The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-07-06


 tive Drafting Bureau of Columbia University to assist in formHlatlng bills. Subsequently at, the request Of individuals whose interest grew out or personal bereavement due to the gI1- tanic disaster. the Bureau undertook a study of ship-owners' liability To damages for such losses-)
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 If a New York-Chfcago flyer leaves the track and plunges to de- struction carrying death or personal injury to its passengers and crews, our laws, both state and federal, provide that the vfctfnns-the injured and the dependents of the killed-may recover their full damages out Of the general assets of the railroad company. The railroad carrier is an insurer of the travellers safety and this act is large 1y responsible for the economic argu- ment in favor Of railroad safety first" campaigns
 What would now be said of an act of Congress providing that the ha,bil- ity of the com pany, if any, should be limited in amount to the value of the wrecked train as 1t lay at the bottom of, the embankment, plus the amount of the ticket money paid by It's pas sengers2
 Impossible as such a rule seems when applied to carriage by land. it states precisely the effect of the ship owners limited liability laws enacted by. Congress and constantly applied by our admiralty courts For the fright fuI loss Of life and property involved in the wreck of the Titanic the lia- bi1fty of the owner under our laws. is limited to $9O, ,00O. This sum repre- sents the amount of the pending freight money for the fatal voyage. Under the English law the owners of | c toOo. GOO
 Limited Damages.
 Victims of this disaster sought to have our courts apply the English rule in determfnfng the amount of the owners liability and secured a. ruling to that effect by Judge Holt in the dis triet court; but the Supreme Court of ff7e United States, in an opinion hand ed down May 18th, declares that whenever our courts are resorted to for a remedy in such cases, the limit ed liability rules established by Con gress will be a.ppHed- Therefore, un- til Congress acts by repeating or amending these rules, claimants in ] our courts can recover damages for ship accidents only to the extent of the value of the wreck and the pend ing freight This is true even though as in the Titanic case the owner is H- able under the laws of the country whose flag the ship flies for a much greater amount
 Briefly stated, our law provides that if the owner surrenders the wrecked vessel and pays into court the pend ing freight, he is relieved from all further liability. If the vessel is lost, he is obliged to pay only the pending freight. Insurance money payable to fthe owner for the loss of the ship is not available to the damage claimant Therefore, where the vessel is lost or seriously damaged there can be no Substantial recovery.
 These rules are applied as we'll to inland river and bay navigation as to the Great Lakes coastwise and for efgnS trade. There is no need for fur ther illustration Of their operation. They are simple and subject to all most no exception. Their effect is to leave passengers, crew and shippers without redress for losses by acci- dent unless they have the foresight to insure themselves
 Though the principle of limited Ii- ability is now universally accepted, there are important differences in the nature of the limitation and it's amount Our laws ara substantially in accord with those of France and Germany in permitting the owner to abandon the vessel and thereby es- cape all further financial responsibf1- ity. Great Britain, though limiting the rule that the limit should be the value of the vessel before the acci- dent