Endorsement required for promissory notes payable to order; mere delivery without endorsement gives no enforceable right to sue.

A promissory note payable to order could not be transferred by mere delivery without endorsement. The court held that the special statutory scheme governing negotiable instruments requires endorsement and delivery for valid negotiation, and that a volunteer could not rely on equitable assignment because such assignment needs valuable consideration and cannot override the Negotiable Instruments Act. The attempted gift also failed because handing over the unendorsed note did not transfer the debt itself. The transferee therefore acquired no enforceable right to sue or give a discharge, and the petitioner succeeded.

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Issues: Whether a promissory note payable to order, delivered without endorsement, could be effectively transferred by assignment or gift so as to enable the transferee to sue on it.

Analysis: The promissory note was payable to order, and the statutory scheme governing negotiable instruments required negotiation by endorsement and delivery. The attempted reliance on assignment as an actionable claim was unavailable to a mere volunteer, because equitable assignment required valuable consideration and, in any event, could not override the special provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The attempted gift also failed, because handing over the unendorsed instrument did not complete a transfer of the debt itself; the paper was only evidence of the claim and its delivery did not put the transferee in possession of the debt. The special rules governing negotiable instruments prevailed over any inconsistent general rule of transfer.

Conclusion: The unendorsed promissory note was not validly transferred so as to entitle the transferee to sue or give a discharge, and the petitioner succeeded.

Final Conclusion: The Rule was made absolute because the respondent acquired no enforceable right under the unendorsed note.

Ratio Decidendi: A promissory note payable to order cannot be enforced by a transferee who is not the holder through endorsement and delivery, and mere delivery to a volunteer does not complete either an assignment or a gift where such transfer is inconsistent with the special statutory scheme governing negotiable instruments.

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