Dock Warrant

A document issued by a dock company or dock owner in England, stating that certain goods therein mentioned are deliverable to a person therein named, or to his assigns, by indorsement. Dock warrants in form resemble bills of lading (q. v.), but they differ from them in this, that, when goods are at sea, a purchaser who takes a bill of lading has done all that is possible to obtain possession of them, while a purchaser who takes a dock warrant can at any moment lodge it with the dock company, and so take actual or constructive possession of the goods. It therefore seems that the indorsement of a dock warrant does not, at common law, pass the ownership in the goods, or divest the vendor's lien if the goods have not been paid for, but merely operates as a constructive delivery of them as between the indorser and indorsee, until the dock company has "attorned" to the indorsee by agreeing to hold the goods for him.

Benj. Sales, 573, 674; 3 C. P. Div. 373, 450.

See "Delivery Order." Dock warrants, however, are included in the factors' acts among the "documents of title," the possession of which gives a factor power to confer a good title to the goods on persons dealing with him in good faith.

Benj. Sales, 668.

See "Factors' Acts."

See Factors' Acts.