it; the holder of the substituted copy may thus lose his remedy against the acceptor." ACCEPTANCE 6. Definition. - The acceptance of a bill is the signification by the drawee of his assent to the order of the drawer." It is an engagement to pay the bill according to its tenor. Between the holder and acceptor, the simple = 28 Eng. B. of E. Act, Sec. 71 (6); N. Y. N. I. L., Sec. 315. 29 13 Pet. (U. S.) 205 (1839). 30 10 B. & C. (Eng.) 454 (1830). 311 Dan. Neg. Inst., Sec. 116. 32 Rand Com. Paper, Sec. 242. 33 Eng. B. of E. Act, Sec. 17 (1); N, Y. N. I. L., Sec. 220. |