141 



BILL OF EXCHANGE. 



BILL OF LAI. 



time of jwymrnt it specified, ur within a reasonable time after receipt 

 of tli.' bill when uo time is expressed. If he neglect to do so, not mily 

 ii he ilUiMnl from afterward* retorting to the drawer or indorsers 

 whole implied engagement* are severally to \y only in cane of 

 default by the drawee, and who are always presumed to bare sustained 

 damage by such neglect on the part of the holder but he luees also 

 his remedy for the consideration or debt in respect of which the bill 

 was given or transferred. As in the case of presentment for acceptance, 

 so in that of presentment for payment, the insolvency of the acceptor 

 does not dispense with the presentment for payment, as regards the 

 drawer and indorsem : but to on action against the acceptor present- 

 ment is not a necessary preliminary, unless the bill hag been accepted 

 payable at a ]rtieuUr place only and not dtrtchm- ; and then present- 

 ment is indispensable to charge even the acceptor. If the acceptance 

 be qualified in this way as to the place of payment, the presentment 

 inu-t If made at the place HO s|>ecially indicated ; but in general, a 

 presentment at the domicile of the drawee in sufficient, even though 

 another place be named U|K>II the bill. The presentment ought to be 

 made on the last of the days of grace, unlem that be n Sunday or 

 holiday, and in that cane on the day preceding. Bills payable <m 

 demand, or where no day of payment is expressed, arc not entitled to 

 days of grace. 



The following H a statement (taken from Chitty on ' bills of Ex- 

 change,' li'th edit.) of the usance and days of grace for bills drawn in 

 London upon some of the chief commercial cities. 



m. rf., m. ., rf. rf,, rf. ., tl. a., respectively denote months after 

 date, months after sight, days after date, days after sight, days after 

 acceptance : 



Ixmdon on. 



t"-r. . . 



D:iv of Grace. 



13 



none 



none 



19 



H 



S 



11 



none 



15 



8 



C 



10 



none 



none 



5 



14 

 12 



none 

 none 



6 



none 

 14 

 13 



none 



e 



none 

 none 



15 



none 

 none 



14 



It should be remarked, however, that many of these usances are 

 obsolete in the strict sense of the word ; and the some remark applies 

 to days of grace. In England three days of grace are allowed and 

 always taken, so that bills are not presentable for payment until the 

 three days are expired. 



In general, payment made on any part of the day on which the bill 

 is presented will be sufficient ; yet if payment be once refused. In.w 

 ever early in that day, the bill is effectually dishonoured by such 

 refusal, and recourse may be at once had to the other parties. The 

 requisites, with respect to notice, protest for non-payment, and pay- 

 ment iHj.nt pmttti, Ac., are the same as those which have been already 

 given under the head of presentment for acceptance. In this country 

 no damages are recoverable upon inland bills dishonoured, the party 

 med being liable only for the amount of the interest to the day on 

 which judgment is entered up. On foreign bills duly protested the 

 expenses occasioned by the dishonour, as re-exchange, postage, and 

 oaaunMML unless where a liquidated sum is agreed on between the 

 two countries to cover all expenses in such cases, may be recovered 

 under the name of damages, and amount .ometiincs to a considerable 

 mm. But neither in this country nor in any other can compcnxation 

 be claimed by the holder for losses more remotely consequential, as 

 the expense of travelling or the disappointment of sonic profitable 

 adventure. 



If the holder make any agreement with the acceptor for taking a 



composition from him, or limiting a time within which he will not 

 press for payment, all the other parties to the bill, being in tl 

 tion of sureties only, are exonerated from tin ii liability by tl.:- 

 dealing with the principal. 



Payment should be made only to the person who is able to give a 

 discharge upon the bill ; and it may be refused unless the 

 delivered up. It is usual moreover and prudent to take a 

 written on the back. If payment be made )>y mistake, as ti|x.n n 

 forged acceptance, indorsement, ur the like, tlir money so paid i 

 recovered back from the holder, provided tin l| mode, and 



notice given to tin- holder, on the day on which the : made. 



The forgery of a bill of exchange or of any signature thereto, as 

 well as the uttering of any such forged bill or indorsement 

 knowledge of the forgery, in a felony, punishable with tran-p' 

 or ]>eual servitude for life, or for not less than foi. .1 with 



imprisonment and hard lalK.ur not exceeding four yearn. (See Chitty 

 on ItiUi iif K.irl,an;if, 10th edit., by John A. Unwell, 1.1..!!.. and 

 David Maciachlan, M.A. ; Byles on Hillt of K.IC/IHH , Mack 

 OammtHlarln. by K. M. Kerr, LL.D.) 



BILL OK EXCHANGE IN SCOTLAND. The general law n the. 

 subject is the some in Scotland as in England, with few exception.,. 

 In Scotland it is not held that to make a bill negotiable, it 

 contain negotial ile words; and the laws restricting the negotiation of 

 bills under .V. does not apply to that part of Great Britain. It in 

 usual, there, to protest both foreign and inland bills, both for non- 

 acceptance and .non-payment. When protest has been duly taken and 

 recorded, and when the other requisites of negotiation are complied 

 with, and there is no flaw on the face of the bill, execution may IM- 

 issued immediately against the parties liable, by what is 

 " summary diligence," as if it were the decree of a court. This 

 tion may be suspended, ou good cause for so doing being stated, and on 

 security being given, or the amount brought into court when these 

 conditions are imposed. 



BILL OK HKAI.TH. [QUARANTINE] 



BILL OF LADING, an acknowledgment signed usually by the 

 master of a trading ship, but occasionally by some person authorised to 

 act on his behalf, certifying the receipt of merchandise <>n board the 

 ship, and engaging, under certain conditions and with certain < \ 

 ceptions, to deliver the said merchandise safely at the port to which 

 the ship is bound, either to the shipper, or to such other person as he 

 may signify by an endorsement upon the Bill of Lading. 



The conditions stipulated on behalf of the master of the ship are, 

 that the person entitled to claim the merchandise shall pay upon 

 delivery of the same a certain specified freight, together with allow 

 ances recognised by the customs of the port of delivery, anil known 

 under the names of primage and average. Primage amounts in some 

 cases to a considerable per centoge (ten or fifteen per cent.) upon the 

 amount of the stipulated freight, but the more usual allowance under 

 this head is a small fixed sum upon certain packages, for example, tin- 

 primage charged upon a hogshead of sugar brought from the \\.-t 

 Indies to London is sixpence. This allowance is considered to be the 

 perquisite of the master of the ship. Average, the claim for which i - 

 reserved against the receiver of the goods, consists of a charge divided 

 pro rata between the owners of the ship and the proprietors . 

 cargo for small expenses (such as payments for towing and pilot ii 

 ship into or out of harbours), when the same are incurred for the 

 general benefit. 



The exceptions stipulated on behalf of the shipowners arc st.it' d 

 in the Bill of Lading, which is usually drawn up in the following 

 words : 



" Shipped, in good order and well conditioned, by [John Smith], iu 

 and upon the good ship called the [Mary], whereof is master [Thomas 

 Jones], now lying in the [River Th.uncs], and bound for [Hamburg] 



[I 8 1 at 100 Baft* 

 1 at 7 Chct] 



[One Hundred bogs of Coffee, and 

 Seven Chests of Indigo.] 



marked and numbered as in the margin, to be delivered in the like 

 good order and condition at the aforesaid port of [Hamburg] (!!< 

 (1ml, the Queen'* enemiet,firt, and all and every nthrr daiiycr u<l ari-i- 

 dentt of the KO, riren, and varigation, of vl- and kind 



uxrer cjrrptnl) unto [Messrs. Schroder and Co.] or their assigns, they 

 paying freight for the said goods at the following rates, namch 

 Shilling and fourpence sterling per Hundred Weight for the Coll. t , 

 and five-eighths of a penny sterling per pound for the Indigo], together 

 with primage and average accustomed. In wit now whereof. I. the said 

 master of the said ship, have affirmed to [four] bills of lading, all of 

 this tenor and date, any one of which bills living accomplished, the 

 other [three] are to stand void. Dated in London, this [first] day of 

 [June] 1859. 



" Thomas Jones." 



In every case where shipment* are made from this country. 

 least of the bills of Uding must be written upon a stamp of the value 

 of six| 



of the bills (unstamped) is retained by tin- master of the ship, 

 the others are delivered to the t-hip|>er of the goods, who usually 



its to the consignee of the goods one copy by the .-hip OB 

 which they are laden, and a second copy by some otln < '. In 



