PASSENGER'S LUGGAGE

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 35, 10 August 1921, Page 6

PASSENGER'S LUGGAGE

A claim for £50 made by Mrs. A. S. Marfariane against the Shaw, • Savijll and Albion Co., Ltd., in "respect of a trunk entrusted to the defendants for carriage 'from Wellington to Westport, and which was not so delivered, was decided by Mr. .E. Page, S.M.,' in, a judgment delivered to-day. , ' In April, 1920, tho plaintiff took from the company a passenger contract ticket from Liverpool to i Wellington, and on the back of , the ticket there was ■an undertaking to forward plaintiff and certain specified luggage from Wellington to West-port. During the latter part of the . trip the, cabin trunk, disappeared. One of the conditions upon the contract ticket provides'that all questions arising shall be decided according to British |a\v. ■ It was contended on behalf of plaintiff that the contract entered into by the defendant must be divided into two parts. The first part covering the journey from Liverpool to Wellington to be governed by the laws of England, and the second part, dealing .with, the journey from Wellington to vVestpor,t, according to -the laws of New Zealand. There was a provision in the contract ticket tHat the defendant should not bo liable for loss of, or injury to, higgage beyond the sum of £10, unless value in excess of that sum be and freight'paid. Counsel for plaintiff, contended that thi3 was a special contract witTiin the meaning of section 17 bl the. Mercantile Lw Act, 1908, and as it was.not signed by plaintiff was invalid. "I am unable to agree ,with tliis contention," remai'ked Mr. Page. "Apart from the specific provision that, questions arising on the contract shall be decided according to British law, fc I think that as this contract was entered into in England the law of that country governs the nature of the obligation and the interpretation of the contract." It was admitted on behalf of plaintifE that, according to the law of England, a ticket in the form of a contract note was valid. In the opinion of Mr. Pago: the contract ticket issued to plaintiff limiting deiendant's liability to £10 unless tho value in excess be declared and freight paid was a valid one. Judgment was given for plaintiff for £10, which had been paid into Court, and the defendant 'was allowed £3 3s costs, At the hoaring Mr. C. H. Taylor appeared for plaintiff, • and Mr. H. E. Evans for the defendants.