The Paquete Habana the Lola

• Citation: 175 U.S. 677,44 L.Ed. 320,20 S.Ct. 290
• Decision Date: 08 January 1900
• Docket Number: 396,Nos. 395,s. 395
• Parties: THE PAQUETE HABANA. THE LOLA
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

175 U.S. 677

20 S.Ct. 290

44 L.Ed. 320

THE PAQUETE HABANA. THE LOLA.

Nos. 395, 396.

Argued November 7, 8, 1899.

Decided January 8, 1900.

Mr J. Parker Kirlin for appellants.

Assistant Attorney General Hoyt, Solicitor General Richards, and Messrs. Joseph K. McCammon, James H. Hayden, George A. King, and William B. King for appellees.

Mr. Justice Gray delivered the opinion of the court:

These are two appeals from decrees of the district court of the United States for the southern district of Florida condemning two fishing vessels and their cargoes as prize of war.

Each vessel was a fishing smack, running in and out of Havana, and regularly engaged in fishing on the coast of Cuba; sailed under the Spanish flag; was owned by a Spanish subject of Cuban birth, living in the city of Havana; was commanded by a subject of Spain, also residing in Havana; and her master and crew had no interest in the vessel, but were entitled to shares, amounting in all to two thirds, of her catch, the other third belonging to her owner. Her cargo consisted of fresh fish, caught by her crew from the sea, put on board as they were caught, and kept and sold alive. Until stopped by the blockading squadron she had no knowledge of the existence of the war or of any blockade. She had no arms or ammunition on board, and made on attempt to run the blockade after she knew of its existence, nor any resistance at the time of the capture.

The Paquete Habana was a sloop, 43 feet long on the keel and of 25 tons burden, and had a crew of three Cubans, including the master, who had a fishing license from the Spanish government, and no other commission or license. She left Havana March 25, 1898; sailed along the coast of Cuba to Cape San Antonio, at the western end of the island, and there fished for twenty-five days, lying between the reefs off the cape, within the territorial waters of Spain; and then started back for Havana, with a cargo of about 40 quintals of live fish. On April 25, 1898, about 2 miles off Mariel, and 11 miles from Havana, she was captured by the United States gunboat Castine.

The Lola was a schooner, 51 feet long on the keel, and of 35 tons burden, and had a crew of six Cubans, including the master, and no commission or license. She left Havana April 11, 1898, and proceeded to Campeachy sound, off Yucatan, fished there eight days, and started back for Havana with a cargo of about 10,000 pounds of live fish. On April 26, 1898, near Havana, she was stopped by the United States steamship Cincinnati, and was warned not to go into Havana, but was told that she would be allowed to land at Bahia Honda. She then changed her course, and putfor Bahia Honda, but on the next morning, when near that port, was captured by the United States steamship Dolphin.

Both the fishing vessels were brought by their captors into Key West. A libel for the condemnation of each vessel and her cargo as prize of war was there filed on April 27, 1898; a claim was interposed by her master on behalf of himself and the other members of the crew, and of her owner; evidence was taken, showing the facts above stated; and on May 30, 1898, a final decree of condemnation and sale was entered, 'the court not being satisfied that as a matter of law, without any ordinance, treaty, or proclamation, fishing vessels of this class are exempt from seizure.'

Each vessel was thereupon sold by auction; the Paquete Habana for the sum of $490; and the Lola for the sum of $800. There was no other evidence in the record of the value of either vessel or of her cargo.

It has been suggested, in behalf of the United States, that this court has no jurisdiction to hear and determine these appeals, because the matter in dispute in either case does not exceed the sum or value of $2,000, and the district judge has not certified that the adjudication involves a question of general importance.

The suggestion is founded on § 695 of the Revised Statutes, which provides that 'an appeal shall be allowed to the Supreme Court from all final decrees of any district court in prize causes, where the matter in dispute, exclusive of costs, exceeds the sum or value of two thousand dollars; and shall be allowed, without reference to the value of the matter in dispute, on the certificate of the district judge that the adjudication involves a question of general importance.'

The judiciary acts of the United States, for a century after the organization of the government under the Constitution, did impose pecuniary limits upon appellate jurisdiction.

In actions at law and suits in equity the pecuniary limit of the appellate jurisdiction of this court from the circuit courts of the United States was for a long time fixed at $2000. Acts of September 24, 1789, chap. 20, § 22; 1 Stat. at L. 84; March 3, 1803, chap. 40; 2 Stat. at L. 244; Gordon v. Ogden, 3 Pet. 33, 7 L. ed. 592; Rev. Stat. §§ 691, 692. In 1875 it was raised to $5,000. Act of February 16, 1875, chap. 77, § 3; 18 Stat. at L. 316. And in 1889 this was modified by providing that, where the judgment or decree did not exceed the sum of $5,000, this court should have appellate jurisdiction upon the question of the jurisdiction of the circuit court, and upon that question only. Act of February 25, 1889, chap. 236, § 1; 25 Stat. at L. 693; Parker v. Ormsby, 141 U. S. 81, 35 L. ed. 654, 11 Sup. Ct. Rep. 912.

As to cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, including prize causes, the judiciary act of 1789, in § 9, vested the original jurisdiction in the district courts, without regard to the sum or value in controversy; and in § 21 permitted an appeal from them to the circuit courts where the matter in dispute exceeded the sum or value of $300. 1 Stat. at L. 77, 83, chap. 20; The Betsey, 3 Dall. 6, 16, sub nom. Glass v. The Betsey, 1 L. ed. 485, 489; The Amiable Nancy, 3 Wheat. 546, 4 L. ed. 456; Stratton v. Jarvis, 8 Pet. 44, 11, 8 L. ed. 846, 849. By the act of March 3, 1803, chap. 40, appeals to the circuit court were permitted from all final decrees of a district court where the matter in dispute exceeded the sum or value of $50; and from the circuit courts to this court in all cases 'of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, and of prize or no prize' in which the matter in dispute exceeded the sum or value of $2,000. 2 Stat. at L. 244; Jenks v. Lewis, 3 Mason, 503, Fed. Cas. No. 7,279; Stratton v. Jarvis, above cited; The Admiral, 3 Wall. 603, 612, sub nom. The Admiral v. United States, 18 L. ed. 58, 59. The acts of March 3, 1863, chap. 86, § 7, and June 30, 1864, chap. 174, § 13, provided that appeals from the district courts in prize causes should lie directly to this court, where the amount in controversy exceeded $2,000, or 'on the certificate of the district judge that the adjudication involves a question of difficulty and general importance.' 12 Stat. at L. 760; 13 Stat. at L. 310. The provision of the act of 1803, omitting the words 'and of prize or no prize,' was re-enacted in § 692 of the Revised Statutes; and the provision of the act of 1864, concerning prize causes, was substantially re-enacted in § 695 of the Revised Statutes, already quoted.

But all this has been changed by the act of March 3, 1891, chap. 517, establishing the circuit courts of appeals, and creating a new and complete scheme of appellate jurisdiction, depending upon the nature of the different cases, rater than upon the pecuniary amount involved. 26 Stat. at L. 826.

By that act, as this court has declared, the entire appellate jurisdiction from the circuit and district courts of the United States was distributed, 'according to the scheme of the act,' between this court and the circuit courts of appeals thereby established, 'by designating the classes of cases' of which each of these courts was to have final jurisdiction. McLish v. Roff, 141 U. S. 661, 666, 35 L. ed. 893, 894, 12 Sup. Ct. Rep. 118; American Constr. Co. v. Jacksonville, T. & K. W. R. Co. 148 U. S. 372, 382, 37 L. ed. 486, 490, 13 Sup. Ct. Rep. 758; Carey v. Houston & T. C. R. Co. 150 U. S. 170, 179, 37 L. ed. 1041, 1043, 14 Sup. Ct. Rep. 63.

The intention of Congress, by the act of 1891, to make the nature of the case, and not the amount in dispute, the test of the appellate jurisdiction of this court from the district and circuit courts, clearly appears upon examination of the leading provisions of the act.

Section 4 provides that no appeal, whether by writ of error or otherwise, shall hereafter be taken from a district court to a circuit court; but that all appeals, by writ of error or otherwise, from the district courts, 'shall only be subject to review' in this court or in the circuit court of appeal 'as is hereinafter provided,' and 'the review by appeal, by writ of error, or otherwise' from the circuit courts, 'shall be had only' in this court or in the circuit court of appeals, 'according to the provisions of this act regulating the same.'

Section 5 provides that 'appeals or writs of error may be taken from the district courts, or from the existing circuit courts, direct to the Supreme Court, in the following cases:'

First. 'In any case in which the jurisdiction of the court is in issue; in such cases the question of jurisdiction alone shall be certified to the Supreme Court from the court below for decision.' This clause includes 'any case,' without regard to amount, in which the jurisdiction of the court below is in issue; and differs in this respect from the act of 1889, above cited.

Second. 'From the final sentences and decrees in prize causes.' This clause includes the whole class of 'the final sentences and decrees in prize causes,' and omits all provisions of former acts regarding amount in controversy, or certificate of a district judge.

Third. 'In cases of conviction of a capital or otherwise infamous crime.' This clause looks to the nature of the crime, and not to the extent of the punishment actually imposed. A crime which might have been punished by imprisonment...