McClure v. Johnson

Citations

• 14 W. Va. 432
• 1878 W. Va. LEXIS 76

Syllabus

<p>The county of Pendleton being under the control of the government of Virginia, at Richmond, a commissioner of the county court of that county acting under this Richmond government settles during the war ati ex parte guardian account. Held : Such ex parte settlement is as valid as though it had been made prior to the war, and must be regarded as prima facie correct, but subjectto be surcharged and falsified.</p> <p>2. A guardian in Pendleton county collects a part of a debt due his ward in February, 1861, and the residue of this debt he collects in February, 1862, in bank notes very little, if at all depreciated at that time. The debt so collected was perfectly solvent. The banknotes so received are not kept in kind by the guardian, and such bank notes are at the close of the war not worth more than forty cents on a dollar. The guardian claims, that he could not safely lend out this money during the war, and he ought not to be charged with interest on if ■ during the war, nor with more than 40 per cent of the principal at the close of the war ; but he fails to prove satisfactorily, that by the use of diligence he could not have loaned this money out, though he does prove that it was difficult to lend out money during the war. He had invested this amount of Confederate notes in September, 1863, in Confederate bonds in his name as guardian, Confederate notes being then worth not more than one-tenth of their nominal value. Hei/d:</p> <p>Under the act of the Virginia Legislature at Richmond, passed March 5, 1863, a circuit court was not authorized to approve such investment; and on the general principles of a court of equity such an investement ought not to be upheld; and the guardian ought to be charged with the full amount received by him with interest from the time it was received. Quiere. Can an investment in Confederate bonds by a fiduciary be upheld under any circumstances ?</p>