Steamboat Ocean v. Marshall
Steamboat Ocean v. Marshall
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. I am unable to perceive, that the trespass complained of is not sufficiently stated to sustain the judgment. After verdict and judgment, every intendment in law is in favor of the verity of the record, and the validity of the judgment. No objection in this case can be 'egally urged for the reversal of the judgment for want of
What, then, is the result of the application of this rule of law to the record before us ? The action below, for the purpose of this question, is to be.regarded, as it was substantially, an action by a passenger against a common carrier of persons. For any act of malfeasance or nonfeasance on the uart of any officer or operative of the boat toward a passenger, the liability of the boat, I take it for granted, would be precisely the same as that of a railroad company for the misfeasance or nonfeasance of an officer or operative of a passenger train toward a passenger on the train. And to this
The, declaration states that on the 6th day of September, 1854, the steamboat Ocean then was, and still is, a watercraft navigating the waters within and bordering on the State of Ohio, and that the plaintiff was on that day a passenger upon said boat, and that one G. L. Heaton was an officer on the said steamboat, and the clerk thereof; and complains of said boat “ for that the said G. L. Heaton, so then and there being clerk of said steamboat, then and there, to wit, on said 6th day of September, 1854, upon said boat, with force and arms, made an assault, and him, the said plaintiff, the said G. L. Heaton then and there beat, pushed, dragged and pulled about and ill treated,” etc., “ to the damage,” etc.
To this declaration the defendant pleaded the general issue.
The court before which the cause was tried, in their instruction to the jury, upon the point in controversy, say: “ The defendant does not deny that the party who is said to liave committed the assault and battery was, at the time, on board of the boat, acting as its cleric, nor is it disputed but that the plaintiff was at the time upon the boat as a passenger. At the time of the alleged injury, the defendant was engaged in carrying passengers from Detroit, in the neighboring State of Michigan, to this city. Under these circumstances, for any assault and battery committed against the person of the plaintiff by the clerk of the boat, and for which an action might be maintained personally against the clerk, the law permits suit to be brought against the boat.”
This charge of the court is strictly applicable to the cause of action stated in the declaration, and must be presumed to be to the evidence given upon the trial; and I hold it to be clearly in accordance with the law applicable to the case.
It is not necessary to express an opinion whether the declaration would or would not have been good upon special demurrer. The counsel of defendant did not deem it advisable to make that question, but pleaded the general issue.
The duties of common carriers by water are in some respects peculiar, but are the same, in principles of law, as carriers by land conveyance. It. is their duty, as a general rule of law, to receive all persons who apply for passage. The master and officers of the boat or ship are bound in law, by the implied contract arising between the carrier and passenger, not only to forbear committing an assault and battery upon him in the execution of the contract between the parties, but the officers of the boat or ship are bound to be vigilant for his safety, provident for his comfort, and respectful in their treatment and demeanor toward him. Such I hold to be the duty of a common carrier by ships and steamboats, and as clearly incumbent upon such carriers as are the same duties upon carriers of passengers by railroads; and, in each case alike, the carrier is to be held accountable for the- acts and delinquencies violative of his duty toward the passenger, on the part of the officers, agents and operatives by him employed in the execution of his duty.
It is objected by my brethren that it is not stated in this declaration that the assault and battery committed by the clerk upon the passenger was connected with the discharge of his duties as elerk. I imagine very few assaults and batteries committed by clerks upon passengers are so connected. His duty as clerk, I hold, was to forbear even disrespect, much more all rudeness and violence toward the passenger. The clerk could not then, in the discharge of his duty as cleric, have committed the assault and battery upon the plaintiff.
But the declaration does explicitly charge that the assault and battery was committed upon the plaintiff as a passenger, during the execution of the contract of the carrier, and by the clerk of the boat, “so then and there being cleric.” It does not, it is true, say the clerk was, at the time, acting as clerk — writing or making entries, at the precise time of committing the offense — and I am sure such facts, if they
If tbe rule of law applied to this case be correct, its application must be the same to a master of a boat, to the conductor of a railroad train, the driver of a hack, and all similar acting agents of the carrier of passengers, in the execution of the contract and duties of the carrier.
The importance of the rule, in its extensive practical application, induces me to here express, thus briefly, the views which I entertain upon the subject, and which have led me to dissent from the opinion entertained by my brethren, and expressed in the case.
Opinion of the Court
It has been held in the case of the Steamboat Ohio v. Stunt (10 Ohio St. 582), “that a'steamboat is not liable to seizure under the watercraft law of this state, for a willful assault and battery committed by the engineer of the boat on a passenger, while the boat was on its passage in the-Ohio river beyond the territorial limits of the State, with which trespass the owners of the boat were in no wise connected.” And, “ that it was not within the competency of the legislative power, upon grounds of public policy, to create-personal liabilities, and impose them on persons and property out of the jurisdiction of Ohio, and on account of transactions occurring beyond the territorial limits of the State.”' We are satisfied to abide by the principle decided in that case, and proceed to inquire as to its application to the present; a point contested by the defendant in error.
It is not intimated in that case, but the inference is excluded, that the principle of the case applies to the tortious acts of the officers and agents of the owners of boats, in matters within the scope of their employment or agency. It may be, notwithstanding anything decided in that case, that if the officer of a boat, in the conduct of the business of the boat, inflicts an injury upon the person of a passenger, the boat-
The difficulty with the defendant in error is, that the record does not present the point which he asks us to decide.
The declaration charges an assault and battery by a named person, who is alleged at the time to have been clerk of the boat, but it is not charged or stated that the assault and battery was in any manner connected with the discharge of any of the duties of a clerk. The bill o"f exceptions states, that the evidence tended to prove the assault and battery fhus generally alleged. Now, assuming the law to be that the owners of a boat are not liable generally for assaults and batteries which are committed by a person who happens to be in their employment as clerk, but for those only which occur in the conduct of some matter within the scope of the employment, we think it more reasonable, that the allegation and proof of an assault and battery, for which the owners would be liable should come from the plaintiff. It is difficult to escape the conviction that the case was tried and disposed of without reference to any such distinction as to liability. In this view, the plaintiff in error was prejudiced by the refusal to charge, and by the charge given.
The evidence offered by the defendant in the action was competent, under the general issue of not guilty, as showing no liability.
The judgment must be reversed, and the case remanded for another trial, previous to which, if so advised, the plaintiff may properly have leave granted to amend his declaration.
Judgment reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.