Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 6.djvu/587

 STEIGEE V. THIRD NAT. BANK. 575 �respects on the footing of instruments which are the repre- sentatives of money, and charge the negotiation of them with- ail the consequences which usually attend or folr* low the negotiation of bijls and notes. Some of these con- sequences wonld be very strange, if not impossible; snch as the liabilitjr of indorsers, the duty of demand ad diem, notice of non-delivery by the carrier, etc., or the loss of the owner'g property by the fraudulent assignment of a thief.. If these were intended, surely the statute wonldhave saidsome- thing more than nierely make them negotiable by indorse- ment. No statute is to be construed as altering the com- inonla-w further than its words import." �This «ase is not only very instructive, bat authoritative on this court; certainly, in the absence of any interpretation of the Missouri statute by the supreme court of Missouri. The general doctrine as to consignor and consignee, when ad- vances have been made or not made, are fuUy stated in the opinions of the United States supreme court, 14 Pet. 479, {Brown v. McGraw,) and in 11 How. 209, (Warner v. Martin.) �In 23 Wall. 36, (17. «S. v. Villanoga,) the estent of a factor's, interest and control of the property is stated. �Another question arises coneerning the right of the con- signor to maintain his action against the faetor or his as- signee for the value of the goods, ortheir commission, when advances, charges, etc., exist, without first tendering the amount of said advances. On this point the authorities are not. in accord. Some hold that the consignor may sue for the full value of the goods, as in trover, and the defendant may recoup; as to advances and charges, whereby the consignor would recover the surplus to which he is entitled and no more. Other authorities hold that inasmuch as the assignee of the faetor holds the property under a lien for advanceei, etc., the consigner bas no. right of action until the lien is first removed, except as in assumpsit for' the surplus. It is useless to review these differing authorities in the light of technical rule^, which are now to a large estent obsolete. It is elear that the faetor bas, in Missouri, a right te pifdge the goods consigned to the extent of the advances fini charges thereon. ��� �