COMMERCIAL LAW. This term is rather loosely applied to a body of laws of the greatest diversity in their origin and character, but which have this in common, that they have arisen out of the usages of merchants and that the legislation and judicial pronouncements thereon have taken note of and embodied these usages. There is no better way of indicating what Commercial Law, or the Law Merchant, is than to enumerate the chief topics which it comprises. These are: Agency, arbitration and award, auctioneers, bailments, bankruptcy, common carriers, composition with creditors, corporations, factors and brokers, guarunty and suretyship, insurance, monopolies and restraints of trade, negotiable instruments, partnerships, patents, sales, trade-marlcs and warehousemen. The classification of Commercial Law here given is in substantial accord with that adopted in the French 'Code de Commerce) and in the German
One of the most original contributions of the Anglo-Saxon genius to the instrumentalities of commerce is the "goldsmiths' note." This
was a form of commercialpaper issued by members of the Goldsmiths' Company of Lon don against deposits of specie, the notes being payable to order of the depositor at a stated time and, when endorsed, they passed freely from hand to hand at face value. All that was needed was to make these promissory notes payable to bearer on demand, instead of to order and at a stated time, and to issue the same in the name of the guild instead of an individual member thereof, and the bank note was brought into being. This, indeed, was the genesis of banking currency. Out of the simple processes of transportation overland of freight and passengers, by wagons and stage coaches, arose the intricate and voluminous law of com mon carriers and its modern development, rail road law. The fundamental principles are few: A common carrier assumes absolute responsi bility for the safe transportation and delivery of the goods and persons entrusted to his care; he is an insurer, and the fact that he has been guilty of no lathes will not excuse him nor diminish his liability for losses. On the other hand, misrepresentation or concealment on the part of the shipper or owner of property car ried, as to its character or value, constitute a fraud, vitiating the contract. The law gives the carrier a lien on any property entrusted to him to the amount of his claim to compensation for transporting and insuring the sante while in transit; also any demurrage charges accruing through failure of the consignee promptly to accept the goods shipped and take them off the carrier's hands A common carrier may not discriminate between shippers in the render ing of services, nor in his charges for the same; he must receive and carry freight offered to the extent of his facilities, and may be compelled to increase facilities when the same are inade quate to the traffic. A bill of lading issued by a common carrier becomes an instrument of credit, acceptable as collateral and entitling the holder to the possession of the property billed on payment of transportation charges. The rights and obligations of warehousemen con stitute important elements of commercial law. When a consignee unreasonably delays accept ance of goods shipped to him the common car rier is authorized to place them in storage, to be held subject to the carrier's lien and such fur ther charges as may accrue in caring for and insuring the same. In many cases the ware house, or some of the modern developments thereof, for example, cold storage and bonded warehouses, grain elevators and coal ports, are the intended destination of shipments ab initio. A warehouse receipt, unless it be specifically stipulated to the contrary on the face of the same, is a negotiable instrument.