Of Protest and Noting. Protest necessary on Foreign Bills, and why. By whom to be made. Office of a Notary. When to be made. Where to be made. Form of a Protest. Stamp on Protest. For better Security. Noting, what. Notice of Protest. Copy of Protest. When Protest excused. Protest of Inland Bills. Pleading. Evidence. When a foreign bill is refused acceptance or payinent, it was and still is necessary, by the custom of merchants, in order to charge the drawer, that the dishonor should be attested by a protest. For, by the law of most foreign nations, a protest is, or was, essential in case of dishonor of any bill; and, though by the law of England it is unnecessary, in the case of an inland bill, yet, for the sake of uniformity in international transactions, a foreign bill must be protested. Besides, a protest affords satisfactory evidence of dishonor to the drawer, who, from his residence abroad, might experience a difficulty in making proper inquiries on the subject, and be compelled to rely on the representation of the holder. It also furnishes an indorsee with the best evidence to charge an antecedent party abroad: for foreign Courts give credit to the acts of a public functionary, in the same manner as a protest under the seal of a foreign notary is evidence in our Courts, of the dishonor of a bill payable abroad. The protest should be made by a notary public: but, if there be no such notary in or near the place where the bill is payable, it may be made by an inhabitant, in the presence of two witnesses. A notary, registrarius, actuarius, scriniarius, was anciently a scribe that only took notes or minutes, and made short drafts of writings and other instruments, both public and private. He is at this day a public officer of the civil and canon law, appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who, in the instrument of appointment, decrees "that full faith be given, as well in as out of judgment, to the instruments by him to be made." This appointment is also registered and subscribed by the clerk of her Majesty for faculties in Chancery. The present act for the regulation of notaries, is the 41 Geo. 3, c. 79. By the eleventh section of this statute, any person acting for reward as a notary, without being duly admitted, forfeits £50 to him that will sue for the same. By the 6 Geo. 4, c. 87, s. 20, her Majesty's consuls at foreign ports or places are empowered to do all notarial acts. And, by the 3 and 4 Wm. 4, c. 70, attorneys residing more than ten miles from the Royal Exchange may be admitted to practice as notaries. The protest of a foreign bill should be begun, at least (and such an incipient protest is called noting,) on the day on which acceptance or payment is refused; but it may be drawn up and completed at any time before the commencement of the suit, or even before the trial, and antedated accordingly. An inland bill cannot be protested for non-payment till the day after it is due. A protest is usually made where the dishonor occurred. The 2 and 3 Wm. 4, c. 98, enacts, that a bill made payable by the drawer at a place, other than the drawee's residence, and which bill shall not be accepted on presentment shall be, without further presentment, protested for non-payment in the place where it has been made payable. A protest is, in form, a solemn declaration, written by the notary under a fair copy of the bill, stating that payment or acceptance has been demanded and refused, the reason, if any, assigned, and that the bill is therefore protested. When the protest is made for a qualified acceptance, it must not state a general refusal to accept, otherwise the holder cannot avail himself of the qualified acceptance. A protest is subject to stamp-duty according to the following scale: Amounting to £20, and not amounting to £100. 02 0 03 0 050 0 10 0 Besides the protest for non-acceptance and for non-payment, the holder may protest the bill for better security. Protest for better security is where the acceptor becomes insolvent, or where his credit is publicly impeached before the bill falls due. In this case, the holder may cause a notary to demand better security; and, on its being refused, the bill may be protested, and notice of the protest may be sent to an antecedent party. Yet, it seems, the holder must wait till the bill falls due before he can sue any party. Nor does there appear any advantage from the protest more than from simple notice of the circumstances; except that, after such a protest, there may be a second acceptance for honor. Whereas, without the intervention of a protest, there cannot be two acceptances on the same bill. Noting is a minute made on the bill by the officer at the time of refusal of acceptance or payment. It consists of his initials, the month, the day, the year, and his charges for minuting; and is considered as the preparatory step to protest. "Noting" says Mr. J. Buller, "is unknown in the law, as distinguished from the protest: it is merely a preliminary step to the protest, and has grown into practice within these few years." A bill, however, is often noted, where no protest is either meant or contemplated; as in the case of many inland bills. The use of it seems to be, that a notary being a person conversant in such transactions, is qualified to direct the holder to pursue the proper conduct in presenting a bill, and may, upon a trial, be a convenient witness of the presentment and dishonor. In the meantime, the minute of the notary, accompanying the returned bill, is satisfactory assurance of nonpayment or non-acceptance, to the various parties by whom the amount of the bill may be successively paid. In case of an inland bill, as it can only be protested under the statute, and the fees of a notary for protesting are thereby fixed at 6d., it has been said that no more can be charged for noting, though it is usual to charge more. The Court will not allow the expense of noting to be recovered against the acceptor, unless it be laid as special damage in the declaration. If the drawer reside abroad, a copy, or some memorial of the protest, ought to accompany the notice of dishonor. But notice of the protest certainly is not necessary, if the drawer resides within this country, though, at the time of the non-acceptance, he may happen to be abroad: nor if, at the time of dishonor, he have returned home to this country. "If," says Lord Ellenborough, "the party is abroad, he cannot know of the fact of the bill having been protested, except by having notice of the protest itself; but, if he be at home, it is easy for him by making inquiry, to ascertain that fact." And it is now decided that a copy of the protest need not in any case be sent. Proof of a protest of a foreign bill is excused, if the drawer had no effects in the hands of the drawee, and no reasonable expectation that the bill would be honored: or if the drawer has admitted his liability by promising to pay. "By the drawer's promise to pay," observes Lord Ellenborough, "he admits the existence of every thing which is necessary to render him liable. When called upon for payment of the bill, he ought to have objected that there was no protest. Instead of that, he promises to pay it. I must, therefore, presume he had due notice, and that a protest was regularly drawn up by a notary." And it is said, that where the drawer adds a request or direction, that in the event of the bill not being honored by the drawee, it shall be returned without protest, by writing the words "retour sans protél,” or, "sans frais," a protest as against the drawer, and perhaps as against the indorsers, is unnecessary. Inland bills may be protested for non-payment under the 9 and 10 Wm. 3, c. 17, and for non-acceptance under the 3 and 4 Anne, c. 9. But it has been held, that a protest is unnecessary, except to enable the holder to recover interest; and subsequent and uniform practice, confirmed by a late decision, has settled that it is superfluous even for this purpose. Foreign bills are very frequently protested, both for non-acceptance and non-payment: but a protest is hardly ever made for non-acceptance of an inland bill, though it is sometimes protested for non-payment. It is conceived, that a protest of an inland bill is unknown to the common law, and must, therefore, derive its efficacy from the above enactments; from which it will follow, that it is applicable only to such instruments as are therein described, and that the steps therein required must be taken. As the 3 and 4 Anne, c. 9, puts promissory notes on the same footing as bills, it should seem to authorize a protest; and such protest is accordingly sometimes made. It would, therefore, be of no practical benefit further to discuss the provisions of these two loosely drawn and obscure statutes, with respect to the protest of inland bills. The loss of a bill is no excuse for the absence of protest. In an action against the drawer of a foreign bill, protest must be averred as well as proved; and it has been held, that, if protest of an inland bill be set forth in pleading, it must be proved. But this decision proceeded on the ground that an allegation of protest of an inland bill involved a consequential claim for interest and costs; whereas it has been since decided, that such a claim may be made without protest. In an action on a foreign bill, presented abroad, the dishonor of the bill will be proved by producing the protest, purporting to be attested by a notary public; or, if there is not any notary near the place, purporting to have been made by an inhabitant, in the presence of two witnesses. But a protest made in England is not evidence of the presentment here. A promise to pay is good prima facie evidence of protest, and of notice thereof. THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE. From "The Great Metropolis," by Mr. Grant, author of "Random Recollections of the Lords and Commons." Locality of the Stock Exchange-Rules and regulations-Different descriptions of Stock-Meaning of technical terms explained-The members of the Stock Exchange -Miscellaneous observations-Conduct of the members-Amount of business done in the place—Explanation of the mode of doing it—The late Mr. Rothschild—Attempts to compete with him-His occasional losses-Rapidity with which fortunes are lost or made on the Stock Exchange-Extent to which the funds sometimes rise or fall-The late Mr. Goldsmid-General remarks. The Stock Exchange is a place of which one hears every day in the year, and every hour in the day, and yet very few know anything of it beyond the simple fact that it is the place where all the transactions in the funds occur. It is situated in Capel Court, nearly opposite the door at the east end of the Bank leading to the Rotunda. It is the property of a joint-stock company, and is a speculation which has turned out well for the shareholders. It was erected more than a quarter of a century ago. Before the present building was appropriated to transactions in the funds, those transactions took place in a house in Threadneedle Street. And it is a fact worthy of being mentioned, that though no exception has ever been taken to the business done in the Stock Exchange on the ground of the illegality of the place, that business actually is illegal. By an act of parliament which has never yet been repealed, it was ordained that all buying and selling of the public securities should take place in the Rotunda of the Bank. By a sort of common consent, however, the members adjourned from the Rotunda to the late Stock Exchange, and thence to the present, where they have remained ever since, no one troubling himself about the legality of their transactions. The regulations which relate to the admission of members are numerous. Under the first general head of "Admissions," they are seventeen in number. Then comes the "Appendix to Admissions," in which are specified the forms to be gone through by every candidate for membership. The regulations are stringent as well as numerous; so strict that one would be apt to suppose that no man could ever cross the threshhold of the house who was not a very exemplar of all that is praiseworthy in private morals and in public conduct. There is a committee for general purposes, in whom the right of admission is vested for one year, from the 25th of March of any year till the 25th of the following March.A re-election of members takes place every year previous to the 25th of March. The election always takes place by ballot. The form of application is by letter, addressed to the secretary of the committee for general purposes. The applicant must state his name and residence, and furnish the address of his bankers. He must also signify his readi ness to regulate his conduct as a member of the Stock Exchange by those conditions and rules which have been already, or may afterwards be, adopted for the government of the members generally. Every person applying for admission who happens to be in partnership with another must sign a separate application for himself; and he must state distinctly, that neither on his own account, nor as the partner of any firm, is he engaged in any business other than that usually transacted at the Stock Exchange. No new application is ever attended to by the committee unless the party applying be recommended by three persons who have been members of the house for at least two years. Each of the parties so recommending an applicant, must not only have fulfilled all his own engagements as a member of the house, but he must enter into an engagement to pay the sum of £300 to the candidate's creditors in case such candidate, after such admission, shall be publicly declared a defaulter either in the Stock Exchange or Foreign Stock Market, within two years of the date of his admission. The £900 of securities thus forfeited are applied to the liquidation of the defaulter's debts. The only instances in which these conditions are departed from are, first, in the case of a person who had been previously a clerk in the house for four years, or been a member of the Foreign Stock Exchange for three years immediately preceding, and had fulfilled all his engagements therein. Second, where the applicant has been a member of the foreign house for five years prior to his application, and discharged all his engagements therein, and whose character will at the same time bear the test of a rigid examination. Third, where the candidate is a foreigner not naturalised, or not having letters of denization. In the first case, it is only necessary that the party applying be recommended by two persons, each of whom enters into a security to the amount of £250; in the second, the candidate is admissible on the recommendation of two of the managers of the foreign house, being also members of the Stock Exchange, or by two of the committee for general purposes,-in neither of which cases will the parties giving the recommendation be required to enter into any security at all. In the third and last case of exception to the conditious and regulations just mentioned, the party is held to be inadmissible, unless he has been a resident in the United Kingdom for five years immediately previous to the date of his application for admission, and unless he is recommended by five members of the Stock Exchange, each of whom must enter into his own security for the fulfilment of the applicant's engagements to the amount of £300. In order to guard against improper recommendations from an expected participation in the benefits to be derived from membership in the Stock Exchange, by the persons recommending any party for admission,-it is stipulated, that the candidate must not, after his admission, enter into partnership with any of the individuals recommending him for the period of two years after the time of admission, unless additional security, to an equal amount, be provided for the time which remains unexpired. On the same ground the recommendation of one partner by another will not be attended to, nor the security of any one such partner for another be accepted. Supposing the richest and the most influential |