Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/333

* DISCOUNT. 285 DISCOVERY. DISCOUNT (ML. discomputus, from discom- putan, lo discount, from Lat. dis-, apart + com- putarf, to reckon, from com-, together + piitarc, to cleanse, from putus, pure). A deduction from a slated price, or from a sum due at a future time. Merchants often deduct a certain sum from an account if payment is made l>efore the bill is due. Business houses commonly publish price lists which, in course of time, are .cor- rected by means of stated discounts. Even double and triple discounts are common. Thus 10 per cent, oil' 20 jht cent, off 40 per cent, means a reduction of 40 per cent, from the list price, and a reduction of 20 per cent, from this amount, and finally a reduction of 10 i)er cent, from this result. . Such discounts are called trade or commercial discounts. Banks, in purchasing promissory notes before they are due. customarily deduct from the amount of the note at maturity a certain per cent., called 6anA- discount. In case of loans it is customary for banks to deduct the interest in advance, leaving the borrower an amount equal to the face of the note less the interest. The form of dis- count known as true discount is now practically obsolete. It was computed thus: Divide the future worth of the note, i.e. its amoimt at maturity, by the future worth of one dollar, and the result is the present worth of the note. The difference between the future and present worth is the true discount. By discount is also meant the depreciation expressed as a rate per cent, of the par value of a fi.xed investment; e.g. on rail- way stock bought at 115 and sold at 95. there is 20 per cent, discount. The rates of bank dis- count vary according to the demand for money and the nature of the security. The range in the United States is approximately from .3 per cent, to 10 per cent., except in case of doubtful se- curities, when higher rates are exacted. DISCOVERY (from discover, OF. descovrir, Fr. dccuuvrir. It. discoprire, from ilL. disco- operire, to discover, from I.at. dis-, away -f- rooperire, to cover, from co-, together -|- operire, to cover) OF Territory. As the foundation for claim of title this has cea.sed to be of prac- tical importance with the disappearance of un- explored regions, and has given place to occu- pation as a means of conferring proprietary rights. International law considers discovery to give only inchoate title, which must be com- pleted by occupation by settlement or military posts within a reasonable period, and the un- timely interference of another State with the territory affected might justifiably be construed as a hostile act. Miat acts are sufficient to effect absolute title, and what is a reasonable time, can only be determined by consideration of the circumstances of each particular case. For instance, the act of discovery is valid until a proper time has elapsed for the preparation of an expedition for permanent occupation. But this presumption ceases when standing alone, compared with acts of continuous or actual set- tlement by another power. Where exploration is made and other evidence of interest given, the extinction of the claim may be long postponed unless confronted by a definite act of appropria- tion by another State without protest. So, in conclusion, it may be said that the intention of a State to take possession of territory discovered by its subjects must be promptly signified in some unmistakable manner, if it is to be avail- able against foreign interests seeking a foothold. The same rule applies to occupation as a root of title. The titles which Spain aud Portugal first claimed in the Xew World were founded on Papal grants. In 14',i3 Alexander VI. granted to Spain all lands beyond a line 100 leagues west of the Azores. This was later modified by treaty with Portugal fixing a new line 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. Such claims were dis- regarded by the Protestant States, which sent out agents commissioned to discover and acquire any "heathen lands.' These discoveries were made the basis of claim of title absolute, and were of practical value in giving significance to subsequent acts in themselves doul)tful or in- adequate. The discovery was followed by some formal act of possession in the planting of a flag or erection of a monument as notice of the intention of the State to whom the expedition belonged. The claims based on these discoveries and confirmed by later occupation and settlement developed the confiicts which have marked the history and determined the possession of the Western Continent. Writers on international law uniformly hold that discovery must be made by authorized agents of a State or that such act be promptly adopted by the Government. This was declared to have been the weakness in the American case in the Oregon Question (q.v. ). Captain Gray entered the mouth of the Columbia River in 1792 in a trading vessel. Xo recogni- tion was made by the United States Government at the time, and shortly afterwards Captain Vancouver, engaged in surveying the coast for the British Government, sailed several miles up its icourse. In 1811 the fur-trading post of Astoria was founded by the Pacific Fur Company, a private corporation. The dispute was settled by the Treaty of 1840 without expressly conceding the American claim. Africa furnishes almost the only territory to which the principles of discovery and occupation now have a vital ap- plication. In 1856 the United States adopted a code of rules to govern the rights of discovery of guano islands. Consult the authorities referred to under Ixtern.^tioxal Law. DISCOVERY, Bill of. An equitable remedy which is sometimes used to enable a plaintiff or defendant in an action, either at law or in equity, to obtain information and proof as to facts and documents necessary for the prosecu- tion or defense of his case, where such means of proof are within the knowledge or possession of the opposite party. The bill should not ask for any relief as to the matters in controversy, but may ask for an injunction staying further proceedings in the action until the discovery is obtained. It must only ask for the disclosure of facts or the production of deeds, writings, or other things in which the party has a title or interest, and which are essential to be estab- lished in order to sustain his side of the case, and must show some merit in his claim or de- fense. Thus a devisee of real property under a will might maintain such a bill for the produc- tion of the title deeds of the particular property to which he has become entitled, in order to trace the devisor's interest, and consequently enable him to establish his claim. It must not demand any information whidi is clearly only in