64 Alexander Korthals Altes The merchant should, before discharge, knock three times on the barrels, and if he then had them discharged, he should pay full freight, or abandon the cargo to the master without having to pay freight. The succeeding Ordinance, of 1563, in its Sect. 6, contained an amplified and clarified version of the just mentioned Sect. 52: it reiterated the master’s duty to exercise due diligence to make the vessel tight and staunch to avoid damage to the goods. But if the goods were damaged in spite of the ship being well and duly made fit, and the cargo being well stowed, and the damage was due to storm or ‘unforeseen events’ then the master was not liable. But, as in the Westkappel Law, sect. XII, the burden of proof rested upon the master: two or three of his crew, at his choice, had to swear to that fact. Sect. 7, curiously enough, leaned again on the Westkappel Law, in providing for the merchants’ approval. It may have come back again through the Visby Compilation to its land of origin. Sect. 8 and 9 show a slightly differing version of the Sect. 53 and 54 of the previous Ordinance: the general rule was that of responsibility for damage occurred (as was now expressly stated) on board of the ship; and the exception for leakage, spillage etc. The value to be made good was calculated—as was now completely clear—upon destination-value.^ 2. After the Dutch-Spanish War of Independence started, in 1568, local law again revived. But before I touch two of these local statutes, brief mention should be made of Grotius’ Inleidinghe (Introductionto Dutch Legal Science, published 1631), in which he summarised systematically the existing Dutch legal rules. His three rules on the duties of the master vis å vis the cargo interests were based upon the Flemish-Westkappel law, the Visby compilation and the Habsburg Ordinance of 1563. But there were slight improvements: e.g. the rule on stowage material (Westkappel XII; Ordinance 1563 II 7; Grotius, III, 20, 5) burdened the master definitely not with all risks for the material he used, but with the duty of due diligence. The breakdown of discharge-m?i\.en2i\ (Westkappel XI; cf idem Ordinance; Grotius III, 20, 6) led to full liability of the master, in all cases except when the material was expressly approved by the merchants before discharge.- In its later days the young republic was ready to make more basic reforms ^ Sect. 11 I will leave as a side-road. - Grotius III 20,7 is derived from Ordinance 1551, sect. 53 and 54, idem 1563, II, 8, 9 and 11.
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