The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-03-18
NEW ORLEANS, THURSDAY, MARCH is, 1875

ties to bills of exchange, a business indie
pendent of the legitimate business as an III
aurance company, in the sense OF the statute
| Defendants constituted Messrs. Seignouret
Freress their agents for the settlement of loss
| es on shipments to EUropeo with sub agencies
| at different points abroad. They had also. as
before stated, established credit with that
house. on which they drew for their own &C
commodatlon the numerous bills above men
oned. These transactions commenced in
the latter part of the year 1871. and were re
corded IN two accounts the exchange opera
tons and the agency. which tiGctuated until
the year 1873 which proved greatly disas-
trous to the defendants.
AT this time they were ea'icd upon to 9enlit
to MeSsrs Seignouret Freres large sums OF
money which, added to the debit Oh their
bank account, amounted to over half mil
lion of dollars They contracted heavy loans
with the city banks. The bills sued on were
drawn In September, 1873, and as in the case
OF all the other bills above mentioned We're
sold here or in New York. The proceeds
were received by them, and blended with
their other funds, and the whole used in their
business, or invested under the provisions of
their amended charter, Art. 9. Sec. /.
Under these circumstances, | cannot see
that the defendants, az a corporation, were
not authorized to draw the bills sued on
% Whenever a corporation is authorized to
contract debt, it may draw bill or give a
note in payment of it," And again: $50
also, note CT bill given by . corporation
will be presumed to have been given in the
course of its legitimate business, until the
contrary appears, and will lie valid IN the
hands of holders before maturity, without
notice. Persons on Notes and Bills, p. 16i
lOl Mass, 81; y n. T.. 40. The authority
to make loans. execute notes, pledges, etc.
by corporations is derived from the law ct
their creation, and i. not conferred by slle
EXPIRE letter OF their charter may be inferred
or implied from the powers actually con
terred. % ! so; IS How. ia
Private corpora ions may borrow qnogl. y
or become parties to negotiable paper III tie
transaction OF their legitimate business, I'm
less expressly prohibited; and, until the con-
trary Is shown the legal presumption is that
their acts lit that behalf were done in tn
regular course of their authorized business "
Wall
And when corporation LAS poweY, under
any circumstances, 10 issue negotiable securl-
ties, the iona .thle holder has a hight to pre-
sumo that they were issued under the circum-
stances which give the requisite authority
and they ara no more Liable to be impeached
for any lntrnity III the hands OF such a
holder than any other commercial paper" II
Wallace, 2S2.
Ii Is objected that the President of the IN
surance Association raised money as it
suited him; and that he assumed the whole
functions of the directory, unrestrained by
any finance committee or other committee"
That may be, but his transactions, in that
behalf, were entered on the books of the
company, and the board Of directors. its off
and fba pf ha Oh ol,,IJ
not plead ignorance of them. Several acts of
the president OF the corporation, done III the
name OF the corporation, and spread upon It's
books. will, If not repudiated at the time,
bind the corporation, as to third persons
n. \. Y. 13 Smith $40.
\ violation OF trus. or duty. if there was
such, towards the shareholder. can not be
entertained as a Defense whera its allowance
Will do . greater wrong to innoce.t third
parties.
Realizing the full weight Of the response
hlIty resting on me in the consideration Of
this case. and of the other similar cases
which have been i'll part tried in conjunction
with It. and regretting that the general juris.
dictlon Of this court has made this RESPONSE
bility undivided. | assign the above as the
reasons for the Judgment which is herein
rendered.
Judgment for plaintiffs.
Finney i Miller attorneys for Jung <
Simpson.
Clarke, Bayne { Ronshaw. attorneys for
Segnouret Ireres. and for {. J. Hambro Il
son.
A. Pilot and Alfred Grima. attorneys for A.
& Co.
Randolph, Singleton & Browne, attorneys
for defendants.