4. No one can sue in the Court of Claims for the proceeds of captured and abandoned property un- less he can prove his ownership of the property seized, his right to the proceeds thereof, and that he never gave aid or comfort to the rebellion.
5. Where the agreement to sell passes no title, the vendee cannot, but the vendor can, sue in the Court of Claims for the proceeds of the property under the Captured and Abandoned Property Act. Idem,
CARRIERS.
SEE EVIDENCE, 42.
1. The burden of proof lles on the carrier to show a loss occurred through a peril of navigation. excepted in the bill of lading, and nothing short of clear proof should discharge him which the law has annexed to his employment. from duties The Mohler v. Home Ins. Co.,
2. Carriers of merchandise by water are insurers, and liable for every loss or damage to the merchau dise, unless it happened by the act of God, the pub. lic enemy, the shipper, or by some other cause ex- cepted in the contract of shipment.
Germania Ins. Co. v. The Lady Pike,
3. The carrier must provide a seaworthy vessel, 499 well furnished with proper motive power; furni- ture necessary for the voyage; a crew adequate in number and competent for their duty; and a competent and skillful master, ment and discretion and of sufficient knowledge of sound judg and experience.
4. The responsibility of a common carrier may be 499 limited by an express agreement made with his employer at the time of his accepting goods for transportation, provided the limitation be such as the law can recognize as reasonable and not incon- sistent with sound public policy.
5. An agreement that in case of failure by the 556 carrier to deliver goods, a claim shall be made by the bailor, or by the consignee, within a specified period, or the liability of the carrier shall cease, is not against the policy of the law, and is valid if that period be a reasonable one.
6. It is the duty of the carrier to furnish suitable vehicles for transportation, and if he furnishes un- fit or unsafe vehicles he is not exempted from re- sponsibility by the fact that the shipper knew them to be defective and used them.
against the steamer will bar any further claims by the owners of the schooner, and their title will be thereby remitted to the owners of the steamer. Idem, 98
6. Where a steamer was going at an undue rate colliding with a bark, she was held liable for the of speed, and it was her fault that she came into a position from which she could not escape without damages.
The Pennsylvania v. Troop,
7. The bark held in fault for violation of the 148 rules of navigation which required her to blow a fog-horn, when under way.
Idem, nothing to do with the disaster, the liability for 8. If it clearly appears the fault could have had 148 damages is upon the ship or ships whose fault caused the injury. Idem.
is in actual violation of a statutory rule intended 9. But when a ship, at the time of the collision, 148 to prevent collisions, it is a reasonable presur". tion that such fault, if not the sole cause, was at least a contributory cause of the disaster. 10. In such a case, the burden of showing that 148 her fault could not have been one of the causes of the collision rests upon the ship.
1. The Acts of the States in rebellion, in the or- dinary course of administration of law, must be upheld in the interest of civil society, to which such a government was necessary.
2. But the statutes, decrees or authority of the Confederate Government can give no validity to any act done in its service or in aid of its purpose. Idem, 371 CONFISCATION.
1. Confiscation proceedings cannot be used to pass a title to one who paid nothing for it.
320 9. Having heard and considered evidence, it must be presumed the court found that the prop- erty belonged to a person engaged in the rebellion. Idem,
320 10. The Proclamations of amnesty in 1868, did not effect a repeal of the Confiscation Act. Idem.
320 11. The Confiscation Act of Aug. 6, 1861, was in- tended for private, not public property, for such property of persons as required, under the laws of war, a judicial sentence of condemnation to de- vest the title of its owner. 400 12. An informer, to entitle himself under that Act to the statutory reward for his service, must in- form against property which is the subject of ju- dicial condemnation, and not against property which by the laws of war became the property of the United States by completed conquest.
400 13. The United States is not estopped by pro- ceedings of condemnation instituted in behalf of it- self and an informant, nor by the receipt of the purchase money therein, from denying, as against the informer, that the property in question was the subject of forfeiture on joint account under the Act.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW.
SEE MARITIME LAW, 7. RAILROADS, 1-3.
REMOVAL OF CAUSES, 3.
STATE LAWS AND DECISIONS, 9-12. TAXES AND TAX SALES, 17.
1. A State cannot, in order to defray the expenses of its quarantine regulations, levy a tonnage tax on vessels owned in foreign ports and entering its harbors in the pursuit of commerce.
2. A contract by which a railroad company agreed that an elevator company should, in con- sideration of the erection of an elevator, have the handling of all through grain brought by the rail- road company to Dubuque and receive a fixed price therefor, is not repugnant to the commercial pow- er of Congress nor to public policy.
Dubuque & 8. C. R. R. Co. v. Richmond, 173 3. It was never intended that the power of Congress to regulate commerce, should be exercised so as to interfere with private contracts not de- signed to create impediments to commercial intercourse among the States. Idem, 173 4. The Michigan Act of March 22, 1869 to en- able any township, city or village to pledge its aid, by loan or donation, to any railroad com- pany organized under and by virtue of the laws of that State, is not in conflict with the Constitution of the State.
5. A statute is not to be pronounced void upon
8. An ordinance of the City of New Orleans which demanded of all steamboats which shall moor or land in any part of the Port of New Orleans, a sum measured by the tonnage of the vessel, is a ton- nage tax within the meaning of the Federal Con- stitution, and void. 417
Cannon v. New Orleans,
9. Compensation may be charged a vessel by a city for the use of wharves and piers; but in the exercise of this right, care must be taken that it is not made to cover a violation of the Federal Con- stitution, which prohibits the State to lay any duty of tonnage.
10. Any duty or tax, or burden imposed under the authority of the States, which is in its essence a contribution claimed for the privilege of arriving and departing from a port of the United States, and which is assessed on a vessel according to its carry- ing capacity, is a violation of that provision, un- less the consent of Congress be obtained. Idem,
417 11. The provision of the Federal Constitution which secures to every party, where the value in controversy exceeds $20, the right of trial by jury, does not apply to trials in the state courts.
12. Where. by the Constitution of a State, a lia- bility to double the amount of their stock was im- posed upon stockholders in private corporations. and subsequently, by an amended Constitution. this provision was changed so that the liability did not extend beyond the amount of subscribed and paid up stock, so that stockholders, subscribing after the amendment went into operation, were re- lieved from the effects of the former Constitu- tion, as to debts contracted prior to the amend- ment, held that the amendment has not the effect of impairing the obligation of the contract, as to such debts within the meaning of the Constitu- tion of the United States.
Ochiltree v. R. R. Contracting Co.,
16. The words "citizens" in the U. S. Constitu- tion conveys the idea of membership of a nation and nothing more, and women are citizens within Its provisions. Idem. 627
17. The right of suffrage is not one of the neces- sary privileges of a citizen of a State or of the United States. 627 18. A State Government is republican in form.
2. The Act of March 2, 1831, limits the power of the U. S. Circuit and District Courts to punish for contempts, to cases of misbehavior in the pres- ence of or near to the court, and misbehavior of any officer of the courts and disobedience or resistance to any lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree or command of the court. Idem, 205 3. The 17th section of the Judiciary Act of 1789. in prescribing fine or imprisonment as the punishment which may be inflicted for contempts, is a negation of all other modes of punishment. Idem,
4. A party to a suit, who is bound by the de- cree, may be guilty of contempt by a pertinacious opposition to it or by refusal to obey it, and as- serting a different right or title from the one al- leged and enforced by him in the suit.
3. The remedies for the collection of a debt are essential parts of the contract of indebtedness, and those in existence at the time it is incurred must be substantially preserved to the creditor.
4. Where a contract was made to transport sup- plies for the government during war, the words "posts or stations" used therein do not include railway depots or stations, but only military posts or stations. 114
5. The words "posts on the west bank of the Missouri River," cannot be extended to embrace posts west of that river but more than ninety miles therefrom. Idem,
6. Where the plaintiff was elected a professor in the University of Missouri for six years, "subject to law," this expression means subject to any law the Legislature might pass, and the Legislature could shorten the term of service. 160
7. A contract to pay a sum of money as soon as a crop could be sold, or the money otherwise raised, is payable within a reasonable time. 161 8. Where a contract is made by a municipality in the mode specifically provided by local law by advertising for proposals, etc., it cannot be modified by the officers of the municipality without its as- sent to the change. 264 9. An agreement to release, upon the perform- ance of certain considerations, is of no effect if the conditions are not performed.
10. The Missouri State Act of 1852 created a contract between the State and the Pacific Railroad Company, by which the railroad was exempt from taxation until it was completed and put in opera- tion, and should declare a dividend; not, however, longer than two years after its completion.
Pacific R. R. Co. v. Maguire,
11. The state Ordinance of 1865, imposing a tax of ten per cent. upon its gross earnings before the road was completed, was a violation of this con- tract, and the levy for its enforcement was ille- gal. 282.
12. An agreement in general restraint of trade is illegal and void; but an agreement which operates merely in partial restraint of trade is good, pro- vided it be not unreasonable and there be a con- sideration to support it. Oregon Steam Nav. Co. v. Winsor, 316 13. An agreement that a steamer should not be used in the waters of a State for a fixed period held to be legal. 316.
28. An Indiana Railroad Company forming part of a through line from the Southern States to Bos- ton, having contracted to carry cotton from Colum. bus, Mississippi, to Boston, held that the clause in the bill of lading "The Evansville and Crawfords- ville Railroad Co. will not be liable for loss or dam- age by fire, from any cause whatever," covered the whole route, and was not to be limited to part of the distance only; and the Company is not liable for cotton destroyed by fire on the route before it reached said Company's road.
R. R. Co. v. Androscoggin Mills, 29. There is no implied proviso by the Govern- 724 ment to pay the disloyal owner for his property seized and sold under the Captured and Abandoned Property Act.
30. The court cannot import words into a con. 738 tract which would make it materially different, in a vital particular, from what it is.
31. Contracts, based on Confederate currency, will be enforced when made in the usual course of business between persons resident in the insurgent States and not made in furtherance the rebellion. Idem,
32. If parties make contracts where there is no fraud, upon contingencies uncertain to both, with equal means of information, the courts cannot undertake to set them aside.
33. A contract of sale will not pass the owner- ship of goods at once to the buyer, where there is no ascertainment of the whole price by weighing, nor complete preparation for delivery, nor any de- livery, nor payment.
34. A provision in the contract, that the goods from the date thereof should be at the risk of the purchaser, does not of itself show an intention of the parties that the property should pass.
35. The receipt of a small sum "in order to con- firm the contract" has no bearing upon the ques- tion whether the property passed.
1. A debt against a municipality cannot be col- lected by a remedy, which is in direct violation of a statute in existence and known to the creditor when the debt was incurred.
2. A subscriber for the stock of a company, is not released from his engagement to take it and for it. by any alteration of the organization or purposes of the company which, at the time the sub- scription was made, were authorized either by the general law or by the special charter. 83
10. The Missouri State Act of 1852 created a contract between the State and the Pacific Railroad Company, by which the railroad was exempt from taxation until it was completed and put in opera- tion, and should declare a dividend; not, however, longer than two years after its completion. 282
Pacific R. R. Co. v. Maguire,
11. The state Ordinance of 1865, imposing a tax of ten per cent. upon its gross earnings before the road was completed, was a violation of this con- tract, and the levy for its enforcement was ille- gal.
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