Samuel Freeman Miller

“ But the proof is, that its rating is not generally adopted as yet, either by insurers or insured; and that each company in New York which does any considerable amount of business, has its own inspectors and its own register for rating vessels. The evidence shows that this rating differs very materially on the registers of the different companies. None of these registers have, or can have, any right to determine conclusively the rate of a vessel, when that question comes to be determined in a court of justice. ”

“ We have thus shown that the instrument has a well-defined meaning in reference to the rate of premium, and that it does not justify the ninth instruction asked by the defendants.
When we have satisfied ourselves that the policy is susceptible of a reasonable construction on its face, without the necessity of resorting to extrinsic aid, we have at the same time established that usage or custom cannot be resorted to for that purpose. ”

“ The plaintiff is insured on one-fourth of five thousand bags of coffee, from Rio de Janeiro to a port or ports of the United States. The consideration of the insurance is acknowledged to be paid at the rate of 1 1/2 per cent.; an additional premium if shipped by vessels lower than A 2, or by foreign vessels; a return of 1/4 per cent., if shipped direct to an Atlantic port; the premium on risks to be fixed at the time of indorsement, and such clauses to apply as the company may insert, as the risks are successively reported. ”

“ If they make their contracts, intending to assert such a claim, fair dealing requires that they insert it in their policy.
But testimony was introduced tending to show that, by the usage of underwriters and merchants in New York, the rating referred to was the rating on the register of the company which made the policy, and the court instructed the jury to disregard this usage, if they should find that there was no rating of this vessel on the books of one of the defendants, and none since 1849 on the books of the other company. ”

“ Swan, of the house of Grinnell, Minturn & Co., of New York, a witness examined in behalf of the plaintiff, testified as follows: 'The business of rating is a special one. The companies all have inspectors to ascertain the rating of vessels. When a policy speaks of the rate of vessels, it means the rate of the company and refers to that standard.' Other testimony to the same effect was given. ”

“ A war, a blockade, or some other change of affairs occurring after the policy was signed, might justify the company in inserting some clause for its protection, but we do not think it can be so construed as to authorize a clause changing the rate of premium in a case where it is fixed by the other terms of the contract. ”

“ It is true, the premiums are to be fixed at the time the risks are reported, but they are to be fixed in accordance with the stipulations in the policy, which, as we have seen, have specially provided for them. The company can make no additions to the premium except the vessel rates below A 2. If at or above this rate they are bound to deduct the 1/4 per cent., when the risks are reported, if shipment be to an Atlantic port. ”

“ The construction claimed by the underwriters involved no hardship to the defendant in error. When the parties failed to agree as to the premium, he was at liberty to insure elsewhere. He refused to pay the premium demanded, yet insisted they were bound. The company had a right to guard against the alternative of submitting the rate of the vessel to the judgment of a jury ”

“ It means the determination of their relative state or condition in regard to their insurable qualities. It is a matter which has excited much interest in the commercial world, although we are not aware that it has been often before the courts. ”

“ In that case it enlightens the ambiguity and ascertains the meaning of terms 'A 2' as used in the policy. 'It may also be laid down as clear law, that if a man deals in a particular market, he will be taken to act according to the custom of that market ”