BILLS OF LADING. COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE, April 13, 1916. The committee this day met, Hon. William C. Adamson (chairman), presiding. (The bill under consideration (S. 19) is as follows:) AN ACT relating to bills of lading in interstate and foreign commerce. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress Assembled, That bills of lading issued by any common carrier for the transportation of goods in any Territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, or from a place in a State to a place in a foreign country, or from a place in one State to a place in another State, or from a place in one State to a place in the same State through another State or foreign country, shall be governed by this Act. SEC. 2. That a bill in which it is stated that the goods are consigned or destined to a specified person is a straight bifl. SEC. 3. That a bill in which it is stated that the goods are consigned or destined to the order of any person named in such bill is an order bill. Any provision in such a bill or in any notice, contract, rule regulation, or tariff that it is nonnegotiable shall be null and void and shall not affect is negotiability within the meaning of this Act. SEC. 4. That order bills issued in a State for the transportation of goods to any place in the United States on the Continent of North America, except Alaska and Panama, shall not be issued in parts or sets. If so issued, the carrier issuing them shall be liable for failure to deliver the goods described therein to anyone who purchases a part for value in good faith, even though the purchase be after the delivery of the goods by the carrier to a holder of one of the other parts: Provided, however, That nothing contained in this section shall be interpreted or construed to forbid the issuing of order bills in parts or sets for such transportation of goods to Alaska, Panama, Porto Rico. the Philippines, Hawaii, or foreign countries, or to impose the liabilities set forth in this section for so doing. SEC. 5. That when more than one order bill is issued in a State for the same goods to be transported to any place in the United States on the Concinent of North America, except Alaska and Panama, the word "duplicate," or some oher word or words indicating that the document is not an original bill, shall be placed plainly upon the face of every such bill except the one first issued. A carrier shall be liable for the damage caused by his failure so to do to anyone who has purchased the bill for value in good faith as an original, even though the purchase be after the delivery of the goods by the carrier to the holder of the original bill: Provided, however, That nothing contained in this section shall in such case for such transportation of goods to Alaska, Panama, Porto Rico, the Philippines, Hawaii, or foreign countries be interpreted or construed so as to require the placing of the word duplicate" thereon, or to impose the liabilities set forth in this section for failure so to do. 66 SEC. 6. That a straight bill shall have placed plainly upon its face by the carrier issuing it "nonnegotiable" or not negotiable." This section shall not apply, however, to memoranda or acknowledgments of an informal character. 3 SEC. 7. That the insertion in an order bill of the name of a person to be notified of the arrival of the goods shall not limit the negotiability of the bill or constitute notice to a purchaser thereof of any rights or equities of such person in the goods. SEC. 8. That a carrier, in the absence of some lawful excuse, is bound to deliver goods upon a demand made either by the consignee named in the bill for the goods or, if the bill is an order bill, by the holder thereof, if such a demand is accompanied by (a) An offer in good faith to satisfy the carrier's lawful lien upon the goods; (b) An offer in good faith to surrender, properly indorsed, the bill which was issued for the goods, if the bill is an order bill; and (c) A readiness and willingness to sign, when the goods are delivered, an acknowledgment that they have been delivered, if such signature is requested by the carrier. In case the carrier refuses or fails to deliver the goods, in compliance with a demand by the consignee or holder so accompanied, the burden shall be upon the carrier to establish the existence of a lawful excuse for such refusal or failure. SEC. 9. That a carrier is justified, subject to the provisions of the three following sections, in delivering goods to one who is― (a) A person lawfully entitled to the possession of the goods, or (b) The consignee named in a straight bill for the goods, or (c) A person in possession of an order bill for the goods, by the terms of which the goods are deliverable to his order; or which has been indorsed to him, or in blank by the consignee, or by the mediate or immediate indorsee of the consignee. SEC. 10. That where a carrier delivers goods to one who is not lawfully entitled to the possession of them, the carrier shall be liable to anyone having a right of property or possession in the goods if he delivered the goods otherwise than as authorized by subdivisions (b) and (c) of the preceding section; and, though he delivered the goods as authorized by either of said subdivisions, he shall be so liable if prior to such delivery he— (a) Had been requested, by or on behalf of a person having a right of property or possession in the goods, not to make such delivery, or (b) Had information at the time of the delivery that it was to a person not lawfully entitled to the possession of the goods. Such request or information, to be effective within the meaning of this section, must be given to an officer or agent of the carrier, the actual or apparent scope of whose duties includes action upon such a request or information, and must be given in time to enable the officer or agent to whom it is given, acting with reasonable diligence, to stop delivery of the goods. SEC. 11. That except as provided in section twenty-six, and except when compelled by legal process, if a carrier delivers goods for which an order bill had been issued, the negotiation of which would transfer the right to the possession of the goods, and fails to take up and cancel the bill, such carrier shall be liable for failure to deliver the goods to anyone who for value and in good faith purchases such bill, whether such purchaser acquired title to the bill before or after the delivery of the goods by the carrier and notwithstanding delivery was made to the person entitled thereto. SEC. 12. That except as provided in section twenty-six, and except when compelled by legal process, if a carrier delivers part of the goods for which an order bill had been issued and fails either (a) To take up and cancel the bill, or (b) To place plainly upon it a statement that a portion of the goods has been delivered with a description which may be in general terms either of the goods or packages that have been so delivered or of the goods or packages which still remain in the carrier's possession, he shall be liable for failure to deliver all the goods specified in the bill to anyone who for value and in good faith purchases it, whether such purchaser acquired title to it before or after the delivery of any portion of the goods by the carrier, and notwithstanding such delivery was made to the person entitled thereto. SEC. 13. That any alteration, addition, or erasure in a bill after its issue without authority from the carrier issuing the same, either in writing or noted on the bill, shall be void, whatever be the nature and purpose of the change, and the bill shall be enforceable according to its original tenor. SEC. 14. That where an order bill has been lost, stolen, or destroyed, a court of competent jurisdiction may order the delivery of the goods upon satisfactory |