Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/352

* WAREHOUSEMAN. 294 WAREHOUSING SYSTEM. receipt is freely assignable and the assignor may transfer all his interest or right in the goods by assignment and delivery of the warehouse re- ceipt. It is not, however, in the absence of statute negotiable in the sense that a bill or note is negotiable. One may become a warehouse- man as an incident to other business wliieh he is conducting. Thus the common carriers who receive goods for storage, before they are under any duty to transport them are liable as ware- housemen and not as common carriers, and upon the expiration of a reasonable time after ar- rival of the goods at the end of the route com- mon carriers are held generally to be liable for the goods only as warehousemen. In the same manner those" who are engaged in business as factors and wharfingers may be liable as ware- housemen for the merchandise which they hold for others. Those warehouses designated by the Treasurer of the United States as depositories for imported goods until payment of customs duties, the owner or importer giving a bond for the payment of duties, are known as bonded warehouses. Bonded warehouses are private enterprises conducted under the direct supervision of a Government storekeeper, but it is held that the Government assumes no duty as bailee or warehouseman, the sole liability being assumed by the ware- houseman. See Bailment; Carrier. Common; Lien; Safes and Safe Deposit Vaults. WAREHOUSE RECEIPT. A memorandinn given by a warehouseman acknowledging the deliveryof goods and chattels to him for storage, and usually containing the terms upon which he receives them. Technically, such receipts are not negotiable instruments, but they have been made so by statutes in many of the States, and every- where by reason of the general rule that ware- housemen cannot set up against an innocent pur- chaser for value a private agreement with the original bailor not set forth on the face of the re- ceipt, they may be transferred from one person to another with almost as much safety as if they were negotiable. However, even an innocent pur- chaser only obtains such title as the person wlio stored the "goods had; and, therefore, although he is protected as against the warehouseman, he docs not always get good title to the goods mentioned in the receipt. Warehouse receipts are frequently delivered as collateral for loans of money. See Bailment, and consult the authorities there referred to. WAREHOUSING SYSTEM. A plan for permitting the importer or manufacturer of goods which are subject to customs or excise duties to postpone the payment of such duties until withdrawal of the goods for consumption. Such goods must be deposited in warehouses, either public or private, but under the super- vision and control of revenue oHic<'rs. The ad- vantages of such a system to merchant or manu- facturer are the saving of interest on the sum of duty charges, the saving of duties on goods de- stroyed or damaged before withdrawal for con- sumption, and in the case of im]iortcd goods con- venience in reexportation. In ('(intincntal louro- pean countries the same end was attained in the eighteenth century by the creation of free ports, where goods miglit l)e stored, manufactured, and reexported without paying customs duties, and the same practice is in use in some European countries to-day. In the United States, up to 1842, credit for duties was granted the importer, provided he could furnish satisfactory security that the duties would be paid within a specified time. The warehousing system was introduced in England and France toward the close of the eighteenth century. In France the system was established on a broad basis in 1832, and has undergone little change. Goods are stored in either public or private warehouses, the latter requiring official sanction and official supervi- sion. The importance of the private warehouse in France is relatively far greater than in Eng- land or America, owing to the greater prom- inence of excise duties in Frencli finance. To establish public warehouses wherever dutiable ar- ticles are manufactured would call for too great a cost to the national treasury. In England, dur- ing the latter half of the nineteenth century the wareliousing system underwent a great development. The merchant with goods in bond- ed warehouse has practically the same control over his property as he would have if they were in his own storehouse. Such operations as re- packing may be performed in the warehouse, as also bottling of liquors, roasting of cofl'ee, etc. If any waste accompanies such ]iroccsses, a corre- sponding deduction is made from the quantity of goods on which duties must be paid. In the United .States the warehousing system was established in 1846, when it was enacted that goods might be deposited in public warehouses for a period not exceeding one year. In 1854 the establishment of private warehouses was per- mitted. According to the new law goods in warehouse not removed within one year, but with- in three, are subject to an additional p.ayment equal to ten per cent, of the original duties, to- gether with increased charges for storage and supervision. Since 1890 the period within which goods may be withdrawn without pa3'ment of additional duty has been three years. After this period has expired, the goods are forfeited and must be sold, the Secretary of the Treasury being authorized to pay the proceeds, over and above the duties and charges and expenses of sale, etc., to the consignee or owner of the goods. Bonded warehouses for imported goods are classified under six heads. (1) Government bonded warehouses, the buildings being owned or leased by the Government, and in the immediate custody "of the Collector of Customs. (2) Im- porters' bonded warehouses — jirivate warehouses, established by the Secretary of the Treasury as a special provision for a large importer. (.3) I'rivate bonded warehouses conducted by ju-i- vate parties who carry on a general storage business. Permission from the Secretary of the Treasury is prerequisite to the establish- ment of such warehouses, and the Government retains control over them and the goods stored. (4) Private bonded wareliouses consisting of yards or sheds for the storage of bilky products, (ii) Private bonded warehouses consisting of bins, etc., exclusively for the storage of im- ported grain. (0) Private bonded warehouses exclusively for the storage of imported wines and spirits. The growth of American export trade has resulted in the establishment of non- enumerated bonded warehouses for the nianu-