Ellamar Mining Co. v. Alaska S. S. Co.

5 F.2d 890, 1925 U.S. App. LEXIS 2767, 1925 A.M.C. 1514
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMay 25, 1925
DocketNo. 4390
StatusPublished

This text of 5 F.2d 890 (Ellamar Mining Co. v. Alaska S. S. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ellamar Mining Co. v. Alaska S. S. Co., 5 F.2d 890, 1925 U.S. App. LEXIS 2767, 1925 A.M.C. 1514 (9th Cir. 1925).

Opinion

ROSS, Circuit Judge

(after stating the facts as above). An unusually large number of decisions are cited on behalf of both parties to the controversy, to review which would be quite impossible in an opinion of any reasonable length; nor do we think it at all necessary to do so, being of the opinion that the correctness of the ruling of the court below, to the effect that the contract between the parties was terminated by the taking over of the ships of the defendant company under the requisition by. the government, is sufficiently shown by these declarations of the Supreme Court in the case of Texas Co. v. Hogarth Shipping Co., 256 U. S. 619, 629, 630, 631, 41 S. Ct. 612, 614 (65 L. Ed. 1123):

“It long has been settled in the English courts, and in those of this country, federal and state, that where parties enter into a contract on the assumption that some particular thing essential to its performance will continue to exist and be available for the purpose, and neither agrees to be responsible for its continued existence and availability, the contract must be regarded as subject to an implied condition that, if before the time for performance and without the’ default of either party the particular thing ceases to exist or be available for the purpose, the contract shall be dissolved and the parties excused from performing it. Taylor v. Caldwell, 3 Best & Smith, 826, 839; In re Shipton, Anderson & Co., [1915] 3 K. B. 676; Horlock v. Beal, [1916] 1 A. C. 486, 494, 496, 512; Bank Line, Ltd., v. Arthur Capel & Co., [1919] A. C. 435, 445; The Tornado, 108 U. S. 342, 349-351; Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Ry. Co. v. Hoyt, 149 U. S. 1, 14, 15; Wells v. Calnan, 107 Mass. 514; Butterfield v. Byron, 153 Mass. 517; Dexter v. Norton, 47 N. Y. 62; Clarksville Land Co. v. Harriman, 68 N. H. 374; Emerich Co. v. Siegel, Cooper & Co., 237 Ill. 610. The principle underlying the rule is widely recognized and applied to various classes of contracts. The Kronprinzessin Cecilie, 244 U. S. 12, 22-24. But, of course, it does not apply where the risk is fully covered by a term of the contract, nor where performance is not practically cut off, but only rendered more difficult or costly. Columbus Railway, Power & Light Co. v. Columbus, 249 U. S. 399, 410 et seq. Perhaps the oldest and most familiar application of the principle is to contracts for personal service, where performance is prevented by death or illness. Robinson v. Davison (1871) L. R. 6 Exch. 269; Spalding v. Ross, 71 N. Y. 40.

“Another application widely recognized is where a ship chartered for a voyage, after the date of the charter party and before the time for the voyage, is accidentally destroyed by fire, lost at sea, or injured in such degree as not to be available for the service. The Tornado, supra, was a suit on a contract of affreightment, where the ship, before beginning the voyage, was accidentally burned and thereby prevented from undertaking it. This court held that the contract was dissolved, saying (page 349): ‘We are of opinion that, by the disaster which occurred before the ship had broken ground or commenced to earn freight, the circumstances with reference to which the contract of af-freightment was entered into were so altered by the supervening of occurrences which it cannot be intended were within the contemplation of the parties in entering into the contract, that the shipper and the underwriters were absolved from all liability under the contract of affreightment. The contract had reference to a particular ship, to be in existence as a seaworthy vessel and capable of carrying cargo and earning freight and of entering on the voyage. All the fundamental conditions forming part of the contract of the shipowner were wanting at the time when the earning of freight could commence.’

“Here the ship, although still in existence and entirely seaworthy, was rendered unavailable for the performance of the charter [894]*894party by the requisition. By that supervening act she was impressed into the war service of the British government for a period likely to extend — and which as it turned out did extend — long beyond the time for the charter voyage. In’ other words, compliance with the charter party was made impossible by an act of state, the charterer was prevented from having the service of the ship and the owner from earning the stipulated freight. The event apparently was not anticipated and there was no provision casting the risk on either party. Both assumed that the ship would remain available, and that was the basis of their mutual engagements. These, we think, must be regarded as entered into on an implied condition that, if before the time for the voyage the ship was rendered unavailable by such a supervening act as the requisition, the contract should be at an end and the parties absolved from liability under it.

■ “That the charter party was entered into in this country is not material. The important consideration is that it became impossible of performance through a supervening act of state, which operated directly on the ship and the parties could not avoid.”

The contract between the parties was,therefore, terminated upon the taking over of the ships under their requisition by the government.

It is insisted, however, on the part of the plaintiff in error steamship company, that the contract was rendered absolutely void by the provisions of the Shipping Act of September 7, 1916. The conclusive answer to the argument made in that behalf is that the steamship company neither alleged nor proved that the contract, which admit.tedly was in existence at the time of the passage of that act, was disapproved by the Shipping Board. In its section 15, the Act of September 7, 1916 (39 Stat. 734 [Comp. St. § 8146h]), expressly declares: “Agreements existing at the time of the organization of the board shall be lawful until disapproved by the board. It shall be unlawful to carry out any agreement or any portion thereof disapproved by the board.”

It is contended that section 15 refers only to such agreements as are by the statute required to be filed with the board, and that the statute contains no requirement that any contract between a carrier and a shipper be so filed, this being the reasoning of counsel:

“We think the court overlooked the fact that section 15 of the act relied upon by plaintiff requires the filing with the Shipping Board of copies of contracts between ‘every common carrier by water, or other person subject to this act,’ and ‘any other such carrier or other person subject to this act.’ The act expressly defines who are persons subject to the act, and these do not include shippers. Therefore there is no requirement that a contract between a carrier and a shipper should be filed with the Shipping Board. It seems to us clear that this entire section refers solely to agreements required to be filed, and we fail.to understand how the act can be construed as making contracts valid until disapproved by the Shipping Board when such contracts are not required, nor even permitted, to be filed with that board.

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Related

The Tornado
108 U.S. 342 (Supreme Court, 1883)
The Kronprinzessin Cecilie
244 U.S. 12 (Supreme Court, 1917)
Texas Co. v. Hogarth Shipping Co.
256 U.S. 619 (Supreme Court, 1921)
Spalding v. . Rosa
71 N.Y. 40 (New York Court of Appeals, 1877)
Dexter v. . Norton
47 N.Y. 62 (New York Court of Appeals, 1871)
Wells v. Calnan
107 Mass. 514 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1871)
Butterfield v. Byron
12 L.R.A. 571 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1891)
Martin Emerich Outfitting Co. v. Siegel, Cooper & Co.
86 N.E. 1104 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1908)

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Bluebook (online)
5 F.2d 890, 1925 U.S. App. LEXIS 2767, 1925 A.M.C. 1514, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ellamar-mining-co-v-alaska-s-s-co-ca9-1925.