The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-24 00:00:00

PROFESSOR LEONE LEVI'S LECTURE ON
BANKERS' CHEQUES.

at
A very interesting and novel ceremonial took pltace
King's College on Friday evening, being the formal
closing for the session of Professor Leone Levis lectures
on what may properly be called the learning and litera-
ture of commerce. It is a curious fact that at the first
establishment of the college a professorship of commerce
was provided for, and a professor appointed. Lectures
were given, but as no one attended.they
.weriti at last
abandoned, and the department remained in a.beyance
until the fame of 'Mr. Levi, as a commercial jurist, at-
tracted public attention to the subject, when hui services
having been secured, the class was re-opened, and with
such success that the learned lecturer has had an at-
tendance of considerably upwards of one hundred
students all through his course. Much of this success is
to be attributed to the warm support given to the move-
ment by Mr. Gilbart, beau manager of the London and
Westminster Bank, who not only provided prizes for the
successful students, but paid for the admission of every
gentlemen connected with that great establishment who
chose to avail himself of the course. Another gratifying
circumstance connected with the introduction of this
branch of education into King's College is, that the suc-
cess of Mr. Levi's lectures induced the Principal of the
institution (Dr. Jelf) to establish evening lectures also
on English literature and composition, the classics, ma-
thematics, and others of the higher branches of instruc-
tion ; and it was announced from the chair on Friday
evening that in every case the experiment had been at-
tended with the most complete success. The business
of the evening commenced with the following lecture
from Professor Levi, on the subject of bankers' cheques,
a topic to which great interest has been given by a
recent decision in the Court of Queen's Bench.
Professor Lzvi rose and said—Gentlemen, we have al-
ways had under consideration the law relating to mer-
cantile securities as regards bills of exchange, Exchequer
bills, dock warrants, Consols, &c. There remains now
one instrument of considerable importance in commerce
and banking, which cannot be omitted in our present
course—that is, bankers' cheques ; and at the cost of
leaving what was designated to occupy our attention in
the last lecture for another occasion we will explain
the state of the law on the subject. A cheque is pro-
perly a bill of exchange addressed to a banker, and pl.ya-
ble to a certain person or bearer on demand, though the
words "on demand " are not often inserted. Cheques
are commonly made as follows :
£lOO London, Jan. 1, 1856.
Pay A. 8., or bearer, one hundred pounds, on account
of --- C. D.

Messrs. Jones Lloyd and Co.
fn order that such steps be exempted from stamp duties
4hey must specify the place and date of issue, and must
be drawn upon bankers having their place of business
within fifteen miles of the locality where the cheques are
i sued. A. cheque is al ways supposed to be drawn upon
a previous deposit of funds, and is an absolute appro-
priation of so much money in the hands of the bank to
the holder of the cheque, to remain there until called for.
To illustrate this :—A cheque•was produced in court as
having been issued at the Dorchester Old Bank. It
was contended that the cheque was void, because it
ought to have been dated Dorchester, and the words
Dorchester Old Bank were not equivalent, as they only

described the establishment, and aid not necessarily in;

port that the cheque was drawn at Dorchester, though
the bank was in fact situated there. But it was decided
that the cheque did show to have been drawn at Dor-
chester. In another case a cheque was drawn in the
f Alowing manner :

October 12, 1847.

Messrs. Knapp, &c., bankers, Abingdon, pay to Mr.
Hicks, or bearer, one hundred and seventeen pounds
seventeen shillings.
1171. 17s.

THOMAS SHARPS.

The same exception was made, that as no place where the
cheque was issued appeared on the face of it, it was in-
admissible in evidence for want of a stamp ; and so it
was decided that the place mentioned in the cheque was
the place where Knapp, &c., carried on their business,
and was not the place where the cheque was drawn.
The cheque elitist be dated on or before the day on which
it is issued, and it must not direct the payment to he
made by a bill or note. The clause requiring a cheque
to be issued within 15 miles of the place where the banker
carries on business must be carefully attended to, be-
cause, if issued at a greater distance, if not stamped, it
would be illegal, and the person issuing it, and the
banker knowingly paying it, would incur the penalty of
1001. each ; and the person knowingly receiving it in
payment or as a security incurs a penalty of 201. The
place at which a cheque is considered as issued is
that where the drawer parts with the possession of it ;
and if it be transmitted by him through the post, the
place of issuing is that where it is posted. An un-
stamped cheque drawn and issued as above may be
circulated at any distance from the place of issue with•
out affecting its validity. Thus, a cheque drawn in
London, upon a London banker, may be sent by post
from London to Glasgow, or elsewhere, and negotiated
there for any period. Persona residing beyond the
distance of 15 miles from their bankers, whether such
residence be occasional or permanent, must of to
such cheques a penny stamp. But when the cheque is
issued on stamped paper it may be drawn upon any one,
banker or not, and at any distance from the place where
it is to be paid, and may also be payable either to bearer
or order. If made payable to order, then it must be in-
dorsed by the payee ; but if the drawee be a banker he
is not bound to inquire whether the indorsement is
genuine ; and if ho be not a banker it would be suffi-
cient for him to be satisfied, before paying the cheque,
of the authenticity of the signature of the payee. A
cheque cannot he issued for any sum less than 20s. A
cheque is not like a promissory note, payable on demand,
which is a continuing security, but is intended to be
presented speedily. In strictness, it ought to be pre-
sented the same day, if there be time, and the parties
live in the same place, or, if not, within the banking hours
of the next day at furthest. Government cheques are not
payable at the Bank of England after 3 o'clock. If the
parties live at a distance, the draft should be sent by the
first post ; and so imperative this is, that it would not be
sufficient to prove, in case of delay till the third day, that
by such a course the cheque reached the drawee just as
soon. A banker in London who receives a cheque by
the General Post is not bound to present it for payment
till the following day. The Law Merchant requires that
cheques be presented with reasonable diligence, and this
is till the close of the banking hours on the following day.
Nor would it make any difference were the cheque to
pass through the clearing-house. The clearing-house, I
scarcely need to describe, is a place in Lombard-street
where the bankers' clerks meet to exchange their cheques.
The practice is, that each banker sends to the clearing.
house the cheques upon other bankers, which he receives
in the course of the day ; they are there delivered to a
clerk of the fire on which they are drawn (each house
having a clerk in attendance there fur the purpose), and
he enters them in a book to the credit of the bankers
paying them in. When the clock of the clearing.
house strikes four, no more cheques are taken, and at
the end of the day the clerks settle their balances.
If a cheque comes too late for the clearing-house,
it is usually sent to the bankers on whom it
is drawn, and they mark it with their initials, which is
considered as an undertaking to pay it the next day, it
not being usual for bankers to pay each other after four.
It is usual that a banker receiving a cheque upon an-
other is bound to pass it at the clearing-house the same
day, if there were time ; but it appears that a cheque
peid in at a banker's, and requiring to be cleared, must
be entered in two books at least before it is eent out. It
has then to go to the clearing-house, and to be then en-
tered in a third. Under these circumstances it is but
just to allow the banker till the next day to present the
cheque. The number of banking firms who attended the
clearing-house in January, 1855, was 26. The amount
of transactions passed through the clearing by each bank-
ing house during 1840 was estimated altogether at
974,550,0001. Returning now to the presentment of
cheques, the holder is not entitled to one day mor,e in
presenting it, by passing it through his banker's. the
practical mode in which the question of presentation of
cheques presents itself is the effect of the diligence or ne-
gligence on the drawer and previous holder. For instance,
a debtor paid his creditor by a cheque, and the latter
on the same day transmitted it to his banker. The banker
omitted to present it at the clearing-house in time for
that day, when it would have been paid, and on the next
it was dishonoured, the firm on which it was drawn hav-
ing stopped payment. In this case the drawer would not
be discharged, the holder of the cheque being entitled,
by the general law, to present it the day after he receives
it. When the cheque circulates through several hands,
the holder would still have time till the next day to pre-
sent it. It must be remembered, however, that the liabi-
lity of the first drawer would not be extended by this ad-
ditional circulation. To charge him, the cheque must
have been presented within the period within which the
payee or first holder must have presented it. The next
thing respecting cheques is the duty of the banker on the
presentation of the cheque. As we have already had
occa'ion to observe, he is under obligation to honour
his customer's cheque, provided he has funds on hand
belonging to him: And in that respect the law reiat-
ins' to cheques differ" from the
general law regarding
bills and notes, by which the drawee is never liable on
the bill till he has accepted it. A cheque differs fi on bills
of exchange also in that no days of grace are allowed on
it. Where a cheque is handed in to the banker, he would
not render himself responsible by retaining it, provided
he returns it any time before five o'clock of the day l .
which it is drawn, and it would make no differenceo
even if the cheque had been cancelled by mistake, if it
be so returned on the same day. Cheques on bankers
are not accented ; payment is made on presentation in
lieu of it. We have already observed that thereica cus.
torn among bankers in London in their dealings with
each other, not to pay any cheque which is presented
by or on behalf of another banker after four o'clock in
the afternoon, but merely to give as answer to the per-
eon go presenting it whether it is a good cheque or not ;
and in easel the cheque is approved, a mark is made on
it, either by the poraon presenting it or the person who
gives the answer. A cheque so marked is considered
as entitled to a priority of payment on the next day,
the
effect of that marking being similar to the accept-
ing of a bill, for the hanker admits thereby to have
assets, and to make himself liable to pay. The utmost
care needs to be exercised by
a banker paying cheques,
moneycheques,
because if not
genuine he could not recover in
c ver
back from his customer, except he be re.o hislt fe
guilty gross ne-
gligence. Thus Hall lent Wa staffea cheque on his
banker Fuller for 31.
ab tette altered the 31. into
3001., and Fuller paid it. Fuller insisted on c
l
Hall with the 3001., on the plea that the forgerylar was
s
such that common observation could not have detected it.
This was true, but yet Fuller had authority to charge
against Hall such sums only as Hall load ordered him to
pay, and here Hall had only ordered him to pay 31. Ful-
ler thus lost the 297/. In another case, however, a cer-
tain Young left a blank cheque on Grote, his hankers,
with his wife, duly signed by him, that she might fill it
sum and date according to what the might want. She