In truth, there were two sets of duties,--one not peculiar to
bailees, arising from the assumpsit or public calling of the
defendant, as just explained; the other, the ancient obligation,
peculiar to them as such, of which Southcote's Case was an
example. But any obligation of a bailee might be conceived of as
part of a contract of bailment, after assumpsit had become
appropriated to contract, the doctrine of consideration had been
developed, (both of which had happened in Lord Coke's time,) it
seemed unnecessary to distinguish nicely between the two sets of
duties just mentioned, provided a consideration and special
promise could be alleged. Furthermore, as formerly the
defendant's public calling had the same effect as an assumpsit
for the purpose of charging him in tort, it seems now to have
been thought an equally good substitute for a special promise, in
order to charge him in assumpsit. In Rogers v. Head, /1/ the
argument was, that to charge one in assumpsit you must show
either his public calling at the time of the delivery, or a
special promise on sufficient consideration. This argument
assumes that a bailee who received goods in the course of a
public employment, [186] for instance as a common carrier, could
be charged in this form of action for a breach of either of the
above sets of duties, by alleging either his public calling or
his reward and a special promise. It seems to have been admitted,
as was repeatedly decided before and since that case, that one
who was not a common carrier could have been charged for
non-delivery in a special action; that is, in case as
distinguished from assumpsit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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