to recover the balance due to him after sale of the pledge for less than the amount of the debt.

A pawnbroker has certain liabilities.

(1) He is liable for loss by fire, and he should therefore protect himself by insurance.

(2) If he takes stolen goods in pledge, or goods not the property of the pledgor, he may be sued for conversion or detinue,

and be compelled to restore them to the rightful owner without compensation.

It was held in Hastings v. Pearson (1892) that where a person entrusted with goods for the purpose of sale pledges them with a pawnbroker, the former is not a mercantile agent "acting in the ordinary course of business of a mercantile agent," and the pawnbroker is not protected by Section 2 of the Factors Act from an action by the owner to recover the goods.

(3) If by default or neglect of the pawnbroker the pledge suffers any injury or depreciation, he may be compelled summarily to pay reasonable compensation to the

owner.

A pawnbroker is indemnified against giving the goods to a person not entitled to them, provided such person produces the pawn ticket, as he is presumed to be the person entitled to redeem the pledge. But this does not protect the pawnbroker against the owner of property which is pledged against his will; it only applies as between the pawnbroker and the person who pledged or authorized the pledge of the goods. [Singer Manufacturing Co. v. Clark (1879)].

When the pawnbroker sells a pledged article there is no warranty of title on his part. He can only transfer the rights. which he himself had, so that, as in Morley v. Attenborough (1873), if a pawnbroker should sell an unredeemed pledge which afterwards proves to have been stolen and which is restored to the true owner, the buyer has no remedy against the pawnbroker.

LIEN

There are three kinds of lien-possessory, maritime and equitable.

A lien is a "right" either to retain goods or to have property dealt with in a particular manner. It will perhaps be an advantage to understand what, in this connection, a "right" is, before considering in more detail the different kinds of lien. A right here may be defined as an intangible interest in or over property, which interest may be enforced by legal action, for instance, a right to stoppage in transitu, already referred to. (t) Here the (t) See ante, p. 141.

person who possesses the right has an interest in the goods, although they have already been handed to a carrier for conveyance to the purchaser. The seller still retains an intangible interest which, in the event of certain circumstances, he may enforce by appropriate legal action.

Such rights accrue generally by reason of property being in the possession of one party, who has done something either to the goods or for the benefit of the person who would otherwise be entitled to the goods free from all encumbrance. In the instance given above of stoppage in transitu, the seller had done something for the benefit of the buyer, who is the person entitled to the goods subject to this intangible interest. What he had done was to allow the buyer to have the goods consigned to him without himself receiving the purchase price.

In the case of the lien of an innkeeper, the innkeeper has done something for the benefit of the guest, who is owner of the goods, viz., he has supplied the guest with lodging and food without asking for cash in exchange as each article of food was handed to him, i.e., he has given him credit.

The right thus vested in the person who owns it is often of very great value, not so much intrinsically as in that it is useful as a lever to compel the owner of the goods to pay what he owes the person who owns this right in or over the goods. There is no doubt that the reason why innkeepers are usually paid promptly by their guests, is that if a guest's accounts are not paid, the innkeeper's right of lien comes into existence, and he can prevent the guest from taking away his baggage if he should seek to do so while his account is unpaid.

Discharge of Lien.-There are several methods by which the lien may be discharged

(1) By payment of the amount owing.

(2) By parting with possession of the property.

(3) By the giving of credit for the amount owing.

(4) By accepting security in return for discharging the lien.

Possessory Lien.

A Possessory Lien is the right of one man to retain that which is lawfully in his possession but belonging to another, until certain demands of the possessor against the owner are satisfied.

The lien is lost if the person who has the lien takes a security for payment, e.g., a bill of exchange, but should the instrument be dishonoured while the creditor still holds the goods the right of lien revives if the instrument is still in his hands, but not if it is in the hands of a third party. As a rule, a possessory lien confers no right of sale, except that an unpaid

seller of goods has in certain cases a right of re-sale (u), and that innkeepers have certain statutory powers of sale under the Innkeepers Act, 1878, and wharfingers under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.

Such a lien may be either general or particular.

General Lien. The law leans against a general and in favour of a particular lien, and a general lien therefore can only exist where it arises from custom or is founded on contract. It is the right of retaining goods not only for a debt in connection with them, but in respect of a general balance of account due, e.g., the right of a solicitor to retain his client's papers until the general balance due to him is paid. But a solicitor cannot refuse to produce any papers that are required in a particular action. Such a lien exists in connection with bankers, factors, solicitors, stockbrokers, and insurance brokers.

Particular Lien. -This is a right to retain the particular goods in connection with which a certain debt has arisen, e.g., the ordinary right of a seller to retain the goods until payment of the price; a carrier to retain goods delivered to him for carriage until payment of his charges; an innkeeper can retain his guest's goods until his account is settled; a shipowner may retain the cargo until the freight is paid. The lien may arise by implication or by express agreement, e.g., where labour or skill have been exercised upon a particular thing the workman has an implied lien for the cost.

The innkeeper's right of lien is not only on property brought to the inn by the guest, but also on property sent to him there, even though it does not belong to the guest and the innkeeper is aware of it, except, however, goods the property of a third person, sent to the guest for a temporary purpose, e.g., a piano on hire. In Robins v. Gray (1895), a commercial traveller had samples of goods sent to him at an inn, and as he had not paid his account the landlord detained the samples. It was held that the innkeeper had a right of lien thereon.

Maritime Lien.

A maritime lien is a right of lien which attaches to a ship in connection with some liability incurred and arising out of a maritime adventure, but it does not depend on possession, and herein differs from the lien considered above. Examples areliens arising out of salvage claims, for seamen's wages, for damage by collision, the lien of a bottomry bondholder. For further consideration of these points, see Chapter 7. A maritime lien (u) See ante, p. 142.

is enforceable by arrest and sale, through the medium of the Admiralty Court.

Equitable Lien.

An equitable lien has nothing to do with possession. It is merely a right to have a specific portion of property dealt with in a particular manner, e.g., the right of a partner on dissolution of the partnership to have the assets of the partnership applied to the payment of the joint liabilities.

Bond.

A bond is a security for the payment of a sum of money, or for the performance of some other act. As a rule, a bond has a condition attached whereby it is declared to become void if the person bound (who is termed the obligor) does a particular act within a stated time, but if he does not do it then the sum mentioned in the bond is forfeited. If no such condition is annexed the bond is termed a "single" bond.

Where a bond is entered into for the payment of a certain sum by a specified date, with the condition that on failure to pay by the due date the sum shall be increased to a larger amount, the creditor cannot necessarily claim the larger amount, which is in the nature of a penalty, but can only recover the principal sum, with interest and costs.

A bond must be under seal, and it merges in itself all antecedent debts on which it is founded.

The attendance of witnesses in criminal proceedings is secured by a bond, which in this case is termed "recognizance." If the witness should not attend as directed he forfeits the sum mentioned in the bond.

CHAPTER 7

SHIPPING

The whole of the law relating to the registration and ownership of British ships, and generally as to merchant shipping, has been codified by the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and slightly amended by short Acts passed in 1897, 1900, 1906, and 1907. Where reference to the Act of 1894 is necessary it is referred to herein as "the Act." The Act is a very lengthy document consisting of 748 sections and twenty-two Schedules, so that obviously it is impossible here to consider it in detail, nor would that be necessary for the purpose of this work. It is proposed, therefore, to notice here, briefly, the law as it relates to

All British ships, with certain exceptions, are required by the Act to be registered and, if not so registered, are not recognized as British ships. The following are the excepted ships

(1) Ships not exceeding fifteen tons burden employed solely in navigation on rivers or coasts of the United Kingdom, or on the rivers or coasts of some British possession within which the managing owners of the ships are resident.

(2) Ships not exceeding thirty tons burden, and not having a whole or fixed deck and employed solely in fishing or trading coastwise on the shores of Newfoundland or parts adjacent thereto, or in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, or on such portions of the coasts of Canada as lie bordering on that gulf.

Before a vessel may be registered, the following prescribed requisites must be satisfied