Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/109/578/
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 18:16:43+00:00

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Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 109 › Providence & N.Y. S.S. Co. v. Hill Mfg. Co.
1. Proceedings in the district court of the United States under the Act of 1851, 9 Stat. 635, to limit the liability of shipowners for loss or damage to goods, supersede all other actions and suits for the same loss or damage in the state or federal courts upon the matter being properly pleaded therein.
2. The effect of such proceedings in superseding other actions and suits does not depend upon the award of an injunction by the district court, but upon the object and intrinsic character of the proceedings themselves, and the express language of the act of Congress.
3. The power of Congress to pass the act of 1851 and of this Court to prescribe the rules adopted in December term, 1871, for regulating proceedings under the act reaffirmed.
4. Loss and damage by fire on board of a ship are within the relief of the 3d as well as the 1st section of the act.
5. Goods transported by steamer from Providence to New York were injured by fire on board the vessel at her dock in the latter place, and suits for damage were commenced against the owners of the steamer in New York and Boston; thereupon proceedings were instituted by such owners in the District Court of the United States for New York under the act of 1851 to limit their liability. Held that said proceedings, properly pleaded and verified, superseded the actions in other courts, and that it was error to proceed further therein.
dock in New York. The defendants denied liability. Pending proceedings, the steamship company applied to the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York for the benefits of the Limited Liability Act of 1851, 9 Stat. 635. Under that act, the district court took jurisdiction of all claims against the vessel and its owners arising out of the destruction of the property on board, and issued an order restraining their prosecution elsewhere. This order was duly served on the Hill Manufacturing Company and was pleaded and offered in evidence in this suit, but the court nevertheless proceeded to give judgment against the steamship company. The defendants brought their writ of error to reverse that judgment.
"That no owner or owners of any ship or vessel shall be subject or liable to answer for or make good to anyone or more person or persons any loss or damage which may happen to any goods or merchandise whatsoever, which shall be shipped, taken in, or put on board any such ship or vessel, by reason or by means of any fire happening to or on Board the said ship or vessel, unless such fire is caused by the design or neglect of such owner or owners."
"That the liability of the owner or owners of any ship or vessel for any embezzlement, loss, or destruction by the master, officers, mariners, passengers, or any other person or persons, of any property, goods, or merchandise shipped or put on board such ship or vessel, or for any loss, damage, or injury by collision, or for any act, matter or thing, loss, damage or forfeiture done, occasioned, or incurred without the privity or knowledge of such owner or owners, shall in no case exceed the amount or value of the interest of such owner or owners respectively in such ship or vessel and her freight then pending."
claims, and praying that in the meantime, and until the final judgment should be rendered, said district court would make an order restraining the further prosecution of all and any suit or suits against said defendants in respect to any such claim or claims; that upon said libel said district court caused due appraisement to be had and made of the amount or value of the interest of said defendants in said steamer and her freight for said voyage, and duly made an order for the giving by the defendants of a stipulation with sureties for payment thereof into court whenever the same should be ordered.
The answer further stated that the defendants, pursuant to the order of said district court, entered into a stipulation, with two sureties, to pay the value of said interest and freight as so appraised into said district court whenever ordered, which stipulation was approved, and said order having been complied with, a monition was thereupon issued by said district court against all persons claiming damages for the loss, destruction, damage, and injury occasioned by said fire on board said steamer, citing them to appear before said district court and make due proof of their respective claims at or before a certain time named in said monition, to-wit at or before the fifteenth day of October, A.D. 1872, which time was at least three months from the issuing of said monition, and designating George F. Betts, Esq., a commissioner of said district court, as the commissioner before whom such claims should be presented, in pursuance of said monition, and ordering public and other notice of said monition as therein set forth, and that said notice had been served on the said Hill Manufacturing Company, as well as on all other claimants, pursuant to said monition, and said district court duly made an order restraining the further prosecution of all and any suit or suits against the defendants in respect of any such claim or claims.
thereby caused or occasioned, was without the privity or knowledge of these defendants. And these defendants, further answering, say that if the plaintiffs have any claim by reason of any injury to said cotton cloth, it cannot be enforced in this action, but can only be enforced in said suit in said district court, and then and there only under and pursuant to said act of Congress. And these defendants, further answering, say that said steamer Oceanus was not a canal boat, barge, or lighter, and was not used in rivers or inland navigation, and that said voyage from Providence to said City of New York was not in rivers or inland navigation, and that an injunction has been issued by said district court against said Hill Manufacturing Company restraining and enjoining them from the further prosecution of this suit, and that said injunction has been duly served on said Hill Manufacturing Company, and further that said Hill Manufacturing Company sued in this court the Boston and Lowell Railroad Company for the alleged loss and injury complained of in the declaration in this cause to the cotton cloth therein mentioned, and recovered therein a judgment against said Boston and Lowell Railroad Company for said alleged loss and injury, which judgment was settled, paid, and satisfied."
of defendants it must have been with their privity or knowledge, and was not within the act of Congress limiting the liability of shipowners; also, the ruling that the proceedings in the district court of the United States did not affect the jurisdiction of this honorable court."
"1. That under the proper construction of the act of Congress entitled 'An act to limit the liability of shipowners and for other purpose,' Stat. 1851, c. 43, the libel and petition of the defendant filed in the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York, and the proceedings had thereon, the record of which has been put in evidence, are a bar to the plaintiff's action."
"2. That under the proper construction of said act of Congress, the plaintiff is precluded from maintaining its action by said proceedings in said district court."
been adjudged as between the parties to the present suit that the fire which caused the damage, for which the plaintiff seeks to recover, was not caused by the design or neglect of the defendant within the meaning of said act of Congress."
The court refused to give these instructions, but left it to the jury to find for the plaintiffs if they were satisfied from the evidence that the fire was caused by the negligence of the defendants either in respect to the construction and equipment of the vessel or in respect to the construction and management of the pier or buildings thereon.
To all the rulings of the court the defendant excepted, and the jury having found a verdict for the plaintiffs, the exceptions were argued before the Supreme Judicial Court and were overruled, and judgment was entered for the plaintiffs. To that judgment this writ of error is brought. The case, as decided by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, is reported in 113 Mass. 495 and 125 Mass. 292.
The principal question in this case is whether the institution of proceedings in the district court of the United States, under the act of 1851, for procuring a decree of limited liability of the owners of the Oceanus (the defendants in the present action) for the losses and injuries to goods on board of the vessel superseded the prosecution of claims for the same losses and injuries in other courts. It seems to us that this must be the necessary effect of such proceedings, and that this results as well from the language of the law as from its object and purpose.
The first section of the act exempts shipowners from liability for losses on board of their ship by fire "unless such fire is caused by the design or neglect of such owner or owners."
The second section relates to the shipping of precious metals and other valuables without giving notice of their character and value, and exempts the master and owners of the vessel, in such case, from liability as carriers.
damage by collision, or for any act, matter, or thing, loss, damage, or forfeiture, done, occasioned, or incurred without the privity or knowledge of such owner or owners, shall in no case exceed the amount or value of the interest of such owner or owners respectively in such ship or vessel and her freight then pending.
"That if any such embezzlement, loss, or destruction shall be suffered by several freighters or owners of goods, wares, or merchandise, or any property whatever, on the same voyage, and the whole value of the ship or vessel and her freight for the voyage shall not be sufficient to make compensation to each of them, they shall receive compensation from the owner or owners of the ship or vessel in proportion to their respective losses, and for that purpose the said freighters and owners of the property, and the owner or owners of the ship or vessel, or any of them, may take the appropriate proceedings in any court for the purpose of apportioning the sum for which the owner or owners of the ship or vessel may be liable among the parties entitled thereto. And it shall be deemed a sufficient compliance with the requirements of this act on the part of such owner or owners if he or they shall transfer his or their interest in such vessel and freight, for the benefit of such claimants, to a trustee, to be appointed by any court of competent jurisdiction, to act as such trustee for the person or persons who may prove to be legally entitled thereto, from and after which transfer all claims and proceedings against the owner or owners shall cease."
By the last section of the act, it is declared that it shall not apply to the owner or owners of any canal boat, barge, or lighter, or to any vessel of any description whatever, used in rivers or inland navigation.
of it administer it in a spirit of fairness, with the view of giving to shipowners the full benefit of the immunities intended to be secured by it, the encouragement it will afford to commercial operations (as before stated) will be of the last importance; but if it is administered with a tight and grudging hand, construing every clause most unfavorably against the shipowner, and allowing as little as possible to operate in his favor, the law will hardly be worth the trouble of its enactment. Its value and efficiency will also be greatly diminished, if not entirely destroyed, by allowing its administration to be hampered and interfered with by various and conflicting jurisdictions.
of mortgages on vessels in the custom house), are pertinent. He says:"
" Ships or vessels of the United States are creatures of the legislation of Congress. None can be denominated such or be entitled to the benefits or privileges thereof except those registered or enrolled according to the Act of September 1, 1789, and those which, after the last day of March, 1793, shall be registered or enrolled in pursuance of the act of 31st December, 1792, and must be wholly owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States, and to be commanded by a citizen of the same. . . . Congress having created, as it were, this species of property and conferred upon it its chief value under the power given in the Constitution to regulate commerce, we perceive no reason for entertaining any serious doubt but that this power may be extended to the securing and protection of the rights and title of all persons dealing therein."
It need not be added that if Congress had power to pass the act of 1851, it is binding on all courts and jurisdictions throughout the United States.
"The proper course of proceeding for obtaining the benefit of the act would seem to be this: when a libel for damages is filed, either against the ship in rem or the owners in personam, the latter (whether with or without an answer to the merits) should file a proper petition for an apportionment of the damages according to the statute, and should pay into court (if the vessel or its proceeds is not already there) or give due stipulation for such sum as the court may, by proper inquiry, find to be the amount of the limited liability, or else surrender the ship and freight by assigning them to a trustee in the manner pointed out in the fourth section. Having done this, the shipowner will be entitled to a monition against all persons to appear and intervene pro interesse suo, and to an order restraining the prosecution of other suits. If an action should be brought in a state court, the shipowners should file a libel in admiralty, with a like surrender or deposit of the fund, and either plead the fact in bar in the state court or procure an order from the district court to restrain the further prosecution of the suit. The court having jurisdiction of the case, under and by virtue of the act of Congress, would have the right to enforce its jurisdiction and to ascertain and determine the rights of the parties. For aiding parties in this behalf and facilitating proceedings in the district courts, we have prepared some rules which will be announced at an early day."
These rules were announced at a subsequent day of the same term, and will be found at the commencement of 13 Wallace xii-xiii.
the proper district court of the United States, setting forth the facts and circumstances on which such limitation of liability is claimed, and praying relief in that behalf, and thereupon the court, having caused due appraisement to be had of the amount or value of the interest of said owners respectively in the ship or vessel, and her freight for the voyage, shall make an order for the payment of the same into court, or for the giving of a stipulation with sureties for payment thereof into court whenever the same shall be ordered; or, if the owners shall so elect, the court shall, without such appraisement, make an order for the transfer by them of their interest in such vessel and freight to a trustee to be appointed by the court under the fourth section of the act, and upon compliance with such order, the court shall issue a monition against all persons claiming damages for loss or injury to goods (respecting which the limited liability is sought), citing them to appear before the court and make due proof of their respective claims at or before a certain time not less than three months from issuing the same, and public notice of the monition shall be given as in other cases, and such further notice served through the post office, or otherwise, as the court in its discretion may direct, and the court shall also, on the application of the owner or owners, make an order to restrain the further prosecution of all and any suit or suits against said owners in respect of any such claims.
Provision is then made for proof of all claims before a commissioner to be appointed by the court, for a report thereon, and for a pro rata distribution of the money paid into court or the proceeds of the ship and freight among the several claimants.
The rules further provide that the shipowners, making suitable allegations for the purpose, shall be at liberty to contest their liability, or the liability of the vessel, to pay any damages, as well as to show that if liable they are entitled to a limitation of liability under the act, and that any parties claiming damages may contest the right of the shipowners to exemption from liability, or to the benefit of a limited liability.
filed and the said proceedings had in any district court of the United States in which the ship or vessel may be libeled to answer for any such loss or damage, or, if the vessel be not libeled, then in the district court of any district in which the owners may be sued, and if the ship have already been libeled and sold, the proceeds shall represent it.
The court had no doubt then, and has no doubt now, of its power to make these rules under the acts of Congress which authorized it to prescribe the forms of proceeding in equity and admiralty causes. The process acts of 1792 and 1828 had declared that the forms of writs and other process, and the forms and modes of proceeding in suits in equity and in those of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, should be according to the principles, rules, and usages which belong to courts of equity and admiralty respectively, as contradistinguished from courts of common law, except as modified by the Judiciary Act of 1789; but subject to such alterations and additions as the respective courts should in their discretion deem expedient, or to such regulations as the Supreme Court of the United States should think proper from time to time by rule to prescribe to any circuit or district court concerning the same. 1 Stat. 276; 4 Stat. 280. And the process act of 1842 gave the supreme court full power and authority to prescribe and regulate the forms of process in the district and circuit courts, and the forms and modes of framing and filing libels, bills, answers, and other proceedings and pleadings, in suits at law, in admiralty, or in equity in said courts, and the forms and modes of taking evidence, and generally the forms and modes of proceeding to obtain relief, and of drawing up and enrolling decrees, and of proceeding before trustees appointed by the court, and generally to regulate the whole practice of said courts. 5 Stat. 518.
matter itself is one that belongs to the department of maritime law. The adoption of forms and modes of proceeding requisite and proper for giving due effect to the maritime rule thus adopted by Congress, and for securing to shipowners its benefits, was therefore strictly within the powers conferred upon this Court; and, where the general regulations adopted by this Court do not cover the entire ground, it is undoubtedly within the power of the district and circuit courts, as courts of admiralty, to supplement them by additional rules of their own.
We have deemed it proper to examine thus fully the foundation on which the rules adopted in December term, 1871, were based, because, if those rules are valid and binding (as we deem them to be), it is hardly possible to read them in connection with the act of 1851 without perceiving that, after proceedings have been commenced in the proper district court in pursuance thereof, the prosecution pari passu of distinct suits in different courts, or even in the same court, by separate claimants against the shipowners, is, and must necessarily be, utterly repugnant to such proceedings, and subversive of their object and purpose.
would be liable to a diversity of suits brought, perhaps, in different states, after long periods of time, when the witnesses have been dispersed, and issuing in contrary results before different tribunals; while in the ordinary cases, where a limited liability to some extent exists, but to an amount less than the aggregate claims for damages, so as to require a concourse of claimants and a pro rata distribution, the prosecution of separate suits, if allowed to proceed, would result in a subversion of the whole object and scheme of the statute. The questions to be settled by the statutory proceedings being -- first, whether the ship or its owners are liable at all (if that point is contested and has not been decided), and secondly, if liable, whether the owners are entitled to a limitation of liability, must necessarily be decided by the district court having jurisdiction of the case, and to render its decision conclusive, it must have entire control of the subject to the exclusion of other courts and jurisdictions. If another court may investigate the same questions at the same time, it may come to a conclusion contrary to that of the district court, and if it does (as happened in this case), the proceedings in the district court will be thwarted and rendered ineffective to secure to the shipowners the benefit of the statute.
perhaps contrary to that of the court to which the inquiry properly belongs. Such a state of things would utterly defeat the purpose of the law. The judgment in one court would annul or render nugatory that of the other.
The inconveniences that may arise from preventing or arresting the prosecution of separate suits by the claimants are no greater in this case than in the case where proceedings at law are arrested for the purpose of having an investigation in a court of equity, or where distinct and separate suits are restrained for the purpose of settling a common controversy in a single proceeding, as in the case of bills for preventing a multiplicity of suits, and in cases of bankruptcy. By the Bankrupt Act of 1867 it was enacted that no creditor whose debt was provable under the act should be allowed to prosecute to final judgment any suit at law or in equity therefor against the bankrupt, until the question of the debtor's discharge should have been determined, although, if the amount due the creditor was in dispute, the suit, by leave of the court in bankruptcy, might proceed to judgment for the purpose of ascertaining the amount, but execution should be stayed. See Hill v. Harding, 107 U. S. 631. None of the cases here referred to more imperatively require a cessation of proceedings in other suits for the same cause than that of the proceeding for a limitation of liability under the statute in question.
Nor is the inconvenience any greater than that which occurs when a case is removed from the state to a federal court. In that case, on the presentation of a petition for removal, duly verified and showing the proper grounds for removal, and accompanied with the bond required by the statute on that subject, the law declares "it shall then be the duty of the state court to accept said petition and bond, and proceed no further in such suit." In the case before us, as well as in the cases of bankruptcy and of removal, the parties have a right to have their causes heard and determined by a court of the United States invested with appropriate jurisdiction, and capable of affording a proper mode of relief.
restricted, shipowners seeking a decree of limited liability under the law of that country were forced to resort to the Court of Chancery for redress, and to call before that court the various parties interested. Here they were subjected to some onerous conditions before the court would exercise jurisdiction in their behalf, one of which was that they must confess liability for the damages which they sought to have limited in accordance with the act of Parliament. But when this was done, and the amount of the confessed liability was paid into court, they were entitled to an injunction against all other suits and proceedings, wherever instituted or pending, and the cause then proceeded in due course, by reference to a master to take the proof of claims and make a report of the facts, and by a final decree of distribution.
"In cases where several claims are made or apportioned against an owner for loss of life, personal injury, or loss or damage to ships, boats, of goods, the Court of Chancery and the High Court of Admiralty, whenever any ship or proceeds thereof are under its arrest, in England and Ireland, and the Court of Session in Scotland, and any competent court in a British possession, are empowered to entertain proceedings at the suit of such owner for the purpose of determining the amount of his liability, and for the distribution ratably of such amount, and to stop all actions and suits pending in any other court in relation to the same subject matter. *"
in whatever courts it is exercised, shows the necessity, everywhere acknowledged, that the court exercising the jurisdiction in any case should have exclusive control of the case.
the district courts themselves can administer the law, we are reduced to the dilemma of inferring that the legislature has framed a law which is incapable of execution. This is never to be done if it can be avoided. We have no doubt that the district courts, as courts of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, have jurisdiction of the matter, and this Court undoubtedly has the power to make all needful rules and regulations for facilitating the course of proceeding."
13 Wall. 80 U. S. 123.
We see no reason to modify these views, and, in our judgment, the proper district court, designated by the rules, or otherwise indicated by circumstances, has full jurisdiction and plenary power, as a court of admiralty, to entertain and carry on all proper proceedings for the due execution of the law, in all its parts, and its decrees, in cases subject to its jurisdiction, are valid and binding in all courts and places. In the present case, the proper court undoubtedly was the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York, where the remains of the vessel were situated, and where suits were brought against the owners. Proceedings under the act having been duly instituted in this Court, it acquired full jurisdiction of the subject matter, and having taken such jurisdiction, and procured control of the vessel and freight (or their value), constituting the fund to be distributed, and issued its monition to all parties to appear and present their claims, it became the duty of all courts before which any of such claims were prosecuted, upon being properly certified of the proceedings, to suspend further action upon said claims.
the benefit of the claimants to a trustee to be appointed by the court, it is expressly declared, that "from and after [such] transfer, all claims and proceedings against the owners shall cease." Surely, this injunction applies as well to "claims and proceedings" in state courts as to those in the federal courts, and while the district court having jurisdiction of the case, for the purpose of enforcing the act of Congress and the rules adopted by this Court in pursuance thereof, can only direct an injunction against the parties, and not against the courts in which such "claims and proceedings" are prosecuted, yet any further proceedings on the part of said courts, after being judicially informed by plea or suggestion duly made in the cause of the action and proceedings in the district court, would be against the express words of the act, and clearly erroneous. The operation of the act, in this behalf, cannot be regarded as confined to cases of actual "transfer," (which is merely allowed as a sufficient compliance with the law), but must be regarded, when we consider its reason and equity and the whole scope of its provisions, as extending to cases in which what is required and done is tantamount to such transfer; as where the value of the owners' interest is paid into court, or secured by stipulation, and placed under its control for the benefit of the parties interested.
it is observable that the injunction clause in the act of 1851 is preserved without change in section 4285 of the Revised Statutes, and will probably be construed as having its original effect due to its chronological relation to the act of 1793.
But, as before indicated, the legality of the writ of injunction is not involved in this case. In our opinion, the state court, in overruling the plea of the defendants, which set up the proceedings pending in the district court, and in ordering the cause to stand for trial, and again, on the trial, in overruling as a defense the proceedings and decree of the district court as set up in the amended answer, disregarded the due effect, as well as the express provisions, of the act of 1851, and therein committed error. It was the duty of the court, as well when the proceedings pending in the district court were pleaded and verified by profert of the record as when the decree of said court was pleaded and proved, to have obeyed the injunction of the act of Congress, which declared that "all claims and proceedings shall cease." When the plea only showed that proceeding for limited liability were pending and undetermined in the district court, probably a stay of proceedings was all that the defendants could require; but when they set up and produced the final decree of that court, forever debarring the plaintiffs from prosecuting any claim for damages, they were entitled either to a verdict and judgment in their favor or to a dismissal of the proceedings.
"for any act, matter or thing, loss, damage, or forfeiture, occasioned or incurred without the privity or knowledge of such owner or owners, shall in no case exceed the amount or value of the interest of such owner or owners respectively in such ship or vessel and her freight then pending."
if they fail in the first defense, and this they may do, as well in cases of loss by fire as in other cases, in one and the same proceeding. And we see no repugnancy between the two defenses. One is a more perfect defense than the other, and requires a different class or degree of proofs. That is all. In our judgment, the case of loss or damage by fire is comprised within the terms and relief of the third and fourth sections of the act.
The judgment of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts is reversed and the cause remanded, with directions to take such further proceedings as may be in accordance with this opinion.
* Referring to 24 Vict., c. 10, s. 13. For the previous practice, see The Saracen, 2 W.Rob. 451; S.C. on appeal, 11 Jurist 255; Moore P.C. 56; The Clara, Swabey 6.
MR. JUSTICE FIELD, with whom MR. JUSTICE GRAY concurred, dissenting.
I am not able to agree with the Court in its disposition of this case. As I construe the act of 1851 to limit the liability of shipowners, the liability of the steamship company for the loss by fire of the goods of the plaintiff below, the Hill Manufacturing Company, rests upon the first section. In my judgment, that section is not qualified nor in any respect affected by the rest of the act, nor is an action to recover for losses by fire, caused by the design or neglect of the owner of the vessels, controlled by proceedings taken by him to limit his liability for losses from other causes. The opinion of the Court proceeds on the assumption that cases of loss and damage by fire are within the provisions of the third section of the act; it so states expressly. Yet this assumption necessarily involves the conclusion that a fire, caused by the design or neglect of the owner, may occur without his privity or knowledge; which appears to me to be nothing less than saying that contradictory and inconsistent terms may be appropriately applied to the same transaction.
placed a burdensome responsibility upon the owners for the acts or omissions of their agents or servants without their knowledge or assent, and to lighten this responsibility the statute in question was passed. It was not its purpose to limit the responsibility of the owners for the consequences of their own wrongful acts or omissions.
The first section exempts them from all liability for loss or damage by fire of goods shipped on board their vessels, unless such fire is caused by their design or neglect. When the fire is thus caused the common law rule of liability remains as before, and that extends to the whole value of the property, if entirely lost, or to the extent to which it may be damaged, if only partially destroyed. The concluding provision of the section is equivalent to a declaration that the exemption provided in the preceding part shall not exist when the fire originated from the wrongful acts or omissions of the owners.
"That the liability of the owner or owners of any ship or vessel for any embezzlement, loss, or destruction by the master, officers, mariners, passengers, or any other person or persons, of any property, goods, or merchandise shipped or put on board such ship or vessel; or for any loss, damage, or injury by collision; or for any act, matter, or thing, loss, damage, or forfeiture done, occasioned, or incurred without the privity or knowledge of such owner or owners, shall in no case exceed the amount or value of the interest of such owner or owners respectively in such ship or vessel, and her freight then pending."
to their respective losses, and for that purpose the freighters and owners of the property and the owner of the ship, or any of them, may take proceedings in any court for the purpose of apportioning the sum for which he may be liable among the parties thereto, and the owner may transfer his interest in the ship and freight, for the benefit of the claimants, to a trustee, to be appointed by any court of competent jurisdiction, to act as such for the persons entitled thereto, after which transfer all claims and proceedings against him shall cease.
subordinate officer or agent. It is therefore personal neglect which is meant, and it would be unreasonable to hold that the owner was ignorant of that which necessarily followed from his own personal conduct.
Not only would this be unreasonable, but there is an inconsistency in holding that the first section exempts the owner from all liability in cases of fire happening without his design or neglect, if by the third section a liability is fastened upon him to the extent of the value of the ship and freight in case of a fire occurring without his privity or knowledge. And yet, according to the position of the court the owner is exempted by the first section from all liability if a fire occur without his knowledge and privity, and by the third section is subjected to liability to the extent of the value of the ship.
As stated by counsel of the plaintiff below, there can be no public policy in absolving common carriers by water from their full liability to others for property which has been entrusted to their care, and has been lost by their design or neglect. It certainly would require language, as he observes, so clear and plain that no subtlety of criticism can escape from the conclusion, before such a purpose can be ascribed to Congress. It would be establishing a limitation of liability against public policy, common right, and the universal feeling of justice. It would make the law one to protect wrongdoers, and to punish the innocent who had been injured by them while thus protected.
If, then, the first section is not affected by the other sections of the act, the liability of the owner of a vessel, in case of fire caused by his design or neglect, exists, as it always has existed at the common law, and that liability may be enforced in any court, state or federal, having jurisdiction of the parties. The other provisions by which the owner may seek to relieve himself from liability by surrendering his vessel and the freight earned, have no application to such a case. It follows that the defense of a liability limited, as asserted by the district court, goes to the ground.
is expressly reserved to suitors in all cases where the admiralty has jurisdiction, provided the common law also gives a remedy, and that the common law gives a remedy in cases of losses by fire, where goods are entrusted to common carriers by water, there can be no doubt. Of such common law remedy the state courts have exclusive jurisdiction when the parties are citizens of the same state, and concurrent jurisdiction with the federal courts when parties are citizens of different states. The state court therefore had jurisdiction of this case. It is a suit in personam, and even if a federal court might also take jurisdiction, that of the state court, having first attached, could not be subsequently defeated. Wallace v. McConnell, 13 Pet. 136; Taylor v. Carryl, 20 How. 583; Mallett v. Dexter, 1 Curtis 178. The federal court could not issue an injunction against the parties which would affect the jurisdiction of the state court. The act of Congress of 1793 forbids any injunction from a federal court to restrain the prosecution of a suit in a state court, and this act has never been repealed, either expressly or by implication, except as to proceedings in bankruptcy. Rev.Stat. § 720; Peck v. Jenness, 7 How. 625; Taylor v. Carryl, supra; 11 U. S. Voorhies, 7 Cranch 279; Diggs v. Wolcott, 4 Cranch 179; Watson v. Jones, 13 Wall. 679; Haines v. Carpenter, 91 U. S. 254; Dial v. Reynolds, 96 U. S. 340.
For these reasons, I am of opinion that the judgment of the state court should be affirmed, and I am authorized to say that MR. JUSTICE GRAY concurs with me in this conclusion.

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