Contracts. mid-sea, if the parties cannot agree amongst themselves Of Maritime as to the compensation to be made, the salvors may apply Of Salvage. to the Court of Admiralty; who, upon a due enquiry into all the particulars, will make a decree according to the circumstances of the case. In the case of a derelict, where the danger is inconsiderable, and the abandonment has been injudicious, the court will generally give about twofifths of the value of the ship and cargo saved. In a case of greater danger, the same court has sometime given as much as two-thirds. But it is a rule with this court to be liberal in cases of this kind, as the danger is usually extreme, and the relief nearly hopeless. The general rule on this subject is, that the rate of salvage on derelict is discretionary by the modern practice in the Admiralty courts: the ancient rule of giving a moiety de jure to the salvors being overruled by later practice. 6. As respect crews and passengers, they can in no case be either salvors, or joint-salvors. The crew cannot have any claim to salvage, because it is their duty to protect the ship and cargo through all perils; and the whole of their service is engaged to the master and owners. The same reason extends in a great degree to passengers, who share the peril, and must share the duty. But if a passenger exceed what may fairly and reasonably be expected of him, as his portion of common labour to a common peril and its consequences, he may, under such circumstances, become entitled to a reward in the nature of salvage. 7. As to the persons who are to contribute to salvage, the reward must be paid by those who receive the benefit of the service. Salvage is a compensation to the salvors, not merely for the restitution of the property which has been made by them to the prior owners, (for that is properly an act of mere justice on their part,) but for the risk and hazard incurred by them, and for the beneficial service they have rendered to the former owners in rescuing their property from the danger in which it has been involved. The persons, therefore, to contribute to salvage, are the Of Maritime Of Salvage. persons who would have borne the loss had there been no such rescue, and who of course reap the benefit of such But salvage must not be confounded with mere rescue. acts of pilotage. 8. As to the second case of salvage, namely, salvage in the case of capture and recapture, the rate of salvage to be paid to the captors is settled by certain acts of parliament passed for that purpose; the principal of which is, the 48 Geo. III. c. 132. It will be sufficient to observe in this summary, that the rate of salvage in the case of capture and recapture, as fixed by acts of parliament, is oneeighth part of the value of the ship and cargo, in the case of such recapture being made by a king's ship; and onesixth part of the value of ship and cargo, if such recapture be made by a privateer. vors. 9. It is a principle, that in the case of one vessel saved by another, the master and crew are strictly the only salThe owners claim only under the equitable consideration of the court, for the risk of their vessel, &c.; and the court is not disposed to allow their claim to any great amount. 10. If a ship captured by the enemy be voluntarily abandoned by him at sea, after taking out the crew, either because he may be unable, or may not think it worth while to carry her into port; and she be found, and taken possession of, by a British ship of war; this is not a recapture within the act of Parliament; and the Court of Admiralty is not restricted as to the rate of salvage, but may apportion it to the nature and merits of the case. Conclusion of the Introduction. Such is the general system of our Shipping and Navigation Laws, and the Maritime Contracts to which they give occasion. It may be justly observed that the basis, and, as it were, the great charter of the whole system, is the Navigation Laws; and that the Registry acts, th eintroduc and the regulations for merchant shipping, are only to Conclusion of be valued, as their aim is to uphold and enforce these tin. admirable institutions. The Navigation Act, in like manner with many of our laws of constitutional liberty, arose in times of popular commotion; and, from the effect of political causes, was the source of many bloody wars with our maritime rivals, the Dutch. But succeeding kings and parliaments, acknowledging its wisdom, and respecting the patriotic spirit in which it originated, have considered it no less a measure of good policy, than a proper maintenance of the public interests, to give it upon every suitable occasion a larger compass and a firmer root; and so to direct and guide its growth into our system, that it might be sustained by one common trunk, and supported by intertwining its branches with the spreading tree of British liberty. The Author of this Treatise having now executed a summary, which he trusts may be of some use, not only to the general reader, but to the profession,-inasmuch as he has endeavoured to make it comprehend, in a condensed form, a portion of the whole of a very ample subject,—it becomes a duty of justice in him to acknowledge his obligations to preceding writers. The first of these in order is Mr. Reeves, who, in his admirable Treatise on the Navigation Laws, was the first to reduce the numerous statutes and regulations relating to our trade and commerce into order and arrangement. Independently of the learning and research of this writer, it is not his least merit that, though his various acquirements and genius rendered him capable of adorning a subject even more sterile and unpromising than the Navigation Laws, he has had the good taste, and grave and correct judgment, to confine himself to that sober and didactic style adapted for the purposes of business and utility. His work is, perhaps, infinitely more valued than known. It is one of those productions which might have proceeded from the closet of a statesman; and must always Conclusion of be considered as a most valuable contribution to the the Introduc Board of Trade, and to the English laws of Navigation and Commerce. tion. The Work, next in order of time, and in the use which the Author has made of it, is the Treatise on the law of Merchant Ships and Seamen, by Mr. Abbott, now Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. It is only to repeat the established opinion of the public and profession to say of this Work that, as far as it extends, it has perfectly exhausted the subject, and left nothing to following writers within the same compass of subject matter, but to illustrate and confirm his principles by new cases. The Author would deem it to be a want of due modesty to enter into a criticism upon a Work of such established fame; and he shall feel that he has accomplished all that he could ever intend or hope, if he shall be considered to have followed, not unworthily, in the same track. LAW OF NAVIGATION, Merchant Shipping, AND MARITIME CONTRACTS. PART I. CHAPTER I. NAVIGATION LAWS. I. No part of the English law has been less understood by the Policy of the writers upon general policy than our law of shipping and navi- laws. navigation gation. Almost all the authors upon political œconomy have regarded this portion of our law in the view of a commercial monopoly; and have demanded how our navy could be permanently maintained and augmented by a system which, in restricting the natural growth of our commerce, must diminish its demand, and therein its supply of ships and mariners. Upon the one part, indeed, it cannot be denied that the effect of this system is to introduce a partial monopoly in favour of British shipping, and to deprive us of advantages which might follow from a less restricted liberty of commerce. But, on the other side, the actual state of our navy and commerce appears to be a conclusive proof against the alleged mischief of such monopoly. With a navy equal to the extent of our empire, we possess a commerce which fills every channel for the possible employment of capital. It is a necessary conclusion, therefore, from this comparison, that our legislature. |