§13. After the day on which a note is made payable, the maker has three days in which to make payment, which are called days of grace. Hence, a note payable on the first day of the month is not due and suable until the fourth. If, however, the last day of grace falls on Sunday, or the fourth of July, or any other day recognized by law as a holiday, or day of public rest, the last day of grace would be a day earlier. If the fourth of July or any other holiday should come on Saturday, the note would be due on Friday. Or if such day should fall on Monday, the last day of grace would be Saturday.
§14. To hold the indorser of a note responsible, payment must be demanded of the maker on the last day of grace. As to the time of day when the demand should be made, it is considered that the maker is entitled to the latest convenient time within the customary business hours of the place where the note is presented.
§15. If payment has been demanded and refused, notice thereof must be given to the indorser; and one entire day is allowed the holder to give the notice. If the demand is made on Saturday, it is sufficient to give notice on Monday. If the indorser resides in the same town, he may be notified personally by the holder, or by a messenger sent to his dwelling-house, where notice may be given personally, or left in a way likely to bring it to his knowledge. If the parties reside in different towns, notice may be sent by mail; in which case, the notice must be put into the post-office, as early as the next day after the last day of grace, so as to be forwarded as soon as possible thereafter: or notice may be sent by a private conveyance or a special messenger.
§16. If, in consequence of the removal of the maker before the note becomes due, or from any other cause, his residence is unknown, the holder must make endeavors to find it, and make the demand there; though, if he has removed out of the state, it is sufficient to present the note at his former place of residence. If the maker has absconded, that will, as a general rule, excuse the demand.
§17. Notes, on being transferred, are guarantied by indorsement. If a person simply writes his name on the back, he is liable as indorser only. If he guarantees "the payment of the note," he is generally considered liable as an original promisor. If he guaranties the note "good," or "collectable," the maker, and the indorsers also, if any, must be sued, before the guarantor is liable. Strict notice to a guarantor is not required to bind him, as in the case of an indorser. But to hold him liable in case immediate notice is not given, or the note is not immediately sued, it must be shown that he has not suffered injury from want of notice, or that the note was not collectable of the maker or indorsers when due. But the kind of liability incurred, whether that of indorser, original promisor, or surety, by indorsing a note or guarantying payment, is not the same in all the states. There are sundry other points in the law relating to promissory notes, on which the statutes and judicial decisions are not uniform in all the states.
Chapter LXI.
Bills of Exchange; Interest; Usury.
§1. A bill of exchange is a written order or request to a person in a distant place, to pay a third person a certain sum of money. The following is a common form:
$1,000. New-York, August 10, 1859.
Twenty days after date, (or at sight, or ten days after sight,) pay to the order of John Stiles, one thousand dollars, value received, and charge the same to account of
To George Scott, Thomas Jones.
New Orleans, La.
§2. Bills drawn on persons in foreign countries, are called foreign bills of exchange; those drawn on persons in distant places in our own country, are called inland bills of exchange. To persons in mercantile business they are of great convenience, as will be seen from the following example of their nature and operation.