United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Barnet v. National Bank, 98 U.S. 555 (1878)

Barnet v. National Bank

98 U.S. 555

Syllabus

1. In a suit by a national bank against all the parties to a bill of exchange discounted by it to recover the amount thereof, the assignees of the acceptor, the latter having made an assignment for the benefit of his creditors, cannot, having intervened as parties, set up by way of counterclaim or setoff that the bank, in discounting a series of bills of their assignor, the proceeds of which it used to pay other bills, knowingly took and was paid a greater rate of interest than that allowed by law.

2. The Act of June 3, 1864, 13 Stat. 99, sec. 30, having prescribed that, as a penalty for such taking, the person paying such unlawful interest, or his legal representative, may, in any action of debt against the bank, recover back twice the amount so paid, he can resort to no other mode or form of procedure.

ERROR to the Circuit Court of the United States for the Southern District of Ohio.

Page 98 U. S. 556

The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.