CONTRA-BASS 



CONTRACT NOi E8 



445 



see whether they carry any articles which aro 

 contraband of war, and which seem likely to be 

 intended for the enemy. A neutral state may carry 

 on ordinary trade with cither belligerent except 

 when prevented by blockade (ee BLWKAPK) ; but 

 the ships, according to the above rules, must not 

 contain articles contraband of war; nor must a 

 conterminous land frontier be crossed by sin-h 

 commodities. If a merchant evades these rules, he 

 does so at his own risk ; his merchandise may be 

 seized, and his own government will not protect 

 him. I'.y the law and practice of nations, it is tor 

 the Admiralty Court of the capturing power to 

 deride \\liat is or what is not contraband of war. 

 Upon such questions it is the province of this 

 tribunal to adjudicate, and from its final judgment 

 there is no appeal. At various times discussions 

 have arisen whether corn, hay, or coal can ever be 

 included in the list of articles contraband of war; 

 they me obviously articles of peaceful commerce, 

 but they are also essential to the maintenance of 

 an army, and sometimes a supply would give one 

 belligerent a great advantage over the other. 

 Especially is this the case in reference to coal in 

 the present age of war-steamers. Contraband in 

 commerce depends upon the special laws of each 

 country. See SMUGGLING. 



Contra-bass* See DOUBLE BASS. 



Contract. The law of contract occupies a 

 prominent place in all modern systems of juris- 

 prudence, and different nations are in closer agree- 

 ment as to its principles than in regard to any 

 -other department of law. A contract may be 

 defined as the voluntary agreement of two or more 

 persons, by which something is to be given or done 

 upon the one side, for a valuable consideration, 

 either present or future, upon the other side. 

 English lawyers usually adject to this definition 

 the qualification that the agreement is enforceable 

 by law, an agreement not enforceable by law being 

 regarded as void. Every contract requires a con- 

 sideration, a quid pro quo, but as a general rule 

 any consideration, adequate or inadequate, will be 

 sufficient. For the making of a contract there 

 must be a communication between the parties of 

 their intention i.e., in one shape or another, there 

 must be offer and acceptance of distinct terms. 

 An offer or proposal can be revoked at any time 

 before it is accepted ; and in strict law, silence 

 does not give consent. When silence is taken to 

 -constitute acceptance, it must be silence under 

 :such circumstances as to amount to acquiescence. 

 An acceptance must be unqualified, otherwise there 

 is no contract. As the validity of a contract rests 

 upon the consent of parties, persons legally incap- 

 able of giving consent cannot be parties to a con- 

 tract. Contracts made by a person under the age 

 of twenty-one are as a general rule voidable, 

 unless they have been made for his benefit, or, as in 

 England, for his 'necessaries.' And persons in a 

 state of absolute drunkenness cannot contract, 

 although a lesser degree of intoxication may be 

 compatible with legal consent. Similarly, contracts 

 made by a lunatic are voidable when it can be 

 shown that his state was known to the other con- 

 tracting party. Further, the consent given must 

 be genuine, and a contract will be' void if there is 

 mi -take or error in either of the parties with regard 

 to any essential particular. Thus, if A sell to \\ 

 a bar of brass in the belief that it is a bar of gold, 

 and B buy in the same belief, the contract is bad 

 by error. Misrepresentation, or innocent misstate- 

 ment of fact, and fraud, or wilful misstatement of 

 fact, will also vitiate a contract, as will force or 

 fear or undue influence exercised to compel the con- 

 .sent of either of the parties. A contract may also 

 Ate void by impossibility e.g. when the thing 



agreed to he done in naturally impo.-f.ibli', a* in the 

 case of a pianoforte ]>la\er who is prevented from 

 performing his agreement by dan^-roiis illness ; or 

 impossible by construction of law, a* when a 

 change in the* law of the country mijierveneH upon 

 and contradicts a private agreement. Behide* 

 these, the law refuses to recognise contract* to per- 

 form any illegal act, as to burn a house or steal 

 a horse ; and such an agreement may be in itself 

 a crime, as conspiracy. Contracts against go<xl 

 morals, as, e.g., an agreement to pay the price of 

 prostitution, are denied legal recognition and 

 enforcement, as also are agreements against the 

 public policy of the country where they are made. 

 Examples are agreements in fraud of the revenue, 

 as in smuggling transactions ; or contracts in 

 restraint of marriage, which are held to be against 

 public policy as tending to decrease the population. 

 Thus a contract not to marry is void. 



Contracts are variously classified. The law of 

 Scotland adopts the old division of the civil law 

 into Nominate Contracts and Innominate Con- 

 tracts. The nominate contracts are loan, comnio- 

 date, deposit, pledge, sale, permutation, location, 

 society or partnership, and mandate. The law of 

 England distinguishes between Contracts of Record 

 and Contracts under Seal both of which are 

 formal, or dependent for their validity upon their 

 form and simple contracts, which depend for 

 their validity upon the presence of consideration. 

 Contracts of record are the judgments of a court ; 

 recognisances, as contracts made with the crown in 

 its judicial capacity ; and the obsolete acknowledg- 

 ments of debt known as Statutes Merchant and 

 Staple. Deeds and bonds may be taken as 

 examples of contract under seal. Of simple con- 

 tracts, some require no specialties of form ; others 

 are by law required to oe in writing, as, e.g., a 

 bill of exchange or an assignment of copyright. 

 Contracts are distinguished into express or implied 

 accordingly as they are based upon formal state- 

 ments in words, spoken or written, or upon matter 

 of inference and deduction either from tlie conduct 

 of the parties or from the provisions of law. They 

 are also distinguishable into executed contracts, 

 where the transaction is completed the moment the 

 agreement is made, as where an article is paid for 

 and delivered over the counter, and executory 

 contracts, where some future act is to be done after 

 the arrangement is completed, as where an agree- 

 ment is made to build a house in six months. A 

 contract of benevolence is one made for the benefit 

 of only one of the contracting parties, as mandate 

 or deposit. See BREACH, DAMAGES. 



The remedy for breach of contract is an action 

 for a certain sum due by the defaulter or for dam- 

 ages, ascertained by a jury ; but where the remedy 

 of damages is inadequate or unsuitable, the courts 

 will enforce a contract by decree for specific per- 

 formance of the thing agreed to be done, or by 

 injunction forbidding an act agreed not to be done. 



Contractility. See MUSCLE. 



Contractions. See ABBREVIATIONS, PALEO- 

 GRAPHY. 



Contract Notes, also called BOUGHT AND 

 SOLD NOTES, or ADVICE NOTES, are notes of a pur- 

 chase or sale signed by a broker, and delivered to 

 his principals, by which the bargain through him is 

 completed. They are used by all kinds or brokers, 

 and the following is the form of a stockbroker's 

 contract and note : 



2 OLD BROAD STREET, LONDON, 20/A December 1888. 



BOUGHT by order and on account of A. B., Esq. (subject to 

 the rules and regulations of the London Stock Exchange), 



20 London Street Tramway Shares, at 16 320 



Brokerage 1 12 



C. D. 



Co., 

 Sworn Brokers. 



321 12 



