London Docks.
The Times, 1824-01-28T00:00:00

I ATIvrra'rrqr,r.l Copy of a Minute of a Court Directors of the London Dock Com- pany. held at the London Dock House, on the 23d of January, 1824. IsAAC SOLLY, Esq., in the chair :_ " The Directors of the London Dock Company have read, with surprise and regret, certain resolutions passed at a mneeting of Aier- chants, heid at the Baltic Cofife-house on the 11th of November last, Benjamiin Ilawes, Esq. in the chair and likewise a statement, signed by many merchants and others, declaratory of their opinions uoon the conduct of the Directors in the matters to which those re- solutions refer, both of which documents the Directors consider to be founded upon very errOneous views of the subject on which they treat, and expressed in terms not warranted by the circum7stances, as well as at variance with the spirit of accommodation which the Directors have never ceased to evince towards every trade which has frequented the London Docks. The Directors have always been thankful for any suggestions which could tend to the perfection of the system pursued at the Dockr, and which afforded feilities to commerce; and they have adopted such suggestions as far as the law permitted, or the safety of the property of the proprietors placed under their management "The Directors consider that it would be quite inconsistent for them to repel the charges brought against them, otherwise than by this plain statemeot. " The law, whichl allows the stoppage of goods in iransitU, is of no recent date, and has been acted upon to a great extent under the administration of the higliest judicial authorities;-it is the impor- tant privilege given by t is law to parties engaged in trade, whicn the gentlemen signing the declaration are desirous the Deck Com- pany shall dis-egard; and they impuzn the conduct of the Directors for having paid attention to notices to stop tallow, which the parties giving those notices allegehas not been paid for. " It may be remarked, that some of the gentlemen signing the detlaration have themselves, upon former occasions, given similar notices, although they novw condemn the principle of receiving them. " During a period of nincteeni years, whici has elapsed since the onening of the- London Dock, the Dock Company has, iu all its greas concerns, seeied ldear of dispute with the parties engaged in the trade of the port, upon this important subject; and st is only at this late date that inconveniences, arising out of the new system adopted by theimnporters and dealers in tallow, are gncountered. " Itlercantile men are well aware that there is not a complete delivery of any goods which require weighing to ascertain their jgtstitnr until after the weighing hcs tateni place,ana fiat stsLch nart4only as has passed the scale ts legally in the posssssion of the 'ouyer,unle'ssav;eight sballhave been agrecd- upon; or,asjs the, czase in coffee_earrants, where the gOOt'i5 are taken at the landingr scale. i By the system now practised in the tallow-trade, an otd& givem mav receive twenty or more endorsements, and even, be passed! through the same hands more than once, previously to sa beingr presented at the Dock for a tranfer or delivcry of the goods ; and' when presented, if the tdlowvs are nor weighed so - tao give the purchasers a complete legatL title, it is because they do not direct it toa be done, in order to save the expense whiah would be thereby incurred; and yet they require from the Dock Conmpany some evt- daence of the goods being plaed in Their names in the warehouse- keeper's books. '" For the accommnodation and convenience, therefore, of the trade, a transfer-ticket has been given, and it is the transfer-ticket which the gentlemen signing the declaration now wish to construe as subT jecting the Compariy to the liability of delivering the tallow, in de- fiance of any notice to the contrary. ' So desirous were the Directors of preventing any inconvenience to merchants, that they proposed in the very outs tof the present question, to deliver the tallows to the parties in whose names they stood in the Company's books, upon their giving an indemnity, con- ceivnng that such an arrangemnent couldnot be objected to by persons who considered their claims to be indisputable. Clainis to the ex- tent of 132casks were so arranged, and thenotices given having been subsequently wvitlhdrawn as to 185 casks, the whole which at this time remains under stop as respercts the Company is 200 casks. " The Directors, considering the qUeEti n at issue to involve, a principle of great importance, have net taken any step in the pro- gress of this basiness withlout being advised by the Compaury's Counsel} tO whom copies of the transfer tickets were submit- ted. .hatever mercantile tnsage may have prevailed, the Di- rectors, as guardians of the property placed under their charge. (not onty3S respects the trade, but also the interest of their Propti- etors), hav'e tlwght it their duty to pursve the course which they have adopsted; for no other object could influence the minds of the Direct rs but a desire to act whiX strict impartiality and justice, and to deliver the groods tO the pi'oper parties. "As regards the future, every buyer must be expected to know the preeess whichs gives him a title to the property he has purchased. lf anv method can be suggested4 to affordr additional facilities ta trade, the b)irecior will readilv take it into their serious consideration - but they cannot, in the performance of their dury, subject the Com- pany to liabiliLies for which it receives no adequate consideration. The ltrectors are very desirous that the legal questior(which applies alike to every dock establishment or wharf taking charge of mercan- tile property) should now be completely set at rest, and they will niot relax intlheir personal exertions to accomnplish this object, and prevent the recurrence of sinilar difficulties; those in existence, however, certainly not originating wvith them, bitt arising out oA the practice wvhich hai lately obtained in the tallo,v-trade. ';The Directors cannot conclude without remarking,tlhat they con- sider the rolutionr a^nd declaration which have been forw arded to theta as conveying censure ncalled for and undeserved. " CF,ORGE RO(:BINSON, Secretary." LONDON DOCKS.