Breaking bulk

The doctrine of breaking bulk proceeds upon the ground of a determination of the privity of the bailment by the wrongful act of the bailee. Thus, where a carrier had agreed to carry certain bales of goods, which were delivered to him, to Southampton, but carried them to another place, broke open the bales, and took the goods contained in them feloniously and converted them to his own use, the majority of the judges held that if the party had sold the entire bales it would not have been felony; "but as he broke them, and took what was in them, he did it without warrant," and so was guilty of felony; Y. B. 13 Edw. IV. fol. 9. "If a miller steals part it is felony, being taken from the rest;" 1 Rolle, Abr. 73, pl. 16; Com. v. James, 1 Pick. (Mass.) 375. This construction involves the absurd consequence of its being felony to steal part of a package, but a breach of trust to steal the whole. In an early case in Massachusetts, it was decided that if a wagon-load of goods, consisting of several packages, is delivered to a common carrier to be transported in a body to a certain place, and he, with a felonious intent, separates one entire package, whether before or after the delivery of the other packages, this is a sufficient breaking of bulk to constitute larceny, without any breaking of the package so separated; Com. v. Brown, 4 Mass. 580. But this decision is in direct conflict with the English cases. Thus, where the master and owner of a ship steals a package out of several packages delivered him to carry, without removing anything from the particular package; 1 Russ. & R. 92; or where a letter-carrier is intrusted with two directed envelopes, each containing a 5l. note, and delivers the envelopes, having previously taken out the two notes; 1 Den. Cr. Cas. 215; or where a drover separates one sheep from a flock intrusted to him to drive a certain distance; 1 Jebb. 51; this is not a breaking of bulk sufficient to terminate the bailment and to constitute larceny; 2 Bish. Cr. L. 860, 868. The Larceny Act of 1861 has met the difficulty of deciding this class of cases in England, by providing that a bailee of any chattel, money, or valuable security, who fraudulently takes the same, although not breaking bulk, shall be guilty of larceny.

The offense committed by a bailee (particularly a carrier) in opening or unpacking the chest, parcel, or case containing goods intrusted to his care, and removing the goods and converting them to his own use.

Defined under Breaking in Black's Law Dictionary.