The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-10-10

Armstrong. All these gentlemen were
leaders of the Philadelphia bar. There
was little contention regarding the
facts; but when 1t came to the applica-
bility of the law there was a battle
royal. This involved legal settlement
of the old question, dear to the ethical
heart of two men on a plank which Is
capable of sustaining only one; and,
though diverted to the side issue of the
duties of common carriers, still resulted
in the most direct adjudication existing
as to their rights and obligations.
Mr.. Dallas argued for the prosecu-
ton as follows: While the manslugh-
ter with which Holmes was charged
was unlawful rather than malicious.
the only defence to 1t could be the
supreme necessity of self-preservation.
To constitute this, in legal sufIiciency.
the danger must be instant, over
whelmingly, leaving no choice OF
means, no moment of deliberation.
Such was not the present case. What
law" he asked, gives a crew to be the
arbiters of life and death? No, we pro-
test against giving to our seamen the
power to thus make jettison OF human
beings. If they believed that the ulti-
mate safety of a portion was to be ad-
Vanced by the sacrifice of another por-
tion. it was then their duty to give
notice to all aboard and have COM
mon settlement made"
Such a course, Mr.. Dallas next con-
tended, would be equable were sailors
and passengers in equal relation; but
he denied the premise. "The seaman
Is bound beyond the passenger, he
asserted, ito encounter the perils OF
the sea- 1t is for this exposure that
his claims are sacred lien. and If
only a single nail of the ship is left he
is entitled to it, Promulge as law that
the prisoner Is guiltless and our mar
Inc will be disgraced in the eyes of the
civilized world. The proper rule Is
contained in Bacon's noble thought:
The duties of life are more than life.
David Paul Brown summed up Tor
the defence 'This case" he declared,
should be tried in a longboat sunk
down to It's very gunwale with fort!-
one half-naked, starved, and shlVefing
wrethches; the boat leaking from be-
low, filling from above, hundred
leagues from land, at midnight, sur
ronded by ice, unmanagable from its
load, and subject to certain destruc-
tion from the change of the most
changeful of the elements. the winds
and the waves. To these superadd the
horrors of famine and the recKlessness
of despair, madness, and the prospects,
past utterance, of this unutterable con-
dition. Are the United States to come
here now, a year after the event, when
it is impossible to estimate the ele-
ments which combined to make the
risk or to say to what extent the Jeop-
ardy was imminent--are they win
square rule and compass deliberately
to measure the boat in this room and
to weigh these passengers, call i'll phil-
osophers discuss specific gravities,
calculate by the tables of life insurance
company the chances of life: and be-
cause they. these Judges. find that by
their calculations this unfortunate
boats crew might have had the tnous-
andth part of one poor chance TO es-
cape, to condemn the prisoner 10
chains and a dungeon for what he dld
in terror and darkness OF that dark
and terrible night"
The counsel ridiculed the contention
that lots are the law of the ocean, as
serting that such a plan under such
circumstances was more easy TO SuS-
gest than to put into practice. He
maintained that the crew were either
in a state of subordination to their
officers or in a state of nature. In the
former case he argued that Holmes
was excused by the express orders oil
the mate, and he quoted in support as
follows from Carnot: THE armed force
is essentially obedient; ii acts but
never deliberates." And in the latter
case that he was equally exempt, nav
ing ceased from being sailor ana be-
come q drowning man.
Judge Baldwin, in his charge, thus
disposed of the question of two men on
the plank:
Suppose two persons. who owe no
duty to one another which is not mu-
tuai should by accident. not attribu-
table to either, be placed in situation
where both cannot survive. Neither
Is bound to save the others life 10!
sacrificing his own: nor would either
commit crime in saving his own life
in a struggle for the only means OF
safety"
Coming, however, to the details Of the
case before him. the judge distinguish
ed as follows: THE sailor must en-
counter the hardships and perils of the
voyage. Nor can this relation be
changed when the ship is lost by
tempest and all on board have be-
taken themselves for safety to the
small boats; for imminece of dange,
cannot absolve from duty. Should
the emergency become so extreme as
to call for the sacrifice of life, there
can be no reason why the law does not
remain the same: the passenger, not
being bound either to labor or to incur
the risk of life. cannot be bound t.
sacrifice his existence to preserve the
sailors. While we admit that sailor
and sailor may lawfully struggle with
each other for the plank which can
save but one. we think that if the pas
senger is on the plank, even the law
of necessity justilies not the sailor who
takes it from him."
The judge then proceeded to con-
| slider what should have been done un-
| der the stress of circumstances exist.
| ing in the long boat. He admitted that
there was no rule of general applica-
| tion, but continued as follows: There
| Is, however, one condition of extremity
| for which all writer's have prescribed
the same rule. When the ship is in II,
danger of sinking, hut all sustenance
! is exhausted. a sacrifice of one person
| Is necessary to appease the hunger OF
others. The selection is made by lot
This mode Is resOrted to as the fairest
| mode. and in some sort as an appeal tC
God for the selection of the victim
For ourselves. we can conceive of nc
| mode so consonant with both humanity
and justice. and the occasion. we think
must be peculiar which will dispense
with it's exercise
Under this charge. the jury brought
in verdict of guilty. with recon.
mendation Of mercy. Holmes was sen.
fenced to six months in the peniten-
tiary and to Il fine of 500 But the
interest of the public did not cease
with this. Indignation vanished and
sympathy doubled. People maintained
that sailor or no sailor, Holmes had
acted naturally There was a gen.
eral demand for his liberation, and
though President Tyler refused to par
don. part of the penalty was remitted
And so Holmes went back to the perils
of the sea. which he held as naught in
comparison with those of the land.
'sEATING CROW"
From the Philadelphia Bulletin.
In Indianapolis about the epoch of the
''Hoosier Schoolmaster," a native of those