agent to have a
proper power of attorney in such a case as to give a proper deed for
his principal, and the one paper should be recorded quite as much as
the other, as both are parts of the same story.

_Sometimes an agent appoints a subagent._ This may be orally or in
writing. A good illustration is that of the collection of a cheque
deposited with a bank. Suppose a cheque is deposited in a bank in
Chicago drawn on a bank in Newark, N. J. The Chicago bank is, in the
first instance, the agent for collecting it. The bank would send the
cheque to another in New York, which would be its subagent, and that
bank in turn would send it to a third bank in Newark, which would be a
subagent of the New York bank. Thus there would be two subagents,
besides the agent, employed in collecting the cheque.

There is an important question relating to the liability of one of
these agents or subagents in the event of the negligent performance of
the duty; which is responsible? Generally, it is said, if the general
agent appoints a subagent he is nevertheless responsible for his act.
Suppose a street contractor employs a subagent to repair a street and
he digs a hole and improperly guards it and some one falls into the
place and is injured, can the person thus injured look to the
contractor or to the subcontractor for compensation for his injury?
The contractor is liable in such cases. It may be added, however, that
although he is liable to the person injured, he may be able to recover
of the subcontractor or subagent. But this rule does not apply to the
banks in every State. In some of them the first bank in which the
cheque was deposited is liable for the negligence of others that may
be afterward employed in collecting it, and this rule prevails in the
federal courts. In a larger number of States the first bank fully
performs its duty in selecting a proper or reputable agent, and in
sending the cheque to it for collection. Should the second or subagent
be neglectful, the depositor of the cheque could compel that agent,
and not the first, to make its loss good.

XIV. THE LAW RELATING TO BANK CHEQUES

A CHEQUE has come to be one of the most common of all writings. Almost
everybody receives more or less of them. There are some principles
that ought to be understood by every holder or receiver of a cheque
which, we fear, are not as well known as they should be.

_First of all, a person ought to present his cheque for payment soon
aft