86 Mass. 520 | Mass. | 1862
It is undoubtedly a general rule, that the liability of a common carrier for goods received by him begins as soon as they are delivered to him, his agents or servants, at the place appointed or provided for their reception, when they are in a fit and proper condition and ready for immediate transportation. Redfield on Railways, 246. But, like all other general rules, it is subject to modifications .resulting from the express stipulations of the parties, or from the course and usages oí trade and business. And as it sometimes happens that a party is at once a warehouseman and a carrier, and that goods received by him are lost and destroyed before they are put in itinere, a very important question may in such case arise whether the receiver is liable in the one or the other capacity; for his responsibility is not co-extensive in each of those relations. Story on Bailments, § 535. This must always be a question of fact, to be determined upon proof of the actual and surrounding circumstances, the material point of inquiry being whether the one or the other character predominated in the
These being the rules by which the rights of the parties are to be determined, it can of course malte no difference by whom the property is delivered, whether it be by the owner himself or by his agent or servant, nor whether that agent be himself a carrier or acts in any other capacity. It is the paramount duty of a common carrier to receive and carry all goods offered him for transportation, upon the payment or tender of a suitable fare or compensation; and he must so receive them, by whomsoever they are brought to the place where he makes arrangements to receive them for transportation. Story on Bailments, § 508. It is upon this principle, where no special obligation is imposed by acts of legislation, that one corporation whose railroad connects with, or is near to, the termination of the railroad of another corporation, is obliged to accept and receive for transportation any goods which may be brought and tendered to it by the servants of the latter. But in this as in all other cases the party bringing the goods must first do whatever is essential to enable the carrier to commence, or to make needful preparations for commencing, the service required of him, before he can be made liable or subjected to responsibility in that capacity. When
In applying these principles to the facts which were developed upon the trial of the present action, there is no difficulty in determining what are the rights and obligations of the parties. From the statements in the bill of exceptions, it appears, that the plaintiff’s goods, contained in two boxes marked “ G. C. Judson, Springfield, Mass., by railroad,” were delivered at Fonda
It appears from the evidence produced at the trial that by the course of business between these two roads it is the practice of the Central road, upon the arrival of freight from points on the line of its road destined for points on the line of the Western Railroad, to make out bills called expense bills, containing the freight charges of the Central road upon each parcel or lot of freight, and to send the goods by carmen with the expense bills across the river to the freight house of the Western Railroad where the goods are compared by the agents of the latter road, and if found to be correct are checked and handed to a clerk who enters them on the books of freight received, from which the way bills are made out. Upon the arrival of the plaintiff’s goods at Albany, they were sent across the river by the New York Central Railroad Company in the usual manner, and were delivered at the freight house of the defendants at the
The general instructions which were given to the jury respecting the liability of the defendants and the capacity in which they were liable, whether as carriers or as warehousemen, were correct. But it is apparent from the uncontested evidence in the case that, according to the usage and the general course of business and from the regulations established by the two companies, until the expense bill was furnished to the defendants, the goods delivered at their freight station were not in condition for immediate transportation. That document was indispensably necessary to them, to enable them to undertake the transportation of the goods. It was indispensable in order to identify the package or parcel to be carried, and also to show the amount of the lien upon them in favor of the Central company for the previous transportation from Fonda to Albany, and for which, upon accepting them, the defendants by the usage between the two companies would become responsible; and it afforded the only means by which they could make out their own freight bill, or know what disposition was to be made of the goods, or what was the place of destination to which they were to be carried. Until that instrument was sent to them, they could make no arrangement for the transportation of the goods; and because they were not for want of it ready to be immediately transported, the defendants could only suffer the
It is obvious that in the conduct of business of such magnitude, and in the care and transportation of the great number and variety of goods and packages which are continually passing from one railroad to another over any great line of travel and transportation, there must be some general and certain and well understood arrangement between the proprietors of the connecting roads to avoid inextricable confusion, and to enable the carriers to protect both their own rights and the rights of their customers. The arrangement which these two companies made, and which was fully proved at the trial, appears to have been a reasonable and necessary provision ; and therefore it was one to which all parties were bound to conform; and consequently the de.f?ndants have a right to insist that their liability shall not