Louis Brandeis

“ The shipper is under no obligation to the carrier to take out insurance on the cargo; and the freight rate is the same whether he does or does not insure. The general law does not give the carrier, upon payment of the shipper's claim, a right by subrogation against the insurers. The insurer has, on the other hand, by the general law, a right of subrogation against the carrier. Such claims, like tangible salvage, are elements which enter into the calculations of actuaries in fixing insurance rates ”

“ The owners duly moved for limitation of liability. The District Court found that the damages sustained were occasioned without the privity or knowledge of the owners; held that they were entitled to limit their liability, both as against the shipper and as against the charterer, who claimed indemnity; and ordered that the owners should pay the shipper's claim to the extent of the value of the ship and pending freight, and that the balance should be paid by the Insular Line. 235 Fed. 388, 148 C. C. A. 650. Both the owners and the Insular Line appealed to the Circuit Court of Appeals. ”

“ The insurer could not have been obliged to pay until the condition of their liability-i. e., nonliability of the carrier-had been established. The shipper could not have been obliged to surrender to the insurers the conduct of the litigation against the carrier, until the insurers had paid. In consideration of securing then the right to conduct the litigation, the insurers made the advances. It is creditable to the ingenuity of business men that an arrangement should have been devised which is consonant both with the needs of commerce and the demands of justice. ”