Note 31 — BOOK V. CONCERNING BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS.

All the laws relating to bailments, included under this and the preceding Title, are of ancient origin; that is, borrowed, almost without change, from the Roman jurisprudence. The responsibility of the bailee for property entrusted to him, is determined by the same principles which experience and a sense of equity, in all ages, have demonstrated to be just and expedient, and which form the basis of similar contracts at the present day. The requirement of ordinary or extraordinary diligence and care was then, as now, dependent upon the question whether one or both parties derived benefit from the bailment. In case of gross negligence or fraud, the bailor was entitled to an animal or article of equal value to the one lost or destroyed; just as he can now, under similar circumstances, recover damages in a suit at law. The forfeiture of half the value of the property loaned, when it was stolen, and negligence was not established, or even alleged, is a novel regulation, and one especially calculated to render the bailee more careful and alert. The custom of pawning property as security for money loaned is, no doubt, as ancient as any business transaction, and is the pignori acceptum of the Roman, and Civil and Common Law authorities. The question of negligence does not seem to have been considered where a pledge was stolen; for, in this case, the entire loss was sustained by the bailor, and not half of it, as when the article was merely loaned by way of accommodation, and no remuneration for its use was expected.—[Ed.]