Page:Halsbury Laws of England v1 1907.pdf/772

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Bailment.

550 Sect.

2.

Sect.

Hire of

2.

Chattels.

Hire of Sub-Sect.

Chattels.

Hire of •chattels.

In

1.

Oeiieral.

1116. This class of bailment (locatio conductio rei) is a contract by which the hirer obtains a right to use the chattel hired, in return for the payment of the price of the hiring to the owner (s). The proprietary interest in the chattel is not changed, but remains in the owner (t). But, upon delivery, the hirer becomes legally posif it be lent for a time certain, debarred during that time from resuming possession against the will of the hirer, and, should he do so, becomes liable in damages for the wrongful seizure (u). The contract must not be based on an immoral or illegal consideration, nor must it conduce to immorality or illegality, the maxim Ex turpi causa non oritur actio applying in this as in any other

sessed of the chattel hired, so that

even the true owner

contract

is

{iv).

Sub-Sect. Obligations of owner.

Obligations of the Owner.

2.

1117. The owner of a chattel which he lets out for hire is under an obligation to ascertain that the chattel so let out by him is reasonably fit and suitable for the purpose for which it is expressly let out or for which, from its character, he must be aware it is his deHvery of it to the hirer amounts to intended to be used an implied warranty that the chattel is in fact as fit and suitable for that purpose as reasonable care and skill can make it (a). Therefore if damage or loss is caused to the hirer by reason of some defect of which the owner was or ought to have been aware in the fitness or adaptability of the chattel, the owner is liable not only for the immediate results of his lack of care, but also for any other consequences which may reasonably be supposed to have been

Fitness.

within the contemplation of the parties ih). The owner of a chattel is not relieved from liability under his implied warranty that the chattel is reasonably fit for the

judgment <fc

of

Bag G allay,

Go. V. Eowntree, [1894]

L.J.,

—

424 426. Compare Richardson, Spence Acton v. Castle Mail Packets Co. (1895), 73

at pp.

A. C. 217



Stephen v. International Sleeping-Car Co. (1903), 19 T. L. R. 621. Pothier, Contrat de Louage, Part I., p. 86 " Louage ... est un contrat par lequel I'un donne a I'autre la Chap. I., s. 1 jouissance ou I'usage d'une chose pendant quelque temps pour un certain prix" (Domat, book 1, tit. 4, s. 1, art. 1). For forms of agreement to hire goods, see Encyclopaedia of Forms, Vol. VI., pp. 440 et seq. (t) Story on Bailments, s, 370 a. (u) Bac. Abr. Bailment, C Lee v. Atkinson and Brook (1610), Yelv. 172. (w) Pearce v. Brooks (1866), L. R. 1 Exch. 213, ^er Pollock, C.B., at p. 217. {a) " The nature of the contract is such, that an obligation is imposed on the party letting for hire to furnish that which is proper for the hirer's accommodation " {Sutton V. Temple (1843), 12 M. & W. 52, per Lord Abinger, at p. 60 Ma.cCarthy v. Young (1861), 6 H. & N. 329 ; Mowhray v. Merryweather, [1895] 2 Q. B. 640 Vogan cfc Co. v. Oulton (1899), 81 L. T. 435). (6) Mowbray v. Merryweather, supra, per Lord Esher, at p. 643 ; Vogan d; Co. V. Oulton, supra, In both these cases the defendant hired out tackle to the plaintiffs, whose workmen were injured by the unfitness thereof, and the plaintiffs liad to compensate them for their injuries, and they recovered from the defendant wh'at they had had to pay. Compare The Moorcock (1889), 14 P. D. 64. L. T. 158 (s)



Jones on Bailments, 4th ed.





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