Acceptance

! A receiving — with approval, or conformably to the purpose of a tejider or offer; receiving with intention to retain. Whence acceptor, non-acceptance. A person is said to accept the service of a notice, an offer, a bid, the terms of a contract, a guaranty, a charter, rent, goods delivered, a bill of exchange.

1.

At common law, a, sale of goods, wares, or merchandise was complete upon acceptance of the offer to sell. The Statute of Frauds requires that before an action can be maintained there must have been both a delivery and an acceptance «)f the article by the purchaser or by his duly authorized agent. In determining, in a particular case, whether there was a binding acceptance, the courts consider the intention of the parties and the nature of the property.^ It is a question for the jury whether, under all the circumstances, the acts which the buyer does or forbears to do amount to a receipt and acceptance. But where the facts are not in dispute it is for the court to determine their legal effect; also when the facts are- not such as can in law warrant finding an acceptance. To take the contract out of the operation of the statute, there must be " acts of such a character as to place the property unequivocally within the power and imder the exclusive dominion of the buyer as absolute owner, discharged of all liens for the price.", ^ See Frauds, Statute of; Offer, 1.

3.

Acceptance of a bill of exchange is an assent or agreement to comply with the request or order contained in the bill, or, in other words, an assent or agreement to pay the bill according to the tenor of the acceptance, when due.* An engagement to pay the bill according to the tenor of the acceptance; a general acceptance being an, engagement to pay according to the tenor of the bill.' " Accepted," on a bill of exchange, is an engagement to pay the bill in money when due.

Indorsed 1 L. accipcre, to receive. 2 See Bullock v. Tschergi, 1.3 F. E. 345 (1882); Mahan «. United States, 16 WaU. 146 (1872); 1 Eped, St.Fr. §§ 258-303, oases; 28 Minn. 854; 2 Kent, 494; 3 Pars. Contr. 39; 2 Bl. Corfi. 447. s Hinchman v. Lincoln, 124 U. S. 38 (1888), cases, Matthews, J., quoting Marsh v. Eouse, 44 N. Y. 617 (1871), cases. See also Shindler v. Houston, 1 id. 265 (1848): 49 Am. Dec. 325-40(1883), cases; Eemick v. Sandford, 120 Mass. 316 (1876), oases; Baldey v. Parker, 3 Bam. & C. *40 (1823); Benj. Sales, § 187; Browne, Stat. Fr. §317 a. 4 Gallagher u.

Nichols, 60 N. T. 445 (1875), Miller, J.; 12 Barb. 669; 1 Pars. N. & B. 281. upon non-negotiable paper, would not import a.consideration.! The bill itself, after acceptance, is also called " an acceptance."

Acceptor.

He who accepts a bill of exchange,— usually the drawee. An acceptance is commonly naade by writing "accepted " upon the face of the bill and signing thereunder the acceptor's name; but there is no particular place, and no uniform formula, observed. Acceptances are: express, and implied; verbal, and written; prior to drawing the bill; before or after maturity; for accommodation; after protest; absolute, qualified, conditional; by all the drawees, by one or more of them, by a person not a drawee for the honor of the drawer or of an indorser. They are "complete," when in exact conformity with the tenor of the bill; " qualified," when the engagement is to pay at a different time, place, or manner, from the tenor; and " conditional," when the obligation to pay is to commence on the happening of some event or circumstance. ^ Every act giving credit to a bill amounts to an acceptance; and this, once fairly and fully made and consummated, cannot be revoked. But the drawee has a reasonable time in which to obtain desired and pertinent information.' Unless forbidden by statute, a promise to accept an existing bill is an acceptance whether the promise is in writing or by parol. The acceptor is to the drawer as the maker of a promissory note is to the payee, i. e., he is the principal debtor, and the drawer is his surety. His liability is governed by the terms of the acceptance.' Acceptors of a bill of exchange by, the act of acceptance admit the genuineness of the signatures of the drawees, and the competency of the drawers to assume that responsibility. Such an act imports an engagement, on the part ot;the acceptor, with the payee or other lawful holder of the bill, to pay the same if duly presented, when it becomes due according to the tenor of the acceptance. He engages to pay the holder, whether payee or indorsee, the full amount of the bill at maturity, and if he does not, the holder has a right of action against him, and he may also have one against the drawee. Drawers of bills of exchange, however, are not liable to the holder, under such circumstances, until it appears that the bill was duly presented, and that the acceptor refused or neglected to pay according to the tenor of the instrument; their liability is contingent and subject to those conditions 1 Cowan V. Halleck, 9 Col. 578 (188G), eases.

2 See 1 Pars. Contr. 267; 2 Pars. N. & B. 281; 1 Daniel, Neg. Inst. I 496; 64 Ala. 38-33; 109 Mass. 414. ' 3 Kent, 82-88. « Scudder v. Union Nat. Bank, 91 U. S. 413-14 (1875), piaecedent.! SeeCEECEj ExcHAHOS, 2, BUI of; Fi Acs, 1, Of payment; Protest, 2.