CHINA ÖVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
January 21, 1907.]
Buchheister, together with a Power of Attorney, accounta could not be charged against authorizing the Manager of the Hongkong & the ship because the Agents received freight Shanghai Bank, Shanghai, to sell the ship, that
at those places so as to make a debtor and is, to transfer her to the person entitled. The creditor account, for if more freight had been contract between Baessler and Fong Tai was collected, there need have been no debit shown to Buchheister in January. who put balance, and the Statute was not intended to pro- their name thereto. Meagra. Buchheister & Co. vide & collateral security Bat looking to now sue the Draco for £3,125, balance of money
the casos, particularly the Hanrich Bjoru & P. B. they have expended upon her in repairs done, 51, which seems to decide that if money leut disbursements paid and necessaries supplied in for necessaries can be followed as so spent or England. on her voyage out, and at Shanghai. as releasing other money so spent, although Messrs. Fong Tai & Co. intervene as purchasers, there may exist side by side a general mer. In order that an action in rem may lie at all cantile account between the plaintiff and the the plaintiffs must show that their claim is ship owner, it can be recovered in rem-—a case covered by section 5 of the Admiralty Court that was not upset on these points on appel- Act 1861; unless they show this, no action lies
I have come to the conclusion that these against the ship. Now by that section if any
balances can be recovered in rem: and for owner or part owner of the ship is domiciled the reasons stated about, namely that credit was in China this action cannot be maintained,
ot given to the owner but to te ship and that because the Admiralty Court, would have no
the account is particular to the ship and jurisdiction. The registered owners of the voyage, while these balances were actually Draco are Messrs. Palmer & Co.; but ther'expended ou neo-ssaries in places where the are bare Trustees. The beneficial owner is Mr. John Baessler, who bought the ship on December 30th, and agreed to sell her on January 3rd to Fong Tai as agent for Japanese. No doubt Buchbeister is affected with notics of: Fong Tai's equitabla claim on account of Japanese; but it would seem there has been po sale to Fong Tat but an agreement to sell, that is, a contract without a converance, ie, a trans. fer on the Register, so that. Fong Tai's claim is in personum against Baessler. Baessler is then the equitable owner; and he is not. domiciled in China, because domicile is here to be understood in its legal (The Pacific Br. and L. 234), ard it has been decided that in English law a man does not change his dominila by residing at Shanghai (in re Tontal's Trusts 23 7. D. 532). because Shanghai is not a Sovereign Stale. Moreover he is not justiceable by this Court, while the ship is; facts whiel, might be shown to be material to this question of jurisdiction under the Statute, I hold therefore that an action in rem will lie.
The next point -does this claim fall into the category of balance of general mercantile account CARPS (Fee Williams and Bruce. Admiralty Practice, 3rd edition, n. 192). for if credit was given by Buchheister to Rassler in the ordinary course of business, and if the claim is in respect of the balanca of a general mercantile account between them, and not in respect of an immediate necessity of the ship in order to preserve her or continue her on her voyage, the plaintiffs must fall.
owner was not to be found-the very evil; the Statute was intended to remedy. In r gard to Shangbai, although the ship arrived here On June 5th-seven months ago neither Baessler nor Fong Tai came forward. Mr. Tatlock seid : · No one cared about the ship: no one has tried to do a ything." Buchheister were put in the dilemma of having to spend more money to preserve the ship, or of seeing her fall to pieces, & prey to thieves and weather,
fense.
In regard to credit, Palmer was merely an agent a conduit pipe-whose intention is immaterial; but I am satisfied that credit was not given by Buchheister Baessler in the ordinary course of business; it is clear that they would do nothing
on
The only remaining question is: were the the items charged ie essary in law and are the charges for them reasonable ? These questions I refer to the Registrar and Merchants. The Registrar shon'd report what he finds to he necessaries, what amounts he allow, and what total he finds chargeable against the ship. lu the case of the Lond n. Singapore and Shanghai accounts legal n cessaries can be allowed from the dates re-pectively when it is p oved that if an account had been that day takeo reasonable legal necessaries or not, would have exhausted the general charges ou account of the ship, whether
freight received by the agent,
Baessler's credit, but. looked to the ship (the Peris, Swab y
3541. This was sworn to by Mr. Tatlock, is supported by the correspondence, and is prob able from the evidence in regard to Baessler's į position and from the fact that German being founded on the Civil law gives the material man a maritime lien (see German Commercial Cođe, 8. 754-5) which the English law does not, and from the fact that Buchheister and Baessler are both Germans,
Costs reserved
THE "CRAIK" CHILDREN FUND.
The following contributions have been pro- mised to the fud to provide for the future of tie children of the late Mr. Craik, murdered at Kowloon Docks
Sir C. P. Cha'er
Mr N. A. Siebs .. Mr W. J. Gillson Mr E. Goetz
Mr A. Haupt Mr H. P. White Mr D. W. Craddock
$100,00 10000
TOUKO
10000
10.404
100,60
Mr J. M Ramsay
Mr G. K. Haxton Mr J. Tully { Me W. F. Ford :. ***Mr R. Brooks
Mr C. Crispin "Mr J. D. Morrison Capt. G. Dodds... Mr H. Blackledgə Mr F. T. Gomes .. Mr C. F. dx Silva Mr W. Nicholls 11Mr J. F. Simmond Mr C, F. Grey .. Mr Wm. Stewart Vr R. Lapsley Mr H. Hyndman, Je. Me II. F. Carmichs-l Me J. Martin Mr J J. Sibbit Mr W. Talio
41
3.00
5.00
5 00
5.00
5.00
5.09
5.00
5.00
1.00
5.00
2.00
5.00
1.00
1.00
5.00
3.00
5.00
100,00
10.00
3.00
5.00
5.00
5.00
30,00
50.00
5.70
50 00
20.00
F. Hume
Holzapfels Compo, Co., Ld, R.
por
20.00
Mr W G. McBryde Me R. H. Barter Mr. Sai Yee Goddard & Donzlas.. Mr G. T. Wilson Mr. H. Rennis Me A. Ritchie
MIS ELLANEOUS.
The explanation
Another love tragedy was reported to the nolios on Jan. 17th, A Chin-sa girl, 17:years of ace, residing with her parents at 11 Gilma Bizaar, e›mmitted suici le on Tuesday by taking an overlaga of poison. proffered to the police was that her parents had made arrangements for her marriage to an «ligible young man, but the damsel did not approve of her prospective bushand, and sho sought escape from a hateful naion by taking
her life.
Wo RTA officially authorised to stata that suhject. tn andit. the Directors of the Hongkong and Shanghai Ranking Corporation will recommend at the forthcoming meeting a dividend of £1. 15-par share; & bonus of El per share; to add to the reserve fund $750,000, and carry forward about $1,700, 00.
Further, the Directors have resolved to approach the Hongkong Govern- ment to amend the Bank's Ordinance in order to provide for an increase of capital, and will recommend at an extraordinary general meeting to be called later, the creation of 10,000 new shares of $125 each to be issued to shageholders at the price of £10 each, af current rate of exchangs in the proportion of one new share to two old.
Light on the advance in the cost of living in Japan that has taken placa regantly is thrown by the following figures from returns prepared by the Department of Agriculture and Com
merce:
1000
10
Mr G. H. Medhurst
Mr J. S. Van Buren
10400
Mr S. Silverstone
100.00
Mr H. N. Mody Mrhos. Rose
50.00
25,00
Mr W. Wilson.
25.00
Mr C. D. -ilas
1000
Mr Alex. C. Squir
5.00
Year.
Food Stiffs.
Clothing Materials, Average.
RAF
Mr R. Mitchell
15.00
1990
100
100
100
Mr.Geo. Smith
1000
1901
93
99
95
97
Mr D. Gow
5.00
19 2
102
98
92
98
Mr Thos. Neare
10,00
1903
.111
100
92
100
Mr J. D. Logan
10.00
1904
124
109
95
108
Mr J. W. Grabam
15.09
19:5
127
12)
100
116
Mr W. Davis ou
190.00
Mr J. Guy.
5.00
Mr J. Robson
2.00
Mr H. Bliefernicht
Mr J. Menzies
3.01
Mr A. J. Ward Mr W. Hutchison Mr R. V. Ratter Me J. C. Gow Mr W. Taylor Mr J. Pearson Mr D. Keith Mr. Smith Mr T. Oates
5.00
10.00
19.00
3.00
1986
3:00
3.00
5.00
3.00
301
Mr J. Turper
2.00
Mr C. Fittock, Jr.
5.00
Mr G. Duncan
2.00
5.00 2.00
2.00
3.00 200
20.00
自
On reference to the plaintiffs' particulars I do not think their account can be called a “general mercantile account.' or "ordinary mercantile account," first becise the ship is looked to as debtor and not the owner, and secondly hecanss this account is concerned solely with the purchase and dispatch ta! the East of this particular ship on this particular voyage, That the following are chargeable against the ship I have no doubt whatever :>Palmer's draft of March 22nd for £50,12,1 allotments of wages-on that date Palmer had nothing to receive on account of the Draco, having ologed their account against the ship on March 1st, by drawing for a balance of £414; the Captain's drafts on Palmer for necessaries at Port Said, Aden and Colombo, for the amounts of which Palmer drew on Buchheister-that Palmer wara Agants makus no difference (the Twenje 13 Moore P. C. 185). In regard to the disbursements at London, Singapore and Shanghai there is certainly more difficulty and I leant at first to the opinion that the balance of} these
Mr R. Whyte
Mr J. M. Henderson Mr S. Lightfoot Mr J. Puncheon
Mr H. S. Wynne
Mr. Gower... Mr G., White
Exports.
Imports.
The rise in prices is reported by the authorities to be attributable to the recent war. The follow uz figures of Japan's tride speak for themselves : —
1933 You 289,502,413 Yen 317.135,518 1934 Yea 319.260,96 Yan 371,360,739 1995 Yen 321533,610
Yen 422,593,348
Yen 483.588,017
1 en 418,471,401
For the first time in vaars the balance of trade was in favour of Japan, i.e., the exports ware Lirger than the imports, * Now.comparing the figures of 1905 and 1906 w› find that while the export increased, over 100,00-1,000 yen, the imports decreased over 70 000,000 yen. The decrease of imports is natural, sa the demand created by tha war for goods at foreign manufacture sabsided. but the increase of exports muit,certainly be considered a most wholesome sign. Comparing 1906 with 1913, the last year before the war. the exports show an increase of over 133,000,00› yan, while tha imports only increased a little over 100,000,000 yen.