standing the lapse of time,
demand of the bank the sums wrongfully paid. This was a great hardship
to banks, and has been corrected in many states by statutes and by the
courts in others. The rule now is, the depositor must, within a
reasonable time after the return of his bank book, examine it, also
his checks, and, if payments have been improperly made, demand
immediate correction.

The holder of a check should demand payment within a reasonable time
after he has received it. He may keep it longer if he pleases, but if
he does, and the bank should fail, he cannot demand payment again from
the maker of the check. He in effect says to the holder of the check
when giving it to him, "present this check to the bank within the
proper time and it will be paid, if you keep it longer, you do it at
your risk." What is a reasonable time? The law has fixed it. If the
bank is in the town or city where the holder of the check dwells, he
must present it the day he received it, or the next day. If it is
drawn on a bank outside, the check must be forwarded for presentment
at the latest on the day after it is received. With respect to the
first class of checks therefore if the maker and receiver are both
depositors of the same bank, the operation on the part of the bank
consists simply in debiting one account and crediting another with the
amount; if checks are drawn on another bank in the same city the
receiver usually deposits them in his own bank and they are paid
through the clearing house the next day.

A drawer may stop the payment of his check. And when he requests the
bank to do so it must heed his instruction, and is liable if
neglecting, though not always for the whole amount of the check.
Suppose the check was given for a bill which the maker actually owed,
yet for some reason, after giving the check, he did not wish to pay.
If it was actually due and undisputed it would be hardly just to
require the bank to pay the check over again to the holder, this would
be too much. But for whatever injury the maker of the check may have
sustained the bank must make good.

When a check has been certified by the bank on which it is drawn, the
effect of the certification after the drawer has parted with it "is
precisely as if the bank had paid the money upon that check instead of
making a certificate of its being good." The check is charged up to
the maker, or should be, and therefore as between him and the bank has
been paid.

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