PREFACE. THE law of Bills, Notes, and Cheques has been codified in many of the States lately, beginning in 1897 with the Negotiable Instruments Law of New York. That has made a new edition of this work necessary. The opportunity has been taken to make certain improvements of a mechanical nature, in aid of the reader. The subject has been broken up in various places, and the lines of division made plainer to the eye. Side-notes have also been added. The New York Statute is given in full at the end of the book, and constant reference made to it in the text and notes. It is to be regretted that the Statute is not free from avoidable defects, and that these defects have been copied more or less in other States. The American Bar Association, which promoted the project and framed the bill for carrying it out, may think it advisable, after a few years' trial of the present Statute shall have made clear the changes needed, to offer to the country a new draft of the law. M. M. B. CAMBRIDGE, August 2, 1900. NOTE. The citation N. I. L.,' or 'The Statute,' means the Negotiable Instruments Law, given at the end of the book. The citation 'Cases' means Bigelow's Cases on Bills, Notes, and Cheques, Students' Series. 252811 |