ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

HALL

hibited in a conspicuous place in the public offices of all consuls general or consuls appointed by his Majesty, in the foreign ports or places to which they may be so appointed, for the inspection of all persons interested therein; and any consul general or consul omitting or neglecting to exhibit any such copy of the said schedules in such his public office, or refusing to permit the same to be inspected by any person or persons interested therein, shall for every such offence forfeit and pay a sum of British sterling money not exceeding one half the amount of the salary of such person for one year, nor less than the twelfth part of such annual salary, at the discretion of the court in which such penalty may be recovered. §7.

Repeal of certain acts.—And whereas it is expedient that the several acts of parliament hereinafter mentioned should be repealed; be it therefore enacted, that a certain act of parliament made and passed in the 8 Geo. I. c. 17. intituled "An Act for more equal paying and better collecting certain small Sums therein mentioned, for Relief of shipwrecked Mariners and distressed Persons (his Majesty's Subjects) in the Kingdom of Portugal, and for other pious and charitable Purposes usually contributed to by the Merchants trading to Portugal;" and a certain other act, made and passed in the 9 Geo. II. c. 25. intituled "An Act for the more equal paying and better collecting certain small Sums for Relief of shipwrecked Mariners and distressed Persons (his Majesty's Subjects) in the Port of Cadiz and Port of Saint Mary's in the Kingdom of Spain, and for other Uses usually contributed to by the Merchants trading to the said Ports ;" and a certain other act made and passed in the 10 Geo. II. c. 14. intituled "An Act for collecting at the port of Leghorn certain small Sums of Money to which the Merchants trading there have usually contributed for the Relief of shipwrecked Mariners, Captives, and other distressed Persons, (his Majesty's Subjects,) and for other eharitable and public Uses ;" and a certain other act, made and passed in the 54 Geo. III. c. 126. for altering and extending the said recited act of 8 Geo. I., shall be and the same are hereby repealed. § 16.

Consuls to have credit for money disbursed for shipwrecked and distressed persons.--All consuls general and consuls shall be allowed and have credit in any accounts by them rendered, through one of his Majesty's principal secretaries of state, to the lord high treasurer, or the commissioners of his Majesty's treasury of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, for the time being, for all such sums of money as shall by any such consul general or consul be disbursed and expended towards the succour and relief of mariners shipwrecked and taken in war, or other distressed persons being subjects of his Majesty, and resorting to the port or place at which any such consul general or consul may be appointed to reside: Provided always, that such sums of money be so disbursed and expended in pursuance of and in conformity to any special or general rules and regulations to be for that purpose made and prescribed by his Majesty, by any order or orders to be by him for that purpose issued, by and with the advice of his privy council, and that an account of the particulars of all such expenditure shall by the first convenient opportunity be transmitted by such consul general or consul for his Majesty's information, through one of his principal secretaries of state. § 18.

Oaths may be administered by consuls.-From and after the passing of this act it shall be lawful for any and every consul general or consul appointed by his Majesty at any foreign port or place, whenever he shall be thereto required, and whenever he shall see necessary, to administer

at such foreign port or place any oath, or take any affidavit or affirmation from any person or persons whomsoever, and also to do and perform at such foreign port or place all and every notarial acts and act which any notary public could or might be required and is by law empowered to do within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; and every such oath, affidavit, or affirmation, and every such notarial act, administered, sworn, affirmed, had, or done by or before such consul general or consul, shall be as good, valid, and effectual, and shall be of like force and effect, to all intents and purposes, as if any such oath, affidavit, or affirmation, or notarial act respectively, had been administered, sworn, affirmed, had, or done, before any justice of the peace or notary public in any part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain or Ireland, or before any other legal or competent authority of the like nature. § 20.

Recovery of penalties.-All penalties incurred under or imposed by this act shall and may be sued for, prosecuted, and recovered by any person or persons who may sue for the same, by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information in any of his Majesty's courts of record at Westminster, in the name of his Majesty's attorney-general, wherein o essoign, protection, privilege, wager of law, or more than one imparlance, shall be allowed. § 21.

TABLES TO WHICH THIS ACT REFERS.
TABLE (A.)

Certificate of due landing of goods, exported from the United Kingdom.... 2 dollars,

Signature of ship's manifest..

Certificate of origin when required.

Bill of health, when required...

Signature of muster roll, when required

Attestation of a signature, when required

Administering an oath, when required.

Seal of office, and signature of any other document not specified herein,

when required..

2 dollars.

2 dollars.

2 dollars.

2 dollars.

1 dollar. dellar.

1 dolar.

[blocks in formation]

Valuation of goods.

otherwise 1 per cent.

[blocks in formation]

Attending sales, per cent. where there has been a charge for valuing;

Attendance out of consular office at a shipwreck, 5 dollars per diem for his personal expences, over and above his travelling expences.

on opening a will...

Management of property of British subjects dying intestate

5 dollars.

24 per cent.

The dollars mentioned in the preceding tables are in all cases to be paid by the delivery of dollars, each of which is to be of the value of four shillings and sixpence sterling, and no more, according to the rate of exchange prevailing at the place where such payment is made.

PART III.

CHAPTER I.

FREIGHT, CHARTER-PARTY, AND DEMURRAGE.

Definition of Freight.

FREIGHT is the sum agreed on or payable for the hire of a ship, or carriage of goods; but the word freight is sometimes rather improperly used to signify the cargo or loading itself. In its former and more correct sense only, it will be used in the course of this treatise.

Freight in a legal sense is deemed by the 53 Geo. III. c. 159. § 2.* to be "the value of the Carriage of any goods, wares, or merchandise, belonging to the owner of any ship or vessel, and also the hire due or to grow due under or by virtue of any contract made by or on behalf of any persons whatever, for the purposes of that act."

The taking of a ship to freight is the hiring her from her master or owners, either in part or in the whole, by the month, for an entire voyage, or by the ton. The contract, when reduced into writing, is called a churter-party; but it is said it may be done by a verbal agreement only. In point of practice, however, it is universally reduced to writing, but it is immaterial whether in form of a regular deed, or only a writing under hand. It is not unusual to draw these agreements in the nature of memoranda or heads, for more formal agreements to be thereafter made from them.

What a charter-party is.—A charter-party is the same in the civil law as an indenture at common law. It settles the terms upon which the cargo is to be carried, as the bills of lading determine the contents of the cargo; the master or owners usually binding themselves, the ship, tackle, and furniture, that they shall be delivered, (dangers of the seas excepted,) well-conditioned, at the place of discharge agreed

* See OWNERS, CHAP. I. page 4.

upon. They likewise generally covenant to provide a sufficiency of tackle and mariners, and to fit the ship in every respect for perform ing the voyage. The merchant or freighter, on his part, stipulates to comply with the payment promised for freight on delivery of his goods; and both parties oblige themselves in penalties for nonperformance.

Who may make a charter-party.-A charter-party may be made by the master, for himself and owners; in which case the master may release the freighter without advising with the owners. But if the owners let out to freight the ship, whereof J. J. is master, then, though the master covenant in the same charter-party, and subscribe it, his release will not bind the owners; but the owners' release will include the master.

So likewise may a factor enter into a charter-party, as already shown in a former chapter. If the ship be only freighted outwards, and loaded by the factor, the goods shipped are alone liable for the freight; and no demand can be made on the freighters by virtue of the charter-party: but the consignee of the goods is to pay the freight, according to the bills of lading.

How a verbal agreement will operate.—It is said, if there be a verbal agreement only, and earnest given, and the same be broken off by the merchant, according to the Rhodian law he loses earnest; if the master or owners repent, they forfeit double. But by the common law of England, either of the parties damnified may bring his action upon the case, and recover all the damages of the agreement.

Freight, where no agreement.-Freight will, however, arise, not only by the terms of a charter-party, or other agreement, but by common usage; for when goods are sent on board generally, such freight be comes payable, as is customary for the like goods in similar voyages. By 59 Geo. III. c. 25. all freight to be paid for the conveyance gold, silver, or other valuable articles, on board his Majesty's ships or vessels, shall be as directed by royal proclamation.

of

Cargo answerable for the freight. The lading of the ship is tacitly bound for the freight, which, in point of payment, is preferred before all other debts to which the goods so laden are liable, although such debts, as to the time, were precedent to the freight; for the goods remain as it were bailed to the master for the freight, nor can they be attached in his hands. But as the goods are bound to the ship for hire, so is the ship to the owner of the goods in case of damage or waste through the defect of the vessel or sailors. Where there is no express demise of the ship itself by the charter-party, and the captain and crew are paid by the owner, the freighter does not become the owner for the voyage, but the possession continues in the owner, and he has a lien on the cargo for his freight. Saville v. Campion,” 2 Barn. & Ald. 503. And see Faith v. East India Company, & Ald. 630.

4 Barn.

The owner of a ship having a lien on the goods " until the delivery of good and approved bills for freight," took a bill of exchange in payment, and, though he made some objections to it at the time, afterwards negotiated it. It was holden that such negotiation amounted to an approval of the bill by him, and that it was a relinquishment of his lien on the goods, Horncastle v. Farren, 3 Barn. & Ald. 497. A trading-voyage.-If a ship is freighted from one port to another, and thence to a third, fourth, and so home to the port whence she first sailed, (commonly called a trading-voyage,) this is all but one

70

[ocr errors]

voyage, but must be performed conformably with the charter-party or agreement.

Freight by the ton or parcels.-If a ship be freighted by the ton, and she is full laden according to the charter-party, the freight is to be paid for her whole tonnage; otherwise but for so many tons as the lading amounted to.

If the ship be named to be of a certain burthen, and shall be found less, there shall be no more paid than only for the number of tons actually laden on board. But see on this subject, case of Hunter v. Fry, PART III. CHAP. II. Construction of Policies of Assurance.

If the burthen be expressed to be 200 tons or thereabout, the addition of thereabout is commonly reduced to be within five tons, more or less.

If a ship, freighted by the ton, or by parcels, be cast away, and part thereof is saved from the wreck, it has been doubted whether, pro rala, freight should not be paid.

Freight by the great.—If a ship be freighted by the great, and her burthen be not expressed, yet the sum certain is to be paid.

If a burthen be expressed, and she be found not to amount to that burthen, yet the sum certain is to be paid.

If a ship, freighted by the great, be cast away, the freight is lost. Freight by the month.-In freighting a ship by the month, calendar months are meant; and thus it is always calculated by the merchants of London. Jolly v. Young, Trinity Term, 34 Geo. III.

In case a ship be freighted at the rate of £20 for every month that she shall be out, to be paid after arrival at the port of London, and the ship be cast away coming up from the Downs, but the lading is all preserved, freight becomes due; for the money arises monthly by the contract, and the place mentioned is only to show where payment is to be made. The freight becomes due on the delivery or bringing up of the commodities, and not the ship, to the port of London.

Commencement and completion of right to freight.-As between ship owner and freighter, the right to freight does not commence till the ship has broken ground in the course of her voyage; Curling v. Long, (2 H. Black. 634.); and where freight is reserved monthly, to be paid in proportions, at the expiration of two, six, ten, and fourteen months, (ex. gr.) it is earned at the end of each month, and the payment only postponed. Havelock v. Geddes, 10 East, 555.

Freight for the voyage out. If a ship be freighted out, and the master covenants that the ship should sail out of the port to Cadiz with the first fair wind and opportunity, and the freighter covenants, that, for the freight of all the premises, he would pay unto the master £184, if the master do not show that the ship arrived at Cadiz, he cannot recover the freight. The reason of this seems to be, that, by the special terms of the contract, the master was in the nature of an insurer for the amount of the freight agreed on.

A contract is made between a merchant and a master of a ship, that, if he carries the merchant's goods to such a port, he will then pay him so much money for freight. In making the voyage the ship is robbed by pirates, and part of her loading lost, and afterwards the remainder is brought to the port of discharge. Here the sum agreed on for freight is not due, the agreement not being performed on the part of the master; and this is a conditional contract. But it is otherwise by the civil law for thereby the same is a danger of the seas, which, if not expressed in naval agreements, is naturally implied; and there was ɔ

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »