BILL OF LADING, an acknowledg ment signed usually by the master of a trading ship, but occasionally by some person authorised to act on his behalf, certifying the receipt of merchandise on board the ship, and engaging, under cer tain conditions and with certain excep tions, to deliver the said merchandise safely at the port to which the ship is bound, either to the shipper, or to such other person as he may signify by a written assignment upon the Bill of Lading.
The conditions stipulated on behalf of the master of the ship are, that the per son entitled to claim the merchandise shall pay upon delivery of the same a certain specified amount or rate offreight, together with allowances recognised by the customs of the port of delivery, and known under the names of primage and average. Primage amounts in some cases to a considerable per centage (ten or fifteen per cent.) upon the amount of the stipulated freight, but the more usual allowance under this head is a small fixed sum upon certain packages ; e. g. the primage charge upon a hogshead of sugar brought from the West Indies to London is sixpence. This allowance is eonsi dered to be the perquisite of the master of the ship. Average, the claim for which is reserved against the receiver of the goods, consists of a charge divided pro rata between the owners of die ship and the proprietors of her cargo for small expenses (such as payments for towing and piloting the ship into or out of har bours), when the same are incurred for the general benefit.
The exceptions stipulated on behalf of the shipowners are explained on the face of the Bill of Lading, and are " the act of God, the king's enemies, fire, and all and every other danger and accidents of the seas, rivers, and navigation, of what ever nature and kind soever excepted." In every case where shipments are made from this country, one at least of the bills of lading must be written upon a stamp of the value of sixpence. One of the bills (unstamped) is retained by the mas ter of the ship, the others are delivered to the shippers of the goods, who usually transmit to the consignee of the goods one copy by the ship on board which they are laden, and a second copy by some other conveyance. In case the ship
should be lost, when the goods are in sured, the underwriters require the pro duction of one of the copies of the Bill of Lading on the part of the person claim ing under the policy of insurance as evi dence at once of the shipment having actually bees!' made, and of the owner ship of the goods.
By the act 6 George IV. c. 94, § 2, it is declared "that any person in possession of a Bill of Lading shall be deemed the ' true owner of the goods specified iu it, so as to make a sale or pledge by him of such goods or bill of lading valid, unless the person to whom the goods are sold or pledged has notice that the seller or pledger is not the actual and bosh' fide owner of the goods." The property in the goods represented by a Bill of Lading can be assigned like a bill of exchange by either a blank or a special indorsement, and as, in the event of the first mode being used, the docu ment might accidentally fall into impro per hands—a fact which the master of a ship could not reasonably be expected to discover—it is manifestly only justice to shield him from responsibility when act ing without collusion. Should he, on the other hand, act either negligently or collusively in the matter, the law will compel him to make good their value to the real owner of the goods.
The stamp' duty received on bills of lading in Great Britain for 1843 was 19,5181., and in Ireland 1973/. The duty in England and Scotland was reduced from 3s. to 6d. by 5 & 6 Vict. c. 79, and in Ireland the duty was reduced from Is. Cd. to 6d. by 5 & 6 Viet. c. 82. Pre vious to this reduction, in 1841, the duty in Ireland produced only 1079/. The duty for England cannot be given, as the duty was applicable also to protests.