Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 76A.djvu/256

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–160–

-160§ 1785. Negotiable receipts must be cancelled or marked when part of goods delivered Except as provided by section 1809 of this title, if a warehouseman delivers part of the goods for which he had issued a negotiable receipt and fails either to take up and cancel the receipt, or to place plainly upon it a statement of what goods or packages have been delivered, he is liable, to anyone who purchases the receipt for value in good faith, for failure to deliver all the goods specified in the receipt, whether the purchaser acquired title to the receipt before or after the delivery of any portion of the goods by the warehouseman. § 1786. Altered receipts The alteration of a receipt does not excuse the warehouseman who issued it from any liability if the alteration was: (1) immaterial; (2) authorized; or (3) made without fraudulent intent. If the alteration was authorized, the warehouseman is liable according to the terms of the receipt as altered. If the alteration was unauthorized, but made without fraudulent intent, the warehouseman is liable according to the terms of the receipt, as they were before alteration. Material and fraudulent alteration of a receipt does not excuse the warehouseman who issued it from liability to deliver, according to the terms of the receipt as originally issued, the goods for which it was issued, but excuses him from any other liabiRty to the person who made the alteration and to any person who took with notice of the alteration. A purchaser of the receipt for value without notice of the alteration acquires the same rights against the warehouseman which the purchaser would have acquired if the receipt had not been altered at the time of the purchase. § 1787. Lost or destroyed receipts If a negotiable receipt has been lost or destroyed, a court of competent jurisdiction may order the delivery of the goods upon satisfactory proof of loss or destruction and upon the giving of a bond with sufficient sureties to be approved by the court to protect the warehouseman from any liability or expense, which he or any person injured by the delivery ma^ incur by reason of the original receipt remaining outstanding. The court may also in its discretion order the payment of the warehouseman's reasonable costs and counsel fees. The delivery of the goods under an order of the court as provided by this section does not relieve the warehouseman from liability to a person to whom the negotiable receipt has been or shall be negotiated for value without notice of the proceedings or of the delivery of the goods. § 1788. Effect of duplicate receipts A receipt upon the face of which the word "duplicate" is plainly placed is a representation and warranty, by the warehouseman that the receipt is an accurate copy of an original receipt properly issued and uncancelled at the date of the issue of the duplicate, out imposes upon him no other liability. § 1789. Warehouseman cannot set up title in himself Title or right to the possession of the goods on the part of the warehouseman, unless it is derived directly or indirectly from a transfer made by the depositor at the time of or subsequent to the deposit for storage, or from the warehouseman's lien, does not excuse the warehouseman from liability for refusing to deliver the goods according to the terms of the receipt.