WAREHOUSEMAN, in latv, one who re ceives goods of any kind for the mere purpose of storage. He is a bailee, and, his contract with the owner being one for their mutual benefit, is held only to ordinary care and dili gence, and if loss or injury happen to the goods, he. is not responsible without the absence of this care or diligence on his part, unless he expressly assumes a greater responsibility. There is nothing, however, to prevent ware housemen receiving goods on whatever terms or contract they see fit to make with the owner. Persons may become warehousemen and subject only to the law of that relation, whose general position is quite different. Forwarding mer chants in the United States are generally re garded as warehousemen, unless they take upon themselves the duty and the responsibility of common carriers, which they do when they begin to act in that c.haracter. On the other hand, common carriers, as railroad companies or expressmen, lie only under the less responsi bility of warehousemen when they cease to be carriers of the goods they have transported, or have not yet begun to carry those they have taktn for future transport. It is sometimes difficult to draw the line in particular cases and say. whether a person or company is liable without fault because the goods were then in his or its possession as carrier, or liable only for fault because the transit had not begun, or had terminated. The general principle is
quite certain, although the authorities are far from uniform in their application of it. If the carrier receives them to carry at once or as soon as he can, he holds them as carrier; if he is to keep them until a distant period of transit, until then he is only a warehouseman. If the actual transit has ceased, some courts hold that his liability ceases at once, and it un doubtedly &Des so when, after he is ready to deliver them, they are left on his hands and he awaits the call of the owner or consignee. A warehouseman has a lien on goods in his care for the storage of them. He may deliver a part and retain his lien on the residue for all his charge for all the goods, if all were de livered to him as one bailment. But he has no general lien on any goods for all demands against the owner, or for the storage of othei good.s. During recent years the larger cities of the United States have increased the string ency of storage warehouse regulations, which vary with localities.