INSURANCE OF FISHING-BOATS. 129 



incorrect to assert that such repairs, which have been 

 necessitated by accident, would make her better than she 

 was before the damage had been sustained. It may be 

 said, as indeed it has been said, that, under certain cir- 

 cumstances, if no charge were made for " new for old," an 

 owner would actually make a profit out of his loss at the 

 expense of the rest of the shareholders. Well, if an 

 Insurance Company permit an insured vessel to go to sea 

 with a worn-out suit of sails, it deserves to pay for the 

 remissness of its surveyors. The mere fact that the sur- 

 veyors of a Company permit a vessel to go to sea is 

 presumptive evidence that they consider her to be in sea- 

 going trim. If she be not in sea-going trim, or if she be 

 not properly found in stores, the surveyors have only to 

 cause a proper notice to be served upon the owner ; and if 

 she be sent to sea without the necessary certificate, she 

 will go uninsured, and solely at her owner's risk. Further, 

 if, as in the case supposed, a distressed shareholder benefit 

 somewhat by the arrangement, so much the better for him. 

 Help is most needed in the time of distress, and the 

 greater the help the greater the blessing. The extra cost 

 to the shareholders collectively would be but small in 

 comparison with the large extra benefit which the dis- 

 tressed shareholder would receive. 



Wear and Tear. But the injustice of this rule is inten- 

 sified by the extraordinary and unjust signification which 

 underwriters are in the habit of giving to the term " wear 

 and tear," for which, of course, nothing is paid. The term 

 "wear and tear," and the word "damage," when used in 

 their ordinary significations, have totally different meaningis 

 meanings about which one would have thought there 

 could be no doubt. The term " wear and tear " means the 

 VOL. IX. E. 5. K 



