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286 Contracts Under Maritime Law Judge John M. Kifllits in the district court for the northern district of Ohio has just decided that the Ohio state employers' liability act (Norris act) is not applicable in an action brought for damages on account of personal injuries sustained by a seaman while employed under a maritime contract on a _ ves- sel on the great lakes. Whe" Cite was that of George Schuede, a wheelsman on the Saxona, against the Zenith Steamship Co. of Duluth. The steamship company was represented by Goulder, Day, White & Garry and the plaintiff by Newcomb, Newcomb & Chapman. In common with others who have defended ships on ac- count of personal injuries received 'by seamen, Mr. Goulder has contended that the state legislatures have no authority to change the general maritime law. This contention was sustained in the district court at Buffalo in the case of the Henry B. Smith, but the present opinion of Judge Killits goes further and holds that irrespective of the form of action or the court in which relief is sought, thé" State employers' lia- bility acts do not apply where the in- jury does not result in death. Schuede was very badly injured while the vessel was moored in the river at Cleveland. Action was begun at law in the state court and was removed to the district court because of diversity of citizenship. The case was therefore treated as though it were still in the state court. The defendant pleaded that the plaintiff's employment, in the course of which he was injured, was under a maritime contract and that his rights of recovery in such an action are determinable by the incidents of such a contract. Counsel for plaintiff con- tended that he had the option of enter- ing the state court and work out his rights by the law of the forum, enjoy- ing whatever advantages he believed the state law offered to one complaining of injuries . received in his master's service. "Tt must be conceded,' said the court, "that the plaintiff's employment was under a maritime contract.. Both the general admiralty law and the statutory modifications treat, and have always treated those engaged as seamen, with particular favor and the law in ad- miralty defines with particularity the reciprocal duties and responsibilities of owner and crew, master and seaman. We agree with counsel for defendant that the principles of the general mari- time law in force in the United States and not the subject of specific enact- ment by congress, are to be treated as if actually on the statute books. * * * "a. State may . not pass any act which abridges or enlarges the respon- THE MARINE REVIEW sibilities or duties of maritime law; rights in admiralty cannot be affected by state enactment. * * A' "The plaintiff proceeds on the theory that the law of Ohio applies against the Minnesota corporation and the Ohio jurisdiction attaches in the pres- ent case because the accident happened in an Ohio tributary to the lakes. There may be some doubt whether it is not the law of the Saxona's home port and the jurisdiction of Minnesota which control, if there is no federal law ap- Syne tS = * "There are seven state jurisdictions bordering on the waters in which the Saxona plies and it is conceivable that seven seamen of the same class each might meet in his employment with an injury substantially of the same class in a port of each of such jurisdictions, each complainant enjoying a common right of recovery under the maritime law or a different right under the local law. "Second, a seaman would enjoy the July, 1914 was pointed out that the decedent, a seaman injured in the service of his vessel, had he lived to sue either at law or in admiralty, would have had his rights determined by the law mari- time effecting his contract of employ- ment whereas his administratrix was privileged to use the state law. "Our conclusion is that the Ohio em- ployers' liability act, commonly known as the Norris act, is not applicable to a maritime contract of employment and the motion to strike out should be overruled." Changes in Suez Traffic The Egyptian government has pub- lished the official figures for 1913 of the shipping which passed through the Suez canal. Statistics concerning the commerce of the chief competing coun- tries in the Suez canal traffic follow, the increase or decrease on the corres- ponding figures for 1912 having been calculated in each case: Number of vessels. Canal tonnage. Passengers carried. Increase Increase Increase (+) or de- C-) on de- (+) or de- Flag Total. crease (--). Total. crease (--). Total. crease (--). British. es ee 2,951 --387 12,172,817 --963,486 139,512 == 6:763 German: or op eee ees oa et 778 +- 82 3,364,585 + 334,774 31,791 ae 507 DDUCCH: oh es oe ee 342 + 1 1,290,736 + 52,799 18,362 2781 BrenChe eee hoa ae eres 256 + 35 931,128 +129,385 36,923 + 8,477 Austro-Hungarian. Gao cute 246 = 1 849,168 = 739,030 7,491 + -1,764 RGSSIat hc ee a 110 -- 16 341,941 -- 24,746 12,098 -- 5,954 Total, includ. all oth. flags 5,085 ----287 20,214,856 --320,570 289,631 +29,020 option of a uniform contractional right under the law maritime or .to vary un- der local laws the incidents of the con- tract as he proceeds from port to port and as he had occasion to invoke such rights. In Buffalo his contract would be one thing; in Cleveland, if the Ohio law differs from that in New York, it would have another phase; it would change its color again in Detroit, Milwaukee, Duluth, Chicago and Michi- gan City if the laws of their several jurisdictions respectively offered pecu- liarities. "These conditions with all their in- conveniences and inequalites and un- necessary burdens are not compelled in the language of the savings clause in question and should be avoided in con- struing that provision. * * * "In the case of a cause of action for an injury incurred in the course of maritime employment to avoid the manifest inconveniences and inequalities involved by the plaintiff's interpreta- tion of the savings clause in question, it is not only reasonable, but well within the language of the law to re- quire whichever court, state or federal, is entered to work out a remedy to enforce the general and uniform law maritime under which the contract of employment was made. * * * "In admiralty no remedy exists for a death resulting from a maritime tort. In Cornell Steamboat Co. vs. Fallon, it In number of vessels and canal ton- nage the various nationalities held in 1913 the same relative positions as in 1912 save that in the earlier year Aus- tria-Hungary outranked France in both particulars. As to passengers, the order in 1913 was, as the above figures show, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, Russia, and Austria-Hun- gary. In 1912 the order was United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, Netherlands, and Austria-Hungary. The Contra Costa, the largest ferry- boat in the world, was launched by the Southern Pacific Co. at its ship- yard in West Oakland, Cal., May 16, and christened by Miss Kate Potwine, an employe of the company. This craft is 433 ft. long over all, 66% ft. beam molded, 19 ft. 5 in. deep mold- ed, and will ply between Port Costa and Bernicia in conjunction with the Solano. The Contra Costa has a ca- pacity for 36 freight cars and 2 en- gines or 24 passenger cars and 2 engines. She will use oil fuel and is lighted by electricity. The steamer E. D. Carter, owned by FE... Carter. of Erie, has. been sold to the Algoma Central Steam- ship Line, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. The Carter was built in 1906 and is 924 ft. over all, 504 ft. keel, 54 ft. beam and 30 ft. deep. BRS ath Ae ie teen ole ah osha ae EN De SOD ak Se aan at a