Commercial activities persist endlessly in time of peace and
war. Government may be overthrown in coups, wars may
break out, national disasters may occur but somehow
commercial activities continue on a regular basis. 1 Merchants
have always found a way of continuing business relationships
in any given situation. Their ingenuity in formulating new
techniques to meet the challenges of changing economic
climates is unparalleled. One significant example of this
ingenuity is the fashioning of a distinct body of rules derived
from customs and usages to govern the transactions of
merchants