Foreign vessels. evidence showed that, after a collision had occurred through the fault of the defendant's ship, the damage done was materially increased by the master omitting to cut a lanyard when he should have done so, it was held that these acts of negligence rendered it impossible to set up as a defence the acts of the pilots (s). The same rule would also be applicable, in some cases, to improper acts done by one of the crew by order of the pilot, in a matter which should have been controlled by the master (t). It was held before the passing of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, upon the general principle of international law which requires that a person suing in the Courts of any country must. take his remedy as the law of that country allows it to him, that if a foreign vessel was injured by an English ship within the limits of the then Pilot Act, the latter, if she was in charge of a licensed pilot taken on board in pursuance of a statute, was protected to the same extent as she would have been against the claim of another English vessel (u). The language of sect. 388 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, which now limits the responsibility of shipowners in cases of injury caused by the acts of a pilot compulsorily in charge of the ship is very wide; and as this section uses the words "any ship," and as by sect. 330 this portion of the statute is not confined to any particular class of ships, the existing statutory protection has been held to extend 5 (s) The Massachusetts, 1 W. Rob. (t) See Boucherv. Noidstrom, 1 Taunt. The Queen, L. R., 1 A. & E. 354. In the same case the court observed that the neglect of the master to render assistance within the section would not render the owners liable for the consequences of the collision if it had been caused solely by the negligence of a qualified pilot employed by compulsion of law. See and compare the provisions of the M. S. Act, 1873, s. 16, which is the enactment now in force. (u) The Vernon, 1 W. Rob. 316. In the judgment of Dr. Lushington in The Wild Ranger, Lush. 553, the authorities with reference to the effect upon foreign ships of English statutory provisions limiting the responsibility of shipowners in cases of collision generally, and in cases of compulsory pilotage, are collected and commented on. We have already seen (ante, p. 80) that the protection given by the M. S. Act, 1862, to shipowners, is applicable by the terms of that act to foreign ships. See also ante, p. 260. to all vessels, as well foreign as English, within the districts in which pilotage is compulsory (x). s. 74. It is provided by the 74th section of the General Pier and 10 Vict. c. 27, Harbour Act, 1847, that the owner of every vessel shall be answerable to the undertakers of the harbours and piers within the act for any damage done by such vessel or by any person employed about the same to the harbour, dock, pier or the quays or works connected therewith (y). The section, however, contains a proviso that these provisions shall not extend to impose any liability on the owner of any vessel where such vessels shall at the time when such damage is caused be in charge of a duly licensed pilot whom such owner is bound by law to employ and put his vessel in charge of. (x) See The Annapolis, Lush. 295, and The Princeton, 3 P. D. 90, where both the vessels which came into collision were foreign vessels. (y) See post, Ch. VIII., COLLISION, and Adamson v. The River Wear Commissioners, 3 App. Ca. 743. THE contract of affreightment is usually embodied either in a charter-party, or in a bill of lading, but in many cases there is both a charter-party and a bill of lading. The most important terms of this contract where its object is the carriage of goods in a merchant ship are those which regulate, on the one hand, the conveyance of the goods by the shipowner, and, on the other, the payment of the freight, which is the usual consideration for the shipowner's share of the undertaking. The contract by charter-party differs in many important respects from that by bill of lading; but as the rules which regulate the payment of freight under both of these contracts are substantially the same, it would be inconvenient to divide this portion of the subject into two distinct parts. It is therefore proposed to consider, 1, the contract by charterparty, the general rules by which it is governed, and the remedies for its enforcement; 2, the contract for the carriage of goods shipped under a bill of lading, and the ordinary rights and liabilities resulting from it; and 3, the right to freight generally, both under charterparties and under contracts by bill of lading, and the important incidents connected directly with this right; including the remedies for recovery of freight, and the shipowner's lien in respect of it. The second part of this Chapter will then be devoted to the consideration of the subjects of Demurrage, Stoppage in transitu, and General average. First, as to the contract by charter-party. The charter-party (carta partita) is an agreement by which a CHARTERshipowner agrees to place an entire ship, or a part of it, at the PARTY. disposal of a merchant for the conveyance of goods, binding the shipowner to transport them to a particular place for a sum of money which the merchant undertakes to pay as freight for their carriage (a). (a) See Pothier, Contrat de Louage Maritime, Pt. 1. Charter-parties are usually effected by the agency of brokers who are employed by the shipowner and paid by a commission. See The Nuova Raffaelina, L. R., 3 A. & E. 483; Cross v. Pagliano, L. R., 6 Ex. 9. See also Burnett v. Bouch, 9 C. & P. 620; Cunard v. Kan Oppen, 1 F. & F. 716; Allan v. Sundius, 1 H. & C. 123; Gibson v. Crick, ib. 142. A charter-party seldom amounts to an actual demise of the ship. See Fenton v. The Dublin Steam M.P. Packet Company, 8 A. & E. 835; Sande- U Nature of contract. Stamps. Example of form of charter party. Charter-parties may be, but now usually are not, under seal. They embody the terms upon which the shipowner lends the use of the ship, and contain stipulations as to the rate of remuneration, the nature of the voyage, and the time and mode of employing the vessel. Every charter-party, or agreement, or contract for the charter of any ship, and every memorandum, letter or other writing between the captain, master or owner of any ship and any other person, for or relating to the freight or conveyance of any money, goods, or effects on board any ship, must be stamped with a sixpenny stamp (b). The duty may be denoted by an adhesive stamp, which must be cancelled by the person by whom the instrument is last executed or by whose execution it is completed as a binding contract. Where a charter-party is first executed out of the United Kingdom any party thereto may, within ten days after it has been first received, and before it has been executed by any person in the United Kingdom, affix an adhesive stamp denoting the duty, and at the same time cancel (c) such stamp, and the instrument shall be deemed duly stamped. A charter-party not duly stamped may be stamped with an impressed stamp within seven days after the first execution thereof on payment of the duty and a penalty of 4s. 6d.; after seven days and within one month, on payment of the duty and a penalty of 107. (d). The following form of charter-party will show many of the stipulations in ordinary use: It is this day mutually agreed between Messrs. [4. B.], agents for owners of the good ship or vessel called [The James Scott], A 1, 12, and newly coppered, of &c., of the burthen of 340 tons register measurement or thereabouts, whereof [C. D.] is master, now in [Liverpool], and Messrs. [E. F., of Liverpool, merchants,] that the said ship being tight, staunch and strong, and every way fitted for the voyage, shall with all convenient speed load in [Prince's |