of what law should be applied to events not contemplated by the contract; but in the case before me the contract is precise in its language, and does contemplate the happening of events which might impede the execution of the contract, and provides that with one special exception, viz,- the dangers of the seas only excepted," such events shall not excuse the shipowner from the fulfilment of the contract. I must presume that the German system of jurisprudence, like that of other states, would construe according to its plain meaning such a contract as the present. According to the natural construction of the language of this contract the breaking out of the war did not relieve the shipowner from the obligation of fulfilling his contract."

A claim was made by an American citizen in the winding-up of a British Steamship Company for damages for the loss of his cattle arising through the negligence of the master and crew. The ship in which the cattle were carried was a British ship trading between Boston and Liverpool. The charterparty contained express stipulations exempting the company from liability caused by the negligence of the master and crew. The cattle were shipped at Boston, and bills of lading were given there, in conformity with the contract. The ship stranded on the coast of North Wales owing, as was admitted, to the negligence of the master and crew. According to the law of the State of Massachusetts, as ascertained, the stipulations exempting the owners Kay v. Wheeler, L. R. 2 C. P. 302.

1

from liability through negligent navigation were void; but according to English law such stipulations were good, and were usually inserted in English bills of lading. The question was whether the law of the flag (that is to say the personal law of the shipowner or the lex loci contractús) should govern the contract of affreightment.

Held, on the authority of Lloyd v. Guibert,' that the stipulations were valid, first, on the general ground that the contract was governed by the law of the flag; and, secondly, on the particular ground that from the special provisions of the contract itself it appeared that the parties were contracting with a view to the law of England.

The master of a German ship while at Constantinople, by a charter-party, partly in English and partly in German, and entered into with Germans, chartered his ship to take a cargo from Taganrog to England, Havre or Hamburg:-It was held, that the contract must be construed according to German law.3

Where the defendants were an English limited company, but their ships were registered in Holland in the name of a Dutch company composed of the same persons as the defendants' company, and carried the Dutch flag. The contract was in English and made at an English port. Held in a case of collision that the defendants' liability depended on English law.'

1 L. R. 1 Q. B. 115.

Re the Missouri S. S. Co. Monroe's claim, 6 Asp. M. L. C. 261, 423.

* The Express, L. R. 3 A. & E. 597.

Ch. Merc. Bank of India &c. v. Netherlands India S. N. Co., L. R. 10 Q. B. D. 521; 5 Asp. M. L. C. 65.

When cargo is shipped on board a foreign vessel it becomes subject to the law of the flag of the ship in which it is shipped, in incidents arising out of the contract of shipment and with regard to which the contract is silent. He who ships goods on board a foreign ship puts them on board to be dealt with by the law of the country of the ship, unless there is a stipulation to the contrary.

This principle was laid down by Brett, J. in the case of "The Gaetano & Maria," where goods were shipped by British subjects under a charter-party made in London for the carriage of goods to England in an Italian ship. It was later considered to be a binding authority in the case of "The August," where Sir J. Hannen held, that "the master could only be expected to act in conformity with the law of his flag," which was German, though the cargo was shipped at Singapore for London by British subjects under English bills of lading in the usual form, under a charter-party made at Bremen between German subjects.

By a charter-party, on an ordinary English printed form, negotiated and made in London between the London broker of the plaintiff, a German shipowner domiciled in Germany, and the defendants, merchants in London, it was agreed that the plaintiff's ship, which was under German colours, with a German master, and then in a French port, should proceed to Akyab, Rangoon or Bassein, according

14 Asp. M. L. C. 538; The Karnak, L. R. 2 P. C. 505.

2 L. R. (1891) P. 328.

to orders, and there load, from the defendant's agents, a cargo of rice, and being so loaded proceed to Scilly, Falmouth, Plymouth, or Cowes, for orders to discharge in the United Kingdom or on the Continent between Havre and Hamburg, "freight being payable at and after the rate of 358. sterling per ton of 20 cwt. net delivered. The act of God, the Queen's enemies, restraints of princes and rulers, fire, and all and every other dangers and accidents of the seas, rivers and navigation of whatever nature and kind soever, during the said voyage, always excepted. . . The freight to be paid on right delivery of cargo if discharged in the United Kingdom; in cash as customary and if on the Continent, in cash at the exchange of the day of final discharge without discount."

The vessel proceeded to Bassein, and there loaded a cargo of rice belonging to the defendants, the master signing a bill of lading making the rice deliverable to the defendants' order, freight and all other conditions as per charter-party. On the voyage the vessel met with heavy weather, and her master, for the safety of the ship and cargo, put into Port Elizabeth, where a portion of the cargo was found to be so much damaged by sea-water, that, on survey, it was condemned as unfit for reshipment and sold by the master.

The plaintiff sued the defendants for full freight on the portion of the cargo so sold at the port of distress:-Held, by the Court of Appeal, that the defendants were not liable, as the intention of the

Classification of Ship.

parties was to make an English contract, and the payment of freight being expressly dealt with in the charter-party, none was payable on the portion of the cargo sold in the port of distress.

All iron or steel vessels are classed A, with a numeral prefixed, so long as on careful annual and periodical surveys they are found to be in a fit and efficient condition to carry dry and perishable cargoes to and from all parts of the world.

It must, however, be distinctly understood that the numerals prefixed to the letter A such as 100A, or 90A, do not signify terms of years, but are intended for the purpose of comparison only, denoting their relative strength; the character A assigned being for an indefinite period, subject to annual and periodical surveys, as set forth in the rules in Lloyd's Register."

The words descriptive of the quality of the ship, as, for instance that she is A1, amount to a warranty and is a material part of the contract. If therefore the ship is stated in the charter-party to be Al, and proves to have been of an inferior class at the time the charter-party was entered into, the charterer would not be bound to load."

Where a charter-party was entered into at New York for a vessel called the "Hannah Eastee," which was described in the charter-party, as "A1, British brig Hannah Eastec' of Liverpool," but as the

1 The Industrie, L. R. (1891) P. 53.

2 M. M. N. vol. 8 p. 86. Ollive v. Booker, 17 L. J. Ex. 21.