Case Name: FIRST NAT. BANK OF CAMDEN v. CARLETON et al.
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1899-07-18
Citations: 59 N.Y.S. 635
Docket Number: 
Parties: FIRST NAT. BANK OF CAMDEN v. CARLETON et al.
Judges: 
Reporter: West's New York Supplement
Volume: 59
Pages: 635–638

Head Matter:
(43 App. Div. 6.)
FIRST NAT. BANK OF CAMDEN v. CARLETON et al.
(Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department.
July 18, 1899.)
Confession of Judgment—Statement—Sufficiency.
A confession of judgment which states that “this judgment is for money-due to the said plaintiff from me, and the following is a concise statement of the facts out of which the debt arose, constituting the said liability,”' and setting forth a copy of the note and debtor’s indorsement, and which
states “that the note was duly protested at said bank [plaintiff] after having been indorsed by me. Said note was at maturity not paid, and was thereupon duly discounted, and now remains wholly unpaid, and there is now due from me thereon to said plaintiff the sum of $80.39, and the sum confessed therefor is justly due,”—is sufficient, under Code Civ. Proc. § 1274, which provides that the statement on which a court will permit a confession of judgment must state concisely the facts out of which the debt arose, and must show that the sum confessed therefor is justly due or to become due.
McLennan and Spring, JJ., dissenting.
Appeal from special term, Onondaga county.
Confession of judgment by Charles Carleton in favor of the First National Bank of Camden. From an order denying a motion by Oliver Howard to vacate the judgment (57 N. Y. Supp. 674), he appeals.
Affirmed.
The statement and confession are as follows:
“I, Charles Carleton, of the town of Camden, Oneida Co., N. Y., the defendant named in the above-entitled action, do hereby confess judgment in favor of the" First National Bank of Camden, N. Y., the plaintiff therein named, for the sum of eighty and 38/ioo dollars, and do hereby authorize said plaintiff to enter judgment therefor against me. This confession of judgment is for money due to the said plaintiff from me, and the following is a concise statement of the facts out of which the debt arose, constituting the said liability. On a certain promissory note, of which the following is a copy: ‘$88.91. Camden, N. Y., December 26, 1895. Three months after date I promise to pay to the order of Charles Carleton sixty-eight and »Vioc dollars, at the First National Bank of Camden, N. Y. James Carleton. Value received, with interest. [Indorsed] Charles Carleton,’—which said note was duly protested at said bank after having been indorsed by me. Said note was at maturity not paid, and was thereupon duly discounted, and now remains wholly unpaid, and there is now due from me thereon to said plaintiff the sum of $80.39, and the sum confessed therefor is justly due.”
Argued before HARDIN, P. J., and ADAMS, McLENNAN, SPRING, and NASH, JJ.
A. C. Woodruff, for appellant.
■ Davies, Johnson & Coville, for respondent.

Opinion:
NASH, J.
The fact stated in the confession, that the note was duly discounted by the bank, implies that the note was indorsed by Carleton to the bank, and presented in the usual course of business for discount; that it was taken by the bank before maturity, and the amount thereof, less the discount, paid over the counter of the bank to the customer presenting the note for discount. The whole transaction between the indorser and the bank is stated, when it is said that the note was duly discounted. That, together with the note set out in the confession in full, reciting that the note was not paid at maturity, that it remains wholly unpaid, and the amount thereof due from the indorser to the bank, constitutes the required statement of "facts out of which the debt arose." By the language of the commercial world, a "discount" by a bank means, ex vi termini, a deduction or drawback made upon its advances or loans of money upon negotiable paper, or other evidences of debt, payable at a future day, which are transferred to the bank. 9 Am. & Eng. Enc. Law (2d Ed.) 468. To "discount" means to lend or advance the amount of a security, deducting interest. Com. v. Commercial Bank of Pennsylvania, 28 Pa. St. 396. The origin and consideration of the note must be stated on confession of judgment by the maker, but, as the indorser is holden without any consideration moving to him, none need be stated. The object of the statute in requiring a detailed statement of the facts and circumstances out of which the indebtedness arose is to inform other creditors of the dealings and transactions which had taken place between the parties to the judgment, that they might ascertain by proper inquiry that the indebtedness was real and not fictitious, and satisfy themselves, if such was the fact, that the judgment was based on a good consideration, and valid in law. This requirement is not only here fully met by the statement, but the records of the bank afforded the fullest opportunity to the other creditors to ascertain by proper inquiry the particulars of the transaction. The confession states that the note was not paid at maturity, and that it remained wholly unpaid, and the amount thereof was then due from the indorser to the bank. The indorser could have waived a defense of want of demand and notice, but it is plainly to be inferred that the note was protested; the statement that it was not paid at maturity, and thereupon "duly discounted," being evidently intended for "duly protested."
Order affirmed, with.$10 costs and disbursements. All concur, except McLENNAN and SPRING, JJ., dissenting.