E 

### NEY GENERAL

.4%-rOlaS~ cac.XBRA& February 21, 1964
Hon. John C. White Commissioner of Agriculture Opinion 

### No.C-219 Capitol Station Re: Maya public warehouseman Austin, Texas charge the owner of stored cotton for services performed for compressing the cotton, and related quesDear Mr. White: tions e

Weacknowledge receipt of yo,urrequest for opinion on the above subject matter construing the Texas Markets andWarehouses Law, codified as Articles 5562 et seq. of Vernon’s Civil Statutes. Your letter andthe questions propounded to us state in part as follows:
Jr., “The attached letter from Mr. George H. Traylor, President of the Lubbock Cotton Exchange outlines in detail an apparent growing problem in the cotton industry. Briefly, it concerns the practice of a cootton warehouse applying hi-density compression to a bale of cotton without the owners’ permission for the sake of conserving storage space. Acompression charge is then added to the storage bill.

“Our specific questions are as follows:

“1. Does the Markets andWarehouses Lawcontain a provision which would forbid the warehouseman from altering the size or changing the original description of a stored commodity without the owner’s permission?

“2. If the answer to the above question is negative, does the law forbid awarehouseman to charge the owner of stored property for a service that was performed solely for the convenience of the warehouse?” As both questions are inter-related wewill answer both questions together.

The statutes pertaining to warehouses andwarehousemen do not contain any provisions specifically allowing or forbidding warehousemen to compress and charge for compression of cotton stored with themby the owners. However, considering the statutes as a

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whole, to be hereinafter discussed, wefeel the charge is an authorized one0

Article 5570states in part as follows:

“Onapplication of the owner or depositor of the property stored in a public warehouse,,the warehouseman shall issue over his ownsignature, or that of his duly authorized agent, a public warehouse receipt therefor, to the order of the person entitled thereto; which receipt shall purport to be issued by a public warehouse, shall bear the date of the day of its Issue, and shall state upon its face the nameof the warehouse and its location, the description, quantity, numberandmarks of the property stored. Wheresuch receipt is for cotton it shall state the class andweight, andthe date onwhich it was originally received in warehouse, andthat it is deliverable upon return of the receipt properly indorsed by the person to whose order it was issued, andon navment of all chars s for storape. and insurance. which charnes shall Ee stated on the fact of the receiot. e
. .‘I (Emphasis added), Weinterpret this provision to meanthat whencotton has been deposited for storage, the warehousemanmust issue a receipt therefor which should completely itemize all char es in connection with the storage. The issuance of this recefpt by the warehouseman andthe acceptance thereof by the owner governs the charges which the warehousemanmaycollect andfor which he may claim a lien. All charges, including any charges for compression, must appear on the face of the warehouse receipt. At this time the depositor is aware that the warehouseman proposes to charge a fee for compression, and therefore he is on notice of such charge. If the depositor chooses to take his commodity to awarehouse not charging the compressing fee, he is at liberty to do so.

Wedo not base our decision onArticle 55’70entirely. Underthe terms of Article 5574 awarehouseman returns goods left with himonly after presentation andreturn of the warehouse receipt “and the tender of all D oner warehouse charees unon the pronerty represented by it Lthi receipL/.14 (Emphasis added).

OurUniform Warehouse Receipts Act provides in Article 5613that the warehouse receipt shall state the rate of storage charges, and the liabilities incurred for which the warehouseman claims a lien. Article 5638 of this Act states in part as followst -1055-Hon. John C. White, page 

### 3 (C-219)
"Subject to the provisions of the second succeeding article, awarehouseman shall have a lien on goods deposited or on the proceeds thereof in his hands, for all lawful charnes for storane and preservation of the goods; &so for all lawful claims for moneyadvanced, interest, insurance, transportation, labor, weighing, on ina and other charaes andexoenses in relation go"szzh goods;

. . .I) (Emphasis added). In light of the statements madeabove wemust answer your first question in the negative. Wefind implied authority in the statutes discussed for the warehousemen to charge for compression as it is a charge necessitated by the large amount of cotton to be stored by them, andfurther because the charge is one specified on the warehouse receipt. Your second question is also answered in the negative. SUMMARY The issuance of a receipt by the warehouseman andthe acceptance thereof by the owner governs the charges which the warehousemanmaycollect andfor which he mayclaim a lien. All charges, including any charges for compression, must appear on the face of the warehouse receipt. Yours very truly, WAGGONER

CARR Attorney General *

FDW:wb By&<r% Assist&t APPROVED: OPINIONCOMMITTEE W.V. Geppert, Chairman Paul Phy Jerrv Brock Paul Robertson W. 0. Shultz APPROVED

FORTHEATTORNEY

GENERAL By: HowardN. Mays

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