McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. v. Faulkner

Citations

• 7 S.D. 363
• 64 N.W. 163
• 1895 S.D. LEXIS 75

Syllabus

<p>1. As a general rule, a negotiable promissory note, like any other written instrument, has no legal or operative existence as such until it has been delivered in accordance with the purpose and intention of the parties.</p> <p>2. Promissory notes delivered by a person who has executed the same, upon the express condition that such notes shall not be deemed the notes of the party so executing them, or as delivered, unless they are also executed by another person named as a comaker, cannot be enforced by the payee against the person so executing them, unless also executed by the other person so named in the condition as a comaker.</p> <p>3. In such case evidence tending to prove the condition upon which such notes were executed and delivered to the payee, and that such condition had never been complied with, is competent, and does not come within the rule that parol evidence is inadmissible to contradict or vary the terms of a written instrument.</p> <p>4. Where the evidence leaves the facts undisputed, and they are such that different conclusions or inferences could not reasonably be drawn from them, it becomes the duty of the court to declare their legal effect.</p> <p>5. The evidence in this case examined, and the conclusion reached by the court that the material evidence on the part of the defendant was undisputed, and that it was such that only one conclusion or inference could reasonably be drawn therefrom, and that the court committed no error in directing a verdict for the defendant.</p> <p>(Syllabus by the Court.</p>