MARYLAND. 1. ASSURANCES OF DEBT. 2. INTEREST. 3. FRAUDS. 4. CORPORATIONS. 5. EFFECT OF MARRIAGE UPON THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY. 6. LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS. 7. FACTORS, AGENTS. 8. PART OWNERS OF VESSELS. 9. LIMITATIONS OF ACTIONS. 10. EFFECT OF DEATH UPON THE RIGHTS OF CREDITORS. Book accounts. The payment and delivery of any money, and the delivery and sale of any goods or chattels whatsoever, by any merchant or person carrying on any trade, and being an inhabitant of any other of the United States, or of any foreign country, may be proven by the oath or affirmation of any disinterested credible person to the delivery of the goods, or payment of the money, &c., made and certified before and by the authorities necessary to authenticate any instrument not required to be recorded in the foreign country. There must also be added to the account, the plaintiff's oath or affirmation, taken at or before the first imparlance court, that the goods, money, &c., were delivered as charged, that he has received no payment or satisfaction therefor, other than is accredited, nor any security for the same, and that the balance charged and claimed is justly due according to the best of his knowledge and belief. Where the Assurances of Debt. plaintiff is a resident this oath may be made before any judge or justice of the state. This oath when made by a non-resident, must be taken and certified by the same authorities as take and certify that of the witness; viz., any court, judge, justice, or other officer of the state or country where made, having authority by law to administer an oath or affirmation, and a certificate under seal from the governor, chief magistrate, or notary public of such state or country, that the court or officer had authority to administer the oath, and that such oath was duly made. (a) Bills of exchange and promissory notes.-Bills of exchange and promissory notes are governed by the statute of 3d and 4th Anne, ch. 9, and by the English Law Merchant generally. Damages upon protested bills of exchange.-The rate of damages on all bills of exchange drawn in Maryland, upon any person or company in any other of the United States, and protested according to the laws of such state, is eight per cent. upon the value of the principal sum in such bill. The holder may also recover so much money as will purchase a good bill at the current rate of exchange of such bills, and also the costs of protest and legal interest, from the time of protest until the principal, damages, and interest are paid. (b) On all bills of exchange drawn in Maryland upon any person or corporation in a foreign country, which are regularly protested, the person entitled thereto, may recover so much money as will purchase a good bill upon the same place and at the same time of payment, at the current rate of exchange, also fifteen per cent. damages on the value of the principal sum in the bill, costs of protest, and legal interest on the principal from the time of protest until principal and damages are paid. (c) The indorser who shall pay the aforesaid value, damages, and interest, may recover the sum paid with legal interest from the drawer or person liable. Protests which are duly made for the non-payment or nonacceptance of a bill of exchange, foreign or inland, are received as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. (d) Assignability of choses in action.-Bonds or other obligations under seal, being assigned under seal, may be put in suit by the (a) 1 Dorsey Laws, 200. (b) Ib. 198. (c) Ib. 197. (d) 2 Ib. 1257. Interest. assignee in his own name against the obligor, or if he is unable to pay, or cannot be found in the place of his usual abode, or from any other casualty, the assignee may be unable to recover his debt from the obligor, the like action may be maintained against the assignor, in case the assignee was not a surety, or unless the debt has been lost by the default of the assignee. (a) Contracts, illegal.-All contracts for the purchase of any public loan, or the stock or bill of any corporation, which contain a clause that the same may be executed at a future period, exceeding five judicial days then next ensuing, are void, and any moneys paid under such contract, may be recovered with a penalty of twenty per cent. (b) Stamp act.-By an act passed in 1844, all bonds, bills, and notes, for the payment of a sum of money above one hundred dollars executed in the state, and all foreign or inland bills of exchange for the same amount are charged with the payment of a duty to the state, and required to be stamped; and no such instrument unless stamped, is allowed to be pleaded or given in evidence or available for any purpose in any court of law or equity in the state. Any holder, however, on making oath that he received any such instrument not stamped, without knowing the requisitions of the law, or in forgetfulness of them, and without any intention of evading its provisions, and paying the duty and the additional sum of ten dollars to the clerk of the county, or of Howard District, or of the City Court of Baltimore, may obtain an endorsement on the instrument of such affidavit and payment, and the same will then be as valid and available as if originally stamped. This act was to remain in force until 1st of May, 1848. (c) 2. Interest. Six per cent. interest is the established legal rate of interest. All contracts for the loan of money at a greater rate are utterly void; the usurious lender to forfeit treble the value of the money lent, one-half to go to the state, and the other half for the benefit of any person who will sue for it. (d) (a) I Dorsey, 108. (b) Acts of 1841, 282. (c) Acts of 1844, 280. Frauds. Corporations. The right of any legal or equitable assignee, indorsee, or holder, of any bond, bill, promissory note, or negotiable instrument, to sue thereon is protected, where he has paid a bona fide and legal consideration for such instrument without notice of any usury in its creation. (a) Corporate institutions may be governed in their discounts by the rates of interest which are charged and set forth in Rowlett's Tables. (b) 3. Frauds. The property in goods or chattels is not transferred by gift, mortgage, or sale, where vendor, mortgagor, or donor remains in possession, unless the same be in writing and recorded in the county where the vendor, &c., resides. (c) No deed of mortgage or bill of sale is valid or effective, except as against the mortgagor or grantor, unless there be indorsed thereon an affidavit of the mortgagee or grantor, sworn to, before the judge or justice as the case may be, taking the acknowledg ment at the time thereof, that the consideration set forth in the bill of sale is true and bona fide. (d) The statutes of 13th and 27th Elizabeth, against fraudulent conveyances, and the 29th Chas. II., against frauds and perjuries, are both in force in Maryland. The latter, however, was never formally published. 4. Corporations. An act was passed in 1838, containing various important provisions in reference to manufacturing companies to be subsequently incorporated: among others, that the stock of the company should be transferable only upon its books, and according to its regulations, that real estate purchased by such corporations should be liable to be sold under execution for its debts, that the directors who are present and do not express dissent when any engagement beyond the actual market value of the assets of the company is contracted, shall become personally answerable (a) 1 Dorsey 200. (b) 2 Dorsey 1079. (c) Dorsey 1729. (d) Acts of 1847, 271. Effect of Marriage upon the Rights of Property.-Limited Partnerships, etc. therefor in proportion to their stock, and that any mortgage of the company to give one creditor preference over another, shall enure ratably to the benefit of all. (a) 5. Effect of Marriage upon Rights of Property. The slaves of which a woman is possessed at the time of her marriage, do not thereby become liable for her husband's debts: (b) nor can her real estate be sold for his debts during her life. (c) 6. Limited Partnerships. Limited partnerships for the transaction of mercantile, mechanical, or manufacturing business, were authorized by the act of 1836. (d) 7. Factors, Agents, &c. In all cases where payments of money, transfers of property, or other dealings are made or had, to or with any person acting under a power of attorney, or other agency duly created by any person within the state, the death of the grantor or the transfer of his interest at the time of the transaction shall not invalidate it, provided that the person having such dealings had no notice of the death of the party or the fact of the assignment. (e) 8. Part Owners of Vessels. The high Court of Chancery and the several county courts, sitting as courts of equity, are invested with as full jurisdiction in cases of controversy between part owners as in ordinary cases of partnership, provided that the defendants are residents of the county in which the bill is filed. Under this authority they may direct the sale of any ship, vessel or steamboat, held by part owners, and apportion the proceeds among the parties, according to their respective interests. (f) (a) Acts of 1828, 267. (d) 2 Dorsey 1228. (b) Acts of 1842, 293. (c) Acts of 1841, 161. (f) Acts of 1839, 304. |