Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 3.djvu/347

340 FEDZBAIi BEPOBTEB. ���Mebriok and others vs. Abotjt Ninetben Thousand Prva �HUNDBED AND FoUBTEEN BUSHELS OF WhEAT, etc. (District Court, N. B. Mw York. July 16, 1880.) �1. Bill op Ladittg— Recital — Stipulation. — A recital in a bill of ladîng that the cargo, wlien received, consisted of 20,000 buahels, is conolua- ire, wlien such bill of lading also contained the stipulation that "ail the deflciency in the cargo shall bepaid for by the carrier and deducted from the freight, and any excess in the cargo shall be paid for to the carrier by the consignee." Meyer v. Peck, 28 N. Y. 590, considered. Ahbe V. Eaton, 51 N. Y. 410, criticised. �Williams e Potier, for libellants. �Bowen, Rogers e Locke, for elaimants. �Wallace, D. J. The authorities are unîform to the effect that, as between the original parties to an ordinary bill of lading, that part of the instrument which recites the receipt of the goods, and their condition and quantity when received, is open to explanation ; and, while the recitals are prima facie evidence of the facts recited, they are not conclusive. The instrument is in part an acknowledgment and in part a con- tract. That part which is an acknowledgment merely is no more conclusive than any other acknowledgment or declara- tion. That part which is a contract is anal. Bills of lading, however, sometimes contain stipulations intended to make the recitals a jpart of the contract, and as conclusive as the rest of the contract; and as the parties to such a contract have the right to agree that the recitals as to the condition and quantity of the cargo shall be conclusive, the courts will give to the stipulations the effect intended by the parties. When the language of the stipulation is clear, the court bas no duty but to give effect to it, and it is only when the language em- ployed is capable of different meanings that it becomes necessary to resort to precedents and rules of construction in order to interpret the contract. �In this case the bill of lading recites the receipt of 20,000 bushels of No. 1 sprini^ wheat,. in good order and condition, ����