Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/309

* LIMITATION OF ACTIONS. 277 LIMITED LIABILITY. Actions aft'ectiug the title to real estate, or founded upon a contract under seal, must be liKJUght within twenty years. Similar actions allccting the title to personal property, and actions founded upon such contracts not under seal within six years, and those founded upon personal tort, within two jears. In many .States the time for bringing equitable action is limited to ten jears; and in most States there arc short periods of limitation for the benefit of adminis- trators and executors. An action is deemed to be begun for the pur- pose of avoiding the statutory limitation by the delivery of the writ or summons to the sheriff or other proper officer for service. The action is not then barred by the stati^te even though service of process is not made until after the expiration of the statutory period. A plain- tiff who is under disability when his right of iiction accrues is not barred by the statute until the expiration of the statutory period after the removal of the disabilitj-, or, as it is said, the statute does not run against one under a disa- bility. Under the early statutes infancy, covert- ure, insanity, and absence from the country were the enumerated disabilities, but under most mod- ern statutes only infancy and insanity are so defined. The statutory period dates from the time that the cause of action accrues. In the case of actions founded on the right to possession of [jroperty the cause of action accrues with the adverse possession of the property. In the ease of both real and personal property uninterrupted adverse possession for the statu- tory period in effect vests the party in possession with a perfect title, as the real owner is barred from bringing an action. (Such possession must be of definitely bounded or ascertained property and against the consent of the owner. The possession of a tenant or of a mortgagor, being with the consent of the owner and the mortgagee respective!}', is not adverse, and is not affected by the statute. See JIortoage. In the case of actions founded upon contract the statute runs from the time when the defendant is bound to perform the contract. Thus in case of negutialile paper the statute begins to run when the paper becomes due. (See Negotiable Paper.) In case of open or running accounts the statute runs from the date of the last items of the ac- count. In the case of all obligations to pay money a payment of interest or a part of the principal forms a new due date from which the statute begins to run anew, and a promise made by the debtor or obligor after the expiration of the statutory period revives the debt or obliga- tion. In some States the new promise to pay is required to be in writing in order to have that effect. In the case of torts the right of action ac- crues and the statute runs from the time when the tortious act takes effect or results in the injury complained of. In most jurisdictions the defense of the Statute of Limitations is not available at the trial unless specially pleaded. See Ple.ding. The term limitation is also applied in the law of conveyancing to the granting by deed or will of lesser estates out of a fee, as. for instance, the gift of a life estate to 'A, remainder for life to B, remainder to C. See Conveyance; Es- tates. LIMITED COMPANIES. Those of which the liabilities are limited to the amount of the capital, and each of whose stockholders is liable not for all the debts of the concern, but only for debts equal in amount to his own stock. In this respect, they partake of the nature of corporations. The term is most frequently ap- plied to joint-stock companies limited, which are organized under modern statutes, or to limited partnership associations, also creations of modern legislation. See .Toint-Stock Company ; 1'akt- NEKsuiPS; and authorities there cited. LIMITED LIABILITY. At common law, this could be secured only by a special contract; that is, by one to which both parties expressly assented. If an insurance or banking partnership wished to limit its liabilities to its assets, and save its members from personal responsibility for its debts, it was bound to notify the insured, or the bank depositor or holder of hank bills, as the case might be, that it would contract with him only on that basis. Under modern statutes, however, authorizing the formation of joint-stock companies (q.v.) and limited partnerships (q.v.), the term of limited liability is imported into all contracts made with such associations. Persons dealing with them are bound to take notice of the privilege accorded to them by the legislatures, but this privilege is statutory, and avails only those who have complied with the legislative re- quirements. Thus, if a limited company in England omits the word 'limited' from its name, its shareholders are bound to pay its debts in full. By the general maritime law (q.v.) of Europe, a ship-owner can absolve himself from liability for the negligence of the master or crew by sur- rendering the ship and the freight. This rule has been adopted by Parliament in England and by the Federal Congress in this country. (See 7 Geo. II., c. 15.) Its present provisions are found in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1804 (.^7 and .58 Vict., c. 60), as amended by various acts especially by Jlerchant Shipping Act, 1000 (63 and 04 Vict., e. 32). Congressional legislation on this topic began in 1851, and is now em- bodied in the United States Revised Statutes, §§4282 to 4289, as amended. Under it "the owner of any vessel, whether steamer or canal- boat, employed whether in seagoing or inland navigation, whether he be an American citizen or a foreigner, may obt.nin a limitation to the value of his interest in the vessel and her pend- ing freight, of his liability not only for the results of a single disaster, but for the re- sults of a disastrous voyage, including all debts due on account of the vessel save seamen's wages." These statutory provisions apply to cases of personal injury and death, as well as to those of harm to property. If the ship and freight are lost, the owner must abandon to the injured parties all claims and causes of action having reference to the vessel and freight. If he collects these he is liable to the injured [)ar(ies to the extent of the proceeds. It is to be noticed that this limitation of liability is confined to the owners of the vessels who are not in charge thereof. The master and seamen whose misconduct causes the injuries are not exempted from liability by maritime law or bv statutes. Consult Benedict, The American Admiralty (New York, 1898).