Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 1.djvu/396

 S88 FSDEBAIi BEPOSTEB. �mentary. The law of the place of the contract Seterminea the nature, the obligation, and interpretation of the contract. But when the contract is to be performed in a different place to that in which it ia made, the law of the place of perform- anc«, in conformity to the presumed intention of the parties, determines the nature, obligation, and interpretation of the contract. A defence or discharge, good by the law of the place of the sontract, is good -wherever the contract is sought to be enforced ; but when the place of performance is not the place where the contract was made, the defence or dis- charge is Talid or invalid according to the law of the place of performance. The doctrine that a defence or discharge good by the law of the place of the contract is good every- where, is subject to several qualifications, one of which is that the discharge or defence must not be of such character that it would conflict with the duty of the state where it is sought to be enforced towards its own citizenstorecognizeit. �The laws of a stale have no extraterritorial vigor, and are enforced by other states only upon considerations of comity, and these always yield to those higher considerations which demand of every state the protection of its own citizens against the unwarrantable acts of a foreign sovereignty. These familiar general propositions require no citation from the authorities to support them. Applying them here the defence eannot succeed. �The plaintiff sues upon a contract which was made in Can- ada, but was to be performed in the state of New York, the place of payment being the place of performance ; and a dis- charge of the obligation which derives its vitality solely from the authority of a foreign sovereignty, is of no more effect than would be the case if New York were the place where the contract was made. One of the most common instances, in illustration of the rule, is where the defence of usury is inter- posed, in an action brought here upon an obligation made in a foreign state, and bearing a higher rate of interest than is permitted by the lawa of that state. When the obligation is payable here, the cases ail agree that the usury laws of tha foreign state have no application. ��� �