business day, to the person designated by the bill as the person to pay or to some one having authority on his behalf to make or refuse payment, and at the proper place. But, where the bill is presented at the proper place, and no person can, with reasonable diligence, be found there who is authorized to make or refuse payment, no further presentment is required. 7. The proper place will be (1) any place of payment which is specified on the bill, or where no proper place is mentioned; (2) the address of the drawee or acceptor as given in the bill, or where both of these are wanting; (3) the drawee's place of business if known, or, where this is not known, (4) his ordinary residence, or in any other case, the presentment may be to the man himself, if he can be found, or at his last known place of abode. 8. To hold the drawer and indorsers liable, if the bill is drawn upon two or more persons who are not partners, the bill must be presented to both or all unless a place of payment is specified; where no place is specified and the drawer or acceptor is dead, presentment must be made to his personal representative, if there be any and he can be found. 9. Presentment through the post, if sanctioned by agreement or usage, will be sufficient. 10. Having stated the cases in which it is necessary to present for payment in order to hold the drawer and indorsers liable, it is proper to state that there are some cases in which presentment at a particular place is necessary in order to charge the acceptor of a bill or the maker of a note. Where a bill is accepted on condition of presentment at a particular place, "and there only," or with words to the like effect, the acceptor is not bound to pay till presentment there. And where a note is expressed in the body to be payable at a particular place, as "I promise to pay at Drummond's Bank," though without saying "and there only," the maker is not liable till presentment has been made at the place named. 11. Where no day is named on which a bill or a note falls due, it is payable on demand, the same as if so expressed. "At sight" or "on presentation" is the same as on demand. 12. Where a bill is payable so many days or months "after date" or "after sight," or in any other way than on demand, three days, called days of grace, are always added-unless the bill otherwise provides-to the time of payment, and the bill is due on the last day of grace. But when the last day of grace falls on Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday, or a day appointed by Royal proclamation as a public fast or thanksgiving day, the bill is, except in the case hereinafter provided for, due and payable on the preceding business day; And when the last day of grace is a bank holiday (other than Christmas Day or Good Friday) under the "Bank Holidays Act, 1871," and Acts amending or extending it, or when the last day of grace is a Sunday and the second day of grace is a bank holiday, the bill is due and payable on the succeeding business day. Where a bill is payable at a fixed period after date, after sight, or after the happening of a specified event, the time of payment is determined by excluding the day from which the time is to begin to run and by including the day of payment. Where a bill is payable at a fixed period after sight, the time begins to run from the date of the acceptance if the bill be accepted, and from the date of noting or protest if the bill be noted or protested for non-acceptance, or for non-delivery. The term "month" in a bill means calendar month. A bill at one month, dated the 31st of January, would nominally become due the 28th of February, and, with days of grace, would be payable on the 3rd of March. The above rules apply, as far as applicable, to notes. 13. Bills and notes must be presented within reasonable hours, i. e. before seven or eight in the evening; and if payable at a bank, during banking hours. If the instrument be payable on demand, and has to be sent by post to be presented to the acceptor or maker, the person sending it should do so the day after he has received it, and the person to whom it is sent by post should present it before the end of the day following that on which he has received it. 14. This last rule does not apply to an ordinary promis. sory note payable on demand, especially if made payable with interest; for such instruments are often meant to be a continuing security for money, and parties often go on paying interest upon them for many years. But if the indorser of such a note be sued by an indorsee, the defendant may set up the defence that the note was not presented for payment within a reasonable time, and he may then show to the Court any contract or special cir cumstances of which it may be inferred that the bill in question should have been presented earlier. 15. But presentment for payment will not be excused, like presentment for acceptance, by the bankruptcy or insolvency of the drawee of a bill or maker of a note, for payment may be made by his friends; nor will a mere threat by the drawee of a bill not to pay, though made in the presence of the drawer, be any excuse for not presenting the bill at maturity. CHAPTER X. PAYMENT AND DISCHARGE. 1. Consequence of Refusal. 5. Exception in favor of banker. 6. Exception in favor of Bills or Notes payable to Bearer, by whom payment must be made, so as to put an end to the Bill or Note. 7. When drawer or indorser paying Bill may re-issue or sue on it. 8. Retiring a Bill. Payment by stranger. 9. Accommodated party paying Bill cannot sue. 10. Bill or Note may be paid any number of times before maturity. 11. Bill or Note payable on demand may be paid at any time. 12. Payment may be by Money, or in other ways. 13. Of proof of payment. 14. Cancellation of Bill or signature. 1. Where a bill or note has been presented for payment, and payment has been refused or cannot be obtained, or when circumstances have arisen which excuse presentment, and the bill or note is overdue and unpaid, the instrument is dishonored by non-payment, and the holder may at once sue the drawer and indorsers of a bill, and the indorsers of a note, after giving notice of dishonor, as to which see chap. xiv. 2. But the maker or acceptor has the whole of the day of the presentment in which to pay, and if he pay on that day, though after a refusal, the payment is good, and the notice of dishonor, if given, falls to the ground. 3. A bill is discharged (see B. of Exch. Act, s. 59) by payment in due course, by or on behalf of the drawee or acceptor. " Payment in due course," means payment made at or after the maturity of the bill to the holder thereof, in good faith, and without notice that the title to the bill is defective. The rule applies also to a note, substituting maker for drawee or acceptor. 4. As an instance of the acceptor or maker not being discharged by a payment, though made in good faith, to another than the true holder, we may suppose the drawer to have indorsed an accepted bill to his bankers, who give him credit for it, and the acceptor at maturity to pay to the drawer. The acceptor is liable to be sued by the bankers, and may have to pay over again. Therefore, to have the bill given up on payment is a necessary precaution, though not always a complete one. If the bill or note be not payable to bearer, that is, if it has required indorsement to make it the property of the holder, the acceptor or maker should be satisfied, on paying the money on presentment, that the indorsement is genuine; for if it be forged or made by an unauthorized person, the payment will be no discharge, and the money may have to be paid over again. 5. To this there is an exception in favour of bankers. When a bill payable to order on demand is drawn on a banker, and the banker on whom it is drawn pays the bill in good faith and in the ordinary course of business, it is not incumbent on the banker to show that the indorsement of the payee or any subsequent indorsement was made by, or under the authority of, the person whose indorsement it purports to be; and the banker is deemed to have paid the bill in due course, although such indorsement has been forged or made without authority. 6. To the rule that no payment, save to the true holder, will operate on a discharge, there is an exception in favor of bills or notes made or, by genuine indorsement, become payable to bearer. Not only does a person who has taken such instruments bond fide and for value from one who has found or stolen them, acquire a title to them so as to be able to recover on them, but a payment made bona fide and without negligence, even to the finder or the thief, will discharge the party paying, though the finder or the thief could not recover on the instrument in a Court of Law. 7. As a general rule, where a bill is paid by the drawer or indorser, it is not discharged, but the person paying may sue the acceptor on it or may re-issue or circulate it again. But see further as to accommodation bills. But where a man draws a bill payable to the order of a third party, which is accepted, and then the drawer pays it, he may sue the acceptor on it but may not reissue it. Where a bill payable to the drawer's order is paid by the drawer, the latter may sue the acceptor or may strike out the indorsements subsequent to his own and again circulate the bill. But see further on as to accommodation bills. Where a bill is paid by an indorser, he is remitted to his former rights as regards the acceptor and the drawer and prior indorsers, or he may strike out his own and subsequent indorsements and again negotiate the bill. If a bill be paid by the drawer, the holder may at the drawer's request sue the acceptor on it, and thus reimburse the drawer. 8. Payment by the indorser to the holder is called retiring the bill. It is sometimes a question whether an indorser paying a bill does so as agent for the acceptor or for the purpose of retiring the bill. A payment by a stranger, as, for instance, a friend of the acceptor or maker, need not necessarily be a legal payment so as to put an end to the instrument. 9. Where an accommodation bill is paid in due course by the party accommodated, the bill is discharged."-B. of Exch. Act, s. 59. The same principle applies to a note. Therefore, where the party accommodated is, as is usually the case, the drawer, or an indorser other than the drawer, the rule that drawer or indorser paying the bill has his remedies intact and may sue the acceptor or negotiate the bill does not apply. On the other hand, the acceptor, being obliged to pay such a bill, may sue the party accommodated and recover the amount. 10. Though a bill is discharged when paid at maturity |