107 Ga. 512 | Ga. | 1899
In the absence of the agreement or custom existing among Waller & Co., the Atlanta Grocery Co., and the Western & Atlantic Railroad Co., the defendant, prior to the issuance of the bills of lading by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co., the initial line, it was the duty of the defendant, under the terms of the bills of lading and the way-bills it received with the corn, to safely transport the corn from Chattanooga to Atlanta within a reasonable time, and deliver it at the latter place to the connecting line en route to Charleston, ■there to be delivered to the order of the consignors. While the Ohio Banking & Trust Co., the plaintiff, as transferee of the bills of lading, having a special property in the corn as security for the payment of the drafts on the Atlanta Grocery Co., which it had discounted, had the right, subject to the defendant’s claim for the difference in freight, to change the destination of the corn and have it stopped in Atlanta, the Atlanta Grocery Co., which the bills of lading and the way-bills plainly indicated was not the consignee or owner of the. corn, had no such authority. 5 Am. &Eng. Enc. L. 214, 215. What effect did the agreement or custom existing among the consign
One of the common uses of bills of lading is to enable sellers of goods to obtain advances upon their shipments by .drawing on the purchasers for the price of the goods, attaching the bill of lading to the draft, and having the draft discounted by some bank, which holds the bill of lading and relies upon its terms as security for the payment of the draft. The carrier must have knowledge that the bill of lading may be so used and thus get into the hands of a bona fide holder, and is bound to see that the goods are not delivered until the draft is paid and the bill of lading produced. To permit the rights of a bank, in goocl faith and without notice, discounting a _draft with a bill of lading attached, and_ relying on the terms of the bill of lading as security, to be affected by an existing arrangement or custom among the consignor, the purchaser or "person to be notified of arrival, and the carrier, that goods should be delivered to the purchaser or person to be notified, "or that he •shouldTiave the right to change their destination, without payment of the draft and production of tbh'ibMlQf_lading, would be a gross fraud upon the bank, and manifestly result in preventing shippers getting advances on goods .sold, by drawing for the purchase-price, attaching draft to bill of lading, and having same discounted. It may be that the judge below, who tried this case without a jury, while admitting the evidence as to the agreement or custom mentioned, did not consider it when he came to render his judgment, but decided the case as if no such agreement or custom had been proved. The evidence .admitted upon this subject was clearly incompetent. The general rule is, that a bill of lading, as a contract expressing the terms and conditions upon which the property is to be transported, is to be regarded as the sole evidence of the final agreement in which are merged all prior and contemporaneous agreements of the parties, and, in the absence of frau'd or mistake, its terms or legal effect, when free from ambiguity, can not be explained, added to, or contradicted by parol. 4 Am. •& Eng. Ene. L. 536. Nor is evidence of usage admissible to
The liability of a common carrier ceases if the goods are taken from his possession by legal process (Savannah R. Co. v. Wilcox, Gibbs & Co., 48 Ga. 432), but in order that such a seizure may excuse him, it must have been made -without’laches, connivance, or collusion on his part. Hutch. Car. §4916. In the present case the defendant, without any legal authority for so doing, stopped the four cars of bulk corn, which were en route to Charleston, in Atlanta, permitted the Atlanta Grocery Co. to have the corn sacked, and then stored it in its own warehouse in Atlanta, where it remained for nearly two months, and was then levied upon as the property of Waller & Co., under an attachment sued out against that firm by the Atlanta Grocery Co. But for the wrongful stoppage and storage of the corn in Atlanta by the defendant, it is quite certain that it would not have been seized by the sheriff, and the defendant should not be permitted to plead, as an excuse for its failure to deliver it upon the plaintiff’s demand, a seizure which was brought about in consequence of its own unauthorized and wrongful act. The judgment of the court was demanded under the law and the facts.
Judgment affirmed.