Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/311

Rh it was provided that in future all conditions limiting the liability of railway companies should be void unless they were reasonable, and were signed by the consignor, with a further proviso limiting the liability of railway companies for loss of, or injury to, animals and live stock committed to their care, to the following amounts:—

The companies are exempted from liability for any greater sums than these, unless the sender shall declare the value of the animals at the time of delivery to them, and pay a reasonable charge for insurance, to be fixed by the company, over and above the ordinary rate of carriage. In point of fact, the principle of the "Carriers' Act" is, with certain limitations, applied to the conveyance of live stock.

(12.) By an Act passed in 1845 the railway company is empowered, in any case where they fail to recover the charges payable for the carriage of goods, to detain and sell the goods, and to retain out of the profits of the sale the amount due to them for freight, rendering up the surplus, if any, to the owner of the goods. The carrier may, however, sue for his carriage and is not obliged to rely entirely upon his lien on the goods where they are not equivalent in value to the amount of the freight.

(13.) A railway company is also entitled to retain possession of the goods until the amount due for freight has been paid.

(14.) We have seen in clause 3 that the liability of a