U.

USURY. See chapter on INTEREST AND USURY.

V.

VAGABOND, or VAGRANT. One who wanders about idly, and with no home, and begs, and will not work.

VERDICT. The unanimous decision made by a jury and announced to

the court.

VOUCHER. The written evidences of the truth of entries or charges.

WAIVER.

W.

The abandonment of a right, or a refusal to accept it.

WARD. See chapter on GUARDIAN And Ward.

WARRANTY. See chapter on SALES.

WAY. A right of way is the privilege which some person, or a certain description of persons, have of going over another man's land.

WILL. See chapter on WILLS.

WITNESS. One who testifies in court under oath or affirmation to what

he knows. Also one who signs his name to an instrument, in evidence that it was executed in his presence; he is then called an attesting or subscribing witness.

WRECK. Commonly used as meaning a vessel that is cast away. In maritime law, it means the vessel or goods cast away on land by the sea, or found at low water, between high and low water mark. WRIT. A written precept issued by a competent court in the name of the State, commanding the person or officer to whom it is addressed to do what is required therein. It is usually attested by a judge, and countersigned by the clerk of his court.

INDEX.

A.

ACADEMY, military, 80.

naval, 80.

ACCEPTANCE, rights and duties of the acceptor, 507.
acceptance for honor, 508.

(See NOTES OF HAND AND BILLS OF EXCHANGE.)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT, how it may be made, 276.

ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY, may be in six ways: by inheritance;
by will; by purchase and sale; by hiring; by gift; by finding, 252.
ADMISSION OF NEW STATES, 94.

AGENCY, the law of, 512-525.

the acts of an agent are the acts in law of the principal, 512.

a principal is responsible for the acts of his agent, when he has
given his agent authority, or when he has led those who dealt
with him to believe that he had authority, 513.

how a general agent differs from a special agent, 513.
the effect and importance of this difference shown, 513.

how authority may be given to an agent, 514.

if given under seal, it authorizes the agent to make a deed for the
principal, 514.

when given by a written instrument, this is commonly called a power
of attorney, 514.

authority may be given orally, 514.

one employed by another to act for him in transacting a business,
has authority to do for his principal all that is usual in that busi-
ness, 514.

effects of this rule shown, 514.

how far the principal is answerable for the fraud of the agent, 514.
one repeatedly employed to do certain things may be believed by
other persons to have the authority of his employer, 514.

how an agency, or the act of an agent, may be confirmed by adop-
tion and ratification, 514.

all mercantile agency is governed by mercantile usage, 515.

the distinction between factors and brokers, 515.

a cashier or other official person has all the authority necessary or
usual in the transaction of his business, 516.

AGENCY- Continued.

the extent and duration of an agent's authority, 516.

an authority to sell implies an authority to sell on credit only where
that be usual, 516.

the same rule prevails as to authority to sell with warranty, 517.
general authority to transact business does not authorize an agent to
accept or indorse bills or notes, 517.

if an agent make a false statement, believing it to be true, and the
principal knows it to be false, and does not correct it, this is the
fraud of the principal, 517.

the death of the principal operates a revocation of authority, 517.
qualifications of this rule, 517.

revocation generally is always in the power of the principal, 517.
not so, if he has given a power coupled with an interest, 517.
what this means, 517.

marriage of a woman revokes a power given by her when single,
517.

a bank exercising due care in the choice of a notary or other agent
is not liable for the want of care or skill of such agent, 518.
the execution of authority by an agent, 518.

the authority must be conformed to with strict accuracy in all mat-
ters of substance, 518.

liability of an agent, how it may be caused, 519.

an agent makes himself liable by exceeding his authority or depart-
ing from it, 519.

a party with whom an agent deals cannot hold him personally, if he
knew that the agent exceeded or departed from his authority, 519.
the rights of action growing out of an agency, 51`.

where an agent intrusted with goods sells the same without author-
ity, 519.

an undisclosed principal may show that the nominal party was his
agent, and then sue on the contract, 519.

so an undisclosed principal, when discovered, may be sued on the
contract, 519.

how a principal is affected by certain acts of his agent, 520.

a principal is liable, although personally innocent, if his agent makes
a fraudulent representation in transacting business for him, 520.
a principal cannot lessen or escape liability by calling himself an
agent, 520.

a principal can take no benefit from his agent's fraud, 520.
payment to an agent of money due to a principal binds the princi-
pal only when made in the regular course of business, 520.
and only when made to an agent who is authorized to receive the
money, 520.

a principal is not responsible for the criminal acts of his agents,
unless he commanded them, 521.

mutual rights and duties of principal and agent, 521.

an agent who departs from his instructions is liable to his principal
for the consequences, 521.

AGENCY - Continued.

usage has great influence in determining the effect of his instructions,
but cannot prevail over express instructions, 521.

no attorney or agent can appoint a sub-attorney or sub-agent, unless
authorized expressly, or by the reason and necessity of the case, 521.
an agent must use, in the affairs of his principal, the care and skill
which a reasonable man would use in his own, 522.

an agent is bound to the utmost good faith, 522.

for a breach of duty an agent is responsible for the whole injury
sustained by his principal, 522.

if an agent embezzles his employer's property, the employer may
reclaim it wherever he can trace it, 522.

if the property of the principal be mixed indistinguishably with the
agent's own goods, how the law applies to that case, 522.

an agent or trustee, to sell property, cannot buy it himself; nor, if
employed to buy, can he buy of himself, 522.

agents must keep an exact account of their doings, 523.

what interest will be allowed on the balances due from an agent or
trustee, 523.

the law as to the revocation of agency, by principal or agent, 523
insanity revokes authority, 523.

factors and brokers, law of, 523.
commission-merchants, law of, 523.

effect of a guaranty by a commission-merchant, 523.

how far a factor who is intrusted with goods may pledge them, 524.
an agent or factor must obey all instructions; and wishes of his emn-
ployer, sufficiently expressed, have the force of instructions, 524.
how far a factor or commission-merchant, who charges no guaranty
commission, is liable to his principal, 524.

when a factor or broker can claim their commissions, 525.

the distinction between a foreign and a domestic factor, and the law as
to each, 525.

forms of power of attorney and proxies, 526–531.
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, manufactures of, 70.

ALABAMA, boundaries, extent, constitution, history, and condition.
of, 138.

the right of suffrage by the constitution of, 191.

abstract of the statute law of husband and wife, and of homestead, 212.
ALASKA, Territory of, boundaries, extent, history, and condition of, 162.
ALTERATIONS in a written instrument, effect of, 278.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION, 1 to 15, 34–37.

provided for by the constitution, 96.

how made, 97.

when made hitherto, 98.

APPRENTICES, law concerning, 207–209.

duties of an apprentice, and of a master, 207.

one who seduces an apprentice from the service of his master is
liable for damages, 208.

forms of indenture of apprenticeship, 209.