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intend their contract to be carried out in the usual and customary

manner.

The express provisions of the charter cannot be altered or varied by verbal evidence, but verbal evidence is admissible to explain its meaning,—for instance, by explaining some usage of trade applicable to the subject.

The printed part of a charter party is of as great weight as the written part, although a different rule prevails in the case of insurance policies.

Both the validity of the contract and the interpretation of it depend on the law of the country where the contract is made, but the mode of enforcing it is governed by the law of the country where it is to be enforced.

If the voyage becomes illegal before it is commenced, the charter is considered to be rescinded; for instance, if war is declared with the State to which the ship is about to sail, or if the exportation of the cargo is prohibited by our Government at home.

CUSTOMS AND TRADE USAGES.

All mercantile agreements are governed by the known and established usages of the trade in connection with which they are made. The parties entering into the contract are supposed tacitly to agree that it is to be performed according to the universal custom of the trade, unless they insert express provisions in it which are inconsistent with, or contrary to, the usage, and then, of course, the words of the contract will exclude the operation of the usage, evidence of which is only admissible to explain the supposed intention of the parties, and not to contradict what they have agreed to.

In giving judgment in one case, Lord Campbell said: "The parties are supposed to leave to implication and tacit understanding all those general and unvarying incidents which an uniform usage would annex, and according to which they must in reason be understood to contract, unless they expressly exclude them." Evidence of a usage, therefore, is only admissible when both parties may be reasonably supposed to be cognizant of the usage. Persons engaged in trade

are supposed to know all the general customs of the trade they engage in, but it is otherwise as to merely local customs. Usages of a particular port are not binding on a stranger not resident at that port, and who is ignorant of the usage, for the only reason on which a custom is allowed to form part of the contract is because both of the parties are supposed to know of the custom.

To be valid, a usage must be a legal one. A usage which is contrary to the law cannot be set up to control or alter the law.

TIME CHARTERS.

When a ship is chartered by the "month," calendar months are understood, and not lunar months. If no period be named when the time is to commence, it begins to run from the time the vessel commences her voyage, and the freight becomes due at the end of each month, whether the vessel ever reaches her destination or not.

When engaged on a time charter, the freight continues to accrue notwithstanding that the voyage may happen to be delayed, provided the delay is not caused by the neglect or default of the shipowner; thus, as the owner is to keep the vessel in repair, if repairs are necessary, and during the voyage she is detained (uselessly to the charterer) to have the repairs done, freight must still be paid for the time she is detained for the repairs, unless it be otherwise provided by the charter.

When a ship is under time charter, the captain will be bound to accept any kind of cargo which is not injurious to the ship, and in any quantity within the carrying capacity of the ship, unless special provisions are inserted in the charter to restrict this right. The charter should, therefore, specify both the trade in which the ship is to be employed, and the kind of cargo she is to carry during the whole time of her employment. If the ship is insured by a policy containing any conditions as to the time of sailing on certain voyages, or restrictions as to the quantity of certain heavy cargoes to be put on board, the charter should be framed accordingly, or the insurance of the ship may be invalidated by the merchant requiring the ship to break those conditions.

ALTERATIONS MADE AFTER SIGNING.

No alteration must be made in the charter after it is signed, except with the consent of all the parties. In a recent case, after the charter had been signed, the broker had inserted material words in the margin, and although the shipowner was not aware that the broker had made the alteration, still it was held to vitiate the charter altogether. The Court, in giving judgment, said:" It is, no doubt, apparently a hardship that where what was the original charter party is perfectly clear and indisputable, and where the alteration or addition was made without any fraudulent intention, and by a person not a party to the contract, a perfectly innocent man should thereby be deprived of a beneficial contract; but on the other hand, it must be borne in mind that, to permit any tampering with written documents would strike at the root of all property, and that it is of the most essential importance to the public interest that no alteration whatever should be made in written contracts, but that they should continue in exactly the same state and condition as when signed and executed, without addition, alteration, erasure, or obliteration."

If the charter is altered by one of the parties, or while it is in the possession of one of the parties, although that will prevent him from enforcing any rights under it (even according to the terms it originally contained before the alteration), it does not prevent the other party from taking advantage of the charter, he being in no way responsible for the mutilation of the document which was not in his custody.

When a charter party has been signed, the parties cannot verbally make any alteration in its terms so as to be binding. If it is wished to alter the terms such alteration should also be reduced to writing, and be signed and stamped the same as the original charter; or else the old charter should be cancelled, and a new one, containing the amended terms, substituted. A charter may, however, be wholly rescinded by a verbal agreement.

STAMP DUTY ON CHARTERS.

A stamp duty of 6d. is payable on all agreements for the charter of ships, and on any memorandum, letter, or other writing, between the master or owner of a ship, and any other person, for or relating to the freight or conveyance of any goods on board of such ship.

The stamp duty may be denoted either by a stamp impressed on the charter, by sending it to the Stamp Office in London, or by an adhesive stamp affixed to it.

If an adhesive stamp be used, the person who last signs the charter, or whose signature completes the same as a binding contract, must cancel the stamp by writing thereon his name or initials, or the name or initials of his firm, together with the true date of his so signing the same; if the date be omitted it will not be considered duly stamped, unless it be proved that the stamp was affixed at the proper time. Charters may be stamped at the Stamp Office, within seven days after the day of date, on payment of 4s. 6d. penalty, in addition to the duty of 6d. After seven days, and within one month after signing, they can be stamped on payment of the duty of 6d., and a penalty of £10. After the expiration of a month, they cannot be stamped at all.

If an unstamped charter is first signed by a person out of the United Kingdom, any party to such charter may, within ten days after it is received in the United Kingdom, and before it is signed by any person in the United Kingdom, affix an adhesive 6d. stamp to it, which must then be cancelled by the party writing his name or initials and the true date of signing across the stamp as above.

All documents first executed out of the United Kingdom relating to any matter to be done in the United Kingdom requiring a stamp, may be stamped within the time specified dating from their arrival in the United Kingdom.

Letters altering a charter are liable to the same stamp duty as a charter.

BILLS OF LADING.

THE charter party is the evidence of the contract between the shipowner and the merchant, and the bill of lading is the evidence of the goods having been shipped under the contract. If there is no charter, then the bill of lading will be the evidence of the contract, as well as of the shipment of the goods.

The charterer is always liable to the shipowner for any breach of the agreement he has made by the charter, but the consignee of the cargo is ordinarily only liable to carry out the terms of the bill of lading, as he may be altogether ignorant of the contents of the charter party. If it is intended that the consignee of the cargo should be bound by any of the terms of the charter, an express reference to such charter or any terms thereof should be inserted in the bill of lading. It is important, therefore (especially if the merchant who has chartered the ship is resident abroad, and beyond the jurisdiction of the English courts), that the bill of lading should mention all charges for which it is intended that the consignee is to be liable, otherwise the captain or owner of the ship will not be able to enforce those charges against the consignee.

In the case of Chappel v. Comfort, the law was explained as follows: The provisions of the charter party are only binding as between the shipowner and the charterer, and if there is a bill of lading given by the master, which gets into the hands of an assignee for value, he is entitled to have the goods delivered to him upon his fulfilling the terms mentioned in the bill of lading, and he is not ordinarily bound to refer to the charter. Generally, a consignee taking goods under a bill of lading incurs no other liability than that of paying the freight. If it is desired that the assignee of the bill of lading should observe the terms of the charter other than those which relate to freight, it should be provided for in the bill of lading, as in the case of Wegener v. Smith, where the words of the bill of lading were 'to order against payment of the agreed freight, and other conditions, as per charter party,' and it was then held that the

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