KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

356

DEPOSIT

DEPOSE

DEPOSE. In practice. In ancient us age, to testify as a witness; to give evidence under oath. In modern usage. To make a deposi tion ; to give evidence in the shape of a dep osition ; to make statements which are writ ten down and sworn to; to give testimony which is reduced to writing by a duly-quali fied officer and sworn to by the deponent. To deprive an individual of a public em ployment or office against his will. Wolffius, Inst § 1063. The term is usually applied to the deprivation of all authority of a sov ereign. DEPOSIT. A naked bailment of goods to be kept for the depositor without reward, and to be returned when he shall require it Jones, Bailm. 36, 117; National Bank v. Washington County Bank, 5 Hun (N. Y.) 607; Payne v. Gardiner, 29 N. Y. 167; Mont gomery v. Evans, 8 Ga. 180; Rozelle v. Rhodes, 116 Pa. 129, 9 Atl. 160, 2 Am. St Rep. 591; In re Patterson, 18 Hun (N. Y.) 222. A bailment of goods to be kept by the bailee without reward, and delivered accord ing to the object or purpose of the original t rust Story, Bailm. § 41. A deposit, in general, is an act by which a person receives the property of another, binding himself to preserve it and return it in kind. Civ. Code La. art. 2926. When chattels are delivered by one person to another to keep for the use of the bailor, it is called a "deposit." Code Ga. 1882, § 2103. The word is also sometimes used to desig nate money lodged with a person as an ear nest or security for the performance of some contract to be forfeited if the depositor fails in his undertaking. Classification. According to the classifi cation of the civil law, deposits are of the following several sorts: (1) Necessary, made upon some sudden emergency, and from some pressing necessity; as, for instance, in case of a fire, a shipwreck, or other over whelming calamity, when property is con fided to any person whom the depositor may meet without proper opportunity for reflec tion or choice, and thence it is called "mis eraoile depositum.'" (2) Voluntary, which arises from the mere consent and agreement of the parties. Civ. Code La. art. 2964; Dig. 16, 3, 2; Story, Bailm. § 44. The common law has made no such division. There is another class of deposits called "involun tary," which may be without the assent or even knowledge of the depositor; as lum ber, etc., left upon another's land by the subsidence of a flood. The civilians again divide deposits into "simple deposits," made by one or more persons having a common interest, and "sequestrations," made by one or more persons, each of whom has a dif ferent and adverse interest in controversy

touching it; and these last are of two sorts, —"conventional," or such as are made by the mere agreement of the parties without any judicial act; and "judicial," or such as are made by order of a court in the course of some 1 proceeding. Civ. Code La. art. 2979. There is another class of deposits called "irregular," as when a person, having a sum of money which he does not think safe in his own hands, confides it to another, who is to return to him, not the same money, but a like sum when he shall demand it. Poth. du Depot 82, 83; Story, Bailm. § 84. A regular deposit is a strict or special deposit; a deposit which must be returned in spe cie; i. e., the thing deposited must be re turned. A quasi deposit is a kind of im plied or involuntary deposit, which takes place where a party comes lawfully to the possession of another person's property, by finding it Story, Bailm. § 85. Particularly with reference to money, deposits are also classed as general or special. A general de posit is where the money deposited is not it self to be returned, but an equivalent in money (that is, a like sum) is to be returned. It is equivalent to a loan, and the money deposited becomes the property of the depos itary. Insurance Co. v. Landers, 43 Ala. 138. A special deposit is a deposit in which the identical thing deposited is to be re turned to the depositor. The particular ob ject of this kind of deposit is safe-keeping. Koetting v. State, 88 Wis. 502, 60 N. W. 822. In banking law, this kind of deposit is contrasted with a "general" deposit, as above; but in the civil law it is the antith esis of an "irregular" deposit A gratuitous or naked deposit is a bailment of goods to be kept for the depositor without hire or re ward on either side, or one for which the depositary receives no consideration beyond the mere possession of the thing deposited. Civ. Code Ga. 1895, § 2921; Civ. Code Cal. § 1844. Properly and originally, all deposits are of this description; for according to the Roman law, a bailment of goods for which hire or a price is to be paid, is not called "depositum" but "locatio." If the owner of the property pays for its custody or care, it is a "locatio custodise;" if, on the other hand, the bailee pays for the use of it, it is "locatio rei." (See LOCATIO.) But in the modern law of those states which have been influenced by the Roman jurisprudence, a gratuitous or naked deposit is distinguished from a "deposit for hire," in which the bailee is to be paid for his services in keeping the article. Civ. Code Cal. 1903, § 1851; Civ. Code Ga. 1895, § 2921. In banking law. The act of placing or lodging money in the custody of a bank or banker, for safety or convenience, to be withdrawn at the will of the depositor or under rules and regulations agreed on; also the money so deposited. General and special deposits. Deposits of money in a bank are either general or special.