Excerpt from Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Vol. 1 The argument, founded on the supposed character of the mates as bailees, is fallacious; they were not bailees, any more than are the servants in a hotel, but were mere servants. The authorities to this point, therefore, are not applicable. The principle of law stated in the instructions is too clear to require any argument. Dewey, J. The position taken by the counsel for the defendant assumes, that the facts testified to by the witness introduced 011 the trial were such as would authorize the jury to find, that the defendants received the possession of the pig iron by a purchase from the mates of the bark Ida; or, if not by a sale, that the taking was with the privity of the Officers of the bark; and thereupon a question is raised, whether a larceny could be committed by the Officers of the bark, of pig iron not in boxes, or bound up in parcels the counsel for the defendant contending, that in case of possession by a bailee or common carrier, there could be no larceny of the property unless there was an actual breaking Open of a cask, or bundle, and a withdrawal Of a part from the mass com mitted to his charge. If it were necessary to examine with particularity this doctrine Of conversion by a bailee, and to ascertain the acts that would give a decisive character to such conversion, as properly falling within the class of cases denominated a mere breach of trust, or that of larceny, I apprehend no doubt could arise, as to the instructions here given being sufficiently favorable to the case of one standing in the relation of a bailee of goods. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.