are drawn with a view to obtaining the acceptance of the drawee ; so that,

5947. Form.-A bill for acceptance is invariably for a term, and is drawn in favour of the drawer, as follows:

£75 6s. 8d.

London, January 1st, 1871.

ONE MONTH after date, pay to me or my order (5916), Seventy-five Pounds, Six Shillings, and Eight Pence, value received (5892). WILLIAM SPICER.

To Mr. John Smith, Grocer, Birmingham.

ACCEPTANCE.

5948. Customary Acceptance.—The person accepting a bill should write across the middle of the face of it "Accepted: payable at [the London and County Bank, Lombard Street, London]. John Smith. 5949. Sufficient. The word "accepted," followed by the signature of the acceptor, is quite sufficient to bind all parties.

5950. "Payable At."-The words "payable at," though usually considered necessary for facilitating the negotiation or presentment of an acceptance at maturity, are not essential; and

5951. Anywhere.-When an acceptance directs the holder to the place where the amount is payable, it may be “at my house in Deptford Dockyard," or anywhere else the acceptor chooses; but,

5952. Drawer Not Bound.-If the drawer of a bill objects to the place where it is made payable, he is not bound to take the acceptance; for,

5953. Place of Presentment.—When a bill is once taken, it must, at maturity, be presented at the place indicated by the acceptance, however inconveniently situated; because,

5954. Conditional.—The appointment of a place for payment is a condition, and the acceptor of a bill is at liberty to make any condition he pleases, subject to the approval of the drawer; hence,

5955. For Honour.-There is a condition implied when one person accepts a bill for another,.and writes "accepted for honour;" therefore,

5956. Consequences.—When A draws a bill upon B, and B cannot be found, and C interposes and offers his acceptance to protect the credit of B, and A takes the acceptance of C "for honour," the condition implied is that when the bill arrives at maturity, A, or other holders, must first duly present (6000) the bill to B (who is on the face of it first responsible) before he can recover from C.

INFORMALITIES.

5957. Contradictory Acceptances. If a bill is addressed to John Smith, and accepted by, say, Samuel Jones, he being another person, the bill is void; yet,

5958. Adopted Name.-If John Smith is duly drawn upon, and he accept in another name, advisedly written by him, and the fact can be proved, John Smith is as liable as if he had accepted in his own name; for,

5959. Binding Effect.—It is clearly established that a person may draw, or accept, or endorse, in an adopted or assumed name, with as much binding effect upon himself and all the parties, as if he had used his own name.

5960. No Obligation of Form.-Though the custom of trade has prescribed the words and manner of an acceptance, the law does not require any particular form; for,

5961. Eccentric Acceptances.—If an acceptor, from ignorance or eccentricity, wrote "I will pay," or "all right," or any other expression indicative of his assent, together with his signature upon any part of the bill, he would become liable in law just as much as if he adopted the more usual form.

5962. Informalities Objectionable.-Any person who took an informal acceptance at the hands of an acceptor, or who received such acceptance without promptly cancelling, returning, and refusing it, must abide by the consequences; for,

5963. Difficulties of Negotiation.-The greatest mischief of receiving an informal acceptance, is the difficulty of negotiating (5918) it as a security; for

5964. Unlikely Transaction.-It is scarcely likely, in the ordinary course of business, that a person would discount or advance money on a bill which was informally accepted.

EFFECT.

5965. Action Barred.-When once an acceptance is taken, and retained without protest at the earliest reasonable moment, the person who takes it is barred any action in respect of the debt for which consideration the bill was drawn ; because,

5966. Debt Cancelled.-Though it is customary, and best for both parties, to acknowledge an acceptance, by giving a receipt for the debt it refers to, such debt, by the passing of such acceptance, is spontaneously cancelled, and the obligation transferred, in terms of the bill; but,

THE DATE.

5967. Date Not Essential.—It is held, in theory, that a note or

bill, otherwise duly executed, is perfectly valid without any date; and

5968. Evidence Binding.-Evidence of the day upon which a bill was drawn will bind all parties, whether the date appears or not; but, 5969. Practically Unknown.—In practice, a bill without a date is unknown, and may be considered an impossibility.

POST-DATING.

5970. Evasion of Stamp Duty.-Formerly, when the amount of stamp duty upon bills was governed, to some extent, by the period for which they were drawn, post-dating was a very serious offence, because it was an evasion of a portion of the stamp duty; but,

5971. Obsolete Restriction.-Since the cost of bill stamps has been governed solely by the amount of the bill, irrespective of its period, the Stamp Office is no longer interested in prosecuting for post-dating, and the penalty for so doing, though not expressly abolished, may be considered obsolete; for,

5972. Frequent Occurrence.-It is notorious that bills are often drawn, say, on the first, and dated, say, the fifth or sixth, in order to suit the convenience of the acceptor, who has some legitimate reason for deferring maturity a few days, in anticipation of some event likely to put him in funds two or three months hence; and

5973. No Case.-There appears to be no case where a bill has been upset of late years, by reason of post-dating (6091); on the other hand,

ANTE-DATING.

5974. Common Custom.—It is common for some houses to draw bills on stated days, say, the first of every month, and to present them for acceptance afterwards; and

5975. Drawee's Obligation.-The question has arisen how far a drawee of a bill is bound to "accept" a draft, presented to him some days after date; therefore,

5976. Reasonable Time.—It has been decided that if a draft is presented to a drawee for acceptance within a "reasonable time" after its date (say, seven days, or more, in some circumstances), and he refuses to " accept," his refusal exonerates the drawer from any implied contract to supply goods, or otherwise continue a customary course of trading; notwithstanding,

5977. Twenty-Four Hours' Grace.-It has been decided that if a drawee neither accepts, nor refuses to accept, on presentation, the drawer is bound to leave the draft with him for not less than twenty-four hours.

!

ACCEPTOR LIABLE.

5978. Beyond Recall.-As soon as a bill is accepted and received by the drawer (5966), the acceptor, if also the drawee (5955), becomes primarily responsible for the amount at maturity; and

5979. Third Parties.—Though a bill may be open to many disputes, as between the drawer and the drawee, such disputes are not admissible as between the drawee and any third party; for,

5980. Objections Ineffectual.-As soon as an acceptance passes to a third party, post-dating, ante-dating, and such like minor irregularities, cease to operate.

5981. No Valuable Consideration.-The acceptor of a bill may sometimes successfully plead against the suit of the drawer, that he gave his acceptance without valuable consideration; but,

5982. No Defence.-A third party, duly in possession of a bill, can recover upon it against the acceptor, whether it was for value or not, unless it can be proved that such third party knew, at the time he took the bill, that it was given without value.

GAMBLING BILLS.

5983. With Knowledge.-The holder, whether a third party or not, cannot recover upon a bill which he knows to have been given in consideration of a gambling debt or wager (a); and

5984. Without Knowledge. It seems probable that, in most cases, the acceptor may successfully repudiate a bill given for a gambling debt or wager, whether the holder knew of the nature of the transaction or not, but decisions are conflicting; on the other hand,

5985. Drawer's Responsibility.—If A draws upon B, in respect of a gambling debt or wager, and passes the bill to C without apprising him of the nature of the transaction, though B may possibly succeed in repudiating the responsibility, A is liable to C, and is bound to provide the amount in favour of C.

MATURITY.

5986. Immediate.-Bills, and notes of hand "on demand," are in a state of perpetual maturity; but,

5987. "To Run.”—When a bill is for any specified period, it is called the time it has "to run."

5988. Days or Years.-When a bill is for days or years, there can be no dispute about the time it has to run; but,

5989. Months.-When a bill is for a month, or months, it might be open to doubt; only,

5990. Calendar Months.-The law has settled that months appointed by bills are calendar months.

(a) See "Games and Wagers."

5991. Promissory Notes.-As a large proportion of promissory notes are, or may be, converted for all practical purposes into bills by endorsement (5921), it may be presumed that a promissory note, made for any definite term, is subject to the same rules with regard to presentment as acceptances (6000).

DAYS OF GRACE.

5992. On Demand.-The expression, "on demand," excludes days of grace; but,

5993. Three Days.—“At sight," or the mention of any period of time, entitles the responsible parties to three days' grace in all cases (5908); thus,

5994. At Sight.-A bill "at sight" is not due until three days after presentation for sight.*

5995. After Sight.-A bill "after sight" is entitled to three days in addition to the number of days named.

5996. Seven Days.—A bill drawn on Monday, for seven days, is not due till Thursday in the following week; and

5997. One Month.-A bill drawn on the 1st of January for one month is not due till the 4th of February.

SUNDAY.

5998. Payable on Saturday.—When a bill falls due on a Sunday, a day is lost, and presentation and payment are required to be made on the Saturday previous.

5999. Holidays.-The rule which makes a bill due on Sunday payable on Saturday, applies correspondingly to bills falling due on Christmas Day, Good Friday, or upon any duly authorized national holiday.*

PRESENTMENT.

6000. Where?-If no place is mentioned where the bill is payable, it must be presented at the place of business of the acceptor if he has one, or at his residence if he has no separate place of business; otherwise,

6001. Specified Place.—If a place is mentioned where the bill is payable it must be presented there, no matter how inconvenient it may be to do so.

AT HOUSE OF BUSINESS.

6002. Reasonable Hour.-When a bill is made payable at the place of business of the drawee or any other trader, it must be presented at a "reasonable time" of the day; and

6003. No Invariable Rule.-There is no invariable rule as to reasonable time; and

* See Appendix D and E.