The instrument must be in writing, and writing "in cludes words printed, painted, engraved, lithographed, or otherwise traced or copied." 1 The writing may be in pencil or in ink. If there is a conflict between the printed and the written words, those written will pre vail.
As testimony (that is, parol testimony) cannot in any case be received to contradict or vary the items of a valid written instrument, the contract of the par ties to notes or bills, as it appears upon the face of the instrument, cannot be varied by parol evidence. Hence, in an action upon a bill or note, the defendant will not be allowed to prove that, at the making of the instrument, it was verbally agreed that it should he renewed or not paid at maturity; or that the instru ment expressed to be payable at a certain time should be payable only in a given event; or that it should be payable in instalments, or in any other manner than as expressed in the instrument. But it has been held that parol evidence is admissible to show that the date of the bill or note is not the true date, and to show the true date; or that the delivery of the instrument is in complete and conditional only, so that the contract is not operative; or that the contract has been discharged by payment, release or otherwise.
The definition requires that the bill shall be ad dressed by one person to another. "Person" includes any body corporate, or its representatives, and the heirs, executors, administrators or other legal repre sentatives of such person. The drawee need not be named, if he is described with reasonable certainty so that the bill can be duly presented.
The instrument is not a bill of exchange until it is signed by the drawer, tho he may sign a blank paper which is later filled up, or lie may sign it after it has been accepted.
A bill is payable on demand, (a) which is expressed to be payable on demand or on presentation, or (b) in which no time for payment is expressed. A bill is payable at a. determinable future time when it is ex pressed to be payable (a) at sight, or at a fixed period after the occurrence of a specified event which is cer taro to happen, tho the time of happening is uncer tain. Thus, "six weeks after the death of my father, I promise to pay, etc."; "one year after my death"; "on demand after my decease." Similarly, a promis sory note, made payable upon the coming of age of a minor, naming the date, is a good note.
Bills of exchange are either inland bills or foreign bills. An inland bill is one which is, or on the face of it purports to be, (a) both drawn and payable within Canada, or (b) drawn within Canada upon some per son resident therein. lience the following are inland bills: I (a) A bill drawn in Canada upon some person resi dent there and payable in Canada.
(b) A bill drawn in Canada upon some person abroad, but payable in Canada.
(c) A bill drawn in Canada upon some person resi dent there, but payable abroad.
(d) A bill which on its face purports to come within any of the foregoing classes, but which was actually drain abroad, tho dated in Canada. All other bills are foreign bills. The distinction may he of importance, because a foreign bill must, in Canada, be always protested if dishonored by non acceptance or non-payment. An inland bill, except in the Province of Quebec, need not be protested. Un lesS the contrary appears on the face of the bill, the holder may treat it as an inland In the United States, bills drawn in one state and payable in an other are foreign bills.
8. Bills in a in a set were devised to over come the delay and uncertainty common enough be fore the day of trains and steamships, when mails -were carried in sailing ships. If the ship was lost, a long delay, perhaps of months, might ensue before the loss could be verified and a new bill of exchange dis patched. So it became the practice to issue bills in a set of three or four parts. After the first of ex change is mailed, a second of exchange may be for warded by the next mail. If the first has been lost, the second may be used. If the first arrives and is paid, the second is returned. Where each part is numbered and contains a reference to the other parts, the whole of the parts constitutes one bill. Each bill of the set contains a condition thaeit shall be payable only if all the other parts remain unpaid. The fol ' lowing is an example of a "First of Exchange": 9. check is a bill of exchange drawn on a bank, payable on demand. Hence it is an un conditional order in writing addressed to a bank by the person drawing or signing it, requiring the bank to pay on demand a sum certain in money to, or to the order of, a specified person, or to bearer.' If the drawee of a check is a bank, it should not be addressed to the cashier, manager or agent of the bank, but to the bank itself. Otherwise the bank might be held not liable upon it if accepted or certi fied. As a check is supposed to be payable on de mand, in the absence of other directions, the words "on demand" need not be on the check. It is not invalid if not dated, or if antedated or post-dated, or if dated on a Sunday or other non-juridical day. Nor is it the less valid if the place where it is drawn is not men tioned. When a person gives a post-dated check, he impliedly undertakes that on the day mentioned he will have funds in the drawee bank sufficient to pay the check. But if he obtains goods by giving a check on a bank where he has no account, and does not in tend to have an account, he is guilty of the crime of obtaining money by false pretence, and, if convicted, may be sentenced to three years' imprisonment.