Thorndike v. Bordman

21 Mass. 471
CourtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
DecidedApril 2, 1827
StatusPublished

This text of 21 Mass. 471 (Thorndike v. Bordman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thorndike v. Bordman, 21 Mass. 471 (Mass. 1827).

Opinions

Parker C. J.

delivered the opinion of a majority of the Court. The contract of insurance which is the subject of this action, appears to have been entered into by both parties to it, with a view to the peculiar uncertainty of the voyage contemplated. All that was known of the destination of the vessel was, that she was going beyond the Cape of Good [491]*491Hope, into the Indian seas, for the purpose of disposing of, to the best advantage, the specie which was on board, and of purchasing therewith a cargo suitable for the markets in Europe or the United States. At what port she would be able to effect this, and how long a time would be required to accomplish it, was wholly uncertain. It is therefore obvious, that in order to procure an indemnity in case of loss, by means of an insurance, there could be. no designation of a specific port for the outward terminus of the voyage, but that the utmost latitude was necessary between Boston, the place of her departure, and the port of final discharge in Europe or the United States; and the only limitation agreed on was, that the choice of ports should exist only beyond the Cape of Good Hope, and that to whatever ports she might go, it should be for the purpose only of selling the outward and procuring a homeward cargo, that is, of exchanging the specie for such of the produce or manufactures of some In dian country, as would be suitable for markets m Europe or the United States.

But besides the uncertainty as to what port in India might be selected for the objects of the voyage, it was contemplated as possible, that upon visiting one or more of the ports, it might be found expedient to proceed to some other, in order to try the various markets in that extensive region, part of which was almost new to the commerce of this country ; and it might be found, that after making the experiment of one or more ports and proceeding to others, some which had been left afforded better markets than those which had been subsequently resorted to.

It was necessary therefore to provide, not only that the insurance should cover the voyage to any port beyond the Cape, but also to each and every one of them, one or more times, as often as the fair and honest purposes of the voyage should seem to require. The terms of the policy were well chosen and sufficiently broad to carry into effect those obvious intentions of the insured, and it must be taken for granted, as no misrepresentation or concealment of the nature of the voyage is complained of, that the underwriters were fully aware of the extent of the indemnity they had undertaken) [492]*492and had secured to themselves a sufficient compensation ty way of premium therefor.

They undertake to insure against, sea perils this vessel and her cargo, “ from Boston to any port or ports beyond the Cape of Good Hope, one or more times to the same port, for the purpose of selling the outward and procuring a return cargo, and at and from thence to port of final discharge in Europe or the United States, (not both,) with liberty to stop at the usual places of refreshment and to trade thereat.”

It is not easy to conceive a form of words more entirely free from ambiguity, or better calculated to answer the purpose of security against loss on such a voyage as appears to have been projected by the insured with this vessel and cargo. There having been a total loss of vessel and cargo towards the termination of the voyage, as the vessel was approaching her port of discharge, it is incumbent on the underwriter to show some legal ground to justify him in withholding the indemnity provided for in the policy.

Several grounds of defence were taken at the trial, which depending upon matter of fact have been decided by the jury in favor of the plaintiff; and a claim for a partial loss made by the plaintiff, in addition to his claim for a total loss, on account of repairs at the Isle of France made necessary by damage done to the vessel on her homeward voyage, has been settled against the plaintiff, on the ground that the damage arose from unseaworthiness of the vessel at the time of her departure from her port of lading in the island of Java. She was thoroughly repaired at the Isle of France, and the final loss was on her homeward passage.

The questions which remain to be settled are questions cf law only, arising from facts proved at the trial.

The port in the Indian seas which the master of the vesse was instructed to seek first, was on the coast of Cochin China. He went fifty or sixty miles up a river on that coast, and there found that a cargo of sugar at a satisfactory price could be obtained, but he was not able to purchase it with gold, which was all his outward cargo, Spanish dollars only being current at that place. He sailed from thence to the island of Manilla, where, having exchanged his gold for dollars, he [493]*493returned to Cochin China with the full expectation of obtaining a cargo of sugar there.

It is objected that Cochin China was a new place of trade, and not within the usual description of a port or ports beyond the Cape of Good Hope, and therefore ought not to be considered as within the terms or the spirit of the contract, but it is a port beyond the Cape of Good Hope, and within the Indian Ocean, and so comes within the terms of the contract. If any restriction to places of customary trade had been intended, it ought to have been expressed. Underwriters are presumed to know the nature of voyages they insure, and the éffect and extent of the provisions by which they. bind themselves, and they are not allowed to avoid a contract expressed in plain and unambiguous terms, by asserting that they meant more or less than the words import, unless they show the existence of some usage of trade, to which from its notoriety both parties are supposed to refer ; and there was no evidence in the case of any such usage.

It was also hinted, but not much pressed, that the selling of the gold at Manilla was a selling of the outward cargo, and that there was no right to return to Cochin China to purchase the sugars there ; but this was most clearly justifiable. If the cargo had been any thing but specie, and after an ineffectual attempt to sell it at the port in Cochin China, the master had proceeded with it to Manilla and there sold it for dollars, he would certainly have had a right to go back to purchase sugar with his dollars ; it would seem to be the very case contemplated as probable when the contract was entered into.

But on account of difficulties not to be foreseen or guarded against, a cargo could not be procured at Cochin China ; and the master having purchased and taken on board a small part, to wit, one eighth of a cargo, sailed from thence to Batavia, in the island of Java, with the intention and expectation of completing his cargo of sugar there. Without doubt he was under the protection of the policy until the arrival at Batavia; and it is not disputed, that from thence he might have proceeded without any deviation, to any other port within the Cape, and even back again to Manilla or Co[494]*494chin China, for the purpose of filling up the ship and comP^ng the cargo, if unable to procure it at a satisfactory price at Batavia. It was proved that sugar was very scarce and high there, so that the cargo could not be made up without great injury to the voyage, and that at Samarang, a place on the same island a few days sail from Batavia, it was plentiful and at a reasonable price.

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Related

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Bluebook (online)
21 Mass. 471, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thorndike-v-bordman-mass-1827.