Chap. 290.—An ACT concerning warehouse r

Approved March 14, 1908.

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virgin
PART I.
The Issue of Warehouse Receipts.

§1. Persons who may issue receipts.—Warehouse
ssued by any warehouseman.

82. Form of receipts; essential terms.— Warehouse
ye in any particular form, but every such receipt m
ts written or printed terms:

(a) The location of the warehouse where the goods
(b) The date of issue of the receipt.

(c) The consecutive number of the receipt.

(d) A statement whether the goods received will be delivered to the
bearer, to a specified person, or to a specified person or his order.

(e) The rate of storage charges.

(f) A description of the goods or of the package containing them.

(g) The signature of the warehouseman, which may be made by his
authorized agent.

(h) If the receipt is issued for goods of which the warehouseman is
owner, either solely or jointly or in common with others, the fact of such
ownership, and

(i) A statement of the amount of advances made and of liabilities
incurred for which the warehouseman claims a lien. If the precise
amount of such advances made or of such liabilities incurred is, at the
time of the issue of the receipt, unknown to the warehouseman or to
his agent who issues it, a statement of the fact that advances have been
made or liabilities incurred and the purpose thereof is sufficient.

A warehouseman shall be liable to any person injured thereby, for all
damage caused by the omission from a negotiable receipt cf any of the
terms herein required.

§3. Form of receipts; what terms may be inserted.—A warehouseman
may insert in a receipt, issued by him, any other terms and conditions,
provided that such terms and conditions shall not—

(a) Be contrary to the provisions of this act.

(b) In any wise impair his obligation to exercise that degree of care
in the safe-keeping of the goods entrusted to him which a reasonably
careful man would exercise in regard to similar goods of his own.

§4. Definition of non-negotiable receipt.—A receipt in which it is
stated that the goods received will be delivered to the depositor, or to
any other specified person, is a non-negotiable receipt.

§5. Definition of negotiable receipt—A receipt in which it is stated
that the goods received will be delivered to the bearer, or to the order
of any person named in such receipt is a negotiable receipt.

No provision shall be inserted in a negotiable receipt that it is non-
negotiable. Such provision, if inserted, shall be void.

§6. Duplicate receipts must be so marked—When more than one
negotiable receipt is issued for the same goods, the word “duplicate”
shall be plainly placed upon the face of every such receipt, except the
one first issued. A warehouseman shall be liable for all damage caused
by his failure so to do to any one who purchased the subsequent receipt
for value supposing it to be an original, even though the purchase be
after the delivery of the goods by the warehouseman to the holder of the
original receipt.

§7. Failure to mark “not negotiable.”—A non-negotiable receipt shall
have plainly placed upon its face by the warehouseman issuing it “non-
negotiable,” or “not negotiable.” In case of the warehouseman’s failure
so to do, a holder of the receipt who purchased it for value supposing
it to be negotiable, may, at his option, treat such receipt as imposing
upon the warehouseman the same liabilities he would have incurrred had
the receipt been negotiable.
This section shall not apply, however, to letters, memoranda, or
written acknowledgments of an informal character.

PART II.
Obligations and Rights of Warehousemen Upon Their Receipts.

§8. Obligation of warehousemen to deliver—aA warehouseman, in the
absence of some lawful excuse provided by this act, is bound to deliver
the goods upon a demand made either by the holder of a receipt for the
goods or by the depositor, if such demand is accompanied with—

(a) An offer to satisfy the warehouseman’s lien.

(b) An offer to surrender the receipt if negotiable, with such indorse-
ments as would be necessary for the negotiation of the receipt, and

(c) A readiness and willingness to sign, when the goods are delivered,
an acknowledgment that they have been delivered, if such signature is
requested by the warehouseman.

In case the warehouseman refuses or fails to deliver the goods in com-
pliance with a demand by the holder or depositor so accompanied, the
burden shall be upon the warehouseman to establish the existence of a
lawful excuse for such refusal.

§9. Justification of warehouseman in delivering—A warehouseman
is justified in delivering the goods, subject to the provisions of the three
following sections, to one who is—

(a) The person lawfully entitled to the possession of the goods, or
his agent.

(b) A person who is either himself entitled to delivery by the terms
of a non-negotiable receipt issued for the goods, or who has written
authority from the person so entitled either indorsed upon the receipt
or written upon another paper, or

(c) A person in possession of a negotiable receipt by the terms of
which the goods*are deliverable to him or order or to bearer, or which
has been indorsed to him or in blank by the person to whom delivery
was promised by the terms of the receipt or by his mediate or immediate
indorsee.

$10. Warehouseman’s liability for misdelivery—Where a warehouse-
man delivers the goods to one who is not in fact lawfully entitled to the
possession of them, the warehouseman shall be liable as for conversion
to all having a right of property or possession in the goods if he delivered
the goods otherwise than as authorized by subdivisions (b) and (c) of
the preceding section and though he delivered the goods as authorized
by said subdivisions he shall be so liable, if prior to such delivery he
had either

(a) Been requested, by or on behalf of the person lawfully entitled
to a right of property or possession in the goods, not to make such de-
livery, or

(b) Had information that the delivery about to be made was to one
not lawfully entitled to the possession of the goods.

§11. Negotiable receipts must be cancelled when goods delivered.—
Except as provided in section thirty-six, where a warehouseman delivers
goods for which he had issued a negotiable receipt, the negotiation of
which would transfer the right to the possession of the goods, and fails
to take up and cancel the receipt, he shall be liable to any one who
purchases for value in good faith such receipt, for failure to deliver
the goods to him, whether such purchaser acquired title to the receipt
before or after the delivery of the goods by the warehouseman.

§12. Negotiable receipt must be cancelled or marked when part of
goods delivered.—Except as provided in section thirty-six, where a
warehouseman delivers part of the goods for which he had issued a
negotiable receipt and fails either to take up and cancel such receipt,
or to place plainly upon it a statement of what goods or packages have
been delivered he shall be liable, to any one who purchases for value in
good faith such receipt, for failure to deliver all the goods specified in
the receipt, whether such purchaser acquired title to the receipt before
or after the delivery of any portion of the goods by the warehouseman.

§13. Altered receipts——The alteration of a receipt shall not excuse
the warehouseman who issued it from any liability if such alteration
was—

(a) Immaterial,

(b) Authorized, or

(c) Made without fraudulent intent.

If the alteration was authorized, the warehouseman shall be liable
according to the terms of the receipt as altered. If the alteration was
unauthorized, but made without fraudulent intent, the warehouseman
shall be liable according to the terms of the receipt, as they were before
alteration.

Material and fraudulent alteration of a receipt shall 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 shall excuse him from any other liability to the person who
made the alteration and to any person who took with notice of the
alteration. Any purchaser of the receipt for value without notice of the
alteration shal] acquire the same rights against the warehouseman which
such purchaser would have acquired if the receipt had not been altered
at the time of the purchase.

§14. Lost or destroyed receipts —Where a negotiable receipt has been
lost or destroyed, a court of competent jurisdiction may order the de-
livery of the goods upon satisfactory proof of such 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 such delivery may 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 in
this section, shall 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.

815. 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 such receipt is an accurate copy of an
original receipt properly issued and uncancelled at the date of the issue
of the duplicate, but shall impose upon him no other liability.
§16. Warehouseman cannot set up title in himself—No title or
right to the possession of the goods, on the part of the warehouseman,
unless such title or right 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, shall excuse the warehouse-
man from liability for refusing to deliver the goods according to the
terms of the receipt.

§17. Interpleader of adverse claimants.—If more than one person
claim the title or possession of the goods, the warehouseman may, either
as a defense to an action brought against him for non-delivery of the
goods, or as an original suit, whichever is appropriate, require all known
claimants to interplead.

818. Warehouseman has reasonable time to determine validity of
claims.—If some one other than the depositor or person claiming under
him has-a claim to the title or possession of the goods, and the ware-
houseman has information of such claim, the warehouseman shall be
excused from liability for refusing to deliver the goods, either to the
depositor or person claiming under him or to the adverse claimant,
until the warehouseman has had a reasonable time to ascertain the
validity of the adverse claim or to bring legal proceedings to compel all
claimants to interplead.

§19. Adverse title is no defense, except as above provided.—Except
as provided in the two preceding sections and in sections nine and thirty-
six, no right or title of a third person shall be a defense to an action
brought by the depositor or person claiming under him against the
warehousemen for failure to deliver the goods according to the terms of
the receipt.

§20. Liability for non-existence or misdescription of goods.—A ware-
houseman shall be liable to the holder of a receipt for damages caused
by the non-existence of the goods or by the failure of the goods to cor-
respond with the description thereof in the receipt at the time of its
issue. If, however, the goods are described in a receipt merely by a
statement of marks or labels upon them, or upon packages containing
them, or by a statement that the goods are said to be goods of a certain
kind, or that packages containing the goods are said to contain goods
of a certain kind, or by words of like purport, such statements, if true,
shall not make liable the warehouseman issuing the receipt, although
the goods are not of the kind which the marks or labels upon them
indicate, or of the kind they were said to be by the depositor.

§21. Liability for care of goods—A warehouseman shall be liable
for any loss or injury to the goods caused by his failure to exercise
such care in regard to them as a reasonably careful owner of similar
goods would exercise, but he shall not be liable, in the absence of an
agreement to the contrary, for any loss or injury to the goods which
could not have been avoided by the exercise of such care.

§22. Goods must be kept separate——Except as provided in the follow-
ing section, a warehouseman shall keep the goods so far separate from
goods of other depositors, and from other goods of the same depositor,
for which a separate receipt has been issued, as to permit at all times
the identification and re-delivery of the goods deposited.
§23. Fungible goods may be commingled, if warehouseman author-
ized.—If authorized by agreement or by custom, a warehouseman may
mingle fungible goods with other goods of the same kind and grade.
In such case the various depositors of the mingled goods shall own the
entire mass in common, and each depositor shall be entitled to such
portion thereof as the amount deposited by him bears to the whole.

§24. Liability of warehouseman to depositors of commingled goods.—
The warehouseman shall be severally liable to each depositor for the care
and redelivery of his share of such mass to the same extent and under
the same circumstances as if the goods had been kept separate.

§25. Attachment or levy upon goods for which a negotiable receipt
has been issued.—If goods are delivered to a warehouseman by the
owner or by a person whose act in conveying the title to them to a pur-
chaser in good faith for value would bind the owner, and a negotiable
receipt is issued for them, they cannot thereafter, while in the possession
of the warehouseman, be attached by garnishment or otherwise, or be
levied upon under an execution, unless the receipt be first surrendered
to the warehouseman, or its negotiation enjoined. The warehouseman
shall in no ease be compelled to deliver up the actual possession of the
goods until the receipt is surrendered to him or impounded by the
court.

§26. Creditors’ remedies to reach negotiable receipts——A creditor
whose debtor is the owner of a negotiable receipt shall be entitled to
such aid from courts of appropriate jurisdiction, by injunction and
otherwise, in attaching such receipt or in satisfying the claim by means
thereof as is allowed at law or in equity, in regard to property which
cannot readily be attached or levied upon by ordinary legal process.

§27. What claims are included in the warehouseman’s lien.—Subject
to the provisions of section thirty, a warehouseman shall have a lien on
goods deposited or on the proceeds thereof in his hands, for all lawful
charges for storage and preservation of the goods; also for all lawful
claims for money advanced, interest, insurance, transportation, labor,
weighing, coopering and other charges and expenses in relation to such
goods; also for all reasonable charges and expenses for notice, and ad-
vertisements of sale, and for sale of the goods where default has been
made in satisfying the warehouseman’s lien.

§28. Against what property the lien may be enforced.—Subject to
the provisions of section thirty, a warehouseman’s lien may be en-
forced—

(a) Against all goods, whenever deposited, belonging to the person
who is liable as debtor for the claims in regard to which the lien is
asserted, and

(b) Against all goods belonging to others which have been deposited
at any time by the person who is liable as debtor for the claims in
regard to which the lien is asserted, if such person had been so en-
trusted with the possession of the goods that a pledge of the same by
him at the time of the deposit to one who took the goods in good faith
for value would have been valid.

§29. How the lien may be lost—A warehouseman loses his lien upon
goods—
(a) By surrendering possession thereof, or

(b) By refusing to deliver the goods when a demand is made with
which he is bound to comply under the provisions of this act.

§30. Negotiable receipt must state charges for which lien is claimed.—
If a negotiable receipt is issued for goods, the warehouseman shall have
no lien thereon, except for charges for storage of those goods subsequent
to the date of the receipt, unless the receipt expressly enumerates other
charges for which a lien is claimed. In such case there shall be a lien
for the charges enumerated so far as they are within the terms of
section twenty-seven, although the amount of the charges so enumerated
is not stated in the receipt.

§31. Warehouseman need not deliver until lien is satisfied—A ware-
houseman having a lien valid against the person demanding the goods
may refuse to deliver the goods to him until the lien is satisfied.

§32. Warehouseman’s lien does not preclude other remedies. —
Whether a warehouseman has or has not a lien upon the goods, he is
entitled to all remedies allowed by law to a creditor against ‘his debtor,
for the collection from the depositor of all charges and advances which
the depositor has expressly or impliedly contracted with the warehouse-
man to pay.

§33. Satisfaction of lien by sale—-A warehouseman’s lien for a claim
which has become due may be satisfied as follows:

The warehouseman shall give a written notice to the person on whose
accounts the goods are held, and to any other person known by the
warehouseman to claim an interest in the goods. Such notice shall be
given by delivery in person or by registered letter addressed to the last
known place of business or abode of the person to be notified. The notice
shall contain—

(a) An itemized statement of the warehouseman’s claim, showing
the sum due at the time of the notice and the date or dates when it
became due.

(b) A brief description of the goods against which the lien exists.

(c) A demand that the amount of the claim as stated in the notice,
and of such further claim as shall accrue, shall be paid on or before a
day mentioned, not less than ten days from the delivery of the notice
if it is personally delivered, or from the time when the notice should
reach its destination, according to the due course of post, if the notice
is sent by mail, and

(d) A statement that unless the claim is paid within the time specified
the goods will be advertised for sale and sold by auction at a specified
time and place.

In accordance with the terms of a notice so given, a sale of the gonds
by auction may be had to satisfy any valid claim of the warehouseman
for which he has a lien on the goods. The sale shall be had in the
place where the lien was acquired, or, if such place is manifestly un-
suitable for the purpose, at the nearest suitable place. After the time
for the payment of the claim specified in the notice to the depositor has
elapsed, an advertisement of the sale, describing the goods to be sold,
and stating the name of the owner or person on whose account the
goods are held, and the time and place of the sale, shall be published
once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in the
place where such sale is to be held. The sale shall not be held less
than fifteen days from the time of the first publication. If there is no
newspaper published in such place, the advertisement shall be posted
at least ten days before such sale in not less than six conspicuous
places therein.

From the proceeds of such sale the warehouseman shall satisfy his
lien, including the reasonable charges of notice, advertisement, and sale.
The balance, if any, of such proceeds shall be held by the warehouse-
man, and delivered on demand to. the person to whom he would have
been bound to deliver or justified in delivering the goods.

At any time before the goods are so sold any person claiming a right
of property or possession therein may pay the warehouseman the
amount necessary to satisfy his lien and to pay. the reasonable ex-
penses and liabilities incurred in serving notices and advertising and
preparing for the sale up to the time of such payment. The warehouse-
man shall deliver the goods to the person making such payment if he
is a person entitled, under the provisions of this act, to the possession
of the goods on payment of charges thereon. Otherwise the warehouse-
man shall retain possession of the goods according to the terms of the
original contract of deposit.

§34. Perishable and hazardous goods.—If goods are of a perishable
nature, or by keeping will deteriorate greatly in value, or by their odor,
leakage, inflammability, or explosive nature, will be liable to injure
other property, the warehouseman may give such notice to the owner,
or to the person in whose name the goods are stored, as is reasonable
and possible under the circumstances, to satisfy the lien upon such
goods, and to remove them from the warehouse, and in the event of the
failure of such person to satisfy the lien and to remove the goods within
the time so specified, the warehouseman may sell the goods at public or
private sale without advertising. If the warehouseman after a reason-
able effort is unable to sell such goods, he may dispose of them in any
lawful manner, and shall incur no liability by reason thereof.

The proceeds of any sale made under the terms of this section shall
be disposed of in the same way as the proceeds of sales made under the
terms of the preceding section.

§35. Other methods of enforcing liens—The remedy for enforcing
a lien herein provided does not preclude any other remedies allowed
by law for the enforcement of a lien against personal property nor bar
the right to recover so much of the warehouseman’s claim as shall not
be paid by the proceeds of the sale of the property.

§36. Effect of sale—After goods have been lawfully sold to satisfy
a warehouseman’s lien, or have been lawfully sold or disposed of because
of their perishable or hazardous nature, the warehouseman shall not
thereafter be liable for failure to deliver the goods to the depositor,
or owner of the goods, or to a holder of the receipt given for the goods
when they were deposited, even if such receipt be negotiable.

PART III.
Negotiation and Transfer of Receipts.

§37. Negoitation of negotiable receipts by delivery—A negotiable re-
ceipt may be negotiated by delivery—
(a) Where, by the terms of the receipt, the warehouseman under-
takes to deliver the goods to the bearer, or

(b) Where, by the terms of the receipt, the warehouseman under-
takes to deliver the goods to the order of a specified person, and such
person or a subsequent indorsee of the receipt has indorsed it in blank
or to bearer.

Where, by the terms of a negotiable receipt the goods are deliverable
to bearer or where a negotiable receipt has been indorsed in blank or to
bearer, any holder may indorse the same to himself or to any other
specified person, and in such case the receipt shall thereafter be ne-
gotiated only by the indorsement of such indorsee.

§38. Negotiation of negotiable receipts by indorsement.—A negotiable
receipt may be negotiated by the indorsement of the person to whose
order the goods are, by the terms of the receipt, deliverable. Such
indorsement may be in blank, to bearer or to a specified person. If
indorsed to a specified person, it may be again negotiated by the indorse-
ment of such person in blank, to bearer or to another specified person.
Subsequent negotiation may be made in like manner.

§39. Transfer of receipts—A receipt which is not in such form that
it can be negotiated by delivery may be transferred by the holder by
delivery to a purchaser or donee.

A non-negotiable receipt cannot be negotiated, and the indorsement
of such a receipt gives the transferee no additional right.

§40. Who may negotiate a receipt—aA negotiable receipt may be
negotiated—

(a) By the owner thereof, or

(b) By any person to whom the possession or custody of the receipt
has been entrusted by the owner, if, by the terms of the receipt, the
warehouseman undertakes to deliver the goods to the order of the
person to whom the possession or custody of the receipt has been en-
trusted, or if at the time of such entrusting the receipt is in such form
that it may be negotiated by delivery.

§41. Rights of person to whom a receipt has been negotiated.—A
person to whom a negotiable receipt has been duly negotiated acquires
thereby—

(a) Such title to the goods as the person negotiating the receipt to
him had or had ability to convey to a purchaser in good faith for value,
and also such title to the goods as the depositor or person to whose order
the goods were to be delivered by the terms of the receipt had or had
ability to convey to a purchaser in good faith for value, and

(b) The direct obligation of the warehouseman to hold possession
of the goods for him according to the terms of the receipt as fully as
if the warehouseman had contracted directly with him.

§42. Rights of person to whom a receipt has been transferred.—A
person to whom a receipt has been transferred but not negotiated,
acquires thereby, as against the transferor, the title to the goods, sub-
ject to the-terms of any agreement with the transferor.

If the receipt is non-negotiable such person also acquires the right to
notify the warehouseman of the transfer to him of such receipt, and
thereby to acquire the direct obligation of the warehouseman to hold
possession of the goods for him according to the terms of the receipt.
Prior to the notification of the warehouseman by the transferor or
transferee of a non-negotiable receipt, the title of the transferee to the
goods and the right to acquire the obligation of the warehouseman
may be defeated by the levy of an attachment or execution upon the
goods by a creditor of the transferor, or by a notification to the ware-
houseman by the transferor or a subsequent purchaser from the trans-
feror of a subsequent sale of the goods by the transferor.

§43. Transfer of negotiable receipt without indorsement.—Where a
negotiable receipt is transferred for value by delivery, and the indorse-
ment of the transferor is essential for negotiation, the transferee acquires
a right against the transferor to compel him to indorse the receipt,
unless a contrary intention appears. The negotiation shall take effect
as of the time when the indorsement is actually made.

§44. Warranties on sale of receipt.—A person who for value negotiates
or transfers a receipt by indorsement or delivery, including one who
assigns for value a claim secured by a receipt, unless a contrary inten-
tion appears, warrants—

(a) That the receipt is genuine,

(b) That he has a legal right to negotiate or transfer it,

(c) That he has knowledge of no fact which would impair the
validity or worth of the receipt, and

(d) That he has a right to transfer the title to the goods, and that
the goods are merchantable or fit for a particular purpose whenever
such warranties would have been implied, if the contract of the parties
had been to transfer without a receipt the goods represented thereby.

845. Indorser not a guarantor.—The indorsement of a receipt shall
not make the indorser liable for any failure on the part of the ware-
houseman or previous indorsers of the receipt to fulfill their respective
obligations.

846. No warranty implied from accepting payment of a debt.—A
mortgagee, pledgee or holder for security of a receipt who in good faith
demands or receives payment of the debt for which such “receipt is
security, whether from a party to a draft drawn for such debt or from
any other person, shall not by so doing be deemed to represent or to
warrant the genuineness of such receipt or the quantity or quality of the
goods therein described.

§47. When negotiation not impaired by fraud, mistake, or duress.—
The validity of the negotiation of a receipt is not impaired by the fact
that such negotiation was a breach of duty on the part of the person
making the negotiation, or -by the fact that the owner of the receipt
was induced by fraud, mistake, or duress to entrust the possession or
custody of the receipt, to such person, if the person to whom the receipt
was negotiated, or a person to whom the receipt was subsequently ne-
gotiated, paid value therefor, without notice of the breach of duty, or
fraud, mistake, or duress.

8.48. Subsequent negotiation—Where a person having sold, mort-
gaged, or pledged goods which are in a warehouse and for which a
negotiable receipt has been issued, or having sold, mortgaged, or pledged
the negotiable receipt representing such goods, continues in possession
of the negotiable receipt, the subsequent negotiation thereof by that
person under any sale, or other disposition thereof to any person re-
ceiving the same in good faith, for value and without notice of the
previous sale, mortgage or pledge, shall have the same effect as if the
first purchaser of the goods or receipt had expressly authorized the sub-
sequent negotiation.

§49. Negotiation defeats vendor’s lien—Where a negotiable receipt
has been issued for goods, no seller’s lien or right of stoppage in
transitu shall defeat the rights of any purchaser for value in good
faith to whom such receipt has been negotiated, whether such ne-
gotiation be prior or subsequent to the notification to the warehouse-
man who issued such receipt of the seller’s claim to a lien or right of
stoppage in transitu. Nor shall the warehouseman be obliged to deliver
or justified in delivering the goods to an unpaid seller unless the re-
ceipt is first surrendered for cancellation.

PART IV.
Criminal Offenses.

$50. Issue of receipt for goods not received——A warehouseman, or
any officer, agent, or servant of a warehouseman, who issues or aids in
issuing a receipt knowing that the goods for which such receipt is
issued have not been actually received by such warehouseman, or are
not under his actual control at the time of issuing such receipt, shall
be guilty of a crime, and upon conviction shall be punished for each
offense by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by a fine not ex-
ceeding five thonusand dollars, or by both.

§51. Issue of receipt containing false statement—A warehouseman,
or any officer, agent, or servant of a warehouseman, who fraudulently
issues or aids in fraudulently issuing a receipt for goods knowing that
it contains any false statement, shall be guilty of a crime, and upon
conviction shall be punished for each offense by imprisonment not ex-
ceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by
both.

§52. Issue of duplicate receipts not so marked.—A warehouseman, or
any officer, agent, or servant of a warehouseman, who issues or aids in is-
suing a duplicate or additional negotiable receipt for goods knowing that
a former negotiable receipt for the same goods or any part of them is
outstanding and uncancelled, without plainly placing upon the face
thereof the word “Duplicate,” except in the case of a lost or destroyed
receipt after proceedings as provided for in section fourteen, shall be
guilty of a crime, and upon conviction shall be punished for each
offense by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by a fine not ex-
ceeding five thousand dollars, or by both.

§53. Issue for warehouseman’s goods of receipts which do not state
that fact.—Where there are deposited with or held by a warehouseman
goods of which he is owner, either solely or jointly or in common with
others, such warehouseman, or any of his officers, agents, or servants
who, knowing this ownership, issues or aids in issuing a negotiable
receipt for such goods which does not state such ownership, shall be
guilty of a crime, and upon conviction shall be punished for each
offense by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceed-
ing one thousand dollars, or by both.
§54. Delivery of goods without” obtaining negotiable receipt—A
warehouseman or any officer, agent or servant of a warehouseman who
delivers goods out of the possession of such warehouseman, knowing
that a negotiable receipt the negotiation of which would transfer the
right to the possession of such goods is outstanding and uncancelled,
without obtaining the possession of such receipt at or before the time of
such delivery, shall, except in the cases provided for in sections four-
teen and thirty-six, be found guilty of a crime, and upon conviction
shall be punished for each offense by imprisonment not exceeding one
year, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by both.

855. Negotiation of receipt for mortgaged goods.——Any person who
deposits goods to which he has not title, or upon which there is a lien
or mortgage, and who takes for such goods a negotiable receipt which
he afterwards negotiates for value with intent to deceive and without
disclosing his want of title or the existence of the lien or mortgage
shall be guilty of a crime, and upon conviction shall be punished for
each offense by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by a fine not
exceeding one thousand dollars, or by both.

PART V.
Interpretation.

§56. When rules of common law still applicable—In any case not
provided for in this act, the rules of law and equity, including the law
merchant, and in particular the rules relating to the law of principal
and agent and to the effect of fraud, misrepresentation, duress or
coercion, mistake, bankruptcy, or other invalidating cause, shall govern.

§57. Interpretation shall give effect to purpose of uniformity.—This
act shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general pur-
pose to make uniform the law of those States which enact it.

858. Definitions—(1) In this act, unless the context or subject
matter otherwise requires—

“Action” includes counter claim, set-off, and suit in equity.

“Delivery” means voluntary transfer of possession from one person
to another.

“Fungible goods” means goods of which any unit is, from its nature
or by mercantile custom, treated as the equivalent of any other unit.

“Goods” means chattels or merchandise in storage, or which has been
or is about to be stored.

“Holder” of a receipt means a person who has both actual possession
of such receipt and a right of property therein.

“Order” means an order by indorsement on the receipt.

“Owner” does not include mortagee or pledgee.

“Person” includes a corporation or partnership or two or more persons
having a joint or common interest.

To “purchase” includes to take as mortgagee or as pledgee.

“Purchaser” includes mortgage and pledgee.

“Receipt” means a warehouse receipt.
“Value” is any consideration sufficient to support a simple contract.
An antecedent or pre-existing obligation, whether for money or not,
constitutes value where a receipt is taken either in satisfaction thereof
or as security therefor.

“Warehouseman” means a person lawfully engaged in the business of
storing goods for profit.

(2) A thing is done “in good faith” within the meaning of this act,
when it is in fact done honestly, whether it be done negligently or not.

§59. Act does not apply to existing receipts——The provisions of this
act do not apply to receipts made and delivered prior to the taking
effect of this act.

§60. Inconsistent legislation repealed—All acts or parts of acts in-
consistent with this act are to that extent hereby repealed.

861. Name of act—This act may be cited as the warehouse receipts
act.