PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION When the first edition of this work was published, only a few of the States had adopted the Uniform Negotiable Instruments Law. Since that time every State in the Union, with the exception of Georgia, and every territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with the exception of Porto Rico, has adopted this law, either as drafted by the commission on uniform laws, or with slight modifications. It has been the aim in the second edition to preserve the rules which prevailed at common law and as modified by statutes, as well as to state the rules of the Uniform Negotiable Instruments Law, as they apply to defenses to Commercial Paper, noting the changes which have been made by the Negotiable Instruments Law, and the constructions that have been placed upon the various sections of that law. All new cases relating to commercial paper and its defenses have been examined and the scope of the work has been enlarged by adding several new chapters and about three hundred new sections, as well as enlarging and developing the old sections, the endeavor being to make a complete and exhaustive treatise on the law of defenses to commercial paper. The Uniform Negotiable Instruments Law has been set forth, and each section thereof fully annotated, showing the changes in it that have been made in the various states, and the construction that has been placed thereon by the courts of last resort. The English Bills of Exchange Act is also given, for the reason that our Uniform Negotiable Instruments Law is largely patterned after that act. A list of the various States that have adopted the Uniform Negotiable Instruments Law is given, together with the date of adoption in each case. A table of parallel section numbers is provided by means of which the sections of the Negotiable Instruments Law, as drafted by the commission, may be located under the section numbers of the statutes of the various States. Indianapolis, January 1, 1924. DANIEL W. CROCKETT. PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION The purpose of the authors in this work has been to furnish a treatise on the defenses in actions upon commercial paper, including therein all of the common law defenses, and also those which are provided for by the Negotiable Instruments Laws. The preparation of this manuscript has necessitated the examination of many thousands of decisions, all of which has been done personally by the editors. The subjects have been arranged to present logically those defenses which originate with the inception of the paper, and extend down to the final action thereon, and to include those defenses which may arise subsequent to the commencement of the action. The English Bills of Exchange Act is also added, as well as the Negotiable Instruments Laws, and these are considered with reference to the latest decisions. It is believed that this book will prove a practical working tool, and a convenient handbook for the busy lawyer. JOSEPH A. JOYCE, HOWARD C. JOYCE. New York, September, 1907. |