charter the use of the ship, furnishing the crew himself. These different kinds of charters often give rise to important questions. If the crew are employed by the owner, they are his agents and he is responsible for their acts within the scope of their employment. If they are employed by the charterer, he, and not the owner, is responsible. Charter parties are generally to be governed by the ordinary rules of contract, but there are some special provisions applicable to them. Thus, a provision that a vessel shall proceed to the loading port with all possible dispatch is not a collateral clause, whose breach gives rise to an action for damages, but is a warranty, and a breach avoids the contract.33

29. The Harter Act.-An Act passed in 1893, commonly called the Harter Act, makes it the duty of the owner or master or agent of any vessel to give a bill of lading, and the Act prescribes in detail its contents. It provides, in the first section, that any provision in the bill of lading exempting the carrier from liability for damage arising from any negligence, fault, or failure in the proper loading, stowage, custody, care, or proper delivery of merchandise shall be null and void. Section 2 provides that it shall not be lawful to insert in a bill of lading any agreement whereby the obligation of the owner to exercise due diligence to equip, man, provision, and outfit the vessel properly and make the vessel seaworthy, or whereby the obligations of the master and crew to handle and stow the cargo carefully, and care for it and deliver it, shall be lessened. Section 3 provides 33 Lowber v. Bangs, 2 Wall. 728 (U. S.).

that if the owner shall exercise due diligence to make the vessel seaworthy and properly manned, equipped, and supplied, neither the vessel nor her owners or charterers shall be responsible for damages resulting from faults or errors in navigation. The substantial effect of the Harter Act is that the owners are bound to provide, in the first instance, a seaworthy vessel, properly manned, equipped, and supplied. If they do that, damage caused by mere negligence in navigation they are not responsible for. All such damages must be covered by insurance.

30.

CHAPTER IV.

THE NAVIGATION OF VESSELS.

Stevedores.-A stevedore is a workman who loads or discharges a ship and properly stows her cargo. The contract for such service is maritime, and gives a lien on foreign vessels, and on domestic vessels where a state statute gives it, and probably even in the absence of a state statute.

31. Seamen.-All persons employed in any capacity on a vessel at sea are considered seamen. They include fishermen, sealers, the cook's wife engaged as a second cook, the clerk of a steamboat, men operating a dredge, and all persons engaged in any manner in the service of a ship. Seamen are commonly spoken of as the wards of the admiralty. They are a class of men peculiarly improvident and unfamiliar with business, and by the admiralty law are not bound by their contracts to the same extent as ordinary persons. To enforce their contract of service, force may be employed on board a ship. Their contracts are governed ordinarily by the usual rules in the law of contracts except as modified by statute and the disposition of the courts to guard them from imposition. Sections 4501 to 4612 of the United States Revised Statutes contain elaborate statutory provisions for their protection. These statutes provide for the appointment of shipping commissioners wherever there is a port of entry, who shall generally superintend the employ

ment and discharge of seamen. In shipping seamen, shipping articles are required to be signed in the presence of the commissioner. The shipping of seamen without such an agreement is prohibited. A copy of the shipping agreement, signed by the shipping commissioner and the master, is required to be posted up in a part of the vessel accessible to the crew before the voyage begins. This agreement is required to state the nature of the voyage, the duration of the voyage, the capacity in which each seaman is to serve, the amount of wages which each seaman is to receive, the scale of provisions to be furnished, and various other matters. There are statutory provisions that seamen's wages shall be paid whether freight is earned or not, reversing the old rule that freight is the mother of wages. Seamen's wages constitute, among contract claims, the first lien on a ship. They adhere to it as long as a plank is left afloat. There are certain instances in which other claims take precedence, as, for instance, the case of salvage, but among contract liens those for seamen's wages have priority. The master, however, has no right under admiralty law to proceed against the vessel for his own wages, or for any disbursements he may have made. The old reason assigned for this rule was that the master did not need a remedy, as he could pay himself out of the freight money. As a matter of fact, under modern conditions he rarely collects freight money. The real reason probably is that, as he is the trustee and representative of the owners in distant ports, he may, by seizing the vessel in a distant port, confiscate the ship at the very time that the

owners think he is protecting it. A master, of course, may sue in personam for his wages.

32. Towage.-Towage is a service rendered in the movement of uninjured vessels under ordinary circumstances of navigation. Many vessels do not have or use any motive power of their own. The towing of such vessels about harbors is now an enormous business, and the rights and obligations of tugs and tows are now very important in the admiralty. The distinction between towage and salvage is important. Towage is the propulsion of an uninjured vessel not in danger; salvage, the propulsion of a vessel disabled or in danger to a place of safety. The service may begin as towage service, and end as salvage service.

The tow is not liable for the tug's acts when the tug directs the navigation. It is liable for its own negligence and for the tug's negligence when the tow directs the navigation. In England, it is the practice for the tow to direct the navigation of the tug, and the English decisions are to the effect that the tow is responsible for the negligent navigation of the tug and tow. In this country, the rule is to the contrary.

33. General average.-General average is the principle of admiralty law which requires that all parties interested in a maritime venture shall contribute to make up the loss where there is a voluntary sacrifice of part of the venture made by the master for the benefit of all. This is one of the earliest known subjects of maritime law which is provided for in the Rhodian Code and all the ancient admiralty codes. For the purpose of general average the ship,