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the custom of the trade to which it relates, for the parties are supposed to intend their contract to be carried out in the usual and customary manner.

The express provisions of the charter cannot be altered or varied by parol evidence, but parol evidence is admissible to explain its meaning,-for instance, by explaining some usage of trade applicable to the subject. (As to Trade Usages, see next page.)

The charter may be varied by subsequent instructions or arrangements which amount to an entirely new contract. But no verbal agreement which comes short of an entirely new contract can be enforced. When the parties have reduced their contract into writing that alone will bind them, and any alteration of the old contract must also be in writing, and must be properly stamped, the same as the original contract.

The printed part is of as great weight as the written part, although a different rule prevails in the case of insurance policies.

Both the validity of the contract and the interpretation of it depend on the law of the country where the contract is made, but the enforcing of it is governed by the law of the country where it is to be enforced.

If the voyage becomes illegal before it is commenced, the charter is considered to be rescinded; for instance, if war is declared with the State to which the ship is about to sail, or if the exportation of the cargo is prohibited by our Government at home.

CUSTOMS AND TRADE USAGES.

All mercantile agreements are construed according to the known and established usage of the trade in connection with which they are made. The parties entering

into the contract are supposed tacitly to agree that it is to be performed according to the universal custom of the trade, unless they insert express provisions in it which are inconsistent with, or contrary to, the usage, and then, of course, the words of the contract will exclude the operation of the usage, for the evidence of the usage is only admissible to explain the supposed intention of the parties, and not to contradict what they have agreed to.

In giving judgment in one case, Lord Campbell said, "the parties are supposed to leave to implication and tacit understanding all those general and unvarying incidents which a uniform usage would annex, and according to which they must in reason be understood to contract, unless they expressly exclude them." Evidence of a usage, therefore, is only admissible when both parties may be supposed to be cognizant of the usage. Persons engaged in trade are supposed to know all the general customs of the trade they engage in, but it is otherwise as to merely local customs. Usages of a particular port are not binding on a stranger not resident at that port, and who is ignorant of the usage, for the only reason on which a custom is allowed to form part of the contract is because both of the parties are supposed to know of the custom.

To be valid, a usage must be a legal one. A usage which is contrary to the law cannot be set up to control or alter the law.

TIME CHARTERS.

If a ship is chartered by the "month," calendar months are understood, and not lunar months. If no period is named when the time is to commence, it begins to run

from the time the vessel first breaks ground, and commences her voyage, and the freight becomes due at the end of each month, whether the vessel ever reaches her destination or not.

When engaged on a time charter, the freight continues to accrue during all periods during which the voyage may happen to be delayed, provided the delay is not caused by the neglect or default of the shipowner; thus, as the owner is to keep the vessel in repair, if repairs are necessary, and during the voyage she is detained uselessly to the charterer to have the repairs done, freight must still be paid for the time she is detained for the repairs, unless it is otherwise provided by the charter.

If the ship is under time charter, the captain will be bound to accept any kind of cargo which is not injurious to the ship, and to any quantity within the carrying capacity of the ship, unless special provisions are inserted in the charter to restrict this right. The charter should, therefore, specify both the trade in which the ship is to be employed, and the kind of cargo she is to carry, and should contain any other stipulations which may be necessary, under the circumstances, to protect the shipowner. If the ship is insured by a policy containing any conditions as to the time of sailing on certain voyages, or restrictions as to the quantity of certain heavy cargoes to be put on board, the charter should be framed accordingly, or the insurance of the ship may be invalidated by the merchant requiring the ship to break those conditions.

ALTERATIONS MADE AFTER SIGNING.

No alteration must be made in the charter after it is signed, except with the consent of all the parties. In a

recent case, after the charter had been signed, the broker had inserted material words in the margin, and although the shipowner was not aware that the broker had made the alteration, still it was held to vitiate the charter altogether. Baron Martin, in giving judgment, said :—“ It is, no doubt, apparently a hardship that where what was the original charter party is perfectly clear and indisputable, and where the alteration or addition was made without any fraudulent intention, and by a person not a party to the contract, a perfectly innocent man should thereby be deprived of a beneficial contract; but on the other hand, it must be borne in mind that, to permit any tampering with written documents would strike at the root of all property, and that it is of the most essential importance to the public interest that no alteration whatever should be made in written contracts, but that they should continue in exactly the same state and condition as when signed and executed, without addition, alteration, erasure, or obliteration."

But if the charter is altered by one of the parties, or while it is in the possession of one of the parties, although that will prevent him from enforcing any rights under it, (even according to the terms it originally contained before the alteration,) it does not prevent the other party from taking advantage of the charter, as he is in no way responsible for the mutilation of the document which was not in his custody.

STAMP DUTY ON CHARTERS.

If the charter is signed in the United Kingdom, it must be properly stamped.

Every written memorandum or agreement relating to the conveyance of any goods on board of a ship is liable to the stamp duty payable on charter parties.

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The stamp duty may be denoted either by a stamp impressed on the charter, by sending it to the Stamp Office in London, or by an adhesive stamp affixed to it.

If an adhesive stamp is used, the person who last signs the charter, or whose signature completes the same as a binding contract, must, at the time of signing it, cancel the stamp by writing thereon his name, or the name of his firm, together with the true date of his so signing the same. If this is not done, the charter is not considered properly stamped, and it is not valid. Charter parties may, however, be stamped at Somerset House, or by leaving them at a provincial stamp office, within 7 days after they are first signed, on payment of a sum of 4s. 6d., in addition to the duty of 6d. After 7 days, and within one month after signing, they can be stamped on payment of the duty of 6d., and a penalty of Iol. After the expiration of a month, they cannot be stamped at all.

If a charter is first signed by a person out of the United Kingdom, and it is then unstamped, any party to the charter may, within 10 days after it is received in the United Kingdom, and before it is signed by any person here, affix an adhesive 6d. stamp to it, which must then be cancelled by the party writing his name and the true date of signing across the stamp as above.

Letters altering a charter are liable to the same stamp duty as a charter.

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