the value of such vessel and freight pending. Provided that this provision shall not affect the liability of any owner incurred previous to the passage of this act, nor prevent any claimant from joining all the owners in one action; nor shall the same apply to wages due to persons employed by said ship owners."

If it can be clearly shown, however, that especial credit was given, and intended to be given, to one part-owner personally to the exclusion of the others, then the others cannot be holden. If the goods were charged to "ship" so and so, or to "ship and owners," this would tend strongly to show that it was intended to supply the goods on the credit of all the owners. If charged to some one owner alone, this would not absolutely prove that credit was intentionally given to him exclusively, But it would raise a presumption to that effect which could be rebutted only by showing that no other owner was known; or by some other evidence which disproved the intention of discharging the other part-owners.

So, if the note, negotiable or otherwise, of one part-owner were taken in payment, if the promisor refused to pay, the others would be liable, unless they could show a distinct bargain by which they were exonerated.

Commonly, the "ship's husband," as the agent of all the owners for the management of the ship has long been called, is one of the part-owners. He may be appointed in writing or otherwise. His duties are, in general, to provide for the complete equipment and repair of the ship, and take care of her while in port; to see that she is furnished with all regular and proper papers; to make proper contracts for freight or passage, and collect the receipts and make the disbursements proper on these accounts. For these things he has all the necessary powers. But he cannot, without special power, insure for the rest, nor buy a cargo for them, nor borrow money, nor give up their lien on the cargo for the freight, nor delegate his authority.

Where he acts within his powers, a ship's husband binds all 13 principals, that is, all the part-owners. But a third party may deal with him on his personal credit alone; and if the part-owners, believing this, and authorized to believe it by any

acts or words of the third party, settle their accounts with the ship's husband accordingly, this third party cannot now estab lish a claim against them to their detriment. If a ship's husband is not a part-owner, all the part-owners are liable to him, each for the whole amount. If he is a part-owner, each of the others is liable to him for his share of the expense incurred. The "ship's husband" is called in the Statutes of the United States the "managing owner."

SECTION IV.

THE LIABILITY OF MORTGAGEES.

A MORTGAGEE of a ship, who is in possession, is, in general, lable for supplies, repairs, etc., in the same way as an owner. But if he has not taken possession, he is not liable for supplies or repairs merely on the ground that his security is strengthened by whatever preserves or increases the value of the vessel. Nor can he be made liable, except by some act or words of his own, which show that credit was properly given to him, or that he has come under a valid engagement to assume this responsibility.

SECTION V.

THE CONTRACT OF BOTTOMRY.

By this contract, a ship is hypothecated (which means pledged) as security for money borrowed. The form of this contract varies in different places, and, indeed, in the same place. Its essentials are:-First, that the ship itself is bound for the payment of the money. Second, that the money is to be repaid only in case the ship performs a certain voyage, and arrives at its destined termination in safety; or, as it is sometimes provided in modern bottomries, in case that the ship is in safety on a certain day; therefore, if the ship is lost before the termination of the voyage or the expiration of the period, no part of the money is due, or, as is sometimes said, the whole debt is paid by the loss. As the lender thus consents that the repayment of the money shall depend upon the safety of the ship, he has a legal right to charge "marine interest," which means as much more than legal interest as will serve to cover his risk.

The lender may require, and the borrower pay, this marine interest, which may be much more than lawful interest, on a bottomry bond, without usury.

If the interest be not expressed in the contract, it will generally be presumed to be meant and included in the sum named as principal.

If, by the contract, the lender takes more than legal interest and yet the money is to be paid to him whether the ship be lost or not, this is not a contract of bottomry, and it is subject to all the consequences of usury. But the lender may take security for his debt and marine interest, additional to the ship itself, provided the security is given, like the ship itself, to make the payment certain when it becomes due by the safety of the ship, but is wholly avoided if the ship be lost; for then the lender takes the risk of losing the whole, principal and interest, by the loss of the ship, and may therefore charge more than simple interest.

The most common contracts of bottomry are those entered into by the master in a foreign port, where money is needed and cannot otherwise be obtained. Therefore the security goes with the ship, and the debt may be enforced, as soon as it is payable, against the ship, wherever the ship may be. But in this country, these contracts are frequently made by the owner himself, in the home port. And sometimes they are nothing else than contrivances to get more than legal interest. Thus, if A lends to B $20,000 on B's ship for one year, at fifteen per cent. interest, conditioned that, if the ship be lost, the money shall not be paid, and the lender insures the ship for three per cent., he gets twelve per cent. interest, which may be much more than the legal interest, and yet incurs no risk. If such a contract were obviously and certainly merely colorable, and only a pretence for getting usurious interest, the courts would probably set it aside; but it might be difficult to show this.

If the money is payable at the end of a certain voyage, and the owner or his servant, the master of the ship, terminate the voyage sooner,-either honestly, from a change in their plan, or dishonestly, by intentional loss or wreck, the money becomes at once due.

A bottomry bond made abroad would override all other liens or engagements, except the claim for seamen's wages, and the lien of material men for repairs, and supplies indispensable to the safety of the vessel. The reason is, that a bottomry bond is supposed to be made from necessity, and to have provided the only means by which the ship could be brought home. For the same reason, a later bond is sustained as against an earlier and the last against all before it.

The lien of bottomry depends in no degree on possession, for the ship may go all over the world with the bottomry security attached to her; but the lender ought to collect the sum due, and so discharge the bond as soon as he conveniently can; and therefore an unreasonable delay in enforcing it will destroy the lien; and any connivance by the lender at any fraud on the part of the master avoids the bond entirely.

SECTION VI.

THE EMPLOYMENT OF A SHIP BY THE OWNER.

An owner of a ship may employ it in carrying his own goods, or those of another. He may carry the goods of others, while he himself retains the possession and direction of the ship; or he may lease his ship to others, to carry their goods. In the first case, he carries the goods of others on freight: in the second, he lets his ship by charter-party. We shall con sider first the carriage of goods on freight.

He may load his ship as far as he can with his own goods, and then take the goods of others to fill the vacant space; or he may put up his ship as "a general ship," to go from one stated port to another, and to carry the goods of all who offer.

It may be remarked, that the word "freight" is used in different ways; sometimes to designate the goods or cargo that is carried; sometimes to denote the money which the shipper of the goods pays to the owner of the ship, for their transportation. Not unfrequently, when the word is used in this latter sense, the word "money" is added, and the phrase "freight. money" leaves no question as to what is meant. Sometimes a ship-owner who lets the whole burden of his ship to another

is said to carry the shipper's goods on freight. But the most common meaning of the word, especially in law proceedings, is the money earned by a ship not chartered for the transportation of the goods; and in this sense we shall use it.

Nearly the whole law of freight grows out of the ancient and universal principle that the ship and the cargo have reciprocal duties or obligations towards each other, and are reciprocally pledged to each other for the performance of these duties. In other words, not only is the owner of the ship bound to the owner of the cargo, as soon as he receives it, to lade it properly on board, take care of it while on board, carry it in safety (so far as the seaworthiness of the ship is concerned) to its destined port, and there deliver it, all in a proper way, but the ship itself is bound to the discharge of these duties. That is to say, if, by reason of a failure in any of these particulars, the shipper of the goods is damnified, he may look to the ship-owner for indemnity; but he is not obliged to do so, because he may proceed by proper process against the ship itself. This lien, like that of bottomry, is not dependent upon possession, but will be lost by delay, especially if the vessel passes into the hands of a purchaser for value without notice. On the other hand, if the ship discharges all its duties, the owner may look to the shipper for the payment of his freight; but is not obliged to do so, because he may keep his hold upon the goods, and refuse to deliver them until the freight is paid.

The party who sends the goods may or may not be the owner of them. And he may send them either to one who is the owner, for whom the sender bought them, or to one who is only the agent of the owner. In either of these cases, the sender is called the consignor of the goods, and the party to whom they are sent is called the consignee. The sending them is called the consigning or the consignment of them; but it is quite common to hear the goods themselves called the consignment.

The rights and obligations of the ship-owner and the shipper are stated generally in an instrument of which the origin is lost in its antiquity, and which is now in universal use among commercial nations, with little substantial variety of form. It is called the Bill of Lading. It should contain the names of the