Gledhill v. Schiff

Headnote

Gledhill v. Schiff, 173 App. Div. 890 , affirmed.

Appeal from a judgment of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the first judicial department,

entered March 30, 1916, unanimously affirming a judgment in favor of defendants entered upon a dismissal of the complaint by the court on trial at Special Term. Plaintiff, as trustee for collection for the Cooperative Wholesale Society, Limited, a British corporation, held certain treasury notes of Austria-Hungary, interest and capital of which were payable in the city of New York at the office of Kuhn, Loeb & Company, the firm name of defendants. In December, 1914, the Austrian government gave notice to the defendants that moneys would be deposited with them to pay only those holders of notes maturing January 1, 1915, who should present with the notes an affidavit stating that the holders were not citizens of countries in a state of war with Austria-Hungary, and that the notes were not acquired after December 22, 1914, from any such citizen. Plaintiff sued to recover the face value of the notes with interest and demanded that the fund held by defendants be impressed with a lien for the amount of his holdings. The court at Special Term held that defendants were mere agents for the Austrian government and dismissed the complaint.