Page:Black's Law Dictionary (Second Edition).djvu/998

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RAILWAY
990
RANSOM

State v. l3rln. 30 Minn. 522. 16 N. W. 406: Millyale Borough v. Evergreen Ry. Co.. 131 Pa. 1. 18 At]. 993, 7 L. R. A. 3; Massa chiisetts L. S: T. Co. v. Hamilton, 83 Fed. 592, 32 C. C. A. 46.

—Railwa.y issioners. A body of three commissioners appointed under the English reg- uiation of railways act. 1873, principaily to en- force the provisions of the railway and canal trafiic act. 1854, by compciiing railway and canai companies to give reasonable facilities for tr-itfio. to abstain from giving unreasonabie pref- erence to nuy company or person, and for‘- ward through tralfic at throuzh rates. They also have the supervision of working agreements between companies. Sweet.

RAISE. To create. A use may be raised; i. e.. a use may be created. Also to in- fer; to create or bring to light by construction or Interpretation.

—Raise a presumption. To give occasion or ground for a presumption; to be of such a char- acter, or to be attendnd with sucii Cii'(1imstm:ict-s, as to justify an inference or presumption of w. us, a person's silence. in some instacnes, wiil ‘raise a presumption" of his consent to what is don —Raise an issue. To bring pleadings to an issue; (0 haie the et1'er,-t of pro- du(‘lI"lL’ no issue betwcen the parties pieavling in an actinn.—Rn.ise revenue. To ion a tax, as a menus of collecting revenue: to bring together, coilect, or levy l'e\l‘flIlE. The ph not imply an increase of revenue. 1' 1-3‘ County v. Selma. etc., R. Co.. .yS Ala. 5:IT.—Rnis— a promise. Iiy this phrase is meant the not of tho law in extracting from the fmts and circnnistantes of a particular tru.n.saI:tion fl promise which was implicit therein, and postu- lating it as a round of legal iinbiiity.—Rn.ising a. use. 'reit.'ing. establishing, or ceiling into existence I1 use. Thus, if a man conveyed land to another in fee, without any COflSldEIu.- tion, equity would presume that he meant it to to the use of himself, and woiiid therefore raise an implied use for his benefit. Brown.- Raising an action, in Scotland, is the institution of an action or suii.—Ba.ising money. To raise money is to reaiize money by subscription, loan, or otherwise. New Iork & IL Cement Co. v. Davis. 173 N. Y. 255, C-6 N. E. 9; New London Literary Inst. v. Prescott, 40 N. H. 33.—B.aising portions. \\ hen a landed estate is settled on an eldest son, it is gener- ally burdened with the pay ment of specihc sums of money in favor of his brothers and sisters. A direction to this effect is caiierl a direction for "raising portions for younger children;" and, for this purpose, it is usual to demise or lease the estate to trustees fo a term of years, upon trust to raise the required portions by a sale or mortgage of the same. liloaley & W'hitiey.

RAN. Sax. I.n Saxon and old English law. Open theft, or robbery.

RANCHO. Sp. A small collection of men or their dwellings: :1 hamlet. As used, however, in Mexico and in the Spanish law formerly prevailing in California, the term signifies a ranch or large tract of land suit- nhie for grazing purposes where horses or cattle are riilsed, and is distinguished from hacienda, a cultivated farm or plantation

RANGE. In the government survey of the United States, this term is used to denote one of the divisions of a state, and designates u row or tier of townships as they uppezir on the map.

RANGER. In forest law. A sworn oi

flcer of the forest, whose office chiefly cuu- _

sists in three points: To wail: daily thruufi his charge to see, hear, and inquire as we} of trespasses as trcspassers in his bailiwicli; to drive the beasts of the forest, both of venery and chaos, out of the deatforested into the forested lands; and to present ail trespassers of the forest at the next courts hoiden for the forest. Cowell.

RANK, n. The order or place in which certain officers are placed in the army and

navy. in reliition to others. Wood v. U. S. 15 Ct. Cl. 158. RANK, oil]. In English law. Exces-

sive; too large in amount: as nriznkmodus 2 BL Comm. 30.

RANKING OF CREDITORS is the Scotch term for the arrangement of the prop erty of a debtor according to the claims of the creditors, in consequence of the nature of their respective securities. Beii. Th-9 wrresponding process in England is the mar slialling of securities in a suit or action for redemption or foreciosnre. Paterson.

RANSOM. In international law. The redemption of captured property from the hands of an enemy, particularly of property captured at sea. 1 Kent, Comm. 104.

A sum paid or agreed to be paid for the rodemption of captured property. 1 Kent. Comm. 105.

A "ransom," strictly speaking, is not a recapture of the captured propnny. It is rather a purchase of the right of the c-iptors at the time. be it what it may; or. more properly. it is a rc-iinqnishmen of oil the interest and benefit which the captors might acquire or consumm-ite in the property, by a regular adgudicaticn of a prize tribunal, whether it be an interest Ill rem. a iieu, or a mere title to expenses. In this re spect, there seems to be no ditference betwern the case of II ransom of an enemy or a neutral. Mnisonniire v. Keating, 2 Gail. 323. Fed. Can. No. 8.978.

In old English law. A sum of money paid for the pardoning of some great offeiise The distinction between ransom and :imer- ciament is said to be that ransom was the redemption of a corporal punishment, while amerciament was a fine or penalty directly imposed and not in lieu of another punish- ment Cowell; 4 Bl. Comm. 380; U. S. r. Gritfin, 6 D. C. 57.

Ransom was also a sum of money paid for

the redemption of a person from captivity or imprisonment. Thus one of the feudal ":iir1.=" was to ransom the lord's person if taken prisoner. 2 Bl. Comm. 63. —Ransom ‘bill. A cnut_i-nct h_v which a capturrd vessel. in consideration of her reiense and of safe-conduct for a stipniated course and time, agrees to pay A certain sum as ransom.