Horace Gray

“ In that case, upon full review of the authorities, it was held that the right of contribution in general average, whether considered as resting upon natural justice, or upon implied contract, or upon a rule of the maritime law known to and binding upon all owners of ships and cargoes, could only arise out of the exercise of the power of the master, or of one occupying his place, as the agent by necessity of the owners of ship and cargo, and charged by law with the duty, in case of emergency, of sacrificing part of the property for the safety of the rest. ”

“ The master of the tug, having no authority to decide, as between a barge and her cargo, what part shall be sacrificed for the safety of the rest, and thereby to subject what is saved to contribute in general average for what is lost, can surely have no greater authority, by abandoning all the barges with their cargoes, to subject the tug to a general average contribution. ”

“ But the barges in tow are by no means put inder the control of the master of the tug to the same extent as the tug herself, and the cargo, if any, on board of her.
A general ship carrying goods for hire, whether employed in internal, in coasting, or in foreign commerce, is a common carrier; and the ship and her owners, in the absence of a valid agreement to the contrary, are liable to the owners of the goods carried as insurers against all losses excepting only such irresistible causes as the act of God and public enemies. ”