The law of England recognizes a distinction between a common and a
private carrier. The former is one who holds himself out to the public
as ready to carry for hire from place to place the goods of such persons
as choose to employ him. The owner of a stagecoach, a railway company,
the master of a general ship, a wharfinger carrying goods on his own
lighters are common carriers; and it makes no difference that one of the
_termini_ of the journey is out of England. It has been held, however,
that a person who carries only passengers is not a common carrier; nor
of course is a person who merely engages to carry the goods of
particular individuals or to carry goods upon any particular occasion. A
common carrier is subject at law to peculiar liabilities. He is bound to
carry the goods of any person who offers to pay his hire, unless there
is a good reason to the contrary, as, for example, when his carriage is
full, or the article is not such as he is in the habit of conveying. He
ought to carry the goods in the usual course without unnecessary
deviation or delay. To make him liable there must be a due delivery of
the goods to him in the known course of his business. His charge must be
reasonable; and he must not give undue preference to any customer or
class of customers. The latter principle, as enforced by statute, has
come to be of great importance in the law of railway companies. In
respect of goods entrusted to him, the carrier's liability, unless
limited by a special contract, is, as already stated, that of an
insurer. There is no question of negligence as in the case of injury to
passengers, for the warranty is simply to carry safely and securely. The
law, however, excepts losses or injuries occasioned immediately "by the
act of God or the king's enemies"--words which have long had a strict
technical signification. It would appear that concealment without fraud,
on the part of the customer, will relieve the carrier from his liability
for _negligence_, but not for actual _misfeasance_. Fraud or deceit by
the customer (e.g., in misrepresenting the real value of the goods)
will relieve the carrier from his liability. The responsibility of the
carrier ceases only with the delivery of the goods to the proper
consignee. By the Carriers' Act 1830 the liability of carriers for gold,
silver, &c. (in general "articles of great value in small compass") is
determined. Should the article or parcel exceed L10 in value, the
carrier is