ORIGIN OF COMMERCIAL LAW.

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 35, 10 August 1905, Page 2

ORIGIN OF COMMERCIAL LAW.

INTERESTING LECTURE BY THE CHIEF JUSTICE,'* I Sir Robert Stout, Chief Justice, delivered a lecture oh "The Origin of Commercial Law" before the Accountants' Students' Society last nighk In his opening remarks Sir Robert pointed out> that the lawgiver was not the ' originator 6^ law, ' but the . person who 'first codified' existing customs iincV called them laws. If we took One' of a ,the eldest codes known to us, the code of laws promulgated' by HommUiabi, King of Babylon, who reigned _ between 2285 and. 2242 years before -our present era, it would be seen that his code Simply, put into .shape rules and customs that had existed perhaps for centuries bef6re. In 'his code there would be found Mmilar lawsf to those that we had in existence to-day. If we took the Ten Words of Moses it would be .seen that they assume the existence of private property and the knowledge ot what was theft. ' That meant that before the era of Moses the taking of property belonging to another was an offence, and it would be .found when we came to look for the history of any kw that the custom of the people originated it before it earned the name of law. In commercial law this truth was abundantly illustratedIf we traced back almost any one of our commercial laws we would find that they originated amongst the merchants of "the Mediterranean. Urider the head of commercial law there came Partnership, Companies, Bankruptcy, Agency, Bills of Exchange, Contracts with Carriers, Insurance, Sales, Bottomry and Respondentia, Stoppage in Transits, etc. , and there was one branch of commercial law that might be termed hew — nantely, the law as to private companies. The part that private companies had played in modern Commerce was very great and very modern, but the other commercial faws were exceedingly old, and same of them could be traced back (in perhaps an embryonic state) for thousands of years. References to them could be seen in the codes of Babylon and Egypt. The paying for goods with\bills of exchange originated amongst travelling merchants. In the 'Middle Ages -and earlier greas fairs were common in Europe,- and to these fairs merchants came from all over the civilised world, bringing their goods with them. In those days property and life were riot co safe as they were todftj*, and it was dangerous for merchants to carry about with them large quantities of coin, and hence bills payable on a subsequent date were given in settlement oi balance due. This was the origin of bills of exchange (which were said to have been devised by Italian bankers), and this usage spread all over the civilised world, v It was a mercantile usage, and it was not much more than two hundred- years since it was decided that a person could be bound by a bill of exchange who was not a merchant. . The use of bills of exchange was common amongsb merchants in Europe before they were used in England. They were used by the Florentines in the twelfth century and by the Venetians in the thirteenth, but they w.ere not-in .common .use. in England. till early in the seve.n-~ teenth. Sir Robert Stout doalt at some length and in most interesting manner 1 with the origin of what are called bankers' notes — £1 notes which were first given by goldsmiths and bankers, and came into general use in England in tho end of the seventeenth century. The law regarding the eak -and -pledge of goods was also borrowed from the cusApjQfc; of merchants. Dealing with the joint stock company aspect of commercial law, Sir Robert mentioned that in England if more than twenty persons join together in a co-partnership they must be formed into a company. This was an entire reversal of the law in England for many centuries ; joint Stock companies were at first regarded with great disfavour by the English people and the English Patliament. The assignments 6f debts was another change in our law that 'had its origin -entirely in the custom < k of merchants. It, wa* not, however, 'till thepassing of the Judicature Act of 1873 in England and the Law Amendment' Act of 1878 in New Zealand that the fight to assign debts fhB granted. V Anotlier illus^ tration of a mercantile custom becoming la* was tnat of the right to goods passing, by delivery 6f bill» of lading. Nothing yraU. .jnorfc jjommon nowadays than that the property in goods on board a, ship passes by the transfer and deli very of bills 6f lading; but that wad not always the law. That the delivery of the bills of lading passed tho property in the goods was first decided in 1787 in the great case of Lickbarrow v. Mason. A common custom which if abolished would very much hamper our commercial transactions was the. drawing of chequed «h bankers. This wholly bfiginated by custom. People- in the oldon days used to' leave their money with the. goldsmiths for Safety and take from them a receipt or note which .later developed into a bank note. Finally Sir Bdbert dealt ab length with tho matter of bankruptcy laws. The lecture was most interesting and instructive.