Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/164

Rh against the ship and cargo respectively. Commissions on money advanced, maritime interest on bottomry and respondentia, and the loss on exchanges, &amp;lt;fcc., are appor tioned relatively to the gross sums expended on behalf of the several interests concerned. The expenses incurred in getting a stranded ship off the ground, the hire of extra hands to pump a ship which has sprung a leak, and the sums awarded for salvage or for other services rendered to the ship and cargo under any extraordinary emergencies, are compensated by average contribution. But this rule applies only to the extraneous assistance that may have been obtained, the crew being bound to do their utmost in the service of the ship on all occasions, with extra remuneration for what they might consider extraordinary exertions on their part. The costs of reclaiming the ship and cargo after having been captured are allowed as general average charges ; and although ransom to an enemy is prohibited in this country by legal enactment, it seems that this does not apply to the case of money or goods given up by way of composition to pirates for the liberation of the ship and cargo, and that this would also form a subject of average contribution. When the ship and cargo arrive at the port of destination it is unnecessary, in ordinary cases, to distinguish, in the adjustment of the general average, between the losses which have arisen from sacrifices and those which have resulted from expenditures for the common benefit. But if the ship and cargo should be lost before reaching their destination, no contribution is due for the goods or ship s materials which may have been sacrificed at a former stage of the voyage, the owners of these being in no worse posi tion than any of their coadventurers. On the other hand, it is evident that when money has been expended for the common benefit, the subsequent loss of the ship and cargo should not affect the right of the party who has made the advance to recover it in full from all the parties for whose advantage it was originally made. Hence, while sacrifices are made good only in the event of the ship and cargo being ultimately saved, expenditures must be reimbursed whether the ship and cargo be eventually saved or lost ; and the contribution for these expenditures must be regulated by the values of the ship, cargo, and freight as they stood at the time when the advances were made. If, however, the money required for average expendi tures has been raised by means of bottomry, and the ship be lost before completing the voyage, there can be no claim for reimbursement, the risk being assumed by the bottomry lender in consideration of the premium he receives on the sum advanced. When there is no bottomry, it is a usual practice, but not an invariable rule, to insure the average disbursements by a special policy. When this has been done, and when the amount has been recovered on the subsequent loss of the ship, it cannot be again claimed from the individuals who would otherwise have been liable. But if the expenditures are not insured, either by a bottomry contract, or by a special policy, and if the ship and cargo be totally lost in the subsequent course of the voyage, the parties for whose benefit the expenditures were incurred must reimburse them on the principles already explained. These parties, however, have recourse on their original insurers, not only for the total loss of the interests insured, but also for the previous expenditures, although the insurers may thus be called on to pay a larger sum than the amount of the insurance. The contribution for general average losses is regulated by the values of the respective interests for the benefit of which they were incurred. The practical rule adopted, in all ordinary cases, is to estimate the ship, cargo, and freight at their net values to their owners, in the state in which they arrive at the port of destination, but including in these values the sums made good for sacrifices, and tc assess the contribution accordingly. The necessity for including the amount of compensation made for sacrifices in the valuations on which the contribution is charged, arises from the principle that all the parties interested in the adventure should bear the ultimate loss in exact pro portion to their respective interests, which would not be the case if the owners of the articles sacrificed were to recover their full value without being themselves assessed for the loss thereon in the same manner as their coadventurers. The contributory value of the skip is accordingly her actual value to her o wner in the state in which she arrives, whether damaged or otherwise, including the sum made good in the general average for any sacrifices which may have been made of part of the ship or her materials. The value of the cargo for contribution is its net market value on arrival, after deducting the charges incurred for freight, duty, and landing expenses, but without deducting the costs of insurance or commission. If goods be damaged, they contribute only according to their deteriorated value ; and if special charges have been incurred on the cargo at a port of refuge (as for warehouse rent, &c.), the amount of these charges is deducted. The sum charged to general average for goods sacrificed is of course added to the valuation. All goods carried in the ship for the purposes of traffic must be included in the valuation of the cargo ; but the wearing apparel, or personal effects, of the passengers and crew are exempted from contribution. The value of the freight for contribution is the sum received by the shipowner on the completion of the voyage for the carriage of the cargo, after deducting from that sum the wages reckoned as from the date of the casualty, the port charges at the place of destination, and the special charges against the freight which may have been incurred at a port of refuge, consisting of the costs of reshipping the cargo, and of outward pilotage, &c. The provisions for the voyage are not deducted, as these are held to have formed part of the original value of the ship. If the freight has been paid in advance, it forms part of the value of the goods, and, consequently, does not contribute as a separate interest. When a sum has been advanced on account of freight, subject to insurance, it must be distinguished from the portion of the freight which remains at the shipowner s risk, and be charged separately for its rateable contribution ; and the freight so advanced is not subject to deduction for wages, &c., this deduction being made only from the freight at risk. It has been decided that, when a vessel has been originally chartered for a double voyage, the whole freight to be earned under the charter-party must contribute at its net value, after deducting the wages and other charges which must be incurred in earning it. The effect of this rule is to render the freight attaching to the return voyage, as well as that attaching to the voyage outwards, liable to contribute for average losses arising in the course of the outward passage, a result the equity of which is not always very apparent. An adjustment of general average made at any foreign port where the voyage may terminate, if proved to be in conformity with the law and usage of the country to which such foreign port belongs, is binding on all the parties interested as coadventurers, although they may be subjects of this country, and although the adjustment may be made on principles different from those sanctioned by the laws or usages of Britain. The reason for this rule is, that the parties engaging in the adventure are held to assent to the known maritime usage according to which general average is adjusted on the arrival of the ship and goods at the port of destination.

