Bailment

A delivery of goods or personal property, by one person to another, in trust for the execution of a special object upon or in relation to such goods, beneficial either to the bailor or bailee or both, and upon a contract, express or implied, to perform the trust and carry out such object, and thereupon either to redeliver the goods to the bailor or otherwise dispose of the same in conformity with the purpose of the trust. Watson v. State, 70 Ala. 13, 45 Am. Rep. 70; Com. v. Maher, 11 Phila. (Pat) 425; McCaffrey v. Knapp, 74 III. App. 80; Krause v. Com., 93 Pa. 418, 39 Am. Rep. 762 ; Fnicher v. Sinte, 32 Tex. Cr. R. 621, 25 S. W. 625. See Code Ga. 1882, § 2058. A delivery of goods in trust upon a contract, expressed or implied, that the trust shall be faithfully executed on the part of the bailee. 2 Bl. Comm. 455. Bailment, from the French hailler, to deliver, is a delivery of goods for some purpose, upon a contract, express or implied, that, after the purpose has been fulfilled, they shall be redelivered to the bailor, or otherwise dealt with, according to his directions, or (as the case may be) kept till he reclaims them. 2 Steph. Comm. 80. A delivery of goods in trust upon a contract, expressed or implied, that the trust shall be duly executed, and the goods restored by the bailee as soon as the purposes of the bailment shall be answered. 2 Kent, Comm. 559. Bailment is a delivery of a thing in trust for some special objects or purpose, and upon a contract, express or implied, to conform to the object or purpose of the trust. Story, Bnilm. 3. A delivery of goods in trust on a contract, either expressed or implied, that the trust shall be duly executed, and the goods redelivered as soon as the time or use for which they were bailed shall have elapsed or be performed. Jones, Bailm. 117. Bailment is a word of French origin, significant of the curtailed transfer, the delivery or mere handing over, which is appropriate to the transaction. Schouler, Pers. Prop. 695. The test of a bailment is that the identical thing is to be returned; if another thing of equal value is to be returned, the transaction is a snie. Marsh v. Titus. 6 Thomp. & C. (N. Y.) 29; Sturm v. Boker, 150 U. S. 312, 14 Sup. Ct. 99, 37 L. Ed. 1093. Classification. Sir William Jones has divided bailments into five sorts, namely: Depositum, or deposit; mandatum, or commission without recompense; commodatum, or loan for use without pay; pignori acceptum, or pawn ; locatum, or hiring, which is always with rewardThis last is subdivid ed into locatio rei, or hiring, by which the hirer gains a temporary use of the thing; locatio operis faciendi, when something is to be done to the thing delivered; locatio operis mercium vehendarum, when the thing is merely to be carried from one place to another. Jones, Balim. 36. Lord Holt divided bailments thus:
(1) Depositum, or a naked bailment of goods, to be kept for the use of the bnilor.
(2) Commodatum. Where goods or chattela that are useful are lent to the bailee gratis, to be used by him.
(3) Locatio rei. Where goods are lent to the bailee to be used by him for hire.
(4) Vadium, Pawn or pledge.
(5) Locatio operis faciendi. Where goods are delivered to be carried, or something is to be done about them, for a reward to be paid to the bailee.
(6) Mandatum. A delivery of goods to somebody who is to carry them, or do something about them, gratis. 2 Ld. Raym. 909. Another division, suggested by Bouvier, is as follows: First, those bailments which are for the benefit of the bnilor, or of some person whom he represents; second, those for the benefit of the bailee, or some person represented by him; third, those which are for the benefit of both parties.

— Bailment for hire. A contract in which the bailor agrees to pay an adequate recompense for the safe-keeping of the thing intrusted to the custody of the bailee, and the bnilee agrees to keep it and restore it on the request of the bailor, in the same condition substantially as he received it, excepting injury or loss from causes for which he is not responsible. Arent v. Squire, 1 Daly (N. Y.) 356.

— Gratuitous bailment. Another name for a depositum or naked bailment, which is made only for the benefit of the bailor and is not a source of profit to the bailee. Foster . Essex Bank, 17 Mass. 499, 9 Am. Dec. 168,

— Lucrative bailment. One which is undertaken upon a consideration and for which a payment or recompense is to be made to the bailee, or from which he is to derive some advantage. Prince v. Alabama State Fair, 106 Ala. 340, 17 South. 449, 28 L. It. A. 716.

A delivery of a thing of a personal nature by one person to another to be held according to the purpose of the delivery, and to be returned or delivered over when that purpose is accomplished; the contract resulting from such delivery or upon which such delivery is made; in old practice, a becoming bail for another.

A delivery of goods or personal property, by one person to another, in trust for the execution of a special object upon or in relation to such goods, beneficial either to the bailor or bailee or both, and upon a contract, express or implied, to perform the trust and carry out such object, and thereupon either to redeliver the goods to the bailor or otherwise dispose ef the same in conformity with the purpose of the trust. See Cade Ga, 1852, § 2058. A delivery of goods in trust upon a contract, expressed or implied, that the trust shall be faithfully executed on the part of the bailee. 2 Bl. Comm, 455. Bailment, from the Freuch bailler, to deliver, is adelivery of goods for some purpose, upon a contract, express or implied, that, after the purpose has been fulfilled, they shall be redelivered to the bailor, or otherwise dealt with, according to his directions, or (as the case may be) kept tili he retlaims them. 2% Steph. Comm. £0, A delivery of goods in trust upon a contract, expressed or implied, that the trust shall be duly exccuted, and the gocds restored by the bailee as soon as the purposes of the bailment shall be answered. 2 Kent, Comm. 559. Bailmeat is a delivery of a thing in trust for f£0Me special object cr purpose, and upon a contract, express or implied, to conform to the object or purpose of the trust. Story, Bailm. 3. A delivery of goods in trust on a contract, either expressed or implied, that the trust shall be duly executed, and the goods redelivered as soon as the Bailment is a word of French origin, significant of the curtailed transfer, the delivery or mera handing over, which is appropriate to the transaction. Schouler, Pers. Prop. 695. The test of a bailment is that the identical thing is to be returned; if another thing of equal value is to be returned, the transaction is a salo. 6 Thomp. & C. 29; 3 Hun, 530. Sir William Jones has divided bailments into five sorts, namely: Depositum, or deposit; mandatum, or commission without recompense; commedatum, or loan for use without pay; pignort acceptum, or pawn; loeaium, or hiring, which is always with reward. This last is subdivided into locatio vei, or hiring, by which the hirer gains a temporary use of the thing; locatio operis Faciendi, when something is to be done to the thing delivered; docatio operis mercium vehendarum, Wien the thing is mérely to be carried from one place to another. Jones, Bailin. 36. Lord Holt divided bailments thus: (1) Depositum, or a naked bailment of goods, to be kept for the use of the bailor. (2) Commodatwm. Where goods or chattels that are useful ure lent to the bailee gratis, to be used by him. (8) Locatio rei. Where goods are lent to the bailce to be used by him for hire. (4) Vadim. Pawn or pledge. (5) Loentio operis faciendi. Where goods are delivered to be carried, or something is to be done about them, for 2 reward to be paid to the bailee. (6) Mandatian. <A delivery of goods to somebody who is to carry them, or do something about them, gratis. 2 Ld. Raym. 909. Another division, suggested by Bouvier, is as follows: First, those bailments which are for the benefit of the bailor, or of some person whom he represents; secon, those for the benefit of the bailee, or some person represented by him; third, those which are for the benefit of both parties.

^ A delivery of goods in trust, upon a contract, expressed or implied, that the trust shall be faithfully executed on the part of the bailee.' A delivery of goods in trust upon a contract, expressed or implied, that the trust shall be duly executed, and the goods restored by the bailee as soon as the purpose of the bailment shall be answered.'" A delivery of a thing in trust for some special object or purpose, and upon a contract, expressed or implied, to conform to the object or purpose of the trust.^l When the identical thing delivered, though in an altered form, is to be restored, the contract is a " bailment," and the title to the property is not changed. But when there is no obligation to restore the specific article, and the receiver is at liberty to return another Reese v. United States, 9 id. 21 (1869), Field, J.; 3 Bl. Com. 290-92. As to rights of sureties generally, see 1 Ifans. Law J. 211-14 (188.5), oases. 1 The -iff is from the A. S. reeve, officer, steward,— 1 Bl. Com. 116. O. F. bailler, to keep in custody,

— Skeat. See Bail, 2; Eeeve. = Coke, Litt. 163 b. ' 1 Bl. Com. 427. •■ See Coke, Litt. 172 a; 4 Watts, 432; 22 Ga. 161; 44 Barb. 463; 1 Story, Eq. § 446. s 1 Bl. Com. 345. "F. fio Sitc, government; bat'l Jer, to have custody of; A. S. wic, dwelling, station, jurisdiction. ' 1 Bl. Com, 344; 2 id. 37. 8 P. bailler, to deliver. » 2 Bl. Com. 451, 395. thing of equal value, the title to the property being changed, the contract is a "sale," ' q. v. Bail, V. To deliver a thing to a person upon his engaging to do something to or with it, and then either to return or to account for it. Bailee. He who thus recel Yes a thing bailed. Bailor. He who thus delivers a thing as bailed. The purpose of the law of bailments is to ascertain, whenever the loss of or injury to a thing occurs, to what degree of care the bailee was bound and of what degree of negligence he has been guilty. ^ Three kinds of bailments are recognized: That in which the trust is for the benefit — of the bailor, of the bailee, or of both bailor and bailee. In cases of the first kind, at least slight care is required; in cases of the second kind, great care; in cases of the third kind, ordinary care. The absence of the required degree of care constitutes negligence, for which the bailee is responsible.' Sir William Jones, following the civil law, proposed, in 1790, this division; Depositum, gratuitous custody; deposit, q. v. Mandaium^ gratuitous feasance; mandate, q. V. Accommodatum (q. v.), or cammodatum, loan for use without pay; accommodation. Fignus^ pledge, q. v. Locatio^ or locatum, hiring,* q. v. See also Loan, 1. Each party has a qualified property (g. v.) in the subject of the bailment and may maintain an action with respect to it.** Presumably, the bailor is entitled to the thing. The bailee is to do what the principal directed — restore the article or account to him for it. He " accounts " when he yields to the paramount right of immediate possession in a third person who Is found to be the true owner." See also Care; Carried; Innkeeper; Larceny; Ees, Pent, etc.

[from Fr. bailler, to deliver.] A delivery of goods in trust, upon a contract expressed or implied, that the trust shall be faithfully executed on the part of the bailee. 2 Bl, Com, 461. — A delivery of goods for some particular purpose, or on mere deposit, upon a contract express or implied, that after the purpose has been performed, they shall be re-delivered to the bailor, or otherwise dealt with according to his directions, or, (as the case may be) kept till he reclaims them. 2 Steph. Com. 129. — A delivery of goods in trust upon a contract expressed or implied, that the trust shall be duly executed, and the goods restored by the bailee, as soon as the purpose of the bailment shall be answered. 2 Kent's Com. 668. — A delivery of a thing in trust for some special object or purpose, and upon a contract express or implied to conform to the object or purpose of the trust. Story on Bailm. § 2. • All these definitions, except the last, are based, with some variation, upon the two definitions of Sir William Jones: — " A delivery of ^oods on a condition, expressed or implied, tnat they shall be restored by the bsulee to the bailor, or according to his directions, as soon as the purpose for which they were bailed shall be answered." Jor^es on Bailm. 1. "A delivery of goods in trust, on a contract expressed or implied, that the trust shall be duly executed, and the goods re-delivered as soon as the time or use for which they were bailed shall have elapsed or be performed." Id» 117. A very prominent feature of these definitions is tne restoration or re-delivery of the article bailed to the bailor, which they declare to be one of the objects of the contract on the part of the bailee. This idea oi restoration is entirely dropped by Sir William Blackstone in his definition, but is taken up again by Mr. Stephen, though with considerable modification, and is expressly adopted by Chancellor Kent, while on the other hand, no reference is made to it in the definition of Judge Story. It is clear that the restoration of the thing bailed to the bailor, either in specie, or in a new form agreed upon, does in fact constitute a part of the contract in nearly all the varieties of bailment; but it is no less clear that one species of bailment, and that the most important of all, (the locatio operis mercium vehendarum, or bailment of goods to be carried for hire,) is quite free from any such contract on the part of the bailee. The dif Bculty in defining bailment is to explain with sufficient clearness, what the contract is, and to avoid at the same time going into particulars not common to every one of its varieties.

contracts. This word is derived from the French, bailler, todeliver. 2 Bl. Com. 451. Jones’s Bailm. 90. Story on Bailm. c.1,§2. It isa compendious expression to signify a contract resulting from delivery. It has been defined to be a delivery of goods, ona condition express or implied, that they shall be restored by the bailee to the bailor, or according to his directions, as soon as the purpose for which they are bailed, shall be answered. Jones’s Bailm. 1. Or it is a delivery of goods in trust, ona contract either expressed or implied, that the trust shall be duly executed, and the goods redelivered, as soon,as the time or use for which they were bailed, shall have elapsed or be performed. Jones’s Bailm. 117. Each of these definitions, says Judge Story, seems redundant and inaccurate, if it be the proper office of a definition to include those things only which belong to the genus or class. Both these definitions suppose that the goods are to be restored or redelivered; but in a bailment for sale, as upon a consignment to a factor, no redelivery is contemplated between the parties. In some cases no use is contemplated by the bailee; in others, it is of the essence of the contract; in some cases time is material to terminate right. Story on Bailm. e. 1, § 2. Mr. Justice Blackstone has defined a bailment to be a delivery of goods in trust, upon a contract either express or implied, that the trust shall be faithfully executed on the part of the bailee. 2 Bl. Com. 451. And in another place, as a delivery of goods to another person for a particular use. 2 Bl. Com. 395. Vide Kent’s Comm. Lect. 40, 487. Mr. Justice Story says, that a bailment is a delivery of a thing in trust for some special object or purpose, and upon a contract, express or implied, to conform to the object or purpose the trust. Story on Bailm. c. 1,. 2. Bailments are divisible into three kinds; 1, Those in which the trust is for the benefit of the bailor, as deposits and mandates. 2. Those in which the trust is for the benefit of the bailee, as gratuitous loans for use. 3. Those in which the trust is for the benefit of both parties, as pledges or pawns, and hiring and letting to hire. See Deposit, Hire, Loans, Mandates and Pledges. Sir William Jones has divided bailments into five sorts, namely, 1, Depositum, or deposit; 2, Mandatum, or commission without recompense; 3, Commodatum, or loan for use, without pay; 4, Pignori acceptum, or pawn; 5, Locatum, or hiring, which is always with reward. This last is subdivided into, 1, Locatio rei, or hiring, by which the hirer gains a temporary use of the thing; 2. Locatio operis faciendi, when something is to be done to the thing delivered; 3, Locatio operis mercium vehendarum, when the thing is merely to be carried from one place to another. See these several words. As to the obligations and duties of bailees in general, see Diligence, and Story on Bailm. c. 1; Chit. on Rep. 487; 10 Johns. R. 1, 471; 12 Johns. R. 144, 232; 11 Johns. R. 107; 15 Johns. R. 39; 2 John. C. R. 100; 2 Caines’s Cas. 189; 19 Johns. R. 44; 14 John. R. 175; 2 Halst. 108; 2 South. 738; 2 Harr. & M‘Hen. 453; 1 Rand. 3; 2 Hawks, 145; 1 Murphy, 417; 1 Hayw. 14; 1 Rep. Con. Ct. 121, 186; 2 Rep. Con. Ct. 239; 1 Bay, 101; 2 Nott & M‘Cord, 88, 489; 1 Browne, 43, 176; 2 Binn. 72; 4 Binn. 127; 5 Binn. 457; 6 Binn. 129; 6 Serg. & Rawle, 439; 8 Serg. & Rawle, 500, 533; 14 Serg. & R. 275.