BILL, merc. law. An account containing the items of goods sold, or of work done by one person against another. It differs from an account stated (q. v.) in this, that the latter is a bill approved and sanctioned by the debtor1, whereas a bill is made out by the creditor2 alone.
BILL OF ADVENTURE, com. law, contracts. A writing signed by a merchant, to testify that the goods shipped on board a certain vessel3 belong to another person who is to take the hazard, the subscriber4 signing only to oblige himself to account to him, for the proceeds.
BILL OP ATTAINDER, legislation, punishment. An act of the legislature by which one or more persons are declared to be attainted, and their property confiscated5.
2. The Constitution of the United States declares that no state shall pass any bill of attainder.
3. During the revolutionary war, bills of attainder, and ox post facto acts of confiscation6, were passed to a wide extent. The evils resulting from them, in times of more cool reflection, were discovered to have far outweighed7 any imagined good. Story on Const. §1367. Vide Attainder; Bill of Pains and Penalties.
BILL-BOOK, commerce, accounts. One in in which an account is kept of promissory notes, bills of exchange, and other bills payable8 or receivable: it ought to contain all that a man issues or receives. The book should show the date of the bill, the term it has to run before it becomes due, the names of all the parties to it, and the time of its becoming due, together with the amount for which it was given.
BILL OF CONFORITY. The name of a bill filed by an executor or administrator9, 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 creditors10 generally, for the purpose of having all their claims adjusted, and procuring11 a final decree settling the order of payment of the assets. 1 Story, Eq. Jur. 440.
BILL 0F COST, practice. A statement of the items which form the total amount of the costs of a suit or action. This is demandable as a matter of right before the payment of the costs.
BILL OF CREDIT. It is provided by the Constitution of the United States, art. 1, s. 10, that no state shall " emit bills of credit, or make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment or debts." Such bills of credit are declared to mean promissory notes or bills issued exclusively on the credit of the. state, and for the payment of which the faith of the state only is pledged. The prohibition12, therefore, does not apply to the notes of a state bank, drawn13 on the credit of a particular fund set apart for the purpose. 2 M'Cord's R. 12; 2 Pet. R. 818; 11 Pet. R. 257. Bills of credit may be defined to be paper issued and intended to circulate through the community for its ordinary purposes, as money redeemable14 at a future day. 4 Pet. U. S. R. 410; 1 Kent, Com. 407 4 Dall. R. xxiii.; Story, Const. §§ 1362 to 1364 1 Scam. R. 87, 526.
2. This phrase is used in another sense among merchants it is a letter sent by an agent or other person to a merchant, desiring him to give credit to the bearer for goods or money. Com. Dig. Merchant, F 3; 5 Sm. & Marsh15. 491; R. M. Charlt. 151; 4 Pike, R. 44; 3 Burr. Rep. 1667.
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