Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1822-01-23

destroyed The debt snaH HeveftneiesS &c
paid upon satisfactory proof being made
ofthe ownership and loss. Thus sanction
ed. these notes pass from hand to band,
and IL the bank can nevertheless discharge
herself from the obligatiou to pay them
unless both parts OF the note bs produced,
or unless the note be produced entire land
there is no difference between the two
cases then the arbitrary declaration OF
the Bank must be stronger than Law !.
"Cutling a bank note into two parts
said the Judge, " does not discharge
the bank from the debt of which the uote
was but the evidence, nor does it even IN
pair the evidence itself, if, by uniting the
part the contents Of the entire note can be
made out. If one of the parts should be
lost, or destroyed, The febt would te
no NJ ore affected, than it the entire note
had been lost or destroyed. The evidence
is impaired indeed, not by the act OF cut
ting the note, but by the salne accident
J which would have affected he entire note
had that peen lost. In both cases the own
or must resort to secondary evidence, and
is bound to prove that the 5note dld once
exist, that it is lost or destroyed, and that
ne is the true and bona ade owner OF the
debt. If one part only OF the note be lost
the difficulty which the real owner OF i:
| has to encounter, in proving his right TO
| the debt, is diminished"
Judge Peters fully coacur red IN this
opinion.
The party that is cast, i. seldom salts
fed with the result OF a law suit; but the
rule IS laid down in this case will proba
bly be found, when properly understood,
to be beneficial both to the bank and the
public. On the one side pc sons who have
occasion to transmit notes by mail, can
| take such precautions as may serve Tor evi
dence of,he ownership and the loss, It any
accident occur; and on the other. the task
of proving the owr ership and the loss, rest.
in. with The holder of The halt-note, il will
be the fault OF the bank if it ever dis
| charges the same oblig ton more than
once.
If the practice Of transmitting funds by
mail were abolished, the commercial inter
course of the country you'd be seriously
interrupted; and il the precaution OF cut
ting the notes in two, were not resorted 10,
II is probable that bat a small part OF The
mon sent by post would ever reach ITS
original place OF destination; Tor, so great
is the rascaIity of some OF those through
whose hands it mus pass, so censurable is
| the carelessness of others and so nuDer-
Gus are the accidents against which neiIher
human prudence nor human honesty can
| afford sufficient security. that an insurance
o fifty per cent. To- every 500 miles, could
hardly be considered adequate TO the fis-
que The great interest OF the Bank OF
the United States, is to make its notes the
currency Of the country; but il 1t refuses 10
discharge its obligations on the production
Of such evidence as is deemed sufficient
both in law and equity, its bills will never
answer the purpose for which they were
intended. Even admitting that It should
through the ca-elessDess OF its officers,
sometimes pay twice where it should pay
but once, the sun lhus lost will bear no
comparison with the sum gained by giving
its notes general circulation. IL was that
we might have national currency that The
Bank was instituted, and whatever pro-
notes that object will be found to be
both for the interest of the stockhold-
ers and the public.