258 F. 768 | D. Maryland | 1919
The American steamship Jeannette Skinner, hereinafter called the Skinner, was arrested upon process issued under a libel in rem filed against her by the owner of the Japanese steamship Ceylon Maru. By it it is sought to hold her liable for damage done by her to the Japanese vessel while the latter, on a clear day last November, lay at anchor near a French port.
The United States appeared specially and objected to the jurisdiction on three grounds:
The decision of the Supreme Court, handed down June 2, 1919, in The Lake Monroe, 250 U. S. 246, 39 Sup. Ct. 460, 63 L. Ed. -, disposes of this objection adversely to the government.
It is urged, however, that, as she was commanded by officers of the United States Navy and had a naval crew, she was immune from process. That would be true if the government had stood upon its right, and it would be equally true that her mere ownership by the United States protected her from seizure if the United States so willed; but the government may waive its privileges, if it sees fit, and by the ninth section of the act of 1916 the government has waived them, if, at the time of her arrest, the Skinner was solely employed as a merchant vessel. Whether she was or was not is to be determined by the nature of the work in which she was engaged, and not by the particular department of the government to which her officers and crew belonged. As has already been pointed out, she was, at the time of her arrest, being used as a merchant vessel, and as that only. It follows that process in rem could rightly be served upon her.
3. It is urged that the only way that a ship can become responsible in rem for a tort is through the fault of some one whose relation to her is such that she is answerable for his shortcomings, and that neither the government nor its property can ordinarily be held liable for wrongs done by its servants or agents. At the time of the collision, the Skinner was not employed as a merchant vessel, and therefore the libelant cannot rely upon section 9 of the act of 1916. This objection goes, not to jurisdiction, but to liability, and its consideration should be postponed until the hearing upon the merits.
It follows that the objection to jurisdiction must be overruled.