BILL OF LADING 



719 



BILL OF SALE 



of a ship's crew and passengers at the time 

 the ship sails. If no infectious disease is known 

 to exist the master of the vessel receives what 

 is called a "clean bill of health." A "sus- 

 pected bill" is given when disease is feared, and 

 a "foul bill" when it is known to exist. At the 

 port of arrival the vessel is held in quarantine 

 (which see) until the state of health* of those 

 on board is ascertained. 



A "clean bill of health" is now often used 

 to indicate that a person suspected of some 

 wrong doing has been proven to be innocent. 



BILL OF LADING, a written receipt for 

 goods consigned to a common carrier for ship- 

 ment, either on land or sea. A bill of lading 

 is not merely a receipt for the goods to be 

 transported, but it is a contract between the 

 shipper and the carrier by which the latter 

 agrees, for a stated consideration and under 

 specified conditions, to deliver the goods to 

 their destination. The term was originally 

 applied only to agreements made with ship- 

 owners or captains, but now it is also given 

 without distinction to receipts issued by other 

 common carriers. Such receipts issued by rail- 

 ways are sometimes called way bills. 



A complete bill of lading should mention the 

 name and address of the shipper or consignor, 

 and the name and address of the consignee, the 

 person to whom delivery is to be made. It 

 should name the railway or railways over which 

 shipment is made; on the sea the name of 

 the ship and of the company which owns it are 

 necessary. The goods should be described as 

 accurately as possible, the number of cases or 

 packages and the character of the contents 

 being noted. If there are numbers or other 

 marks of identification these should be re- 

 corded. It is further customary to state the 

 value of the shipment, as the charge for trans- 

 portation is based partly on value and partly 

 on weight or bulk. The charges for transporta- 

 tion, whether paid in advance or payable on 

 delivery, must be mentioned. 



A bill of lading has some of the characteris- 

 tics of a negotiable paper. While the goods 

 are in transit the owner may endorse the bill 

 to a purchaser, who assumes, in law, all the 

 rights and responsibilities of the original con- 

 signee. Goods in transit cannot themselves be 

 transferred, but ownership in them may be 

 changed by a transfer of the bill of lading. 

 Only the owner of the goods, however, may 

 endorse it. A finder or thief of a bill, even 

 though it is endorsed in blank or to bearer, 

 cannot claim title. See COMMON GABBIER. 



BILL OF RIGHTS, a phrase used rather 

 loosely to mean an enactment or agreement 

 setting forth some fundamental right of the 

 people. When the term is used without modifi- 

 cation or explanation it is usually the English 

 Bill of Rights of 1689 which is referred to. 

 When William and Mary came to the throne 

 in 1688 they were forced to assent to a Declara- 

 tion of Rights, which guaranteed to all the 

 principles of political liberty now established 

 in the English system of government. It is 

 one of the great instruments on. which the 

 English constitution rests, the others being the 

 Magna Charter and the. Petition of Rights 

 (which see). 



Most of the states of the United States have 

 in their constitutions bills of rights, which 

 make clear just what the state may or may not 

 do, and define the inalienable rights of the 

 citizens. Because the first ten Amendments to 

 the Constitution of the United States, pro- 

 posed by the first Congress which met after 

 the adoption of that instrument, had as their 

 object a more definite statement of the rights 

 of the citizens, they have received collectively 

 the name of "bill of rights." The enactment 

 of these Amendments had been promised at the 

 hands of the First Congress; it is believed the 

 new American states would not have ratified 

 the Constitution in the form in which it was 

 presented to them if such an understanding 

 had not been reached. 



BILL OF SALE, a formal statement of the 

 sale or transfer of personal property. There 

 is a recognized legal form in which a bill of 

 sale should be written, which may be pur- 

 chased at any stationer's store. However, any 

 clear and definitely-written statement of trans- 

 fer of rights and interest in fully described 

 property is accepted as legal evidence of sale. 

 A bill of sale is often given to a creditor as 

 security for borrowed money, and empowers 

 the receiver to sell the goods named in it if 

 the loan is not repaid at the appointed time. 

 The following is a form of bill of sale used in 

 connection with the sale of ordinary property: 



Know all Men by These Presents, That I, 

 James Brown, of Springfield, 111., In considera- 

 tion of Eight Hundred Seventy Dollars ($870), 

 the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, do 

 hereby grant, sell, transfer and deliver unto John 

 Howard the following property, to-wit: 



Six Horses @ $100 $600 



Two Buggies @ 90 .... 180 



Two Harness @ 25 .... 50 



Two Plows .. . . @ 20.... 40 



Total $870 



