The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1875-10-19
COMMERCIAL LAW,
BYw W ARNETr, OF THE WHEELING BAR

By W W ARNETT, OF THE WHEELING BAR
GENTLEMEN: The very first matter
which should claim your consideration is
the leg Il character of contracts which ac i
cording to best authority, is defined to be
IAN agreement between two or more
parties, competent to contract, based up
on proper consideration, each promis-
ing ,o,to OF not to do some particular
thing possible 10 be done, which thirg is
not enj ,intd nor prohibited by law y
From which we discover the Primary
elements are
lst. The parties.
81 The parties must he competent to
contract-that s,they must lie always the
same They must, except as to necessa
ries, he of lawful age--not infants in law
-and they must not be married women.
3 l. There must be a ''consideration,"
quui pro quo, otherwise it is nadum
pdctum, and cannot he enforced.
4th 1t must be as to some act that is
possible-nolaw requiring impossibili
lies-and must be something not restrict
ed by law. :.
Contracts are of three kinds: First. by
record second, contracts of specialities,
and third, simple contracts.
] will lot speak of the first kind.
The second-srecialities-are always
under seal, and import a consideration
without evidence. .-r.f ... --
The third-simple contracts-are such
as are not under seal They may be Ell,
ther written or verbal. the latter of equal
dignity with the former, except such as
the "Statutes of Frauds, dc, require to
beiwritten, as for the conveyance of real
estate q lease for more than one year an
agreement to pay the debt of another
person, DC
What has been said of contracts in
general applies, Of course, to CONNER
cial contracts.
The oldest commercial or negotiable
instrument, of which there are four
kinds, is the bill of exchange. ar
There are g. the bill Of exchsnge, (2)
promissory (negotiable) notes, (3)
checks, and az bank bills
Tue first only existed OF common law,
and was the outgro 18th of The necessity OF
trade The promissory note isa creature
Of statutes, passed in the reign Of Anne,
and has been incorporated into the stat
utes of most of the States of the Ameri-
can Union. .>saa1ar.Is
The object of these commercial instru.
ments is and was to avoid the transmits
sion of large sums of money, often cum.
bersome and inconvenient; frequently
difficult and dangerous. Ninety three
per cent of the business Of the present
day is done by means of commercial in.
struments-only 7per cent by the use ol
money.
The simple characteristic-the diStin
gushing feature of commercial paper
from all other instruments--are the
words s'or order,'' or cor bearer" more
generally the former. They belong to al
-FOUR FY{ GvTT.tH
/ Without the words cor order" or "ol
bearer the bill OF exchange and check
would be simple orders, and the negotia-
ble,a mere promissory note or note ol
hand
r Bills of exchange are nf two kinds
foreign ,and internal:
Those payable in foreign countries are
foreign bills, and under the decision OF
the Courts those drawn in one State, pay
able in another State, are foreign bills
those drawn and payable in the same
State are internal bills of exchange.
The same characteristics belonging to
contracts in general, Of necessity, belong
to commercial contracts, as, for example,
lin parties to bills Of exchange there are
three original parties, the first being the
arawer; secnnd, the drawee; third, the
payee, who, il he assigns or transfers the
bill, is called an 'sendorser," and the
drawee, if be accepts, is called the accept
orls
The promissory note has two parties
They are first, maker; second, the payee
who, if he assigns, is called the Aendors
er"
The check has. two parties likewise
first, the maker; second, the payee, who
is, when he assigns or delivers the check,
called an endorser. 80
All secondary parties are called, in
technical language, endorsers, except the
last, or the one who retains possession ol
Fit, and who is called the "holder." -
i FL -