declaration of excessive value has been duly made, such carrier becomes as liable for such animal or special goods, to the value declared (10519), as if the consignment had been ordinary goods; on the other hand,

OMISSION OF DECLARATION.

10525. Limited Liability.—If a person delivers to a carrier an animal or a consignment of special goods (10496) of greater value than the limit respectively provided by statute, and ignorantly, or incautiously, or designedly omits to make a formal and unequivocal declaration of value, the carrier is absolved from liability, beyond the limit respectively prescribed by statute, for loss or injury to the property from whatever cause, even though it can be proved to have arisen from negligence of the carrier or his servant, of the grossest character; but,

10526. Wilful Injury.-The omission of a person to declare the value of an animal or any property whatever, upon delivering it to a carrier, will not absolve the carrier from the consequences of wilful injury or misconduct; and

10527. Delay. Nothing in any of the Carriers' Acts will absolve a carrier in any case for delay in forwarding and delivering-that is quite a distinct obligation from the responsibility for value.

10528. Felony.-When a carrier receives animals or special goods (10496) of greater value than the limit respectively prescribed by statute, and no declaration of value is made by the sender, and no stipulation is made nor extra payment demanded by such carrier or his agent, though the carrier is absolved from liability for ordinary risks, he is still expressly liable for loss of the property through the felonious act of any of his servants, or through a felony proved to have arisen from the neglect of his servants; though,

10529. Suspicion Insufficient.—Suspicion of felony is not sufficient. 10530. Conviction Essential.-In order to render the carrier liable under that head, the felony alleged must be proved by a conviction of the offender.

10531. Personal Liability.—In some rare cases, though the carrier may escape the consequences of an act or default of his servant, the servant may be separately proceeded against for damages in addition to any criminal proceedings for which he may be liable; thus,

10532. Private Carrying.—If a servant of a carrier carries goods privately for a friend or for a bribe, the carrier is not liable to the consignor, though the servant is. In this connection it may be remarked that,

FOISTED GOODS.

10533. If goods are placed secretly by a consignor in or upon the conveyance of a carrier, without the knowledge of the carrier or any servant of his, neither the carrier nor any servant of his can be held liable.

10534. The whole proceeding as well as the consequence is entirely at the risk of the party so secretly acting, whatever the result may be.

UNLIMITED LIABILITY.

10535. Ordinary Animals.—The Acts which limit the liability of carriers with respect to certain animals (10509), cannot be applied or extended to limit in the slightest degree their liabilities with regard to animals not declared to be of greater values than those respectively provided in the Act; and

10536. Inferior Values.-The Acts which limit the liability of carriers with respect to certain special kinds of property (10496), cannot be applied to limit their liabilities upon consignments (other than sheep or pigs) of less than £10 in value; and

10537. Miscellaneous Property.—The Acts which limit the liability of carriers in respect of certain animals and special goods, cannot be extended to limit in any way their liability concerning miscellaneous property of any kind not specifically mentioned in the statutes (10496); furthermore,

NOTIFICATIONS OF LIMITED LIABILITY.

10538. Public Notices.-The liability of a carrier cannot be legally limited by any general notification he may make; for, 10539. Worthless.-Though a notification may be exhibited with great prominence in a carrier's office, and may appear on all his documents, and may, in fact, be actually and notoriously known by all his customers, yet such carrier's liability cannot be thereby abated one jot, unless the notification is authorized by Act of Parlia ment; consequently,

SPECIAL CONTRACTS.

10540. Only Security.-The only security for limited liability which a carrier can have, other than the statutes, is a special contract between him and his customer, individually, with respect to any particular consignment or class of consignments; provided that,

10541. Forced Contracts.—A carrier has no right to force a con

tract which purports to permit him to do less than it is his duty to do (10388); hence,

10542. Low Rates.-Most special contracts insisted upon by carriers are in consideration of a stipulation to carry at lower rates than the ordinary ones; or,

10543. Exceptional Property.—In the event of animals (10410) or goods being tendered for conveyance which the carrier is not legally bound to convey (10406).

VERBAL SPECIAL CONTRACTS.

10544. Verbal special contracts between carriers and their customers, with regard to terms of conveyance and conditions upon which goods are to be accepted, are absolutely void and inoperative in law; therefore,

WRITTEN OR DELIVERED.

10545. Every special contract between a carrier and a consignee, with respect to conditions upon which the former accepts property for conveyance, must be in writing and signed by the consignor, or in printing formally delivered to the consignor or his agent, otherwise it is of no effect; and

UNREASONABLE CONTRACTS.

10546. Though a contract between a carrier and a consignee may be in writing and duly signed, or printed and duly delivered, it may be void by reason of its being essentially unreasonable; hence,

10547. Inoperative.-Special contracts between carriers and their customers are peculiarly liable to be inoperative from the fact that the customer may not be bound, however solemnly he may have entered into the contract; for,

10548. Not Binding. It is expressly and emphatically decided that the contracts which carriers exact from their customers are not binding unless they are reasonable; and

10549. Repudiation.-The customer of a carrier may repudiate his contract with such carrier any time, unless it can be proved to be reasonable; thus,

10550. Double Rates.-If a carrier should perversely insist upon double the usual rate of carriage in defiance of law, and the customer should, to save time, pay the amount demanded, the customer can if he chooses recover the excess by action, unless some reasonable justification can be adduced for making the demand; and

DISPUTED CONTRACTS.

10551. Action Essential.-The reasonableness or unreasonableness of a contract between a carrier and a consignee may often be a question only determinable by an action; thus,

10552. Loss or Detention.-It has been held that a condition that a carrier should not be responsible for the loss, detention, or damage of goods insufficiently packed, is unreasonable; for,

10553. Damage.—Though bad packing may in some cases properly exonerate a carrier for damage, it cannot absolve him from the consequences of loss or detention.

10554. Repudiated Responsibility.-It has been held that though goods are conveyed at an excessively low rate, yet that will not avail to sustain a special contract that the carrier takes no responsibility whatever.

10555. All Risks.-A railway company induced a cattle dealer to sign a memorandum that "the owner undertakes all risks of loading, unloading, and carriage," and the condition was set aside as unreasonable; but,

10556. Three Days' Notice.—A special contract that all claims for damage should be made by requisition to a railway company within three days after delivery of goods, or within seven days after that upon which they should have been delivered, was held to be reasonable.

10557. Transferred Goods.-A special contract that a railway company's liability should "cease when such goods shall have been delivered over to another carrier, in the usual course, for further conveyance," was held to be reasonable.

10558. Meat-Loss of Market.—A special contract that a railway company "will not be responsible for any damage to meat, on the ground of loss of market, provided the same be delivered within a reasonable time after the arrival thereof at the station from whence the delivery is to be made," was held to be reasonable.

10559. Leakage and Breakage.-A special contract that a carrier will not be liable for leakage or breakage, will not exempt him from leakage or breakage caused by his own wilful misconduct or obvious want of common care.

REASONABLE CONDITIONS.

10560. Decisions have been arrived at which define special contracts of a certain character as sufficient to modify the risks of carriers; thus, the following are held to be reasonable and binding conditions under special contracts (10541):

10561. Goods conveyed at special or mileage rates must be loaded and unloaded by the owners or their agents, and the company will not be responsible for any risk of stowage, loss, or damage, however caused; nor for discrepancy in the delivery, as to either quantity, number, or weight; nor for the condition of articles so carried, nor for detention or delay in the conveying or delivery of them, however caused.

10562. The company will not, under any circumstances, be liable for loss of market, or other claim arising from delay or detention of any train, whether at starting, or at any of the stations, or in the course of the journey.

10563. The company is to be held free from all risk or responsibility in respect of any loss or damage arising in loading or unloading, from suffocation, or from being trampled on, bruised, or otherwise injured in transit, from fire, or from any other cause whatever.

10564. The company is not to be held responsible for carriage or delivery within any certain or definite time, nor in time for any particular market.

10565. No claim for deficiency, damage, or detention shall be allowed unless made within three days after delivery of the goods, nor for loss unless made within seven days after the time when they should have been delivered.

10566. The company will not be answerable for the loss or detention of any goods untruly or incorrectly described or declared in the declaration or receiving note furnished by the company.

FISH.

10567. The company will not undertake to convey fish except under the general conditions published at the railway stations in the train tables, and except under the following special conditions:-That the company shall not be responsible, under any circumstances, for loss of market, or other loss or injury arising from delay or detention of trains, exposure to weather, stowage, or from any cause whatever, other than gross neglect or fraud.

10568. Fish, under special conditions, will be conveyed by [certain specified trains]. No fish will be conveyed by the 10.45 A. M. up train. The company will not undertake to carry fish by the 7.10 P.M. up train, but in limited quantities, subject in all cases to the immediate convenience and arrangements of the company.

10569. The company hereby given otice that fish conveyed upon the railway is so conveyed by special agreement only, and on the express condition that the sender or his agent shall, on delivering the fish at the company's station or other place whence the same is to be conveyed, sign an order and declaration exempting the company from all liability for loss or injury arising from delay or detention of trains, or from other cause other than gross neglect or fraud (10583).

HORSES AND DOGS.

10570. The company will not be liable in any case for loss or damage to any horse or other animal above the value of £40, or any dog above the value of £5, unless a declaration of its value, signed by the owner or his agent at the time of booking, shall have been given to them; and by such declaration the owner shall be bound, the company not being in any event liable to any greater amount than the value so declared.

10571. The company will in no case be liable for any injury to any horse or other animal or dog of whatever value, when such injury arises wholly or partially from fear or restiveness.