57 Ga. 410 | Ga. | 1876
Bills of lading are often mentioned in the books as negotiable instruments; and so they are, in a general sense, for they are symbolic of the property which they describe, and when there is a design to pass the property, that purpose may be accomplished by transferring the bills. But where the common law prevails and no statutes have been passed to better their standing, bills of lading do not enjoy the full dignity of negotiable paper, proper; that is, the mere possession of them in a state apparently regular, and under circumstances apparently innocent, does not always enable the holder to negotiate them with full protection to a bona fide purchaser. If they, are stolen, or procured from the owner by fraud, or entrusted to an agent for mere custody and safe keeping, they occupy much the same, or perhaps exactly the same, position that the property itself would occupy if it were thus dealt with instead of the bills which represent it. That they are on a dif
Judgment affirmed.