and obligations of the two is in the main precisely the same, the difference in the means and manner of the transportation by them, as well as certain statutory provisions which are of general application in this country, have given rise to some distinctions to which attention must be called.

Sec. 1148. (§ 619.) Statutory regulation.-Reference has already been made to the law of the congress of the United States regulating and limiting the liability of the owners of vessels navigating the sea and our great lakes as carriers of goods and merchandise.39 Many rules for the regulation of ships and steam-vessels engaged in the carriage of passengers upon the ocean and upon our lakes and rivers, with a view to securing the greater safety of such passengers, have also been prescribed by the same legislative authority. Provision is made for the appointment by the federal government of a supervising inspector-general, supervising inspectors and local inspectors for certain designated districts, of steam-vessels navigating any of the waters of the United States which are common highways of commerce, or are open to general or competitive commerce, excepting the public vessels of the United States, vessels of other countries, and boats propelled in whole or in part by steam, designed for the navigation of canals; whose duty it shall be to establish such regulations, to be observed by all such steam-vessels in passing each other, as they shall from time to time deem necessary for safety, for the violation of which, when thus established, certain penalties are provided; to inspect annually the hulls and boilers of such vessels, and satisfy themselves that every such vessel is of a structure suitable for the service in which she is employed, has suitable accommodations for passengers and crew, and is in a condition to warrant the belief that she may be used in navigation as a steamer with safety to life, and that all the require

liability for not lighting and v. Navigation Co., 14 N. Y. Suppl. guarding hatchways, see The Fur- 797; for failure to use requisite nessia, 35 Fed. Rep. 798; The Pilot care; The Nederland, 14 Fed. Rep. Boy, 23 Fed. Rep. 103; for leav- 63. ing rudder-chains exposed; Garoni

39. Ante, § 344.

ments of law in regard to fires, boats, pumps, hose, life-preservers, floats, anchors, cables and other things, are faithfully complied with; and shall satisfy themselves, by subjecting all boilers to hydrostatic pressure and by thorough examination, that the boilers are well made, of good and suitable material, and that their construction is complete as to openings for the passage of water and steam, as to the dimensions and freedom from obstruction of all pipes and tubes, as to safety-valves, etc., so that all such boilers and machinery and the appurtenances are such as may be safely employed in the service proposed for them, without peril to life; and that when the inspectors approve the vessel and her equipments throughout, they shall make and subscribe, under oath, a certificate to that effect, two copies of which shall be placed by the master or owner of the vessel in conspicuous places thereon.40

Sec. 1149. (§ 620.) Penalties imposed for dangerous practices.-Penalties are also provided by the act for the carriage of gunpowder upon such vessels employed in the transporta. tion of passengers, without a certificate from such inspectors authorizing it; for the improper or fraudulent construction of boilers; for subjecting such boilers to a greater pressure of

40. Congress, in the exercise of its power to regulate commerce among the states, passed an act in 1838 to provide for the better security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam, which included provisions for the inspection, by officers appointed for that purpose, of the boilers and machinery of such vesels. 5 Stat. at Large, 304. It was made the duty of owners of steam vessels to cause such inspection to be made, and licenses were granted only after obtaining the inspector's certificate. The system of government supervision over steam vessels initiated by this act

was

greatly expanded by subsequent legislation in furtherance of the same policy, and especially by the amendment of 1852 (10 Stat. at Large, 61); and in February, 1871, an act was passed covering the whole subject. 16 Stat. at Large, 440; R. S. Tit. LII, chs. 1, 2 §§ 4399-4500.

Subsequent amendments have only enlarged the scope of the act as new conditions arose from time to time demanding legislation. All the amendments have been in the direction of greater protection for the passenger. See, U. S. Compiled Statutes, pages 3014 to 3028 inclusive.

steam than is allowed by the act or fixed by the inspectors, or for intentionally loading or obstructing, in any way or manner, the safety-valve of a boiler, so as to subject it to a greater pressure of steam than the amount allowed by the certificate of the inspectors, or for intentionally hindering the operation of any machinery or device employed to denote the state of the water or steam in any boiler, or to give warning of any approaching danger, or for intentionally permitting the water therein to fall below the prescribed low-water line of the boiler.41

Sec. 1150. (§ 621.) Licensing officers, etc.-It is also enacted that such inspectors shall license and classify the masters, mates, engineers and pilots of all steam vessels, and that it shall be unlawful for any vessel to employ any person or for any person to serve as a master, chief mate, engineer or pilot on any steamer who is not so licensed; and that when certificates of license are so obtained they shall also be placed by the persons receiving them in conspicuous places upon the vessels upon which they may be employed. Provision is also made. for the revocation of such licenses for negligence, misbehavior, unskilfulness or the wilful violation of any of the provisions of the act, and for the re-inspection of such steamers as often as the inspectors may consider it proper or necessary, and for the making of such repairs by the master or owners as the inspectors may direct. 42

Sec. 1151. (§ 622.) Statutory regulations for safety.-Regulations are also made by the same law-making power providing that no steamer shall depart from any port without a full complement of licensed officers and crew; limiting the number of passengers according to the accommodations of such vessels; for keeping a correct list of all passengers received and delivered from day to day; for precautions against fire; prohib

41. U. S. Compiled Statutes, pages 3028 to 3034 inclusive. 42. R. S. of U. S., Tit. LII, ch. 1, § 4399-4462; U. S. Compiled Stat

utes, pages 3034 to 3041 inclusive.

On 4499, see The Idaho, 20 Fed. Rep. 187; on § 4466, see The Pope Catlin, 31 Fed. Rep. 408.

iting the transportation upon any steamer carrying passengers of inflammable or dangerous goods except upon certain conditions; for keeping watchmen during the night-time, in the cabin and on deck, to guard against fire and other dangers, and to give the alarm in case of accident or disaster; for a proper supply of life-preservers for every cabin passenger for which the vessel may have accommodation; for stairways and gangways to facilitate the escape of both cabin and deck passengers in case of the sinking of the vessel or other accident endangering life; for keeping life-boats of such dimensions and arrangements as the board of supervising inspectors may prescribe to be carried in the most convenient manner for immediate use in case of accident; as to all which requirements, and the manner of complying with them, as well as the penalties for their neglect, the duties of such carriers are laid down with great detail. And it is further provided that whenever damage is sustained by any passenger or his baggage from fire, collision, explosion or other cause, the master and owner of such vessel, or either of them, and the vessel itself, shall be liable to such person so injured to the full amount of the damage, if it happens through any neglect or failure to comply with the provisions of the act, or through known defects or imperfections of the steaming apparatus or of the hull of such vessel;43 and that any person sustaining loss or injury through the carelessness, negligence or wilful misconduct of any master, mate, engineer or pilot, or his neglect or refusal to obey the laws governing the navigation of such steamers, may sue such master, mate, engineer or pilot and recover damages for any such injury caused by him.44

43. This provision of the act imposing liability upon the owner of the vessel and upon the vessel itself to the full amount of the damage sustained by the passenger (sec. 4493) is not confined to cases in which he is chargeable with personal default or neglect to comply with the act, but ex

tends also to cases where the injury or damage is caused solely by the neglect of the master or other persons employed upon the vessel; and is not inconsistent with the act of 1851, limiting the liability of such owners. Carroll v. The Railroad, 58 N. Y. 126.

44. R. S. of U. S., Tit. LII, ch.

Sec. 1152. (§ 623.) Government of merchant vessels.-Laws have also been passed by congress making specific regulations for the government of merchant vessels, owned in whole or in part by citizens of the United States, in the transportation of passengers, including emigrants, from foreign ports or places, other than those belonging to foreign contiguous territory, to any port or place within the United States, or from a port within the jurisdiction of the United States to a foreign port, or from a port on the Pacific coast to one upon the Atlantic coast of the United States, or from a port of the United States upon the Atlantic coast to a port upon the Pacific, or, when the vessel is registered, enrolled or licensed within the United States, from a port in one foreign country to another foreign port. These regulations prescribe the number of passengers which any such vessel may carry, proportioned to its tonnage, and the space upon such vessel to be appropriated to the use of each passenger, and which shall not be occupied by stores or other goods, not the personal baggage of such passenger. They also provide for lockers and hospitals; for the manner of the construction of berths; for ventilation; for the supply of provisions and water for the use of passengers upon the voyage; for the cooking and distribution of food and provisions among the passengers at regular and stated hours, by messes, or in such other manner as shall be deemed best and most conducive to their health and comfort; and confer authority upon the master to maintain good discipline, and such habits of cleanliness among passengers as will tend to the preservation and promotion of heath, and, for those purposes, to adopt such regulations as he may think proper; for the violation or neglect of any of which provisions the appropriate penalties were provided by the act.1

2, §§ 4463-4500; U. S. Compiled Statutes, pages 3044 to 3059 inclusive.

On § 4472, see Egan v. Steamboat Co., 86 Hun, 542, 33 N. Y. Supp. 791.

N. E. Rep. 74, 58 L. R. A. 432, holding that a ticket holder has no right of action for being left behind as a result of the U. S. inspector refusing to allow the vessel to receive any more passengers.

1. R. S. of U. S. Tit. XLVIII, ch.

On § 4465, see Hughson v. Steamboat Co., 181 Mass. 325, 64 6, §§ 4252-4277; U. S. Compiled