Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/78/591/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 20:47:04+00:00

Document:
1. An order by the United States to the owners of a vessel, during the rebellion, to get her ready, under pain of impressment, to transport a cargo to a particular place and back, under which order, though the owners protested against going, they got ready the vessel and sailed with their own officers and crew, held not to make the government owners for the voyage, but to leave the possession with the general owners under a contract for per diem compensation from the commencement of the voyage until the same was broken up, including also so many days in addition as would have been spent if no disaster had occurred in completing the return trip.
2. A voyage was held to have been "completely broken up" by a vessel's being blown aground on the Missouri in July, 1865 (the owners having then made their protest to cover insurance), she having been swept off and totally destroyed by an ice freshet in the river nine months afterwards. And this so held although her engineer, a mate, and three watchmen were left to take care of her, and a military guard sent to protect her, until a rise should occur in the river; and though just before the boat was destroyed by the flood and ice, her owners, and the government, in whose employ she was, dispatched a pilot and crew to where the boat was aground to get the boat afloat upon the rise of the river and to bring her to her home port.
3. The government not having been owner for the voyage, the expenses of the pilot and crew just named were not chargeable against the United States, though both were sent by the owners of the vessel after consultation with the quartermaster of the United States at the port and for the purpose of protecting the interests of the government as well as the interests of themselves.
of refusal the boat would be impressed. They protested, but, under the orders, got the boat in readiness, put on the cargo, and left St. Louis on the 3d of June, 1865. The boat arrived at Fort Berthold on the 22d of July, 1865, discharged her cargo, and started on her return trip on the 24th of the same month. She proceeded until the 26th, when a high wind sprung up, and she, in attempting to land, was blown aground. All efforts to get her off proved unavailing. After making all the effort that was deemed advisable, and finding it impossible to get her off until a rise should occur in the river, the officers and crew left her, leaving several persons in charge. The crew left her on the 31st of July, 1865, leaving on board one engineer, one mate, and three watchmen, who were to take care of the boat. These remained until the 30th September. The officer in command at Fort Rice also detailed and sent a military guard to protect the boat. The facts being communicated to the owners at St. Louis, they made their protest in order to cover the insurance. The boat remained aground until about the 15th of April, 1866, when by an ice freshet in the Missouri River she was swept off and totally destroyed."
by the flood and ice. These persons were sent after consultation with the quartermaster at St. Louis and for the purpose of protecting the interests of the United States as well as those of the claimants. The just and necessary expense incurred in these efforts to save the boat amounted to $2,500.
"That any person . . . who shall lose . . . or have destroyed by unavoidable accident any . . . steamboat . . . while such property was in the service (of the United States) shall be allowed and paid the value thereof at the time he entered the service, provided it shall appear that such destruction was without any fault or negligence on the part of the owner of the property and while it was actually employed in the service of the United States."
The claim was allowed and her value, as of the time of her taking, June 1, 1865, fixed at $30,000, and which amount was paid to the claimants. The accounting officers rejected the claim for the per diem compensation from September 30, 1865, until April 15, 1866, when the boat perished, including the vouchers until November 30, 1865. The accounting officers also rejected a claim for $5,401.41, alleged to have been expended in efforts to save the steamboat.
This suit was brought to recover the amount of these vouchers and the per diem compensation of the boat from November 30, 1865, to April 15, 1866, and also the expenditure made in efforts to save the boat, making together the sum of $21,161.41.
1865, nor for the per diem compensation of the boat from November 30, 1865, till the 15th of April, 1866, but were entitled to recover the $2,500, in efforts expended to save the boat.
From this decision both parties appealed, the claimants, because they did not have compensation for the use and detention of the boat from the 30th September, 1865, when engineer, mate, and watchmen left the boat, until the 15th of April, when she was "swept off and totally destroyed." The United States appealed, because they were charged with this $2,500 expenses.
MR. JUSTICE CLIFFORD delivered the opinion of the Court, both in the appeal by Reed and the cross appeal by the United States.
Affreightment contracts are of two kinds, and they differ from each other very widely in their nature as well as in their terms and legal effect.
on the 22d of July following, when she discharged her cargo and on the 24th of the same month started down the river on her return trip. She proceeded for two days in safety, when a high wind "sprung up," and in attempting to land she was blown ashore and grounded. All efforts to get her off proved unavailing, and believing it impossible to do so until a rise should occur in the river, the master, most of the other officers, and crew decided to return, leaving on board the mate, one engineer, and three watchmen to take care of the boat, aided by a military guard detailed and sent from Fort Rice by the officer in command at that post. Information that the steamboat was aground reached the owners at St. Louis on the 10th of August, 1865, but she remained aground until the 15th of April of the next year, when she was swept off by an ice-freshet in the river and totally destroyed. When the assistant quartermaster ordered the owners to prepare for the trip, he fixed the per diem compensation of the boat at $272, which appears to have been satisfactory to the owners, as they were paid at that rate to the time they received information of the disaster, and they have presented no claim for any greater allowance for that period of time. They were also paid at the rate of $101 per day from the said 10th of August to the 30th of September in the same year, covering the period, as stated in the finding, that the mate, engineer, and the three watchmen remained on board after the master and the rest of the officers and crew returned. Vouchers were also issued to the plaintiffs at the rate of $80 per day from the 30th of September of the same year to the 30th of November following, but those vouchers have never been paid or recognized, and the plaintiffs sued the United States for the amount of those vouchers and for compensation for the use of the steamboat at the same rate from the time the last voucher was issued to the time when the steamboat was swept off from the place where she was grounded by the ice-freshet in the river and totally destroyed.
that they ultimately consented to perform the service as matter of contract, and that they were content to receive the per diem compensation fixed by the assistant quartermaster at the time he gave the order. Abundant confirmation of that view is found, if any be needed, in the fact that they voluntarily accepted the prescribed per diem compensation from the commencement of the trip to the 10th of August following, when they received information of the disaster, which was at the time when the master and all the steamboat's company, except the mate, one engineer, and three watchmen, returned to the port of departure, and that the plaintiffs make no claim for any additional compensation during that period. Compulsion is not set up by the plaintiffs, and if it was, the theory could not be supported, as the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims does not extend to torts. They have also been paid for the value of the steamboat, and also a per diem compensation of $101 per day from the 10th of August to the 30th of September, which is the date when the mate, engineer, and the three watchmen also left the steamboat and returned to St. Louis. No additional compensation is claimed for that period, but they claim for the amount of the vouchers issued at the rate of $80 per day for the two months next succeeding that period, and at the same rate from the end of that period to the 15th of April in the following year, when the steamboat was swept off by the ice-freshet and was totally destroyed.
Judgment was rendered for the claimants for certain moneys, not involved in this appeal, which were expended by them in efforts to save the steamboat, but the petition, so far as respects the per diem compensation, was dismissed, and the claimants appealed to this Court.
Throughout the litigation, the plaintiffs have prosecuted their claim as a matter of contract, and it is quite clear that it could have no other foundation in the court where the suit was brought, and of course it must depend upon the proper application of the principles of commercial law to the facts of the case as found by the Court of Claims.
in the record is that when they received information of the disaster, "they made their protest in order to cover the insurance."
Suggestion may be made that the act of the United States in paying for the value of the steamboat after she was swept off by the ice-freshet and destroyed is inconsistent with the theory that they were merely the charterers for hire, and that the plaintiffs were the owners for the voyage as well as the owners in fact, but the adjudication of the third auditor cannot change the rights of the parties in respect to any matters not within his jurisdiction. [Footnote 6] Whether that adjudication was correct or incorrect is not a question in this case, and it is only referred to as showing that it cannot have any weight in the decision of the case before the Court.
Freight, it is said, cannot be earned unless the voyage is performed and the cargo is delivered; but the voyage in this case, so far as respects the cargo, was performed and the cargo was duly delivered to the consignees, and to that extent the freight was earned; but the plaintiffs were entitled, under the contract, to the same per diem compensation during the return trip in case it was performed without unnecessary delay, and it may be that the United States could not have claimed any deduction from the agreed compensation if the interruption in the voyage had been only a temporary one, and the master, when the cause of interruption had been removed or overcome, had proceeded with the steamboat to the return port.
Reasonably construed, the contract gives the plaintiffs the agreed per diem compensation from the commencement of the voyage until the same was broken up, including also so many days in addition as would have been spent, if no disaster had occurred, in completing the return trip. Apply that rule to the case, and it is clear that the judgment of the court below must be affirmed, as the United States, upon the most liberal computation, have paid more than the contract would entitle the plaintiffs to demand. Payment was made to the time when the mate, engineer, and three watchmen returned home, and the plaintiffs have no right to claim anything more.
unavailing, the officers and crew, except the mate, one engineer, and three watchmen, left her and returned to the port of departure. By the findings, it appears that the mate, one engineer, and three watchmen remained on board to the 30th of September of the same year, when they also left the steamer and returned.
Claim was made by the present appellees, in the case just decided, for compensation for the service performed in addition to what they had received; but it is unnecessary to enter into any of those details, except to say that the boat remained aground until the 15th of April of the following year, when she was swept off by an ice freshet, and was totally destroyed. Before that occurred, however, the owners of the steamboat dispatched a pilot and crew up the river to the place where the steamboat was aground, to get her afloat and bring her down the river, but the steamboat had been swept off and destroyed three days before they arrived at the place of the disaster. Expenses of course were incurred for the wages of the pilot and crew, and for provisions and transportation, and the court below found that those expenses amounted to the sum of $2.500, and for that sum the Court of Claims rendered judgment for the appellees, and the United States appealed to this Court.
"These persons, meaning the pilot and crew, were sent, after consultation with the quartermaster at St. Louis, and for the purpose of protecting the interests of the United States as well as those of the claimants."
on that theory it is error, and entitled to no weight; and if not founded on that theory, it does not appear to rest on any substantial foundation, as the court has decided in the other appeal that the appellees, as the general owners and owners for the voyage, assumed all risks from sea perils for the entire trip.
Temporary delays, if any had occurred, might have increased the per diem compensation which the United States had agreed to pay; but the voyage had been broken up and frustrated more than six months before the pilot and crew were sent to the place of the disaster for the purpose of getting the steamboat afloat. Suppose, however, that it could be admitted that the United States had some property interests in the steamboat, still the admission would not benefit the appellees, as it is perfectly clear that the assistant quartermaster had no authority to bind the United States in any such arrangement. He did not attempt to make any contract, and nothing of the kind can be inferred from the finding of the court, even if it be competent for this Court to make inferences to support the judgment, which is not admitted. All that is found is that the owners of the steamboat consulted with the quartermaster before they dispatched the pilot and crew to the scene of the disaster, which falls very far short of evidence to prove a contract, even if the quartermaster had been invested with authority for any such purpose. Viewed in any light, the record does not show any legal foundation for the judgment.
Judgment reversed and the cause remanded with directions to dismiss the petition.
Acts of March 3, 1849, and March 3, 1863; 9 Stat. at Large 415; 12 id. 743, § 5.
Donahoe v. Kettell, 1 Clifford 137; The Volunteer, 1 Sumner 551; The Spartan, Ware 153; Gracie v. Palmer, 8 Wheat. 605; Clarkson v. Edes, 4 Cowan 470; Taggard v. Loring, 16 Mass. 336; Christie v. Lewis, 2 Broderip & Bingham 410.
Putnam v. Wood, 3 Mass. 481.
Sherman v. Fream, 30 Barbour 478; Reeve v. Davis, 1 Adolphus & Ellis 312; Frazer v. Marsh, 13 East 238; Marcardier v. Chesapeake Insurance Co., 8 Cranch 39; 1 Parsons on Shipping 278; Campbell v. Perkins, 4 Selden 430.
Saville v. Campion, 2 Barnewall & Alderson 510.
9 Stat. at Large 415.
Abbott on Shipping 43; Hawkins v. Twizell, 5 Ellis & Blackburn 883; Havelock v. Geddes, 10 East 555.
The Eliza, Davies' Admiralty 318.
Clark v. Insurance Co., 2 Pickering 108.
Palmer v. Lorillard, 16 Johnson 352.

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