Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/76

 ACCEPTANCE in opposite direction to the general motion, and thus having their centrifugal force checked are drawn nearer to the planet, by which their apparent or angular velocity is increased. Ac- celeration of the Stars. The so-called stellar ac- celeration is no acceleration in the true sense, but means only the amount that the apparent daily revolution of the stars gains on that of the sun. It is easily calculated by considering the fact that the starry heavens make per year one revolution more than the sun; therefore the daily gain must be 3-^ part of 24 hours, which is very near 3 minutes and 56 seconds. ACCEPTANCE, an agreement to pay a bill when due according to the tenor of the obli- gation assumed. A bill of exchange or draft is a written instrument by which A requests B to pay C a sum of money at a certain time, un- conditionally. A is the drawer, C the payee, and B the drawee ; and if B assents to the re- quest, or in other words accepts the bill, he is the acceptor, and his agreement is the accept- ance. The bill is usually drawn on the drawee B because he has funds of A in his hands, or is indebted to him to the amount covered by the bill. But the bill does not ordinarily of itself work an assignment of the fund or the debt so that C can claim that specifically of B. An order drawn on B for the payment to C of any particular fund amounts to an assignment of that fund, and B is bound by mere notice of the order to make the payment, and his ac- ceptance or assent to the arrangement is not essential. But a bill of exchange is not an as- signment of nor an order on any special fund, but is intended to raise a contract by the drawee which he may satisfy out of any money which he has. This contract, however, does not arise, and the drawee owes no duty to the payee of the bill, until he accepts it. It is therefore the duty of the holder to present the bill for acceptance. This is fairly implied from the form of the instrument ; and if the acceptor is not called upon, as the bill directs that he shall be, and then fails, the drawer will be dis- charged. In some countries, as for example in France, acceptance must be demanded within limits defined by positive laws. But by our law, though there is no fixed time prescribed within which the presentation for acceptance must be made, it ought obviously to be within a reasonable time, considering all the circum- stances. What is or is not such a reasonable time is a question of law, and depends, for ex- ample, upon the character of the bill, whether payable a certain time after sight, or at a pre- cise date, or whether domestic or foreign; upon the place where it is drawn regarded in connection with the place on which it is drawn ; or upon the legitimate commercial ne- gotiation or use which may be made of the bill. If the bill is payable at sight, or so many days or months after sight or after demand, the presentation is necessary in order to fix the time of payment, and it ought to be made with diligence; though if it is payable at a fixed period after its date, or at a day certain, the holder need not offer it for acceptance until its maturity. Again, what is reasonable time for presentation in the case of a bill drawn in Boston on New York would not be reasonable time in case of one drawn in New York on Calcutta. So delay to present the bill may be excused when an inevitable accident prevents the holder from doing it, such as his illness, or the outbreak of a war which forbids commer- cial intercourse. The usual course of negotia- tion of the bill may also justifiably delay its presentation for acceptance, so that what would be reasonable time in the case of a ne- gotiated bill would be unreasonable in the case of one which had never been yet transferred. The principle of the rules respecting presen- tation for acceptance being that the drawer and other parties may be injured by delaying it, an entire omission to present the bill to the acceptor may be excused when it appears that the drawer had no funds in his hands and had no right to suppose that he had, or when for any other reason it is certain that the omission was not prejudicial to the drawer or other par- ties. In certain cases no acceptance and there- fore no presentation is necessary to charge the drawee ; as where a bill is drawn by a person upon himself, or by a partner upon his firm, or by one officer of a corporation on another offi- cer of it or on the corporation itself. When the bill is addressed to the drawee at a particular place, the demand for acceptance should be made at that place ; and if the drawee, though not at the very place named, is within the same town, and perhaps within the same state, he should be sought out. But if he never lived in the place named, or has removed to a distant place, especially if it is out of the state, or his house is shut up and no one is there to answer for him, presentation is excused and the bill may be treated as dishonored. When the bill is drawn on a firm, it is enough to pre- sent it to one of the partners. If the presen- tation is required by the bill to be made at a bank, it must be made within the usual bank hours ; or if at the drawee's place of business, then within the usual hours of business ; but if it is to be made at his home, it may be made within any reasonable hours of the day ; and in all cases the drawee is entitled to have pos- session of the bill for a day if he require it, in order to decide, on examining his accounts with the drawer, whether to accept or not. The acceptance may be absolute or qualified or conditional, though the holder is not bound to receive anything but an absolute acceptance. It may be written, or, if no statute interferes, it may be oral. It may be before the drawing of the bill or after it is drawn, or even after its maturity; and it may be by the drawee, or by some one else, for honor of the drawer or other parties to the paper. But the acceptance is usually absolute, in writing, and on th bill itself; and any form is sufficient which in- dicates the purpose of the drawee to honor th