Sherlock Et Al v. Alling, Administrator

• Court: United States Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: FIELD
• Citation: 93 U.S. 99,23 L.Ed. 819
• Parties: SHERLOCK ET AL. v. ALLING, ADMINISTRATOR
• Decision Date: 01 October 1876

93 U.S. 99 23 L.Ed. 819 SHERLOCK ET AL. v. ALLING, ADMINISTRATOR. October Term, 1876

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ERROR to the Supreme Court of the State of Indiana.

Argued by Mr. T. D. Lincoln for the plaintiffs in error, and by Mr. C. A. Korbly for the defendants in error.

MR. JUSTICE FIELD delivered the opinion of the court.

In December, 1858, the defendants were the owners of a line of steamers employed in navigating the river Ohio between the port and city of Cincinnati, in the State of Ohio, and the port and city of Louisville, in the State of Kentucky, for the purpose of carrying passengers, freight, and the United States mail. On the 4th of that month, at night, two boats of the line, designated, respectively, as the 'United States' and the 'America,' collided at a point on the river opposite the mainland of the State of Indiana. By the collision, the hull of one of them was broken in, and a fire started, which burned the boat to the water's edge, destroying it, and causing the death of one of its passengers, by the name of Sappington, a citizen of Indiana. The administrator of the deceased brought the present action for his death in one of the courts of common pleas of Indiana, under a statute of that State, which provides, 'that when the death of one is caused by the wrongful act o omission of another, the personal representatives of the former may maintain an action therefor against the latter, if the former might have maintained an action, had he lived, against the latter for an injury for the same act or omission.'

The complaint in the action alleged that the collision occurred within the territorial jurisdiction of Indiana, above the line of low-water mark of the river, and charged it generally to the careless and negligent navigation of the steamboat 'United

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States,' by the defendants' servants, and officers of the vessel, but especially to the carelessness of the pilot, in running the same at too great a speed down the stream; in giving the first signal to the approaching boat as to the choice of sides of the river contrary to the established custom of pilots navigating the Ohio, and the rules prescribed by the act of Congress; and in not slackening the speed of the boat and giving a signal of alarm and danger until it was too late to avoid the collision.

To defeat this action, the defendants relied upon substantially the following grounds of defence: 1st, that the injuries complained of occurred on the river Ohio, beyond low-water mark on the Indiana side, and within the limits of the State of Kentucky; and that, by a law of that State, an action for the death of a party from the carelessness of another could only be brought within one year from such death, which period had elapsed when the present action was brought; and, 2d, that at the time of the alleged injuries the colliding boats were engaged in carrying on inter-State commerce under the laws of the United States, and the defendants, as their owners, were not liable for injuries occurring in their navigation through the carelessness of their officers, except as prescribed by those laws; and that these did not cover the liability asserted by the plaintiff under the statute of Indiana.

Under the first head, no question is presented for consideration of which we can take cognizance. It is admitted that the territorial limits of Indiana extend to low-water mark on the north side of the river, and the jury found that the collision took place above that mark. It is, therefore, of no moment to the defendants that the Supreme Court of Indiana held that the State possessed concurrent jurisdiction with Kentucky on the river, under the act of the Commonwealth of Virginia of 1789, providing for the erection of the district of Kentucky into an independent State, and that the legislation of Indiana could, for that reason, be equally enforced with respect to any matters occurring on the river, as with respect to similar matters occurring within her territorial limits on the land.

The questions for our consideration arise under the second head of the defence. Under this head it is contended that the statute of Indiana creates a new liability, and could not, therefore,

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be applied to cases where the injuries commplained of were caused by marine torts, without interfering with the exclusive regulation of commerce vested in Congress. The position of the defendants, as we understand it, is, that as by both the common and maritime law the right of action for personal torts dies with the person injured, the statute which allows actions for such torts, when resulting in the death of the person injured, to be brought by the personal representatives of the deceased, enlarges the liability of parties for such torts, and tht such enlarged liability, if applied to cases of marine torts, would constitute a new burden upon commerce.

In supposed support of this position numerous decisions of this court are cited by counsel, to the effect that the States cannot by legislation place burdens upon commerce with foreign nations or among the several States. The decisions go to that extent, and their soundness is not questioned. But, upon an examination of the cases in which they were rendered, it will be found that the legislation adjudged invalid imposed a tax upon some instrument or subject of commerce, or exacted a license fee from parties engaged in commercial pursuits, or created an impediment to the free navigation of some public waters, or prescribed conditions in accordance with which commerce in particular articles or between particular places was required to be conducted. In all the cases the legislation condemned operated directly upon commerce, either by way of tax upon its business, license upon its pursuit in particular channels, or conditions for carrying it on. Thus, in The Passenger Cases, 7 How. 445, the laws of New York and Massachusetts exacted a tax from the captains of vessels bringing passengers from foreign ports for every passenger landed. In the Wheeling Bridge Case, 13 id. 518, the statute of Virginia authorized the erection of a...