Thomas et al. v. Osborn.
maritime law, as settled in my judgment by the decisions in the courts of this country, that in a case of that kind the owners personally, as well as the vessel, are liable for the amount. But if the owner is present, and they are furnished to him, it is equally well established, that the credit is presumed to have been given to him personally, and no lien on the vessel is implied. The decisions in the State courts cannot therefore, it would seem, be reconciled to the decisions of the Circuit Court of the United States, hereinbefore referred to.
But however this may be, the implied lien on the vessel in cases like the one before us has been maintained in the Circuit Court. And as the question of maritime lien, with which we are now dealing, belongs peculiarly to the admiralty courts, and the paramount jurisdiction in such cases is vested in them by the Constitution of the United States, it necessarily follows, that it must rest with them to interpret the contract, and to determine whether it created a lien or not, and how, and when, and against whom, it can be enforced.
In the case of the barque Chusan, 2 Story’s Rep., 462, he says: “The Constitution of the United States has declared that the judicial power of the National Government shall extend to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; and it is not competent for the States, by local legislation, to enlarge or limit or narrow it. In the exercise of this admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, the courts of the United States are exclusively governed by the legislation of Congress, and in the absence thereof by the general principles of maritime law. The States have no right to prescribe the rules by which the courts of the United States shall act, nor the jurisprudence which they shall administer.”
The opinions of the State tribunals to which I have referred are certainly entitled to very high respect, upon any question of law that may come before them; yet the question before us is not one of State law. It is a contract for maritime service, and belongs to the admiralty courts of the United States. And the State decisions, therefore, however highly we respect them, carry with them no binding judicial authority, when in conflict with the decisions of the courts of the United States upon questions belonging to the Federal courts. And I the more firmly adhere to the doctrines of the Circuit Court, hereinbefore stated, because, as I have already said, I can see nothing in the terms of the contract, or in its character and objects, that would justify a different construction. In my opinion, therefore, Leach had no ownership in the Laura, and in the contract in question exercised the powers of master, and nothing more.
Such being, in my judgment, the meaning and legal effect
