22. Protest

A few words may be said concerning the protest. The object of this is to have proof of the presentment and demand for payment, and that the parties to the instrument were duly notified. Protests generally pertain to foreign bills of exchange and must be made of them. As this is an easy and cheap method of furnishing evidence of these matters, the practice has become very general of protesting inland bills and notes that are not duly paid Indeed, the custom to treat inland bills and notes in the same manner as foreign bills has become so universal that in common parlance the terms mean the taking of such steps as are required to charge the indorser. For the same reason the word "protest," sometimes employed in giving notice of dishonor to the indorsers of inland bills and notes, clearly implies a demand, non-payment, and consequent dishonor of a bill or note in all cases in which a protest is necessary.

A notary is sometimes disqualified from acting. A shareholder in a bank, or a director, cashier, teller, clerk, or other officer of the institution, is forbidden in some states from exercising the duties of a notary. In other states he is permitted to act either by common law or by statute.

In some states the sending of notices is not an official duty of a notary, and where it is not, the notice may be sent by the holder. If, however, a notary public is employed to make presentment, his employment includes the notifying of the indorser. And when the notice is dul\' certified and is not contradicted or questioned, it is presumed to be legal.

When an instrument is received by a notary to be presented and protested, the holder must put him in possession of the proper information for performing his duty. The notary must first make a demand on the party primarily liable at his place of business within business hours. He must then give notice of the presentment and non-payment to the indorsers And if he follows the usage, no more can be expected of him. For example, he is not required to go beyond the limits of a state in making a demand unless this is the usage

Notes are open made payable at a bank, and when they are, their presentment is sufficient if they are actually there at the proper time to be delivered to any one rightfully entitled to them by paying whatever may be legally due.

A visit during business hours for the purpose of making a presentment to the maker's Place of business, which is closed, is equivalent to an actual presentment and demand. But a demand by a notary in the street of an acceptor of a bill is not a sufficient demand. It should be made at his place of business.

23. Waiver Of Demand And Notice

A demand and notice of the non-payment of a negotiable note may be waived on or before the day of maturity by the indorser, either orally or in writing, by acts having the effect to mislead the holder and prevent him from treating the note as he would otherwise have done. Having waived this right, an indorser is put in the same position as though the protest had been made and a notice had been duly given to him. A drawer who promises to pay a bill, after full knowledge of the fact of an omission to make due presentment, thereby waives it and becomes bound; and his promise may be express or implied from circumstances. The words, "protest waived," are regarded everywhere as a waiver of both demand and notice. In one of the cases the court remarked that a waiver of protest before the maturity of a note is a waiver of all the steps leading to it and includes demand and notice of non-payment.