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The Green Bag
thing. Section 4585 reads as follows: "There shall be assessed and collected by the collectors of the customs at the ports of the United States, from the master or owner of every vessel of the United States arriving from a foreign port, or of every registered vessel em ployed in the coasting trade, and before such vessel shall be admitted to entry, the sum of forty cents per month for each and every seaman who shall have been employed on such vessel since she was last entered at any port of the United States; such sum such master or owner may collect and retain from the wages of such seamen." Section 4803 provides that sums so collected shall be placed to the credit of "the fund for the relief of the sick and dis abled seamen." (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3322.) This statute had its inception in the act of Congress of July 16, 1798, c. 77, 1 Stat. 606, and was on the stat ute books for nearly a century during which time it was continuously en forced. It has been specifically men tioned and given force in several cases, though never attacked directly. [Peter son v. The Chandos (D. C.), 4 Fed. 645; Holt v. Cummings, 102 Pa. 212, 48 Am. Rep. 199; State ex rel. v. Clausen (Wash .), 117 Pac. 1101.] The Supreme Court of the United States has recently upheld the Okla homa Depositors' Guarantee law, which authorizes the assessment and collec tion of a certain percent on the daily average deposits of every bank incor porated under the state laws, as a fund to pay losses caused depositors by fail ing and insolvent banks. Noble State Bank v. Haskell, 219 U. S. 104. Statutes imposing liability upon fire insurance agents for the benefit of a fund to care for and cure sick and in jured firemen have been upheld in New York and Illinois. [Fire Dept. v. Noble,
3 E. D. Smith (N. Y.) 440; Fire Dept. v. Wright, 3 E. D. Smith (N. Y.) 453; Firemen's Benevolent Assn. v. Lounsbury, 21 Ill. 511, 74 Am. Dec. 115.] Statutes making railways absolutely liable with out fault have been upheld by the Su preme Court of the United States. (St. L. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Mathews, 165 U. S. 1; A. T. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Matthews, 174 U. S. 96.) A statute of Nebraska making a railway liable for injuries to passengers irrespective of negligence, except when the injury was caused by the criminal negligence of the passenger or the violation of some express rule brought directly to his attention, has also been sustained by the Supreme Court of the United States. (C. R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. Zernecke, 183 U. S. 582.) New York has held that a landlord who knowingly leases his premises for the pur pose of running a saloon may be held absolutely liable for losses resulting from intoxication caused by such sale. (Bertholf v. O'Reilly, 74 N. Y. 509, 30 Am. Rep. 323.) Many other cases might be cited where the validity of statutes imposing liability without fault have been sustained. (See Menden v. N. Y. N. H. & H. Ry. Co., 32 Sup. Ct. 169.) In the recent case of Caspar v. Le-utin (June 11, 1910), 109 Pac. 657, Mr. Jus tice Burch, delivering the unanimous opinion of the Supreme Court of Kan sas, says: "The liberty of the wage earner to contract for extra pay for extra hazard and to seek some other employment is a myth or, as has been said, 'a heartless mockery.' (Kilpatrick v. Grand Trunk R. R. Co., 74 Vt. 288, 93 Am. St. Rep. 887.) The man and the machine at which he works should be recognized as substantially one piece of mechanism and mishaps to either ought to be repaired, and charged to the cost of maintenance. The courts cannot abolish the old rules and
