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36 Iowa 385

Warner v. Beem

Supreme Court of Iowa

Decided April 26, 1873

Supreme Court of Iowa · decided 1873-04-26

Action upon two promissory notes, of which the following are copies, to wit: “$350.00. Eor value received in policy No. 4,762, issued by the Iowa Central Insurance Company, I promise to pay the said company $350.00, in such portions and at such times as the directors of said company may agreeably to the charter and by-laws require, not exceeding seven per cent per year for the time insured. Dated Marengo, this 20th day of February, 1866. “ J. C. Beem.” “ Deposit note, $3.50.

Relies on White v. . Haight

Decided 1873-04-26

Cole, J.

¶1— The notes sued on are not payable at any fixed time; they are payable at “ such time or times as the directors of said company may agreeably to the charter and by-laws require.” Since the time of payment may be rendered certain, by the action of the directors, they may be regarded as possessing the requisite certainty to constitute them promissory notes ; but they are not by their terms negotiable. There was no proof of any order or requirement by the directors of the company for the payment of any portion of either of the notes. In the absence of such proof, the notes are not due and the plaintiff cannot, of course, recover. In the case of The Am. Ins. Co. v. Schmidt, 19 Iowa, 502, where *387such a note was given, and the charter of the company made such notes capital stock and liable for losses and expenses, it was held that, in order to recover, it was not only necessary to show the requirement of payment by the directors, but also that losses and expenses had occurred. The cases of White v. Haight, 16 N. Y. 310, and Howland v. Edmonds, 24 id. 307, are unlike this case because in those cases given to make up the capital stock, were such notes, by the fifth section of the charter of the companies, made payable absolutely, notwithstanding their language.

¶2Affirmed.

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