An indorsement on the last day of grace is good ; Crosby v. Grant, 36 N. H. 273 ; con tra, Pine v. Smith, 11 Gray (Mass.) 38. An indorsement is presumed to be of the same date as the instrument ; Snyder v. Getman, 16 Ind. 265 ; Stewart v. Smith, 28 Ill. 397 ; or at least to have been made before ma turity ; Blum v. Loggins, 53 Tex. 136; Col lins v. Gilbert, 94 U. S. 753, 24 L. Ed. 170.
An indorsement may be made before the bill or note itself, and so render the indorser liable to all subsequent parties; Byles, Bills *167 ; Durham v. Clogg, 30 Md. 284. A blank indorsement upon a blank piece of paper, with intent to give a person credit, is, in ef fect, a letter of credit ; if a promissory note is afterwards written on the paper, the in dorser cannot object ; Dougl. 496; Violett v. Patton, 5 Cra. (U. S.) 142, 3 L. Ed. 61; but if the holder had notice of any fraud he cannot fill in the blanks ; 3 'Q. B. D. 643.
When the indorsement is made before the note becomes due, the indorsee and all sub sequent holders are entitled to recover the face of the note against the maker, without any right on his part to offset claims which he may have against the payee ; or, as it is frequently stated, the indorsee takes it free of all equities between the antecedent par ties of which he had no notice ; 8 M. & W. 504 ; Savings Bank of New Haven v. Bates, 8 Conn. 505 ; Thompson v. Gibson, 1 Mart. N. S. (La.) 150 ; Swift v. Tyson, 16 Pet. (U. S.) 1, 10 L. Ed. 865. The indorser of a promis sory note before maturity without recourse is responsible thereon if the note is fraudu lent, fictitious, or forged ; Palmer v. Court ney, 32 Neb. 773, 49 N. W. 754.
An indorsement admits the signatures and capacity of every prior party ; Byles, Bills *155.
The blank indorsement of a non-negotia ble bill has been held to operate as the draw ing of a bill payable to bearer ; 33 L. J. Q. B. 209. The indorsement of a non-negotia ble note by a payee operates to assign the payee's rights to the indorser, who takes the formei's place ; Gorman v. Ketchum, 33 Wis. 427.
After a bill is due, the indorsee takes it on the credit of the indorser and subject to all equities; 4 M. & G. 101; as was said by Lord Ellenborough, "it comes disgraced to the indorsee ;" 1 Campb. 19. But the maker can only set up such defences as are con nected with the note, not those arising out of an independent transaction ; Arnot v.
Woodburn, 35 Mo. 99; 3 H. & N. 891; such as set-off as against the holder ; Way v. Lamb, 15 Ia. 79 ; 10 Exch. 572. It is other wise as to a check, which may be transfer red by indorsement after it is payable ; Byles, Bills *171; but taking a check six days old is a circumstance from which the jury may infer fraud ; 9 B. & C. 388. A note payable on demand is not to be taken as overdue without some evidence of demand of pay ment and refusal; 4 B. & C. 327 ; although it is several years old and no interest has been paid on it ; Byles, Bills *171; a promis sory note payable on demand is intended to be a continuing security ; 9 M. & W. 15 ; but it has been held to be overdue and dishonor ed after a reasonable time ; Carll v. Brown, 2 Mich. 401; so after three months ; Herrick v. Woolverton, 41 N. Y. 581, 1 Am. Rep. 461; (but see Herrick v. Woolverton, 42 Barb. [N. Y.] 50); after ten months ; Morey v. Wake field, 41 Vt. 24, 98 Am. Dec. 562.
A bill or note cannot be indorsed for part of the amount due the holder, as the law will not permit one cause of action to be cut up into several, and such an indorsement is utterly void as such, but when it has been paid in part, it may be indorsed as to the residue ; Frank v. Kaigler, 36 Tex. 305.
Indorsers, also, unless the indorsement be qualified, become liable to pay the amount demanded by the instrument upon the fail ure of the principal, the maker of a note, or the acceptor of a bill, upon due notification of such failure, to any subsequent iudorsee who can legally claim, to hold through the particular indorser ; Story, Bills § 224.
The indorsement of a draft to a fictitious indorsee is usually treated as making it Pay able to bearer ; see FICTITIOUS PAYEE; Phil lips v. Bank, 140 N. Y. 556; 35 N. E. 982, 23 L. R. A. 584, 37 Am. St. Rep. 596; Neg. Instr. Act § 9 ; but not unless the maker knows the payee to be fictitious and actually intends the paper to be made payable to a fictitious person ; Chism v. Bank, 96 Tenn. 641, 36 S. W. 387, 32 L. R. A. 778, 54 Am. St. Rep. 863; Shipman v. Bank, 126 N. Y. 318, 27 N. E. 371, 12 L. R. A. 791, 22 Am. St. Rep. 821; Arm strong v. Bank, 46 Ohio St. 512, 22 N. E. 866, 6 L. R. A. 625, 15 Am. St. Rep. 655 ; contra, Kohn v. Watkins, 26 Kan. 691, 40 Am. Rep. 336.