Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/93

* BILL OF EXCHANGE. 75 BILL OF LADING. unqualified assent to the drawer's order. If it is qualified in any respect, as if the assent is subject to some condition, or is to the payment of a part only of the amount of the bill, the holder may refuse to take it and treat the bill as dishonored. If he does take such a qualified ac- ceptance, he discliarges the drawer and indorsers from liability on the bill, unless they assent thereto. By accepting the bill, the drawee (thereafter called the acceptor) engages abso- lutely to pay it : and no demand need l>e made on him as a condition of suing him thereon. Nor will the fact that he received no considera- tion for accepting the bill be a defense for him against a holder for value, for the latter has been induced to give value for the bill by the accejitor's engagement to pay. It is a good de- fense, however, as against any one but a holder for value, or one claiming through such holder; the rule lx?ing that every negotiable instrument is presumed to have been issued, and every con- tract thereon, whether of acceptor, drawer, or indorser. made for a valuable consideration ; but that this presumption may be rebutted in an action brought by any one who has not paid value for the bill, or has not obtained title through a holder for value. The acceptance of a bill oper- ates as a conclusive admission by the acc-eptor of the genuineness of the drawer's signature, of his capacity and authority to draw the bill, of the existence of the payee, and of his then capac- ity to Indorse it ; but it is not an admission that the body of the bill is genuine, nor that the in- dorsement of the payee is genuine. The liability of the drawer and of indorsers is conditional, not absolute. The drawer admits the existence and capacity of the payee, and en- gages that the bill shall be accepted and paid by the drawee upon due presentment, and if it is dishonored and proceedings thereon are taken, he will pay it to the holder or to any indorser who may be compelled to take it up. Every in- dorser engages: that the instrument is a genuine, valid, and subsisting bill, to which he lias a good title: that all prior parties were capable of con- tracting; that if accepted it shall be paid, or if not accepted, that it shall be accepted and paid upon due presentment, and if it is dishonored and due proceedings thereon are taken, that he will pay it to the holder, or to any indor.ser sub- sequent to himself who may be comi)elled to take it up. UTiether a bill must be presented for accept- ance depends upon its form. If such present- ment is necessary to fix the maturity of the bill, as when it is payable after sight, or if the bill stipulates that such presentment shall be made, or when the bill is made payable elsewhere than at the residence or place of business of the drawee, it must be presented for acceptance. If so presented, and acceptance is refused by the drawee, the holder, upon taking due proceedings of dishonor, has an immediate right of recourse against the drawer and indorsers, and need not present the bill thereafter for pajmient. If the bill is accepted, then due presentment for pay- ment must be made, in order to fix the liability of drawer and indorsers. It is impossible, within the limits of this article, to state the various rules governing the time and manner of present- ment of bills, and the proceedings of dishonor to be taken by the bidder in order to secure his right of recourse against the drawer and indorsers. Vol. hi.— c. For these, the reader is referred to law treatises on the subject, or to the Negotiable Instrument Law which has been enacted in a number of our States. (This statite is Chap. tjl2 of the Laws of New York, 1897; Chap. 74, Laws of Connecti- cut, 1897.) The negotiability of a bill of ex- change will be dealt with in the article on Nego- tiable IxsTRUjrEXTS. See Negoti.ble Instbu- MEXTS. and the autliorities there referred to. BILL OF HEALTH. A statement by the captain and surgeon of a ship with regard to the health of the crew and passengers, which is presented to the health officer at the port of de- barkation, who, after examination, decides whether or not the vessel shall be permitted to pass quarantine (q.v. ). A false return is se- verely punished. A clean bill is one that reports no case of infectious disorder; a foul bill is one that makes it dangerous for the public health to permit the passengers to land without fur- ther precautions. A suspected bill (also known as a touched bill) is one that reports the ru- mored prevalence of infectious disease at the port of embarkation. A bill of health is some- times attested by the consul at the place of sailing. BILL OF INDEMNITY. In England, an act passed by Parliament every session for the relief of those wlio have unwittingly or una- voidably neglected to take the necessary oath required for the purpose of qualifying them- selves to hold their respective offices. In the United States, this term is used of an act of Congress passed to legalize the action of any official who, under the stress of necessity, has exceeded his statutory authority. At the time of the yellow-fever epidemic at the South in 1853 the Secretary of War ordered the distribution of tents and rations to the sufferers, though under the law he had no power to do so; but as soon as Congress reassembled it passed an act legalizing the order. The name is also applied to a vote of money to reimburse one who has at his own risk incurred expenses on behalf of the Government or the nation. BILL OF LADING. A written instrument issiied by a con)m(JU carrier, reciting that he has received certain goods, which he agrees to trans- port from one place to another and to deliver to a designated person or assigns, for such compensar tion and upon such conditions as are stated therein. Originally, bills of lading were issued only by ship-owners or carriers by water. Now, they are employed by every class of carriers. As a receipt, the instrument may be modified and even contradicted by oral evidence, so far as the immediate jiarties are concerned. If, how- ever, a third ))arly has bought and paid for the goods referred to in the bill of lading, relying upon the truth of its statements, the carrier is estopped (see E.stoitel) from showing that those statements are incorrect. Whetber he is so estopped when the bill of lading is issued by his agent without the receipt of any goods is a question upon which the courts are divided. It is held in England and in the United States Fed- eral courts, as well as in some of the States, that he is not estopped. These tribunals declare that the master of a vessel, or the similar agent of a land carrier, has no authority to sign a bill of lading on his principal's behalf for goods not actually received by him, and, therefore, a flcti-