EXCHANGE, Bills of. The following information concerning the origin of bills of exchange is extracted from Beckmann's History of Inventions.
"I shall not here repeat (says he) what has been collected by many learned men respecting the important history of this noble invention, but only lay before my readers an ordinance of the year 1394, concerning the acceptance of bills of exchange, and also two bills of the year 1404, as they may serve to illustrate farther what has been before said on the subject by others. These documents are, indeed, more modern than those found by Raphael de Turre in the writings of the jurist Baldus, which are dated March the 9th 1328; but they are attended with such circumstances as sufficiently prove that the method of transacting business by bills of exchange was fully established so early as the fourteenth century; and that the present form and terms were even then used. For this important information I am indebted to Mr Von Martens, who found it in a book which, as far as I know, has never been noticed in any literary journal, though it is much more deserving of attention than many others better known. It is a history, written in Spanish, of the maritime trade and other branches of commerce at Barcelona, taken entirely from the archives of that city, and accompanied with documents from the same source, which abound with matter highly interesting (A).
"Among these is an ordinance issued by the city of Barcelona in the year 1394, that bills of exchange should be accepted within twenty-four hours after they were presented; and that the acceptance should be written on the back of the bill.
"In the year 1404, the magistrates of Bruges, in Flanders, requested the magistrates of Barcelona to inform them what was the common practice, in regard to bills of exchange, when the person who presented a bill raised money on it in an unusual manner, in the case of its not being paid, and by these means increased the expenses so much that the drawer would not con-
sent to sustain the loss. The bill which gave occasion to this question is inserted in the memorial. It is written in the short form still used; which certainly seems to imply great antiquity. It speaks of usance; and it appears that first and second bills were at that time drawn, and that when bills were not accepted, it was customary to protest them.
"As this article is of great importance I shall here transcribe it, from vol. ii. p. 203: "Cum de mensibus Aprilis et Maii ultimo elapsis Antonius Quartus, mercator Lucanus resident in villa Brugensi, a Joanne Colom, mercatore civitatis Barchinone, etiam residente in prædicta villa Brugensi, duo millia scutorum Philippi, quolibet scuto pro xxii grossis computato, solvendi per Franciscum de Prato mercatorem Florentiæ, more solito, in Barchinona, mediatis Petro Gilberto et Petro Olivo, et mediatis Petro Scorpo, et prædicto Petro Gilberto, mercatoribus Cardone: prout de dictis cambiis apparet quatuor litteris papireis, quarum tenores subsequuntur.
"Superscriptio autem primæ litteræ fuit talis: Franc. de Prato et comp. à Barcelona. Tenor vero ejusdem ad intra fuit talis: Al nome di Dio, Amen, à di xxviii. Aprile 1404. Pagate per questa prima di camb. à usanza à Piero Gilberto, è Piero Olivo scuti mille à sold. x. Barcelonesi per scuto, i quali scuti mille sono per cambio che con Giovanni Colombo à grossi xxii. di g. scuto: et pag. à nostro conto, et Christo vi guardi. Subtus vero erat scriptum: Antonio Quartus Sal de Bruggias.
"Superscriptio vero secundæ litteræ fuit talis: Francisco de Prato et comp. à Barcelona. Et ab intra sic habebatur: Al nome de Dio, Amen. à di xviii. di Maggio 1404. Pagate per questa prima di camp. à usanza à Piero Gilberto et à P. de Scorpo scuti mille de Fetippo à sold. x. Barcelonesi per scuto: i quali scuti mille sono per camb. che con Giov. Colombo à grossi xxii. di g. scuto: et pag. à nostro conto: et Christo vi guardi. Subtus vero erat sic scriptum: Ant. Quadri Sal de Bruggias." * Vol. III.
Bills of exchange are justly considered as of the greatest importance to the interest of commerce; but several queries have been proposed respecting them, which do not as yet appear to have received a satisfactory solution. It still seems to be a disputed point, whether the law ought to consider them as nothing more than a deposit belonging to the drawer, and successively confided to the remittes; or as property capable of being transferred, and entirely vested in the holder at all times, who should be alone responsible for neglecting it, when its value is vitiated.
Professor Busch of Hamburg thought that bills of exchange should always be viewed as the exclusive property of the person holding them, which, in a work published
(A) "Memorias historicas sobre la marina comercio y artes de la antigua ciudad de Barcelona, por D. Antonio de Capmany y de Montpalau. Madrid 1799, 2 vol. 4to. As a proof of what I have said above, I shall mention the following important article, which may be found in this work. A custom-house tariff, written in Latin, of the year 1221, in which occur a great number of remarkable names and articles of merchandise not explained. Another of the like kind in the year 1252. Letters of power to appoint consuls in distant countries, such as Syria, Egypt, &c. dated in the years 1266, 1268, and 1321. An ordinance of the year 1458, respecting insurances, which required that underwriting should be done in the presence of a notary, and declared policies & scriptures privates to be null and void. A privilegium of the emperor Andronicus II. to the merchants of Barcelona, written in Greek and Spanish, in 1290. Account of the old Spanish trade with wool, silk, salt, and safiron; and of the oldest guilds or incorporated societies of tradesmen at Barcelona," &c.
exchange, published in 1792, is defended by a number of plausible arguments. This theory was applied to the difficult and fluctuating case of the holder of a bill which has several indorsements, where the drawer, the drawee, and persons early indorsing it, have all become bankrupts. Should the person holding it under each bankruptcy prove the entire amount of said bill, it is manifest that he must receive much more than he can in justice claim as his due. It seems most equitable that he should be forced to prove his debt against none but his immediate predecessor, the assignees of such predecessor being allowed a similar proof up to the drawer. To such as are in the habit of discounting bills, this becomes a matter of the utmost consequence; for further information concerning which, see the work of Professor Busch already alluded to, and Additions to the Theoretical and Practical Delineation of Commerce, published in 1798 (B). See also the article EXCHANGE in the SUPPLEMENT.