Blacks Law - 4th Edition
PARTICULARS
BILL. A formal declaration, complaint, or statement
of particular things in writing.
As a legal term, this word has many meanings
and applications, the more important of which are
enumerated below.
1. A formal written statement of complaint
to a court of justice
In the ancient practice of the court of king's
bench, the usual and orderly method of beginning
an action was by a bill, or original bill, or plaint.
This was a written statement of the plaintiff's
cause of action, like a declaration or complaint,
and always alleged a trespass as the ground of it,
in order to give the court jurisdiction. 3 Bl.Comm.
43.
In Scotch law, every summary application in
writing, by way of petition to the Court of Session,
is called a "bill." Cent. Dict.
—Bill chamber. In Scotch law. A department of
the court of session in which petitions for suspension,
interdict, etc., are entertained. It is
equivalent to sittings in chambers in the English
and American practice. Paters. Comp.
—Bill of privilege. In old English law. A method
of proceeding against attorneys and officers of the
court not liable to arrest. 3 Bl.Comm. 289.
—Bill of proof. In English practice. The name
given, in the mayor's court of London, to a species
of intervention by a third person laying claim to
the subject-matter in dispute between the parties
to a suit.
2. A species of writ
A formal written declaration by a court to its
officers, in the nature of process.
—Bill of Middlesex. An old form of process similar
to a capias, issued out of the court of king's
bench in personal actions, directed to the sheriff
of the county of Middlesex, (hence 'the name,)
and commanding him to take the defendant and
have him before the king at Westminster on a
day named, to answer the plaintiff's complaint.
3. A formal written petition
To a superior court for action to be taken in a
cause already determined, or a record or certified
account of the proceedings in such action or some
portion thereof, accompanying such a petition.
—Bill of advocation. In Scotch practice. A bill
by which the judgment of an inferior court is appealed
from, or brought under review of a superior.
Bell.
—Bill of certiorari. A bill: the object of which is
to remove a suit in equity from some inferior
court to the court of chancery, or some other superior
court of equity, on account of some alleged
incompetency of the inferior court, or some injustice
in its proceedings. Story, Eq.P1. (5th Ed.) §
298.
—Bill of evidence. Stenographer's transcript of
testimony heard at trial and may be considered on
appeal as bill of exceptions. Spencer v. Commonwealth,
250 Ky. 370, 63 S.W.2d 288.
—Bill of exceptions. A formal statement in writing
of the objections or exceptions taken by a
party during the trial of a cause to the decisions,
rulings, or instructions of the trial judge, stating
the objection, with the facts and circumstances on
which it is founded, and, in order to attest its
accuracy, signed and sealed by the judge; the
object being to put the controverted rulings or
decisions upon the record for the information of
the appellate court. Buessel v. U. S., C.C.A.Conn.,
258 Fla. 811, 815.
It is designed to preserve and make a part of the record
proceedings not otherwise of record. Yott v. Yott, 100 N.
E. 902, 903, 257 Iii. 419; It is only that part of the proceedings
not embraced in the judgment roll. When the ends of
justice require it, the terms "bill of exceptions" and
"statement of case" are regarded as synonymous; Shawnee
Commercial College v. Aydelotte, 38 P.2d 579, 581, 170
Okl. 15.
"Bill of exceptions" and "transcripts of evidence," however,
are clearly distinguishable. The latter may contain
no objection or exception, and nothing other than the evidence
introduced on the trial; the former is, strictly
speaking, only a record which points out alleged errors
committed below in relation to evidence as well as other
things. Broadway & Newport Bridge Co. v. Commonwealth,
173 Ky. 165, 190 S.W. 715, 719.
4. In equity practice
A formal written complaint, in the nature of a
petition, addressed by a suitor in chancery to the
chancellor or to a court of equity or a court having
equitable jurisdiction, showing the names of the
parties, stating the facts which make up th. , case
and the complainant's allegations, averring that
the acts disclosed are contrary to equity, and paying
for process and for specific relief, or for such
relief as the circumstances demand. Sharon v.
Sharon, 67 Cal. 185, 7 P. 456.
—Bill for a new trial. A bill in equity in which
the specific relief asked is an injunction against
the execution of a judgment rendered at law, and
a new trial in the action, on account of some fact
which would render it inequitable to enforce the
judgment, but which was not available to the
party on the trial at law, or which he was prevented
from presenting by fraud or accident, without
concurrent fraud or negligence on his own
part.
—Bill for foreclosure. One which is filed by a
mortgagee against the mortgagor, for the purpose
of having the estate sold, thereby to obtain the
sum mortgaged on the premises, with interest and
costs. 1 Madd.Ch.Pr. 528.
—Bill for fraud. The object and effect of it, even if
the fraud consists of want of notice, are to vacate
the former decree, not to retry the case. Caldwell
v. Huffstutter, 173 Tenn. 225, 116 S.W.2d 1017, 1019.
—Bill in aid of execution. A bill to set aside encumbrances
or conveyances therein specified as
fraudulent. Pape v. Pareti, 42 N.E.2d 361, 364, 315
Ill.App. 1 ; Dean v. Torrence, 299 N.W. 793, 796, 299
Mich. 24.
—Bill in nature of a bill of review. A bill in
equity, to obtain a re-examination and reversal of
a decree, filed by one who was not a party to the
original suit, nor bound by the decree.
—Bill in nature of a bill of revivor. Where, on
the abatement of a suit, there is such a transmission
of the interest of the incapacitated party that
the title to it, as well as the person entitled, may
be the subject of litigation in a court of chancery,
the suit cannot be continued by a mere bill of
revivor, but an original bill upon which the title
may be litigated must be filed. This is called a
"bill in the nature of a bill of revivor." It is
founded on privity of estate or title by the act of
the party. And the nature and operation of the
whole act by which the privity is created is open
to controversy. Story, Eq.P1. §§ 378-380; 2 Amer.
& Eng.Enc.Law, 271.
—Bill in nature of a supplemental bill. A bill
filed when new parties, with new interests, arising
from events happening since the suit was commenced,
are brought before the court; wherein it
differs from a supplemental bill, which is properly
applicable to those cases only where the same
parties or the same interests remain before the
court. Story, Eq.P1. (5th Ed.) § 345 et seq.
—Bill in nature of interpleader. See Bill of Interpleader.
—Bill of conformity. One filed by an executor or
administrator, who finds the affairs of the deceased
so much involved that he cannot safely
administer the estate except under the direction of
a court of chancery. This bill is filed against the
creditors, generally, for the purpose of having all
their claims adjusted, and procuring a final decree
settling the order of payment of the assets.
1 Story, Eq.Jur. § 440.
—Bill of discovery. A proceeding by a party
against an adversary for discovery of facts within
adversary's knowledge, or discovery of documents,
writings, or other things within his possession or
power, to be used either offensively or defensively
in a pending or contemplated action. Dallas Joint
Stock Land Bank v. Rawlins, Tex.Civ.App., 129 S.
W.2d 485, 486; First Nat. Bank v. Dade-Broward
Co., 171 So. 510, 125 Fla. 594.
In aid of action at law is equitable remedy to enable
litigant to obtain, prior to trial, such information as is in
exclusive possession of adverse party and is necessary to
establishment of complainant's case. Yorkshire Worsted
Mills v. National Transit Co., 325 Pa. 427, 190 A. 897, 898.
—Bill of information. Where a suit is instituted
on behalf of the crown or government, or of those
of whom it has the custody by virtue of its prerogative,
or whose rights are under its particular
protection, the matter of complaint is offered to
the court by way of information by the attorney
or solicitor general, instead of by petition. Where
a suit immediately concerns the crown or government
alone, the proceeding is purely by way of
information, but, where it does not do so immediately,
a relator is appointed, who is answerable
for costs, etc., and, if he is interested in the matter
in connection with the crown or government,
the proceeding is by information and bill. Informations
differ from bills in little more than
name and form, and the same rules are substantially
applicable to both. 3 Bl.Comm. 261.
—Bill of interpleader. The name of a bill in equity
to obtain a settlement of a question of right to
money or other property adversely claimed, in
which the party filing the bill has no interest, although
it may be in his hands, by compelling such
adverse claimants to litigate the right or title between
themselves, and relieve him from liability
or litigation. Republic Casualty Co. v. Fischmann,
99 N.J.Eq. 758, 134 A. 179, 180.
—Bill of peace. One which is filed when a person
has a right which may be controverted by various
persons, at different times, and by different actions.
Smith v. Cretors, 164 N.W. 338, 340, 181
Iowa 189.
—Bill of review. One which is brought to have
a decree of the court reviewed, corrected, or reversed.
Dodge v. Northrop, 85 Mich. 243, 48 N.W.
505. It is in the nature of a writ of error. Rubin
v. Midlinsky, 327 Ill. 89, 158 N.E. 395.
It is equitable procedure to procure explanation, alteration,
or reversal of final decree by court which rendered it.
People v. Sterling, 357 Ill. 354, 192 N.E. 229, 234.
The object of a "bill of review" and of a bill in nature
of a bill of review in the old chancery practice was to procure
a reversal, modification, or explanation of a decree
in a former suit. Barz v. Sawyer, 159 Iowa 481, 141 N.W.
319, 321.
—Cross-bill. One which is brought by a defendant
in a suit against a plaintiff in or against other defendants
in the same suit, or against both, touch-
Black's Law Dictionary Revised 4th Ed.-14 209
A "bill of review," or a bill in the nature of a bill of
review, are of three classes; those for error appearing on
the face of the record, those for newly discovered evidence,
and those for fraud impeaching the original transaction.
Moore v. Shook, 276 Ill. 47, 114 N.E. 592, 593. Such bills
are peculiar to courts of equity at common law. Satterwhite
v. State, 149 Ark. 147, 231 S.W. 886, 887.
—Bill of revivor. One which is brought to continue
a suit which has abated before its final consummation,
as, for example, by death, or marriage
of a female plaintiff. Brooks v. Laurent, C.C.A.
Fla., 98 F. 647, 39 C.C.A. 201.
—Bill of revivor and supplement. One which is
a compound of a supplemental bill and bill of
revivor, and not only continues the suit, which
has abated by the death of the plaintiff, or the
like, but supplies any defects in the original bill
arising from subsequent events, so as to entitle
the party to relief on the whole merits of his case.
Westcott. Bowie v. Minter, 2 Ala. 411.
—Bill quia timet. A bill invoking the aid of
equity "because he fears," that is, because the
complainant apprehends an injury to his property
rights or interests, from the fault or neglect of
another. Bisp.Eq. § 568; 2 Story, Eq.Jur. § 826.
Such bills are entertained to guard against possible or
prospective injuries, and to preserve the means by which
existing rights may be protected from future or contingent
violations; differing from injunctions, in that the latter
correct past and present or imminent and certain injuries.
De Carli v. O'Brien, 41 P.2d 411, 416, 150 Or. 35, 97 A.L.R.
693.
—Bill to carry a decree into execution. One which
is filed when, from the neglect of parties or some
other cause, it may become impossible to carry a
decree into execution without the further decree of
the court. Hind, Ch.Pr. 68; Story, Eq.P1. § 42.
—Bill to perpetuate testimony. A bill in equity
filed in order to procure the testimony of witnesses
to be taken as to some matter not at the time before
the courts, but which is likely at some future
time to be in litigation. Story, Eq.P1. (5th Ed.) §
300 et seq.
—Bill to quiet possession and title. Also called a
bill to remove a cloud on title (q. v.), and though
sometimes classed with bills quia timet or for the
cancellation of void instruments, they may be
resorted to in other cases when the complainant's
title is clear and there is a cloud to be removed;
Maguire v. City of Macomb, 293 Ill. 441, 127 N.E.
682, 686.
—Bill to suspend a decree. One brought to avoid
or suspend a decree under special circumstances.
—Bill to take testimony de bene esse. One which
is brought to take the testimony of witnesses to a
fact material to the prosecution of a suit at law
which is actually commenced, where there is good
cause to fear that the testimony may otherwise be
lost before the time of trial. 2 Story, Eq.Jur. §
1813, n.
ing the matters in question in the original bill.
Story, Eq.P1. § 389; Mitf.Eq.P1. 80.
It is a bill brought by a defendant against a plaintiff, or
other parties in a former bill depending, touching the
matter in question in that bill. It is usually brought either
to obtain a necessary discovery of facts in aid of the defense
to the original bill, or to obtain full relief to all parties
in reference to the matters of the original bill. It is to
be treated as a mere auxiliary suit. Kidder v. Barr, 35 N.
H. 251; Blythe v. Hinckley, C.C.Cal., 84 F. 234. A species
of pleading, used for the purpose of obtaining a discovery
necessary to the defense, or to obtain some relief founded
on the collateral claims of the party defendant to the original
suit. Tison v. Tison, 14 Ga. 167. Also, if a bill of exchange
or promissory note be given in consideration of
another bill or notice, it is called a "cross" or "counter"
bill or note. Landon v. Public Utilities Commission of
Kansas, D.C.Kan., 234 F. 152, 167.
—Supplemental bill. A bill to bring before the
court matters arising after the filing of the original
bill or not then known to complainant. Puget
Sound Power & Light Co. v. City of Seattle, C.C.
A.Wash., 5 F. (2d) 393. See Bill in nature of a
supplemental bill.
5. In legislation and constitutional law
The word means a draft of an act of the legislature
before it becomes a law; a proposed or
projected law. A draft of an act presented to the
legislature, but not enacted. Hubbard v. Lowe, D.
C.N.Y., 226 F. 135, 137. Also a special act passed
by a legislative body in the exercise of a quasi
judicial power. Scudder v. Smith, 331 Pa. 165,
200 A. 601, 604.
The word "bill" may mean the bill as it is first introduced
in one of the houses of the legislature, or it may refer
to it at any time in any of its stages until finally
passed. People v. Brady, 262 Ill. 578, 105 N.E. 1, 4. An
act is the appropriate term for it, after it has been acted
on by, and passed by, the legislature. Herbring v. Brown,
92 Or. 176, 180 P. 328, 330. Thus, bills of attainder, bills
of pains and penalties, are spoken of.
—Bill of attainder. See Attainder.
—Bill of indemnity. ' In English law. An act of
parliament, passed every session until 1869, but
discontinued in and after that year, as having
been rendered unnecessary by the passing of the
promissory oaths act, 1868, for the relief of those
who have unwittingly or unavoidably neglected to
take the necessary oaths, etc., required for the
purpose of qualifying them to hold their respective
offices. Wharton.
—Bill of pains and penalties. A special act of the
legislature which inflicts a punishment, less than
death, upon persons supposed to be guilty of
treason or felony, without any conviction in the
ordinary course of judicial proceedings.
It differs from a bill of attainder in this : that the punishment
inflicted by the latter is death.
—Private bill. One dealing only with a matter of
private personal or local interest. Lowell, Gov.
of Eng. 266.
All legislative bills which have for their object some particular
or private interest are so termed, as distinguished
from such as are for the benefit of the whole community,
which are thence termed "public bills." People v. Chautauqua
County, 43 N.Y. 17.
—Private bill office. See Private.
—Private member's bill. One of a public nature
introduced by a private member;—distinguished
from a private bill, which is one dealing only with
a matter of private .personal or local interest.
Lowell, Gov. of Eng. 266.
6. A solemn and formal legislative declaration
of popular rights and liberties
Promulgated on certain extraordinary occasions,
as the famous Bill of Rights in English
history.
—Bill of rights. A formal and emphatic legislative
assertion and declaration of popular rights and
liberties usually promulgated upon a change of
government; particularly the statute 1 W. & M.
St. 2, c. 2. Also the summary of the rights and
liberties of the people, or of the principles of constitutional
law deemed essential and fundamental,
contained in many of the American state constitutions.
Hamill v. Hawks, C.C.A.Okl., 58 F.2d 41, 47.
That portion of Constitution guaranteeing rights
and privileges to the individual. Brown v. State,
219 Ind. 251, 37 N.E.2d 73, 77, 137 A.L.R. 679.
7. In the law of contracts
An obligation; a deed, whereby the obligor acknowledges
himself to owe to the obligee a certain
sum of money or some other thing. It may
be indented or poll, and with or without a penalty.
—Bill obligatory. A bond absolute for the payment
of money. It is called also a "single bill,"
and differs from a promissory note only in having
a seal. See Bill penal. Bank v. Greiner, 2 Serg.
& R. (Pa.) 115.
—Bill of debt. An ancient term including promissory
notes and bonds for the payment of money.
Com.Dig. "Merchant," F. 2.
—Bill penal. A written obligation by which a
debtor acknowledges himself indebted in a certain
sum, and binds himself for the payment thereof,
in a larger sum, called a "penalty." Bonds with
conditions have superseded such bills in modern
practice. They are sometimes called bills obligatory,
and are properly so called; but every bill
obligatory is not a bill penal. Comyns, Dig. Obligations,
D; Cro.Car. 515. See 2 Ventr. 106, 198.
—Bill single. A written promise to pay to a person
or persons named a stated sum at a stated
time, without any condition. When under seal, as
is usually the case, it is sometimes called a "bill
obligatory," ( q. v.) It differs from a "bill penal,"
( q. v.) in that it expresses no penalty.
8. In commercial law
A written statement of the terms of a contract,
or specification of the items of a transaction or
of a demand; also a general name for any item
of indebtedness, whether receivable or payable.
Accounts for goods sold, services rendered, or
work done. Newman v. San Antonio Traction Co.,
Tex.Civ.App., 155 S.W. 688, 690.
As a verb, as generally and customarily used in
commercial transactions, "bill" is synonymous
with "charge" or "invoice." George M. Jones Co.
v. Canadian Nat. R. Co., D.C.Mich., 14 F.2d 852,
855.
—Bill-book. In mercantile law. A book in which
an account of bills of exchange and promissory
notes, whether payable or receivable, is stated.
—Bill-head. A printed form on which merchants
and traders make out their bills and render accounts
to their customers.
—Bill of lading. In common law. The written
evidence of a contract for the carriage and delivery
of goods sent by sea for a certain freight.
Mason v. Lickbarrow, 1 H.B1. 359. A written
memorandum, given by the person in command of
a merchant vessel, acknowledging the receipt on
board the ship of certain specified goods, in good
order or "apparent good order," which he undertakes,
in consideration of the payment of freight,
to deliver in like good order (dangers of the
sea excepted) at a designated place to the consignee
therein named or to his assigns. Devato v.
Barrels, D.C.N.Y., 20 Fed. 510.
The term is often applied to a similar receipt and undertaking
given by a carrier of goods by land. A bill of lading
is an instrument in writing, signed by a carrier or his
agent, describing the freight so as to identify it, stating
the name of the consignor, the terms of the contract for
carriage, and agreeing or directing that the freight be delivered
to the order or assigns of a specified person at a
specified place. See Civil Code Cal. § 2126a; Aman v.
Dover & Southbound R. Co., 179 N. C. 310, 102 S.E. 392, 393;
Rudin v. King-Richardson Co., 143 N.E. 198, 201, 311. Ill.
513. It is receipt for goods, contract for their carriage, and
is documentary evidence of title to goods. Schwalb v. Erie
R. Co., 293 N.Y.S. 842, 846, 161 Misc. 743.
A clean bill of lading is one which contains
nothing in the margin qualifying the words in the
bill of lading itself. 61 Law T. 330; Creery v.
Holly, 14 Wend. (N.Y.) 26; Sayward v. Stevens, 3
Gray (Mass.) 97.
An order bill of lading is one in which it is
stated that goods are consigned to order of any
person named therein. F. L. Shaw Co. v. Coleman,
Tex.Civ.App., 236 S.W. 178, 180.
A straight bill of lading is one in which it is
stated that goods are consigned to a specified person.
Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Roe, 91 Fla.
762, 109 So. 205, 207.
A through bill of lading is one by, which a railroad
contracts to transport over its own line for a
certain distance carloads of merchandise or stock,
there to deliver the same to its connecting lines to
be transported to the place of destination at a
fixed rate per carload for the whole distance.
Gulf, C. & S. F. R. Co. v. Vaughn, 4 Willson, Ct.
App.Tex. § 182, 16 S.W. 775.
—Bill of parcels. A statement sent to the buyer
of goods, along with the goods, exhibiting in detail
the items composing the parcel and their several
prices, to enable him to detect any mistake or
omission; an invoice.
210
BILL
—Bill of sale. In contracts. A written agreement,
formerly limited to one under seal, by which one
person assigns or transfers his right to or interest
in goods and personal chattels to another. Wilson.
v. Voche, 172 S.E. 672, 48 Ga.App. 173. An instrument
by which, in particular, the property in
ships and vessels is conveyed. Young v. Stone,
70 N.Y.S. 558, 61 App.Div. 364. See Grand bill of
sale, infra.
—Bill payable. In a merchant's accounts, all bills
which he has accepted, and promissory notes which
he has made, are called "bills payable," and are
entered in a ledger account under that name, and
recorded in a book bearing the same title. See
West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co. v. Karnes, 137 Va.
714, 120 S.E. 321, 322.
—Bill receivable. In a merchant's accounts, all
notes, drafts, checks, etc., payable to him, or of
which he is to receive the proceeds at a future
date, are called "bills receivable," and are entered
in a ledger-account under that name, and also
noted in a book bearing the same title. State v.
Robinson, 57 Md. 501. Miami Coal Co. v. Fox, 203
Ind. 99, 176 N.E. 11, 16, 79 A.L.R. 333.
—Bill rendered. A bill of items rendered by a
creditor to his debtor; an "account rendered," as
distinguished from "an account stated." Hill v.
Hatch, 11 Me. 455.
—Grand bill of sale. In English law. The name
of an instrument used for the transfer of a ship
while she is at sea. An expression which is understood
to refer to the instrument whereby a ship
was originally transferred from the builder to the
owner, or first purchaser. 3 Kent, Comm. 133.
9. In the law of negotiable instruments
A promissory obligation for the payment of
money.
Standing alone or without qualifying words, the
term is understood to mean a bank note, United
States treasury note, or other piece of paper circulating
as money. Green v. State, 28 Tex.App.
493, 13 S.W. 785.
—Bill of credit. In constitutional law. A bill or
promissory note issued by the government of a
state or nation, upon its faith and credit, designed
to circulate in the community as money, and redeemable
at a future day. Hale v. Huston, 44 Ala.
138, 4 Am.Rep. 124. In mercantile law. A license
or authority given in writing from one person to
another, very common among merchants, bankers,
and those who travel, empowering a person to
receive or take up money of their correspondents
abroad.
—Bill of exchange. A written order from A. to
B., directing B. to pay to C. a certain sum of money
therein named. Byles, Bills, 1. An open ( that
is, unsealed) letter addressed by one person to
another directing him, in effect, to pay, absolutely
and at all events, a certain sum of money therein
named, to a third person, or to any other to whom
that third person may order it to be paid, or it
may be payable to bearer or to the drawer himself.
1 Daniel, Neg.Inst. 27.
An unconditional order in writing addressed by one person
to another, signed by the person giving it, requiring
the person to whom it is addressed to pay on demand or at
a fixed or determinable future time a sum certain in money
to order or to bearer. Clayton Town-Site Co. v. Clayton
Drug Co., 147 P. 460, 20 N.M. 185; Smythe v. Sanders, 101
So. 435, 436, 136 Misc. 382; Sometimes called a "trade acceptance."
Jones v. Revere Preserving Co., 247 Mass. 225,
142 N.E. 70, 71.
A "check" differs from a "bill of exchange" in that it is
always drawn on a deposit whereas a bill is not. Wilson
v. Buchenau, D.C.Cal., 43 F.Supp. 272, 275.
—Domestic bill of exchange. A bill of exchange
drawn on a person residing in the same state with
the drawer; or dated at a place in the state, and
drawn on a person living within the state. It is
the residence of the drawer and drawee which
must determine whether a bill is domestic or
foreign. Ragsdale v. Franklin, 25 Miss. 143. See,
also, Inland bill of exchange.
—Foreign bill of exchange. A bill of exchange
drawn in one state or country, upon a foreign state
or country. See Story, Bills, § 22; 3 Kent, Comm.
94, note.
A bill of exchange drawn in one country upon another
country not governed by the same homogeneous laws, or
not governed throughout by the same municipal laws. A
bill of exchange drawn in one of the United States upor
a person residing in another state Is a foreign bill.
—Inland bill of exchange. One of which the
drawer and drawee are residents of the same state
or country. Miller v. American Gold Mining Co.,
3 Alaska, 1. See Domestic bill of exchange.
10. In maritime law
The term is applied to contracts of various
sorts, but chiefly to bills of lading and to bills of
adventure.
—Bill of adventure. A written certificate by a
merchant or the master or owner of a ship, to the
effect that the property and risk in goods shipped
on the vessel in his own name belong to another
person, to whom he is accountable for the proceeds
alone.
—Bill of gross adventure. In French maritime
law. Any written instrument which contains a
contract of bottomry, respondentia, or any other
kind of maritime loan. There is no corresponding
English term. Hall, Marit. Loans, 182, n.
—Bill of health. An official certificate, given by
the authorities of a port from which a vessel
clears, to the master of the ship, showing the state
of the port, as respects the public health, at the
time of sailing, and exhibited to the authorities of
the port which the vessel next makes, in token
that she does not bring disease.
If the bill alleges that no contagious or infectious disease
existed, it is called a "clean" bill; if it admits that one
was suspected or anticipated, or that one actually prevailed,
it is called a "touched" or a "foul" bill.
11. In revenue law and procedure
The term is given to various documents filed in
or issuing from a custom house, principally of the
sorts described below.
—Bill of entry. An account of the goods entered
at the custom-house, both incoming and outgoing.
It must state the name of the merchant exporting
or importing, the quantity and species of merchandise,
and whither transported, and whence.
—Bill of sight. When an importer of goods is
ignorant of their exact quantity or quality, so that
he cannot make a perfect entry of them, he may
give to the customs officer a written description
of them, according to the best of his information
and belief. This is called a "bill of sight."
—Bill of store. In English law. A kind of license
granted at the custom-house to merchants, to carry
such stores and provisions as are necessary for
their voyage, custom free. Jacob.
—Bill of sufferance. In English law. A license
granted at the custom-house to a merchant, to
suffer him to trade from one English port to another,
without paying custom. Cowell.
12. In criminal law
A bill of indictment, see infra.
—Bill of appeal. An ancient, but now abolished,
method of criminal prosecution. See Battel.
—Bill of indictment. A formal written document
accusing a person or persons named of having
committed a felony or misdemeanor, lawfully laid
before a grand jury for their action upon it. State
v. Ray, Rice (S.C.) 4, 33 Am.Dec. 90. See Presentment.
If the grand jury decide that a trial ought to be had,
they indorse on it "a true bill;" if otherwise, "not a true
bill" or "not found."
13. In common-law practice
An itemized statement or specification of particular
details, especially items of cost or charge. .
of costs. A certified, itemized statement of
the amount of costs in an action or suit. Doe v.
Thompson, 22 N.H. 219.
By the English usage, this term is applied to the statement
of the charges and disbursements of an attorney or
solicitor incurred in the conduct of his client's business,
and which might be taxed upon application, even though
not incurred in any suit. Thus, conveyancing costs might
be taxed. Wharton.
—Bill of particulars. In practice. A written statement
or specification of the particulars of the demand
for which an action at law is brought, or of
a defendant's set-off against such demand, (including
dates, sums, and items in detail,) furnished
by one of the parties to the other, either' voluntarily
or in compliance with a judge's order for
that purpose. 1 Tidd, Pr. 596-600; 2 Archb.Pr.
221; Ferguson v. Ashbell, 53 Tex. 250; Baldwin v.
Gregg, 13 Metc. (Mass.) 255.
It is designed to aid the defendant in interposing the
proper answer and in preparing for trial, by giving him detailed
information regarding the cause of action stated
in the complaint. Wetmore v. Goodwin Film & Camera Co.,
( D.C.) 226 F. 352, 353. It is neither a pleading nor proof
of the facts therein contained, Nilson v. Ebey Land Co., 90
Wash. 295, 155 P. 1036, and is not for the purpose of discovering
evidence, nor to find what plaintiff knows, but
what he claims, Intermountain Ass'n of Credit Men v. Milwaukee
Mechanics' Ins. Co., 44 Idaho 491, 258 P. 362, 363.
A bill of particulars is not designed to uphold an insufficient
indictment, but to give accused fair notice of what he
is called on to defend. Clary v. Commonwealth, 163 Ky.
48, 173 S. W. 171, 173. People v. Bain, 359 Ill. 455, 195 N.E.
42.
14. In English law
A draft of a patent for a charter, commission,
dignity, office, or appointment.
Such a bill is drawn up in the attorney general's patent
bill office, is submitted by a secretary of state for the
King's signature, when it is called the "King's bill," and
is then countersigned by the secretary of state and sealed
by the privy seal, and then the patent is prepared and
sealed. Sweet.
PARTICULARS. The details of a claim, or the
separate items of an account. When these are
stated in an orderly form, for the information of
a defendant, the statement is called a "bill of
particulars," (q. v.)
BILL. A formal declaration, complaint, or statement
of particular things in writing.
As a legal term, this word has many meanings
and applications, the more important of which are
enumerated below.
1. A formal written statement of complaint
to a court of justice
In the ancient practice of the court of king's
bench, the usual and orderly method of beginning
an action was by a bill, or original bill, or plaint.
This was a written statement of the plaintiff's
cause of action, like a declaration or complaint,
and always alleged a trespass as the ground of it,
in order to give the court jurisdiction. 3 Bl.Comm.
43.
In Scotch law, every summary application in
writing, by way of petition to the Court of Session,
is called a "bill." Cent. Dict.
—Bill chamber. In Scotch law. A department of
the court of session in which petitions for suspension,
interdict, etc., are entertained. It is
equivalent to sittings in chambers in the English
and American practice. Paters. Comp.
—Bill of privilege. In old English law. A method
of proceeding against attorneys and officers of the
court not liable to arrest. 3 Bl.Comm. 289.
—Bill of proof. In English practice. The name
given, in the mayor's court of London, to a species
of intervention by a third person laying claim to
the subject-matter in dispute between the parties
to a suit.
2. A species of writ
A formal written declaration by a court to its
officers, in the nature of process.
—Bill of Middlesex. An old form of process similar
to a capias, issued out of the court of king's
bench in personal actions, directed to the sheriff
of the county of Middlesex, (hence 'the name,)
and commanding him to take the defendant and
have him before the king at Westminster on a
day named, to answer the plaintiff's complaint.
3. A formal written petition
To a superior court for action to be taken in a
cause already determined, or a record or certified
account of the proceedings in such action or some
portion thereof, accompanying such a petition.
—Bill of advocation. In Scotch practice. A bill
by which the judgment of an inferior court is appealed
from, or brought under review of a superior.
Bell.
—Bill of certiorari. A bill: the object of which is
to remove a suit in equity from some inferior
court to the court of chancery, or some other superior
court of equity, on account of some alleged
incompetency of the inferior court, or some injustice
in its proceedings. Story, Eq.P1. (5th Ed.) §
298.
—Bill of evidence. Stenographer's transcript of
testimony heard at trial and may be considered on
appeal as bill of exceptions. Spencer v. Commonwealth,
250 Ky. 370, 63 S.W.2d 288.
—Bill of exceptions. A formal statement in writing
of the objections or exceptions taken by a
party during the trial of a cause to the decisions,
rulings, or instructions of the trial judge, stating
the objection, with the facts and circumstances on
which it is founded, and, in order to attest its
accuracy, signed and sealed by the judge; the
object being to put the controverted rulings or
decisions upon the record for the information of
the appellate court. Buessel v. U. S., C.C.A.Conn.,
258 Fla. 811, 815.
It is designed to preserve and make a part of the record
proceedings not otherwise of record. Yott v. Yott, 100 N.
E. 902, 903, 257 Iii. 419; It is only that part of the proceedings
not embraced in the judgment roll. When the ends of
justice require it, the terms "bill of exceptions" and
"statement of case" are regarded as synonymous; Shawnee
Commercial College v. Aydelotte, 38 P.2d 579, 581, 170
Okl. 15.
"Bill of exceptions" and "transcripts of evidence," however,
are clearly distinguishable. The latter may contain
no objection or exception, and nothing other than the evidence
introduced on the trial; the former is, strictly
speaking, only a record which points out alleged errors
committed below in relation to evidence as well as other
things. Broadway & Newport Bridge Co. v. Commonwealth,
173 Ky. 165, 190 S.W. 715, 719.
4. In equity practice
A formal written complaint, in the nature of a
petition, addressed by a suitor in chancery to the
chancellor or to a court of equity or a court having
equitable jurisdiction, showing the names of the
parties, stating the facts which make up th. , case
and the complainant's allegations, averring that
the acts disclosed are contrary to equity, and paying
for process and for specific relief, or for such
relief as the circumstances demand. Sharon v.
Sharon, 67 Cal. 185, 7 P. 456.
—Bill for a new trial. A bill in equity in which
the specific relief asked is an injunction against
the execution of a judgment rendered at law, and
a new trial in the action, on account of some fact
which would render it inequitable to enforce the
judgment, but which was not available to the
party on the trial at law, or which he was prevented
from presenting by fraud or accident, without
concurrent fraud or negligence on his own
part.
—Bill for foreclosure. One which is filed by a
mortgagee against the mortgagor, for the purpose
of having the estate sold, thereby to obtain the
sum mortgaged on the premises, with interest and
costs. 1 Madd.Ch.Pr. 528.
—Bill for fraud. The object and effect of it, even if
the fraud consists of want of notice, are to vacate
the former decree, not to retry the case. Caldwell
v. Huffstutter, 173 Tenn. 225, 116 S.W.2d 1017, 1019.
—Bill in aid of execution. A bill to set aside encumbrances
or conveyances therein specified as
fraudulent. Pape v. Pareti, 42 N.E.2d 361, 364, 315
Ill.App. 1 ; Dean v. Torrence, 299 N.W. 793, 796, 299
Mich. 24.
—Bill in nature of a bill of review. A bill in
equity, to obtain a re-examination and reversal of
a decree, filed by one who was not a party to the
original suit, nor bound by the decree.
—Bill in nature of a bill of revivor. Where, on
the abatement of a suit, there is such a transmission
of the interest of the incapacitated party that
the title to it, as well as the person entitled, may
be the subject of litigation in a court of chancery,
the suit cannot be continued by a mere bill of
revivor, but an original bill upon which the title
may be litigated must be filed. This is called a
"bill in the nature of a bill of revivor." It is
founded on privity of estate or title by the act of
the party. And the nature and operation of the
whole act by which the privity is created is open
to controversy. Story, Eq.P1. §§ 378-380; 2 Amer.
& Eng.Enc.Law, 271.
—Bill in nature of a supplemental bill. A bill
filed when new parties, with new interests, arising
from events happening since the suit was commenced,
are brought before the court; wherein it
differs from a supplemental bill, which is properly
applicable to those cases only where the same
parties or the same interests remain before the
court. Story, Eq.P1. (5th Ed.) § 345 et seq.
—Bill in nature of interpleader. See Bill of Interpleader.
—Bill of conformity. One filed by an executor or
administrator, who finds the affairs of the deceased
so much involved that he cannot safely
administer the estate except under the direction of
a court of chancery. This bill is filed against the
creditors, generally, for the purpose of having all
their claims adjusted, and procuring a final decree
settling the order of payment of the assets.
1 Story, Eq.Jur. § 440.
—Bill of discovery. A proceeding by a party
against an adversary for discovery of facts within
adversary's knowledge, or discovery of documents,
writings, or other things within his possession or
power, to be used either offensively or defensively
in a pending or contemplated action. Dallas Joint
Stock Land Bank v. Rawlins, Tex.Civ.App., 129 S.
W.2d 485, 486; First Nat. Bank v. Dade-Broward
Co., 171 So. 510, 125 Fla. 594.
In aid of action at law is equitable remedy to enable
litigant to obtain, prior to trial, such information as is in
exclusive possession of adverse party and is necessary to
establishment of complainant's case. Yorkshire Worsted
Mills v. National Transit Co., 325 Pa. 427, 190 A. 897, 898.
—Bill of information. Where a suit is instituted
on behalf of the crown or government, or of those
of whom it has the custody by virtue of its prerogative,
or whose rights are under its particular
protection, the matter of complaint is offered to
the court by way of information by the attorney
or solicitor general, instead of by petition. Where
a suit immediately concerns the crown or government
alone, the proceeding is purely by way of
information, but, where it does not do so immediately,
a relator is appointed, who is answerable
for costs, etc., and, if he is interested in the matter
in connection with the crown or government,
the proceeding is by information and bill. Informations
differ from bills in little more than
name and form, and the same rules are substantially
applicable to both. 3 Bl.Comm. 261.
—Bill of interpleader. The name of a bill in equity
to obtain a settlement of a question of right to
money or other property adversely claimed, in
which the party filing the bill has no interest, although
it may be in his hands, by compelling such
adverse claimants to litigate the right or title between
themselves, and relieve him from liability
or litigation. Republic Casualty Co. v. Fischmann,
99 N.J.Eq. 758, 134 A. 179, 180.
—Bill of peace. One which is filed when a person
has a right which may be controverted by various
persons, at different times, and by different actions.
Smith v. Cretors, 164 N.W. 338, 340, 181
Iowa 189.
—Bill of review. One which is brought to have
a decree of the court reviewed, corrected, or reversed.
Dodge v. Northrop, 85 Mich. 243, 48 N.W.
505. It is in the nature of a writ of error. Rubin
v. Midlinsky, 327 Ill. 89, 158 N.E. 395.
It is equitable procedure to procure explanation, alteration,
or reversal of final decree by court which rendered it.
People v. Sterling, 357 Ill. 354, 192 N.E. 229, 234.
The object of a "bill of review" and of a bill in nature
of a bill of review in the old chancery practice was to procure
a reversal, modification, or explanation of a decree
in a former suit. Barz v. Sawyer, 159 Iowa 481, 141 N.W.
319, 321.
—Cross-bill. One which is brought by a defendant
in a suit against a plaintiff in or against other defendants
in the same suit, or against both, touch-
Black's Law Dictionary Revised 4th Ed.-14 209
A "bill of review," or a bill in the nature of a bill of
review, are of three classes; those for error appearing on
the face of the record, those for newly discovered evidence,
and those for fraud impeaching the original transaction.
Moore v. Shook, 276 Ill. 47, 114 N.E. 592, 593. Such bills
are peculiar to courts of equity at common law. Satterwhite
v. State, 149 Ark. 147, 231 S.W. 886, 887.
—Bill of revivor. One which is brought to continue
a suit which has abated before its final consummation,
as, for example, by death, or marriage
of a female plaintiff. Brooks v. Laurent, C.C.A.
Fla., 98 F. 647, 39 C.C.A. 201.
—Bill of revivor and supplement. One which is
a compound of a supplemental bill and bill of
revivor, and not only continues the suit, which
has abated by the death of the plaintiff, or the
like, but supplies any defects in the original bill
arising from subsequent events, so as to entitle
the party to relief on the whole merits of his case.
Westcott. Bowie v. Minter, 2 Ala. 411.
—Bill quia timet. A bill invoking the aid of
equity "because he fears," that is, because the
complainant apprehends an injury to his property
rights or interests, from the fault or neglect of
another. Bisp.Eq. § 568; 2 Story, Eq.Jur. § 826.
Such bills are entertained to guard against possible or
prospective injuries, and to preserve the means by which
existing rights may be protected from future or contingent
violations; differing from injunctions, in that the latter
correct past and present or imminent and certain injuries.
De Carli v. O'Brien, 41 P.2d 411, 416, 150 Or. 35, 97 A.L.R.
693.
—Bill to carry a decree into execution. One which
is filed when, from the neglect of parties or some
other cause, it may become impossible to carry a
decree into execution without the further decree of
the court. Hind, Ch.Pr. 68; Story, Eq.P1. § 42.
—Bill to perpetuate testimony. A bill in equity
filed in order to procure the testimony of witnesses
to be taken as to some matter not at the time before
the courts, but which is likely at some future
time to be in litigation. Story, Eq.P1. (5th Ed.) §
300 et seq.
—Bill to quiet possession and title. Also called a
bill to remove a cloud on title (q. v.), and though
sometimes classed with bills quia timet or for the
cancellation of void instruments, they may be
resorted to in other cases when the complainant's
title is clear and there is a cloud to be removed;
Maguire v. City of Macomb, 293 Ill. 441, 127 N.E.
682, 686.
—Bill to suspend a decree. One brought to avoid
or suspend a decree under special circumstances.
—Bill to take testimony de bene esse. One which
is brought to take the testimony of witnesses to a
fact material to the prosecution of a suit at law
which is actually commenced, where there is good
cause to fear that the testimony may otherwise be
lost before the time of trial. 2 Story, Eq.Jur. §
1813, n.
ing the matters in question in the original bill.
Story, Eq.P1. § 389; Mitf.Eq.P1. 80.
It is a bill brought by a defendant against a plaintiff, or
other parties in a former bill depending, touching the
matter in question in that bill. It is usually brought either
to obtain a necessary discovery of facts in aid of the defense
to the original bill, or to obtain full relief to all parties
in reference to the matters of the original bill. It is to
be treated as a mere auxiliary suit. Kidder v. Barr, 35 N.
H. 251; Blythe v. Hinckley, C.C.Cal., 84 F. 234. A species
of pleading, used for the purpose of obtaining a discovery
necessary to the defense, or to obtain some relief founded
on the collateral claims of the party defendant to the original
suit. Tison v. Tison, 14 Ga. 167. Also, if a bill of exchange
or promissory note be given in consideration of
another bill or notice, it is called a "cross" or "counter"
bill or note. Landon v. Public Utilities Commission of
Kansas, D.C.Kan., 234 F. 152, 167.
—Supplemental bill. A bill to bring before the
court matters arising after the filing of the original
bill or not then known to complainant. Puget
Sound Power & Light Co. v. City of Seattle, C.C.
A.Wash., 5 F. (2d) 393. See Bill in nature of a
supplemental bill.
5. In legislation and constitutional law
The word means a draft of an act of the legislature
before it becomes a law; a proposed or
projected law. A draft of an act presented to the
legislature, but not enacted. Hubbard v. Lowe, D.
C.N.Y., 226 F. 135, 137. Also a special act passed
by a legislative body in the exercise of a quasi
judicial power. Scudder v. Smith, 331 Pa. 165,
200 A. 601, 604.
The word "bill" may mean the bill as it is first introduced
in one of the houses of the legislature, or it may refer
to it at any time in any of its stages until finally
passed. People v. Brady, 262 Ill. 578, 105 N.E. 1, 4. An
act is the appropriate term for it, after it has been acted
on by, and passed by, the legislature. Herbring v. Brown,
92 Or. 176, 180 P. 328, 330. Thus, bills of attainder, bills
of pains and penalties, are spoken of.
—Bill of attainder. See Attainder.
—Bill of indemnity. ' In English law. An act of
parliament, passed every session until 1869, but
discontinued in and after that year, as having
been rendered unnecessary by the passing of the
promissory oaths act, 1868, for the relief of those
who have unwittingly or unavoidably neglected to
take the necessary oaths, etc., required for the
purpose of qualifying them to hold their respective
offices. Wharton.
—Bill of pains and penalties. A special act of the
legislature which inflicts a punishment, less than
death, upon persons supposed to be guilty of
treason or felony, without any conviction in the
ordinary course of judicial proceedings.
It differs from a bill of attainder in this : that the punishment
inflicted by the latter is death.
—Private bill. One dealing only with a matter of
private personal or local interest. Lowell, Gov.
of Eng. 266.
All legislative bills which have for their object some particular
or private interest are so termed, as distinguished
from such as are for the benefit of the whole community,
which are thence termed "public bills." People v. Chautauqua
County, 43 N.Y. 17.
—Private bill office. See Private.
—Private member's bill. One of a public nature
introduced by a private member;—distinguished
from a private bill, which is one dealing only with
a matter of private .personal or local interest.
Lowell, Gov. of Eng. 266.
6. A solemn and formal legislative declaration
of popular rights and liberties
Promulgated on certain extraordinary occasions,
as the famous Bill of Rights in English
history.
—Bill of rights. A formal and emphatic legislative
assertion and declaration of popular rights and
liberties usually promulgated upon a change of
government; particularly the statute 1 W. & M.
St. 2, c. 2. Also the summary of the rights and
liberties of the people, or of the principles of constitutional
law deemed essential and fundamental,
contained in many of the American state constitutions.
Hamill v. Hawks, C.C.A.Okl., 58 F.2d 41, 47.
That portion of Constitution guaranteeing rights
and privileges to the individual. Brown v. State,
219 Ind. 251, 37 N.E.2d 73, 77, 137 A.L.R. 679.
7. In the law of contracts
An obligation; a deed, whereby the obligor acknowledges
himself to owe to the obligee a certain
sum of money or some other thing. It may
be indented or poll, and with or without a penalty.
—Bill obligatory. A bond absolute for the payment
of money. It is called also a "single bill,"
and differs from a promissory note only in having
a seal. See Bill penal. Bank v. Greiner, 2 Serg.
& R. (Pa.) 115.
—Bill of debt. An ancient term including promissory
notes and bonds for the payment of money.
Com.Dig. "Merchant," F. 2.
—Bill penal. A written obligation by which a
debtor acknowledges himself indebted in a certain
sum, and binds himself for the payment thereof,
in a larger sum, called a "penalty." Bonds with
conditions have superseded such bills in modern
practice. They are sometimes called bills obligatory,
and are properly so called; but every bill
obligatory is not a bill penal. Comyns, Dig. Obligations,
D; Cro.Car. 515. See 2 Ventr. 106, 198.
—Bill single. A written promise to pay to a person
or persons named a stated sum at a stated
time, without any condition. When under seal, as
is usually the case, it is sometimes called a "bill
obligatory," ( q. v.) It differs from a "bill penal,"
( q. v.) in that it expresses no penalty.
8. In commercial law
A written statement of the terms of a contract,
or specification of the items of a transaction or
of a demand; also a general name for any item
of indebtedness, whether receivable or payable.
Accounts for goods sold, services rendered, or
work done. Newman v. San Antonio Traction Co.,
Tex.Civ.App., 155 S.W. 688, 690.
As a verb, as generally and customarily used in
commercial transactions, "bill" is synonymous
with "charge" or "invoice." George M. Jones Co.
v. Canadian Nat. R. Co., D.C.Mich., 14 F.2d 852,
855.
—Bill-book. In mercantile law. A book in which
an account of bills of exchange and promissory
notes, whether payable or receivable, is stated.
—Bill-head. A printed form on which merchants
and traders make out their bills and render accounts
to their customers.
—Bill of lading. In common law. The written
evidence of a contract for the carriage and delivery
of goods sent by sea for a certain freight.
Mason v. Lickbarrow, 1 H.B1. 359. A written
memorandum, given by the person in command of
a merchant vessel, acknowledging the receipt on
board the ship of certain specified goods, in good
order or "apparent good order," which he undertakes,
in consideration of the payment of freight,
to deliver in like good order (dangers of the
sea excepted) at a designated place to the consignee
therein named or to his assigns. Devato v.
Barrels, D.C.N.Y., 20 Fed. 510.
The term is often applied to a similar receipt and undertaking
given by a carrier of goods by land. A bill of lading
is an instrument in writing, signed by a carrier or his
agent, describing the freight so as to identify it, stating
the name of the consignor, the terms of the contract for
carriage, and agreeing or directing that the freight be delivered
to the order or assigns of a specified person at a
specified place. See Civil Code Cal. § 2126a; Aman v.
Dover & Southbound R. Co., 179 N. C. 310, 102 S.E. 392, 393;
Rudin v. King-Richardson Co., 143 N.E. 198, 201, 311. Ill.
513. It is receipt for goods, contract for their carriage, and
is documentary evidence of title to goods. Schwalb v. Erie
R. Co., 293 N.Y.S. 842, 846, 161 Misc. 743.
A clean bill of lading is one which contains
nothing in the margin qualifying the words in the
bill of lading itself. 61 Law T. 330; Creery v.
Holly, 14 Wend. (N.Y.) 26; Sayward v. Stevens, 3
Gray (Mass.) 97.
An order bill of lading is one in which it is
stated that goods are consigned to order of any
person named therein. F. L. Shaw Co. v. Coleman,
Tex.Civ.App., 236 S.W. 178, 180.
A straight bill of lading is one in which it is
stated that goods are consigned to a specified person.
Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Roe, 91 Fla.
762, 109 So. 205, 207.
A through bill of lading is one by, which a railroad
contracts to transport over its own line for a
certain distance carloads of merchandise or stock,
there to deliver the same to its connecting lines to
be transported to the place of destination at a
fixed rate per carload for the whole distance.
Gulf, C. & S. F. R. Co. v. Vaughn, 4 Willson, Ct.
App.Tex. § 182, 16 S.W. 775.
—Bill of parcels. A statement sent to the buyer
of goods, along with the goods, exhibiting in detail
the items composing the parcel and their several
prices, to enable him to detect any mistake or
omission; an invoice.
210
BILL
—Bill of sale. In contracts. A written agreement,
formerly limited to one under seal, by which one
person assigns or transfers his right to or interest
in goods and personal chattels to another. Wilson.
v. Voche, 172 S.E. 672, 48 Ga.App. 173. An instrument
by which, in particular, the property in
ships and vessels is conveyed. Young v. Stone,
70 N.Y.S. 558, 61 App.Div. 364. See Grand bill of
sale, infra.
—Bill payable. In a merchant's accounts, all bills
which he has accepted, and promissory notes which
he has made, are called "bills payable," and are
entered in a ledger account under that name, and
recorded in a book bearing the same title. See
West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co. v. Karnes, 137 Va.
714, 120 S.E. 321, 322.
—Bill receivable. In a merchant's accounts, all
notes, drafts, checks, etc., payable to him, or of
which he is to receive the proceeds at a future
date, are called "bills receivable," and are entered
in a ledger-account under that name, and also
noted in a book bearing the same title. State v.
Robinson, 57 Md. 501. Miami Coal Co. v. Fox, 203
Ind. 99, 176 N.E. 11, 16, 79 A.L.R. 333.
—Bill rendered. A bill of items rendered by a
creditor to his debtor; an "account rendered," as
distinguished from "an account stated." Hill v.
Hatch, 11 Me. 455.
—Grand bill of sale. In English law. The name
of an instrument used for the transfer of a ship
while she is at sea. An expression which is understood
to refer to the instrument whereby a ship
was originally transferred from the builder to the
owner, or first purchaser. 3 Kent, Comm. 133.
9. In the law of negotiable instruments
A promissory obligation for the payment of
money.
Standing alone or without qualifying words, the
term is understood to mean a bank note, United
States treasury note, or other piece of paper circulating
as money. Green v. State, 28 Tex.App.
493, 13 S.W. 785.
—Bill of credit. In constitutional law. A bill or
promissory note issued by the government of a
state or nation, upon its faith and credit, designed
to circulate in the community as money, and redeemable
at a future day. Hale v. Huston, 44 Ala.
138, 4 Am.Rep. 124. In mercantile law. A license
or authority given in writing from one person to
another, very common among merchants, bankers,
and those who travel, empowering a person to
receive or take up money of their correspondents
abroad.
—Bill of exchange. A written order from A. to
B., directing B. to pay to C. a certain sum of money
therein named. Byles, Bills, 1. An open ( that
is, unsealed) letter addressed by one person to
another directing him, in effect, to pay, absolutely
and at all events, a certain sum of money therein
named, to a third person, or to any other to whom
that third person may order it to be paid, or it
may be payable to bearer or to the drawer himself.
1 Daniel, Neg.Inst. 27.
An unconditional order in writing addressed by one person
to another, signed by the person giving it, requiring
the person to whom it is addressed to pay on demand or at
a fixed or determinable future time a sum certain in money
to order or to bearer. Clayton Town-Site Co. v. Clayton
Drug Co., 147 P. 460, 20 N.M. 185; Smythe v. Sanders, 101
So. 435, 436, 136 Misc. 382; Sometimes called a "trade acceptance."
Jones v. Revere Preserving Co., 247 Mass. 225,
142 N.E. 70, 71.
A "check" differs from a "bill of exchange" in that it is
always drawn on a deposit whereas a bill is not. Wilson
v. Buchenau, D.C.Cal., 43 F.Supp. 272, 275.
—Domestic bill of exchange. A bill of exchange
drawn on a person residing in the same state with
the drawer; or dated at a place in the state, and
drawn on a person living within the state. It is
the residence of the drawer and drawee which
must determine whether a bill is domestic or
foreign. Ragsdale v. Franklin, 25 Miss. 143. See,
also, Inland bill of exchange.
—Foreign bill of exchange. A bill of exchange
drawn in one state or country, upon a foreign state
or country. See Story, Bills, § 22; 3 Kent, Comm.
94, note.
A bill of exchange drawn in one country upon another
country not governed by the same homogeneous laws, or
not governed throughout by the same municipal laws. A
bill of exchange drawn in one of the United States upor
a person residing in another state Is a foreign bill.
—Inland bill of exchange. One of which the
drawer and drawee are residents of the same state
or country. Miller v. American Gold Mining Co.,
3 Alaska, 1. See Domestic bill of exchange.
10. In maritime law
The term is applied to contracts of various
sorts, but chiefly to bills of lading and to bills of
adventure.
—Bill of adventure. A written certificate by a
merchant or the master or owner of a ship, to the
effect that the property and risk in goods shipped
on the vessel in his own name belong to another
person, to whom he is accountable for the proceeds
alone.
—Bill of gross adventure. In French maritime
law. Any written instrument which contains a
contract of bottomry, respondentia, or any other
kind of maritime loan. There is no corresponding
English term. Hall, Marit. Loans, 182, n.
—Bill of health. An official certificate, given by
the authorities of a port from which a vessel
clears, to the master of the ship, showing the state
of the port, as respects the public health, at the
time of sailing, and exhibited to the authorities of
the port which the vessel next makes, in token
that she does not bring disease.
If the bill alleges that no contagious or infectious disease
existed, it is called a "clean" bill; if it admits that one
was suspected or anticipated, or that one actually prevailed,
it is called a "touched" or a "foul" bill.
11. In revenue law and procedure
The term is given to various documents filed in
or issuing from a custom house, principally of the
sorts described below.
—Bill of entry. An account of the goods entered
at the custom-house, both incoming and outgoing.
It must state the name of the merchant exporting
or importing, the quantity and species of merchandise,
and whither transported, and whence.
—Bill of sight. When an importer of goods is
ignorant of their exact quantity or quality, so that
he cannot make a perfect entry of them, he may
give to the customs officer a written description
of them, according to the best of his information
and belief. This is called a "bill of sight."
—Bill of store. In English law. A kind of license
granted at the custom-house to merchants, to carry
such stores and provisions as are necessary for
their voyage, custom free. Jacob.
—Bill of sufferance. In English law. A license
granted at the custom-house to a merchant, to
suffer him to trade from one English port to another,
without paying custom. Cowell.
12. In criminal law
A bill of indictment, see infra.
—Bill of appeal. An ancient, but now abolished,
method of criminal prosecution. See Battel.
—Bill of indictment. A formal written document
accusing a person or persons named of having
committed a felony or misdemeanor, lawfully laid
before a grand jury for their action upon it. State
v. Ray, Rice (S.C.) 4, 33 Am.Dec. 90. See Presentment.
If the grand jury decide that a trial ought to be had,
they indorse on it "a true bill;" if otherwise, "not a true
bill" or "not found."
13. In common-law practice
An itemized statement or specification of particular
details, especially items of cost or charge. .
of costs. A certified, itemized statement of
the amount of costs in an action or suit. Doe v.
Thompson, 22 N.H. 219.
By the English usage, this term is applied to the statement
of the charges and disbursements of an attorney or
solicitor incurred in the conduct of his client's business,
and which might be taxed upon application, even though
not incurred in any suit. Thus, conveyancing costs might
be taxed. Wharton.
—Bill of particulars. In practice. A written statement
or specification of the particulars of the demand
for which an action at law is brought, or of
a defendant's set-off against such demand, (including
dates, sums, and items in detail,) furnished
by one of the parties to the other, either' voluntarily
or in compliance with a judge's order for
that purpose. 1 Tidd, Pr. 596-600; 2 Archb.Pr.
221; Ferguson v. Ashbell, 53 Tex. 250; Baldwin v.
Gregg, 13 Metc. (Mass.) 255.
It is designed to aid the defendant in interposing the
proper answer and in preparing for trial, by giving him detailed
information regarding the cause of action stated
in the complaint. Wetmore v. Goodwin Film & Camera Co.,
( D.C.) 226 F. 352, 353. It is neither a pleading nor proof
of the facts therein contained, Nilson v. Ebey Land Co., 90
Wash. 295, 155 P. 1036, and is not for the purpose of discovering
evidence, nor to find what plaintiff knows, but
what he claims, Intermountain Ass'n of Credit Men v. Milwaukee
Mechanics' Ins. Co., 44 Idaho 491, 258 P. 362, 363.
A bill of particulars is not designed to uphold an insufficient
indictment, but to give accused fair notice of what he
is called on to defend. Clary v. Commonwealth, 163 Ky.
48, 173 S. W. 171, 173. People v. Bain, 359 Ill. 455, 195 N.E.
42.
14. In English law
A draft of a patent for a charter, commission,
dignity, office, or appointment.
Such a bill is drawn up in the attorney general's patent
bill office, is submitted by a secretary of state for the
King's signature, when it is called the "King's bill," and
is then countersigned by the secretary of state and sealed
by the privy seal, and then the patent is prepared and
sealed. Sweet.
PARTICULARS. The details of a claim, or the
separate items of an account. When these are
stated in an orderly form, for the information of
a defendant, the statement is called a "bill of
particulars," (q. v.)
