76 N.J. Eq. 587 | N.J. | 1910
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The bill of complaint in this cause sets out that the complainant was engaged in the business of warehousing valuable goods for hire, and that Joseph M. Rector deposited with it a box, for which a receipt was given to the depositor; that subsequently Emily M. Rector, claiming to be the owner, notified the complainant not to deliver the box or its contents to Joseph M. Rector, as it belonged to her, and demanded delivery; that the depositor also demanded delivery to him, and that each claimant threatened to bring a suit against complainant to recover the contents of the box. The prayer is that the claimants be required, to interplead concerning the ownership of the property. A general demurrer for want of equity was interposed by Joseph M. Rector, which the vice-chancellor sustained, and to review that conclusion this appeal was taken.
The complainant rests its right to relief upon a statute of this state entitled “An act concerning warehouse receipts and to make uniform the law relating thereto” (P. L. 1907 p. 84-1). section 17 of which provides that if more than one person claim the title or possession of the goods deposited with a warehouseman he may, either as a defence against non-delivery, or in an original suit, require all known claimants to interplead. Section 18 enacts that if someone other than the depositor, or person claiming under him, has a claim to the title or possession of the goods, and the warehouseman had information thereof, he shall be excused from liability for refusing to deliver the goods, either to the depositor or to the adverse claimant, until he has had a reasonable time to ascertain the validity of the adverse claim, or to bring legal proceedings to compel all claimants to inter-plead. Therefore, if complainant received the goods from the depositor, as a warehouseman, in compliance with the terms of
“Certificate of Receipt For Valuables.
“No. 1740.
“Received of Dr. J. M. Rector of Jersey City, N. J. to be placed in one of the storage vaults of the Company for safe keeping one (1) Package, contents unknown to the Company, described and valued by said J. M. Rector as follows, viz.:
“Silverware .....................................$500.
“Total valuation Five Hundred Dollars, on which...................
Dollars have been paid for................storage up to..............
“Upon re-delivery of the above mentioned package to the depositor the liability of the Company will cease without reference to the contents thereof.”
The determination of the vice-chancellor, as expressed in his opinion, was "that until a bailee of goods has issued a warehouse receipt in conformity to the requirements of the second section of the act, he has not brought himself within the privilege which the legislature has intended to confer by sections 17 and 18.” The specific requirements which the vice-chancellor finds to be absent are, "a statement whether the goods received will be delivered to ihe bearer or to a specified person or his order,” and also "the rate of storage charges.”
We think that the clause in the receipt which reads, "upon redelivery of the above-mentioned package to the depositor, the liability of the company will cease without reference to the contents thereof,” justifies the inference that the goods will be delivered to a specified person, that is, to the depositor, for a "redelivery of the above-mentioned package to the depositor,” can only mean that the goods were to be delivered to him, and not to bearer, or to the order of a specified person, the provision in the statute being “a statement whether the goods received will be delivered to the bearer, to a specified person, or to a specified
The receipt in this case is not a negotiable one, and it is not pretended that any person has suffered any damage because of the alleged omission of two of the terms named in the act, but the warehouseman in such case is liable under section 7 to any person purchasing a receipt, supposing it to be negotiable, if the warehouseman neglects to mark it "non-negotiable.” In each case the terms recited in the act are rather for the benefit of third persons or innocent holders, than the original parties,
Section 7 of the act, in referring to non-negotiable receipts, imposes upon the warehouseman the duty of plainly placing upon its face the words “not negotiable,” if he would escape the same liability to the holder of such a receipt who had purchased it for value, supposing it to be negotiable, as he would have incurred had the receipt been negotiable, and then provides that the section shall not apply to letters, memoranda or written acknowledgments of an informal character, plainly recognizing receipts or written acknowledgments differing from those described in section 2.
We are of opinion that a receipt or memorandum given by a warehouseman to his bailor, which shows that the property described therein was received from the bailor, by the warehouseman, for safe-keeping, in the ordinary course of his business, is a sufficient warehouseman’s receipt to entitle him, under the statute, to require his bailor and an adverse claimant to interplead and settle their respective rights to the property, although the receipt may not embrace all of the terms set out in section 2 of the act. This result makes it unnecessary to pass upon the question raised by the appellant here whether, without regard to the act of 1907, the bill can be sustained, and no opinion is expressed on that point.
The suggestion made by the respondent that the complainant is not a warehouseman, is sufficiently answered by reference to the statute and the bill of complaint. Section 58 declares “warehouseman” to mean a person lawfully engaged in the business of storing goods for profit, and the bill of complaint alleges that the complainant is conducting the business of running safe deposit vaults, and warehousing valuable goods and chattels for hire, which sufficiently describes “warehouseman” as defined by the act, and on demurrer the statements contained in the bill of complaint are assumed to be true.
The result is that the order sustaining the demurrer filed by Joseph M. Rector, one of the defendants, should be reversed, with costs, and it is so ordered.
For reversal—Tins Chief-Justice, Garrison, Swayze, Reed, Trenchard, Parker, Bergen, Voorhees, Mjnturn, Bogert, Vredenburgh, Vroom, Gray, Congdon—14.