Note 161 — Chapter XII
Reading edition
This power has only once been put in operation, viz., in the case of the John. Its real importance is only in the cases where the sufferers are very numerous, and too poor to bring actions for themselves. In these cases the Board of Trade acts for them.
But, in ordinary cases, the passengers’ relations proceed for themselves. The owner pays the whole amount for which he is liable into the Court of Chancery, and that Court distributes it among all who have claims—whether in respect of life or of property.
The real defects in the Act of 1854 are well pointed out by the Committee of 1860: viz., first, that the law does not apply to foreign ships on the high seas, whether plaintiffs or defendants; and, secondly, that “value of ship and freight” is a premium on bad ships. These defects, as I have already pointed out, were remedied by the Act of 1862.