Common Carriers Act 1874

The damages to be recovered from such railway company for the loss of or for any injury done to any horse, cattle, sheep, or pigs, shall not exceed for any – horse, $100; neat cattle, per head, $30; or sheep or pigs, per head, $4 – unless the person sending or delivering the same to such company shall at the time of such delivery have declared them to be respectively of higher value than as abovementioned, in which case it shall be lawful for such company to demand and receive by way of compensation, for the increased risk and care thereby occasioned, a reasonable percentage upon the excess of the value so declared above the respective sums so limited as aforesaid, and which shall be paid in addition to the ordinary rate of charge.

Such percentage or increased rate of charge shall be notified in manner hereinbefore prescribed, and shall be binding upon such company in the manner hereinbefore mentioned.

Proof of the value of such animals, articles, goods, and things, and the amount of the injury done thereto, shall in all cases lie upon the person claiming compensation for such loss or injury.

No special contract between such company and any other parties respecting the receiving, forwarding, or delivering of any animals, articles, goods, or things as aforesaid shall be binding upon or affect any such party unless the same be signed by him or by the person delivering such animals, articles, goods, or things respectively for carriage.

Nothing in subsection (4) shall alter or affect the rights, privileges, or liabilities of any such company under this Act with respect to articles of the descriptions herein mentioned.