Az írástudatlanok váltóképessége a dualizmus idején
The Liability of the Illiterate on Bills of Exchange during the Dual Monarchy

Summary/Abstract: In the era of the Dual Monarchy, almost half of the Hungarian population was unable to write and/or read, and the public showed great concern about the question: could the illit-erate take liability on bills of exchange? First, the paper discusses the role of illiteracy in the exchange law. Bills of exchange were widely used all over the Monarchy, so it was obvi-ous that on the pages of the Journal of Jurisprudence legal professionals published their view of the problems with liability on bills. The debate started with a Supreme Court deci-sion in 1883. The arguments and counter-arguments of some famous jurists sent to the pa-per are described: as the limitation of liability on bills of exchange − as it was seen in the age − would mostly affect smallholders and people having unproductive professions (with qualification), the significant proportion of society would lose the chance of getting credit on bills of exchange. We prove that the proposals were intended to influence not only pub-lic opinion but also the 9th Hungarian Jurist Assembly, having a session just then. Thanks to the decision of the Assembly, the illiterate could get credit on bills of exchange: they could take liability on bills of exchange by delegation of authority or they could draw their names outlined on the paper by somebody else, or somebody could lead their hand when “singing” their names.

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