37 F. 373 | N.D. Iowa | 1889
On the 6th day of October, 1887, the surveyor of the port of Dubuque seized the steamer Jennie Hayes, then plying upon the waters of the Mississippi river, for violation of the provisions of the statutes of the United States requiring the net tonnage of the vessel to be deeply carved or otherwise permanently marked on the main beam thereof, as required by section 5 of the act of June 19, 1886; requiring the name and port to which the vessel belongs to be painted on the stern upon a black ground, as provided in section 4334 of the Revised Statutes; re
The question for determination is as to the priority of the liens. The fact that the government has by purchase, forfeiture, or otherwise become the owner of a vessel does not, ipso facto, displace or defeat liens in favor of seamen or material-men, is settled by the decisions of the supreme court in the cases of The St. Jago de Cuba, 9 Wheat. 409, and The Siren, 7 Wall. 152. It is, however, argued on behalf of the government that these cases recognize the distinction between legal and illegal voyages or ventures, and deny the right to a lien on behalf of seamen who knowingly engage in such unlawful voyage;- and that it was unlawful for the Jennie Hayes to ply upon the waters of the Mississippi without complying with the statutory, requirements. It may well be that seamen who should knowingly engage as such upon a vessel used in the slave trade, as was the fact in the case of The St. Jago de Cuba, should be denied relief when they seek to recover wages for such illegal venture. In such case it would apirear that they knowingly and intentionally aided in a violation of the laws of the United States, for which violation they would be liable to punishment, and under such circumstances the services upon which they would base their right to a lien would be illegal. There is no provision in the statute of the United States which declares that a seaman shall be liable to punishment for serving upon a vessel which fails to observe the requirements of the statutes in regard to keeping posted the certificates of inspection, or to have carved upon the main beam the amount of her tonnage, or to'have the name painted upon the stern of the vessel. The seamen are not charged with any duty in these respects, nor made liable if the statutory requirements are not observed. If it should be held that seamen serving upon vessels failing to observe these requirements have no lien upon the vessels for their wages, this would, in effect, be inflicting a punishment upon them for such violations of the statutes, when the statutes do not so provide. If, however, the seamen are entitled to