Evening star., 1914-07-05
Owners Liability Inadequate,
Declares 7. |. Parkinson,
= in Article.
CITES SPECIAL PRIVILEGES
OF THE WATER CARRIERS
Seaman and His Dependents Even
As:Wotse Off Than Passengers,
flu; He Declares.

In an effort tn show what he calls the
absefditr. Of United States laws controll-
ing the amount Of damages which may
be collected by those who suffer as a re-
suit of disasters at sea. Thomas I. Park
inson of Columbia University has writ
ten an article for the Survey. .entitled,
When Ships Go Down"
When Senator. Smith was preparing his
repbtt on Srhe' Titanic disaster he OBJ
tanned the services of the legislative
draftfhs' bareAh of Columbia University
10 assist in formulating bills. Subse-
quently at the request of individuals
whose interest grew out of personal be-
reaverent due to the Titanic disaster
the bureau undertook a study of ship
owners liability to damages for such
losses. Mr.. Parkinson's article is based
on the result of these studies. He says:
If New York-Chieago flyer" leaves
the track and pilngeS to destruction, car
ryIng to death or personal injury its pas
sengers and crew. our laws. both state
and federal. provide that the victims
the injured and the dependents of the
kii{ed-nay recover their full dana ges
out of the general assets OF the railroad
company. The railroad carrier is an in
sIreY of the travellers safety. and this
act is largely responsible for the eco
nomic argument in favor of railroad
safety first campaigns.
Rule Seems Impossible.
What would not be said of an act OF
Congress providing that the liability of
the company, if any. should be limited in
amount to the value of the wrecked train
as it lay at the bottom of the enlbank-
ment, plus tthe amount of the ticket
money paid by its passengers?
Impossible such a rule seems when
applied to carriage by land, it states pre-
ctsely the effect of the shipowners' lim-
tied liability laws enacted by Congress
and constantly applied by our admiralty
courts For the friGhtful loss of life and
Property involved i'll the wreck of the
Titanic the liability of the owner under
our laws is limited to S9oOOo This sum
represents the amount of the pending
freight money for the fatal voyage. I'm
Ger the English law the owners of the
Titanic are liable for nearly SS,OOO,OOO.
victims OF this disaster sought TO have
our courts apply the English rule in de-
termln1ng the amount of the owner 8 |
liability and obtained ruling TO that ef- |
feet by Judge Holt in the district court: |
hut the Supreme Court of the United |
States. in an opinion handed down May |
2, declares that whenever our courts |
are resorted to for a remedy in such |
cases the limited liability rules estab- |
Ished by Congress will be applied. There |
fore. until Congress acts by repeating or
amending these rules, claimants in our
courts can recover damages for ship ac-
cidents only to the extent of the value of
theswreck and the pending freight. This
Is true even though as in the Titanic case
the lowner is liable under the laws of the
cprntry whose flag the ship flies for a
mHch greater amount.
Insurance Money Not Available.
Briefly stated. our law provides that
II the owner sarrenders the wrecked ves- |
sci and pays into court the pending
ffeight, 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 the owner |
for the loss of the ship is not available to |
the damage claimant. Therefore, where |
the vessel is, lost seriously damaged |
there can be no substantial recovery.
These rules are applied as we'll to in |
land river and bay navigation as to the |
great lakes. ,coastwise and foreign trade. !
Thef. is need for further illustration |
of1tfleir operation. They are simple and
Subject. to almost no exception Their
shippers without redress for losses by
accident unless they have the foresight
to insure themselves.
Though the principle of limited liability
is now universally accepted, there are i'm
portant differences in the nature of the
limitation and its amount. Our laws are
Substantially in accord with those of
France and Germany in permitting the
owner to abandon the vessel and thereby
escape all further financial respons-
bihty. Great Britain. though limiting
the owners liability, early developed the