Samuel Freeman Miller,
Steamship Company v. Joliffe — Dissent
“ This court held, in the language of Judge Catron, that, 'as the plaintiff had no vested right in the penalty, the legislature might discharge the defendant by repealing the law.'A judgment is only one of the steps in the progress of a suit by which the plaintiff, if successful, obtains what he is seeking. It only declares the right of the party, but does not create it. ”
Samuel Freeman Miller,
Steamship Company v. Joliffe — Dissent
“ If the judgment was founded on a statute right, it still only declares that on the facts as the law then stood, the plaintiff was entitled to recover; but that right is no more sacred or no more protected from legislative action than before. If there is such a thing as a vested right in a statute penalty, it must become vested either when the facts occur which give the right, or when the plaintiff makes his claim to the benefit of the statute by commencing an action for the sum which the law allows. ”
Samuel Freeman Miller,
Steamship Company v. Joliffe — Dissent
“ Again, all these regulations apply in the same terms of license and prohibition to engineers and pilots. But can it be pretended that a vessel may go into a port and out of it without a licensed engineer, and yet be guilty of no violation of the law? If the statute is only applicable to pilots on a voyage, it must also apply only to engineers on a voyage.But it is argued that the whole system of pilotage relates to the voyage, and does not include the ports ”
