Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-02-10

1
| dered. but that the laborers employed on
the dredge are not entitled 20 a lien ior
| wages as scamen. their work not peins
necessary to navigation. The reeo.u
contains no precise description or the
! dredge. but inasmuch as the testimony
shows that she was engaged III cIeah'ns
out aud deepening the channels III Alus
! creek and Nomini creek; that she hau
no natural powers Of propulsion py oar
sails. 'or steam and was moved lfoih
Washington by water TO the place wners
she was engaged II may be assumed that
such form and characteristics were gwen
her as enabled her to navigate the wafer
| and to transport from place 10 pace
! the steam-shovel placed upon her' anu
| that her occupation was 10 tIdhsVot
| from place 10 place such steaIh-snoNei
| and the engine and hands employed on
her. TO maintain them ahont IN her worh
| OF deepening channels In naVisap,o
| waters. an occupation incident 10 liati
| cation. If so. then, she fans Wltnih tii0
| definition OF a vessel" as given IN sec
ton 2 chapter 4 title T.. Of the Revised
| Statutes Of the United states, whicn IS
! as follows: "The word 'vesseP ncludeS
| every description OF water craft VI
| other artificial contrvance used or ca
| pable Of being used as a means OF lrail9
| portation on water" A dredge OF thiS
| description was held TO be a vessel IN
1.-The Alabama" 10 Fed. Reporter Oh,
Ibid. % Fed. Rep, 40; the Pioneer ~
| Fed, Rep, POS.
If this craft, this movable thlng' Ca
| pable of being transported on the water
and engaged in work incidental 10 nav
cation. in shoveling mud and removing
| n NV water. is n vessel. then she comes
| within the maritime jurisdiction anu
the persons employed on her in that WORK
! are seamen and the lien on the Vessei
| for wages Is correlative Such persons
| fall within the definition or seaiheh'
| In section 1912 Of the Revised Statutes
! which is as follows: "In the construc-
tion Of rhis title every person having the
| command of any vessel belonging w
any citizen of the United states sha,t
| be deemed to be the master thei eo,
and every person apprentices eXcepleul
who shall be employed or ehgdseu "
serve IN any capacity on board the same
sbau no deemed and taken to be sea-
man etc, etc. .. in
The learned Judge below, citing with
annroval the Atlantic, 50 Fed. Rep oV''
and holding that men employed on
dredge are entitled to lien, endeaVoIs
IN draw n distinction between the per-
sons so employed and denies the lIeH
10 the intervening Hbellants here. on the
ground that their labor was not heceS
sarv to the navigation OF the dreuse'
resting such decision upon the Militia
II Fed. Rep. $50, and the Ocean spray
II Fed. Rep, 55S. ,.,
In onr opinion. these cases do not sup
port the conclusion. and II Is lfnpossIo,e
TO reconcile the distinction win the iui0
established by a long line Of decisions
In the Minna the libellant was en-
nloved solely as a fisherman, taxing no
part i'm the navigation of the vessel
which went out every morning 10 tne
fshing-grounds, returning at night the
lihellant sleeping ashore. yet decree
was entered in his favor. II,
The Ocean Spray was schooner which
sailed master and crew from san IRAN
cisco for Boring Sea, with the inter-
ton Of engaging I'm the seal hsheIleS
when twenty-five days out she look
aboard some Indians. who were to be en-
Moved as sealers, to take ana SKIN
seals and preserve their skins, but the
voyage was abandoned before any seals
we're taken. II was held that they were
entitled to lien upon the snip LOT
wages as seamen.
II is difficult to fix with precision any
line of delimitation between services es-
sentially maritime and those claimed 10
be such. because performed upon yes
sci at sea or within the ebb ana now Oh
the tide: nor will it be profitable 10 1oi-
low the struggle for jurisdiction between
the courts of common law and the
Cont ~ Admiralty. 1t is now well set
tied that all persons employed on Il yes
eel to assist in the main purpose In
which she is engaged are entitled TO
lien for wages-so il has been held that
clerks carpenters. chambermaids. COOKS,
stewards walters, are so entitled
Desty's Shipping and Admiralty, Sec
tion 173 and cases there cited.
The statute above referred 70. which
declares that persons employed IN any
capacity" upon vessels shall be deeineu
"seamen." seems conclusive upon this
point -,
If II he considered necessary to give a
reason for a rule supported by great
weight Of authority. it would be found
In fbis-that a vessel and her crew are
considered a unit. Each person ABOARD
of nor contributes. according to his ca
nocitv 70 the success of the enterprise IN
which she Is engaged. II she comes
within the maritime jurisdiction the
persons employed aboard OF her come
also. with all the rights and DISABILITIES
which flow therefrom. Among those rights
from the days of Oleron, are that
that the ship stands responsible for the
WAGES of the seamen. 1t is this assur-
ance that enables her TO command those
services that are essential TO the prose-
cution OF her enterprises. Seameh' as
q mic are Of a class that would with
difficulty find the owners OF the snip, OF
Dersons responsible for their wages ana
without such assurance that the III"
gives for the payment or thelr earnings,
their labor would not be obtalnapie' anu
maritime undertakings would languish.
n weigh with nice
discrimination the exact amount ana
character Of service which each person
ernploved aboard vessel should render
in order TO entitle him TO this lien, II
would become a snare, rather than pro-
lection.
At first blush. it would seem stretch
OF the rule 10 hold a dredse ana her ac-
companying scows to belong TO the same
class with ocean steamships. Inc ldea
of commerce does not come INTO the
mind primarily in connection with such
craft: but when il is borne in mind that
thew are constructed to move upon the
water and nowhere else; that Wnle
thus moving upon the water they are
subject to all the rules that govern other
water craft as TO lights, Collisions etc,
etc II will be seen that they have that
mobility and capacity to navigate which
are recognized as the prime elements III
determining the subjects OF mdIllilhe
liens. And so it seems stretch OF the
imagination to class the decN-hands OF
a nnud-dredge in the quiet waters Of
Potomac creek with the bold and skilful
mariners who breast the angry waves
of the Atlantic; but such and so tar-
reaching are the principles which under
lie the jurisdiction Of the courts OF adj
miralty. that they adapt themselves 20
all the new kinds Of property, ana new
set of operatives, and now conditions,
which are brought into existence in the