Campsie v. Catton, Neill & Co.

26 Haw. 737, 1923 Haw. LEXIS 80
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 29, 1923
DocketNo. 1429
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 26 Haw. 737 (Campsie v. Catton, Neill & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Campsie v. Catton, Neill & Co., 26 Haw. 737, 1923 Haw. LEXIS 80 (haw 1923).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT BY

PETERS, C. J.

(Perry, J., dissenting.)

The widow of the late Edwin D. Campsie applied to the industrial accident board of the City and County of Honolulu on behalf of herself and her two minor children for [738]*738compensation under the provisions of the local Workmen’s Compensation Act (Act 221, S. L. 1915 as amended), claiming that her husband while in the employ of Catton, Neill & Company, an Hawaiian corporation, received personal injuries by accident arising out of and in the course of such employment, from which he died. The employer resisted the application, appeared specially before the industrial accident board and denied the jurisdiction of said board to award compensation upon the following-grounds :

“(1) That Act 221 of the Session Laws of 1915, Territory of Hawaii, as amended, namely the Workmen’s Compensation Act, does not apply because the deceased, Edwin D. Campsie, was engaged in interstate commerce on board a vessel engaged at the time in interstate commerce, and in navigable waters in Honolulu harbor.
“(2) That the injury was one with respect to which Congress may establish, and has established, a rule of liability, and therefore said Act, said Workmen’s Compensation Act, has no application.
“(8) That said Act is nnconstitutional as it constitutes a regulation of and burden upon commerce among the several states, in violation of Article 1, Sec. 8 of the Constitution of the United States.
“(4) That said Act is unconstitutional in that it violates Article 3, Sec. 2 of the Constitution of the United States, conferring exclusive admiralty jurisdiction upon the courts of the United States.”

At the close of the hearing before the industrial accident board the employer moved for judgment upon all the grounds raised by its plea to the jurisdiction and the following additional grounds:

“(5) That said Act is unconstitutional in that it is in conflict with the Judiciary Acts and the Judicial Code by which the District Courts of the United States are given exclusive original cognizance of all civil causes of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction.
“(6) That said Act does not apply because the Judi[739]*739ciary Act and the Judicial Code as adopted by Congress gives to the District Courts of the United States exclusive original cognizance of all civil canses of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction.”

The industrial accident hoard awarded compensation. The employer appealed to the first circuit court. Upon application by the appellant for a stay of proceedings the circuit court pursuant to the powers vested in it by the provisions of' section 2511, B. L. 1915, as amended, reserved to this court two questions of law and reported therewith as a part of the cause a statement of facts agreed upon by the parties. Such portion of the stipulation of facts as is material to our purposes is as follows:

“One Edwin D. Campsie put in an application for employment with Catton, Neill & Company, Limited, on February 6, 1920, and a few days thereafter was regularly employed by said Catton, Neill & Company, Limited, an Hawaiian corporation, as a machinist and floor worker, and remained in such employment up to the time of his death. The said Catton, Neill & Company, Limited, were then, and are now engaged in foundry work, carrying on machine shops, the buying and selling of machinery, electrical works and general repair works dealing with machines, epgines, etc., repairs to engines and machinery including marine repairs, and their principal business is in the building and repair of sugar machinery. Most of Mr. Campsie’s time was spent working in the shops of the Company situated in Honolulu, but occasionally he would go out and help install a sugar mill or go on board a boat to perform some repair.
“The steamship ‘Hawkeye State,’ a large ocean going vessel, owned by the United States Government and allocated to the Matson Navigation Company, came into the port of Honolulu, a few days prior to March 30, 1922, from the port of San Francisco, and on March 30th was lying at a dock in Honolulu harbor in navigable waters.
“The said steamship was at the time of the injury described herein, in the then Baltimore-San Francisco-Honolulu-San Francisco-Baltimore run, and prior to said [740]*740March 30th had arrived from San Francisco, and on March 30th was lying at a dock in Honolulu harbor in navigable waters. A few' days afterwards it left Honolulu on its return trip to San Francisco and Baltimore on its regular run.
“Having found it necessary to make some repairs upon the steamship, Catton, Neill & Company, • Limited, wrere engaged by Castle & Cooke, Limited, as agents of Matson Navigation Company, a California corporation, to make these repairs. One of such repairs was to a feed pump, and on. the 30th day of March, 1922, Mr. Edwdn D. Camp-sie w'ent on board the steamship ‘Hawkeye State’ while she lay at the dock in Honolulu, to malee certain repairs to the feed pump on the steamer, and while making such repairs v'as severely burned by steam escaping from said feed pump, as a result of which he died the next day. At the time of the injury he was a regular employee of said Cat-ton, Neill & Company, Limited, and was working for said Catton, Neill & Company, Limited, in the course and scope of his employment, and the injury arose out of the scope of his employment.”

The questions' reserved are as follows :

“(1) Is the Industrial Accident Board of the City and County of Honolulu ousted of jurisdiction under the facts herein set forth?
“(2) Is Act 221 of the Session Law7s of 1915 as amended unconstitutional either in vdiole or in part under the facts herein set forth?”

The legislative power of the Territory extends to all rightful subjects of legislation not inconsistent with the Constitution and law's of the United States locally applicable. (Organic Act, Sec. 55.) Provision for compensation to injured workmen or their dependents occasioned by accident arising out of or in the scope of the workmen’s employment is a rightful subject of legislation.

Have the industrial accident board and the appropriate courts of the Territory jurisdiction of the application in the instant case or is the widow’s sole remedy in admiralty, jurisdiction to. which was granted to the federal [741]*741judiciary by tbe provisions of section 2 of Article III of tbe Constitution and exclusive original jurisdiction over Avbicb was vested by tbe Congress of tbe United States in the district courts of tbe United States, saving to suitors, however, in all cases “tbe right of a common-laAV remedy where tbe common laAV is competent to give it, and to claimants tbe rights and remedies under the Acorkmen’s compensation law of any State?” See U. S. Eev. Stat. Sec. 563(8); Jud. Code Sec. 24(3); U. S. Rev. Stat. Sec. 711(3); Jud. Code Sec. 256(3); 36 Stat. L. 1087, 1091, 1161, Cb. 231, Amendment Oct. 6, 1917, 40 Stat. L. Ch. 97. Tbe Act of Congress of June 10, 1922, further amending sections 24 and 256 of tbe Judicial Code can have no retroactive effect and is not considered.

In actions ex delicto

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Gambalan v. Kekaha Sugar Co., Ltd.
39 Haw. 258 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 1952)
Auto Rental Co. v. Lee
35 Haw. 77 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 1939)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
26 Haw. 737, 1923 Haw. LEXIS 80, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/campsie-v-catton-neill-co-haw-1923.