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guard goods laden into a lighter sent for them by the consignee until the loading of the lighter is complete. Any liability under that custom would be an obligation separate from and independent of liability under the Rules. Before goods are loaded and after they are unloaded the rights and obligations of the parties may be governed by contract or by local laws and customs. Only for the period of the voyage are they defined and standardised by the Rules.

In taking the time when the goods are received on the ship's tackle as the beginning of the period of "carriage of goods" and the time when the goods are unloaded from the ship's tackle as the end of that period, the Rules follow the terms of the Harter Act and Dominion legislation and the recommendations of the Imperial Shipping Committee, and also adopt the points of time which have been established in English law as marking the beginning and end of a sea carrier's duties.

The Rules, in fact, relate only to the period which was that covered by bills of lading before those documents had developed into contracts providing for a variety of additional services which may include collection and delivery before and after the voyage, and sometimes also transport overland and warehousing while in transit. A bill of lading, said Buller J. in the old case of Hyde v. Trent (1793), 5 T.R., 397, "is merely an undertaking to carry from port to port. A ship trading from one port to another has not the means of carrying the goods on land; and, according to the established course of trade, a delivery on the usual wharf is such a delivery as will discharge the carrier." That is still the established

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course of trade in some instances, as, for example, where a whole cargo is supplied by one shipper, or perhaps where one shipper supplies a substantial part of the cargo, but, where numerous miscellaneous small parcels of goods are shipped by a liner, the goods leave the merchant's possession long before they are received on the ship's tackle, and they are not delivered to the consignee himself when they are unloaded from the ship's tackle. If the carrier who undertakes the "carriage of goods" as defined in the Rules performs also additional services of the kind described, the terms on which these additional services are rendered must be looked for elsewhere than in the Rules.

On this point the Report of the Imperial Shipping Committee remarked:

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In accordance with the modern methods of commerce, there are frequent cases where the shipowner, especially the liner-owner, performs services as forwarding agent or warehouseman before 'loading' or after 'delivery from the ship.' We think that the new legislation should not affect such services, which we understand are not covered by any of the existing Dominion Acts.

"The Bill of Lading purports to be a receipt for the goods to be carried, as well as the contract for their carriage. Since the normal Bill of Lading opens with the word 'shipped,' the liability begins with the 'loading' and no question arises. In the case, however, of a 'received for shipment' Bill of Lading or other equivalent document, the proposed

uniform legislation should not affect services prior to 'loading.'

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Similarly, in regard to the close of the voyage, services by the shipowner when acting as warehouseman or forwarding agent subsequent to ' delivery from the ship' should also not be affected." As to loading and unloading see further the notes to Article III., clause 2 (p. 57).

Article II.-RISKS.

Subject to the provisions of Article V, under every contract of carriage of goods by sea the carrier, in regard to the handling, loading, stowage, carriage, custody, care and unloading of such goods, shall be subject to the responsibilities and liabilities, and entitled to the rights and immunities, hereinafter set forth.

NOTE ON ARTICLE II.

It has already been pointed out that the Hague Rules, so far as they go, are a complete and self-contained code not assuming or depending on the law of any particular country to provide a general basis of carrier's liability. They define the responsibilities and liabilities to which the parties agree that the sea carrier shall be subject, and also the rights and immunities to which they agree he shall be entitled. These are all set out in the Rules

themselves, and, though it is convenient to refer to established general rules of law for the purpose of comparison, and in order to explain the effect of the Hague Rules, it must be borne in mind all the time that the Hague Rules themselves constitute (when they are incorporated in a bill of lading) the basis, and the complete basis, on which the parties contract with each other so far as sea carrier's risks are concerned.

It is convenient then to remark, as already indicated in the Introduction, that, unless otherwise agreed, a sea carrier has, by English law, the duties of a common carrier—that is, while goods are in the sea carrier's custody, he is responsible for every injury sustained by the goods occasioned by any means whatever, except the act of God or the King's enemies, or arising from the natural deterioration or inherent vice or defects or unfitness of the goods themselves. (Smith's "Leading Cases," 1915, vol. i., p. 233.) Further, these exceptions may not relieve the sea carrier from responsibility if he has failed to carry out certain undertakings which are, by English law, implied in the contract. These are (1) that the ship is seaworthy, (2) that it shall commence and carry out the voyage with reasonable dispatch, and (3) that it shall not deviate unnecessarily (Carver, p. 29; Scrutton, pp. 91 and 228). These rules of law are referred to again in the notes on Seaworthiness (p. 51) and Deviation (p. 82).

Article III.-RESPONSIBILITIES AND
LIABILITIES.

1. The carrier shall be bound before and at the beginning of the voyage to exercise due diligence to

(a) make the ship seaworthy;

(b) properly man, equip and supply the ship; (c) make the holds, refrigerating and cool chambers, and all other parts of the ship in which goods are carried, fit and safe for their reception, carriage and preservation.

2. The carrier shall be bound to provide for the proper and careful handling, loading, stowage, carriage, custody, care, and unloading of the goods carried.

3. After receiving the goods into his charge the carrier or the master or agent of the carrier shall on the demand of the shipper issue a bill of lading showing amongst other things

(a) the leading marks necessary for identification of the goods as the same are furnished in writing by the shipper before the loading starts, provided such marks are stamped or

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