consideration_, and there need not be an actual one consisting of
money, labour, or any other thing
_When a contract is sealed the law implies that there is
consideration_, and there need not be an actual one consisting of
money, labour, or any other thing. This seems like an exception to the
rule requiring a consideration in all cases, but the reason is this:
When a sealed contract is made, the law supposes or assumes that each
party made it, clearly knowing its nature–made it carefully, slowly,
and, consequently, that either a consideration had been or would be
given. If, therefore, one of the parties should refuse to fulfil it
the other could sue him in a court of law. The person who sought to
have it carried out would not be obliged to show that he had given any
consideration on his part for the undertaking, because the seal
appended to his name would imply that a consideration had been given.
A deed for a piece of land is a good illustration of a sealed
instrument. The law assumes whenever such a deed is given that the
seller received a consideration for his land. The money paid was a
consideration received by the seller, and the land was the
consideration received by the buyer. Each gives a consideration of
some kind for the consideration received from the other; and this is
true in all cases.
classes of stock and with the technical terms familiar to stock
companies
The student should be familiar in a general way with the different
classes of stock and with the technical terms familiar to stock
companies. The more important of these matters are as follows:
commodities, depend upon the law of supply and demand
These exchanges have a sort of commodity value, and like all
commodities, depend upon the law of supply and demand. When gold is
being shipped abroad we say that the balance of trade is against
us–that is, we are buying more from Europe than Europe is buying from
us, and the gold is shipped to pay the balance or difference.
received by A, withdraw his acceptance? No, he cannot–for the reason
above given, that the post-office is the agent of A, in carrying both
his offer and B”s reply
Can B, after mailing his letter of acceptance and before it has been
received by A, withdraw his acceptance? No, he cannot–for the reason
above given, that the post-office is the agent of A, in carrying both
his offer and B”s reply. If this were not so, if the post-office were
the agent of B in sending his reply, then of course it could be
revoked or withdrawn at any time before it reached A.
State are permitted to do business in other States
As a general rule private corporations organised under the laws of one
State are permitted to do business in other States. It is quite often
to the advantage of a company to organise under the laws of one State
for the purpose of doing business in another. For instance, there are
many companies chartered under the laws of Maine with headquarters in
Boston. The Massachusetts laws require that a large proportion of the
capital be actually paid in at the time of organising, while the Maine
law has no such provision. For similar reasons many large companies
doing business in New York or Philadelphia are organised under the
laws of New Jersey.
4. CANADA. (_a_) Describe Canada”s resources (1) in forest wealth, (2)
in minerals, (3) in fisheries. (_b_) Describe Canada”s agricultural
trade. (_c_) Describe Canada”s trade with the United States.
Edinburgh bankers claiming the credit of establishing the first one
The clearing-house is a comparatively modern institution, the
Edinburgh bankers claiming the credit of establishing the first one.
The earliest clearing-house of whose transactions we have any record
is that of London, founded about 1775. For fully seventy-five years
the London clearing-house and that of Edinburgh were the only
organisations of the kind known to exist. The monetary systems of most
European countries centring around one great national bank located at
the capital of each, found in this a means of effecting mercantile
settlements. The New York clearing-house was established in 1853, from
which date the American clearing-house system has grown to enormous
proportions. No country in the world has so large a need of
clearing-houses, for in no country is the bank cheque so generally
used in the payment of ordinary accounts.
industry as is its climate generally, its climate is not always
favourable
But, fertile as is the soil of India, and propitious to agricultural
industry as is its climate generally, its climate is not always
favourable. It suffers periodically from excess of drought. As a
consequence artificial irrigation has to be resorted to, or much of
this fertile country would oftentimes be a desert. In British India
alone 28,000 miles of irrigation canals are under the control of the
government, 14,000 of which have been constructed by the present
(British) government–works of vast dimensions and the highest
engineering skill. Altogether 28,000,000 acres in British India are
dependent for their necessary supply of moisture upon general
irrigation, and 8,000,000 upon irrigation canals. Were it not for
these irrigation canals, 2,000,000 acres in Scinde (northwestern
India) would be a perpetual desert, for Scinde is almost wholly
rainless. On the other hand, in a great part of India the rainfall is
excessive. Some districts indeed are the wettest on the globe. In
Assam, for example (which is also one of the hottest places in India),
the rainfall is 600 inches yearly, and it has been 650. As a
consequence rivers in India often overflow their banks. Therefore to
protect the country on the lower river reaches from floods the British
government has built over 1500 miles of embankments.
DIVIDENDS. The directors of the company, after paying the expenses and
laying by a certain amount for contingencies, divide the profits among
the shareholders. These profits are called dividends, and in
successful concerns such dividends as are declared quarterly,
semiannually, or annually usually amount to good interest on the
shareholders” investments.