Park Bank v. Remsen

Citations

• 158 U.S. 337
• 15 S. Ct. 891
• 39 L. Ed. 1008
• 1895 U.S. LEXIS 2260

Syllabus

<p>The rulings of the Court of Appeals of New York, unanimously made, that the warehouse company dicl no! become indebted to the plaintiff by reason of its endorsement of the notes which form the basis of this action, as the company was an accommodation endorser, of which fact the plaintiff was chargeable with notice, and that the liability of liemsen. as trustee of the company, was not primary, but secondary and dependent altogether upon a statute of that State of a penal character, ought to be recognized in every court as, at least, most persuasive, although the case in which the ruling was made has not yet gone to final judgment.</p> <p>This court has held in Chase v. Curtis, 113 U. S.. 452, that that statute of New York is penal in character, and must be construed with strictness against those sought to be subjected to its liabilities.</p> <p>In the absence of any controlling decision this court is unwilling to hold that a provision of a general statute imposing a personal liability upon trustees or other officers of a corporation is incorporated- into a special charter by a clause therein declaring that -the corporation shall possess all the general powers and privileges and be subject to'all the liabilities conferred and imposed upon corporations organized under such general act.</p>