Elements of Morals: With Special Application of the Moral Law to the Duties of the Individual and of Society and the StateJanet, Paul
Philosophy
Elements of Morals: With Special Application of the Moral Law to the Duties of the Individual and of Society and the State
Janet, Paul
Ethics
=42. The trust.=--_Trust_, in general, is an act by which one receives the
thing of another on condition to keep it and restore it in kind. (Code
Civ., Art. 1915.)
He who deposits is called deponent (or bailor in England); he who receives
the trust is called depositary (in England bailee).
The obligations of the depositary are morally the same as those found in
positive law. We have then nothing better to do here than to reproduce the
precepts of the Code on this matter.
1. The depositary, in keeping the thing deposited with him, must exercise
the same care as with the things belonging to himself (Art. 1927).
2. This obligation becomes still more stringent in the following cases:
(_a_), when the depositary offers himself to receive the thing in trust;
(_b_), when he stipulates for a compensation for the keeping of the thing
deposited; (_c_), when the trust is to the interest of the depositary;
(_d_), when it has been expressly agreed upon that the depositary be
answerable for all kinds of mistakes (Art. 1928).
3. The depositary cannot make use of the trust without the express or
presumed consent of the deponent (Art 1929).--For example, if a library
has been left in my trust, it may be presumed that the deponent would not
object to my using it; but if the trust consists in valuable jewelry, it
can be only by the express wish of the deponent that I could wear it. The
difference is simple and easily understood.
4. The depositary should not seek to know what the things deposited with
him are, if they have been left with him in a closed trunk or a sealed
envelope (Art. 1931).
5. The depositary must return the identical thing he has received. Thus
the trust consisting in specie, must be returned in the same specie.
The obligation to restore the thing deposited in kind, and such as it was
when delivered, is evident, and constitutes the very essence of the trust.
However, we should take into account the following circumstances:
1. The depositary is not held responsible in cases of insuperable
accidents (Art. 1929).
2. The depositary is only held to return the things deposited with him, in
the state wherein they are at the moment of restitution. Deteriorations,
through no fault of his, are at the expense of the deponent (Art. 1935).
Such are the obligations of the depositary; as to those of the deponent,
they resolve themselves into the following rule:
The deponent is held to reimburse the depositary for any expense he may
have incurred in the keeping of the trust, and to indemnify him for any
loss the trust may have occasioned him (Art. 1947).
=43. Possession in good faith.=--Possession in good faith is analogous to
trust. In fact, he who possesses in good faith a thing that is not his, is
in reality but a depositary, but he is so without knowing it. Hence
analogies and differences between these two cases, which it is well to
point out.
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