The Onoko

107 F. 984, 47 C.C.A. 111, 1901 U.S. App. LEXIS 4049
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedApril 9, 1901
DocketNo. 688
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 107 F. 984 (The Onoko) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
The Onoko, 107 F. 984, 47 C.C.A. 111, 1901 U.S. App. LEXIS 4049 (7th Cir. 1901).

Opinion

JENKINS, Circuit Judge,

after the "foregoing statement of the case, delivered the opinion of the court.

Certain propositions, as stated by this court in Bigelow v. Anderson’s Adm’r, 34 U. S. App. 201, sub nom. Bigelow v. Nickerson, 17 C. C. A. 1, 70 Fed. 113, 30 L. R. A. 336, we understand to be settled by the ruling of the ultimate tribunal, namely: (1) That at the common law no civil action would lie for an injury resulting in death; (2) that, in the absence of proper legislation, no proceeding in the admiralty would lie for negligent injury causing death on the high seas or the navigable waters of the United States; (3) that, in the absence of legislation by the congress, if a state statute gives a right of action touching a subject of a maritime nature, the admiralty will administer the law within the jurisdiction of such state by a proceeding in rem if the statute grants a lien, or in personam, no lien being granted. The latter proposition seems to be established by the decision in The Corsair, 145 U. S. 335, 347, 12 Sup. Ct. 949, 36 L. Ed. 727. That case arose out of a collision taking place on the Lower Mississippi, within the jurisdiction of the state.of Louisiana; and it was held that under the Revised Civil Code of Louisiana (article 2315), which declares that: “Every act whatever of man that causes damages to another obliges him by whose fault it happened to repair it. The right of this action shall survive in case of death in favor of the minor children or widow of the deceased, or either of them, and in default of these in favor of the surviving father or mother, or either of them, for the space of one year from the death. The survivors above mentioned may also recover the damages sustained by them by the death of the parent, or child, or husband, or wife, as the case may be,” — a merely personal action was contemplated, and that the act contained no intimation of a lien or privilege upon a vessel necessary to give a court of admiralty jurisdiction to proceed in rem. The attention of the court does not seem to have been called to subdivision 12 of article 3237 of the Revised Civil Code of Louisiana, which provides that, “where any loss or damage has been caused to the person or property of any individual by any carelessness, neglect or want of skill in the direction or management of any steamboat, barge, flatboat, water-craft, or raft, the party injured shall have the privilege to rank after the privileges above specified.”

The question whether the admiralty has jurisdiction to entertain proceedings in rem for damages occasioned by loss of life under the admiralty court act of England, which provides a lien for “damage done by any ship,” has been the subject of much discussion and some difference of opinion in the courts of that country. The question, [987]*987however, was conclusively determined by the house of lords in The Vera Cruz, 10 App. Cas. 59, 5 Asp. 286, and against the jurisdiction. It was there held that Lord Campbells act, giving an action for death caused by neglect or default, had reference only fo a personal action against the one causing the wrong, and had no reference to an inanimate instrument or thing like a ship, and that no lien or privilege upon the vessel was conferred for such a wrong under the general words ‘'damage done by any ship.” Undoubtedly, in this country, since the division in The Corsair, the general trend of opinion in the lower courts has been to the effect that the water-craft laws of the various states give a lien upon the vessel for injuries occasioning death. The Transfer No. 1, 20 U. S. App. 570, 9 C. C. A. 21, 61 Fed. 264; The Willamette, 14 U. S. App. 26, 18 C. C. A. 366, 70 Fed. 871; The Glendale (D. C.) 77 Fed. 906. affirmed upon that point 42 U. S. App. 546, 26 C. C. A, 500, 81 Fed. 622; The Oregon (D. C.) 72 Fed. 846, affirmed 48 U. S. App. 430, 26 C. C. A. 665, 81 Fed. 876, The Anaces (D. C.) 87 Fed. 565, 567. In all these cases, with the exception of The Glendale, tin; act supposed to grant the lien is an independent act, and in no way connected with the act giving the action for the death. In The Glendale the provision granting the lieu is part of the very act: giving the right of action. Code Va. § 2902. In The Albert Dumois, 177 U. S. 210, 20 Sup. Ct. 595, 44 L. Ed. 751, the owner of the steamer Argo filed a libel against the Albert: Dumois for a negligent collision within the jurisdiction of the state of Louisiana. The owner of the latter vessel filed a petition for limitation of liability. The mother of a passenger on hoard the Argo (hen tiled a libel in personam against the owner of the Albert. Dumois, claiming damages for the death of her son through the negligence of the Albert Dumois. That suit was consolidated with the libel filed by the owner of the Argo. After the appraisement of the Albert Dumois and the filing of a stipulation to pay (he amount of the appraisement into court, further proceedings against: the steamer and her owner were enjoined, and all persons claiming damages by reason of the collision were required to appear, and make proof of their claims. Thereafter, the widow of another passenger on the Argo filed an intervening petition under the limited liability proceedings, claiming damages for the death of her husband by reason of the collision; and, afterwards, the owner of the Argo filed a surrender of his vessel and pending charter money to the intervening claimants against: the Dumois, and prayed for relief under the limited liability act. The district court decreed that the collision was caused solely by the fault of the Dumois, and decreed damages to the interveners for the deaths resulting from the negligent collision, and to the owner of the Argo for the loss of that vessel. The circuit court of appeals reversed the decree, holding both vessels to be in fault for the collision, and that, as between the owners of the vessels, the damages should he divided. Thereupon the cause was removed upon writs of certiorari to the supreme court. That court affirmed the decree of the circuit court of appeals, and in its opinion considered the question whether a moiety of the amounts awarded to the interveners for damages occasioned by the deaths should be deducted from the amount recoverable by the owner of the [988]*988Argo,-and it-was urged by the owner of the Dumois that the interveners had liens upon the Argo for a moiety of their damages under the water-craft law of Louisiana. The court, in the discussion of this question, referred approvingly to the case of The Yera Cruz, 10 App. Gas. 59, mistakenly called The Franconia in the opinion, and said, with reference to the water-craft law of Louisiana:

“The object of article 3237 was not to extend the cases in which damages might be recovered to such as resulted in death, but merely to provide that in cases of damages to'person or property, where such damage was occasioned by negligence in the management oí any water craft, the party injured should have a privilege or lien upon such craft. We deem it entirely clear that the article was not intended to apply to eases brought by the representatives of a deceased person for damages resulting in death.”

The court thereafter observed that under the limited liability act, although there was no lien, it did not follow that there could be no deduction of a moiety of the damages from the sum awarded to the Argo, because that question was settled bv the case of Butler v. Steamship Co., 130 U. S. 527, 9 Sup. Ct. 612, 32 L. Ed.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
107 F. 984, 47 C.C.A. 111, 1901 U.S. App. LEXIS 4049, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/the-onoko-ca7-1901.