Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 5.djvu/829

THE MAMIB. 817 �repealed in 1854, and the existing law on the subject is now Consolidated in the "Merchants' Shipping Acts of 1854 and 1862." McLachlan on Merch. Ship, 110-112. �By the commercial code of France, (article 210,) "every owner ot a vessel is civilly responsible for the acts of the master, and bound; as regards the engagements entered into by the latter, in whatever relates ito the vessel' and the voyaga He can in any case free himaelf from tke above-named oblir gations by the abandonment of the vessel and freight." AU the other commercial codes are constructed after the saine model, (Spain, art. 622; HoUand, art. 321; Italy, art. 311; Chili, art. 870.) It will be observed that this right of aban- donment is not limited to a few cases, as in England and America, but extends to ail tortà and contracts of the master; but the word "vessel" in this code is limited to ships and other gea-going vessels. Its provisions are not applicable to vessels employed in inland navigation, which are especially desig- nated by the name of "boats." Goirand's Code of Com. 244. So Dufour observes, (1 Droit Mar. 121 :) "Thus, as a general rule, it appears to me clear, both by the letter and spirit of the law, that the provisions of the second book of the Commercial Code relate exclusively to maritime, and not to fluvial, navigation ; that consequently the word 'ship,' when it is found in these provisions, ought to be understood in the sense of a vessel serving the purpose of maritime navigation or sea-going vessels, and not in the sense of a vessel devoted to the navigation of rivers." In 1844 it was held by the court of cassation that fishing vessels were not the subject of bot- tomry bonds, and that by "sea going vessels," as used in the Code, were to be understood aU those, whatever their dimen- sions and denomination, which, with an equipment and a crew proper to them, formed a special service, or engaged in a particular industry. 1 Dnfour, 118. �Another commentator upon the Code, in treating of the right of abandonment, says: "But in that which coneems the responsibility of the owners of hoats, the rules of the mar- itime law cease to be applied. Thus the owners of boato �v.5,no.9— 52 ����