Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 10.djvu/148

 186 FEDEBAIi BEFOBTEB. �such vessel shall forfeit and paj' the sum eqiial to half pilotage of such vessel ; and if such vessel be not licensed as aforesaid, then and in such case the mas- ter, owner, or consignee thereof shall forfeit and pay the f ull pilotage thereof .'" �On Jime 20, 1881, the steam-ship Lord Clive, bound to Philadel- phia on a voyage from Liverpool, was spoken by the pilot-boat E. G. Knight, and a duly-lieensed pilot was sent on board. The master of the steam-ship refused to accept the services of this pilot, on the groimd that he never before had acted as pilot to an ocean steamer. The master was then given another pilot out of the same boat, who piloted the steam-ship and received f ull compensation. This libel was, then filed to recover the penalty of f ull pilotage for refusai to receive the first pilot who offered. �Albert E. Peter son and W. W. Wiltbank, for libellant. �H. G. Ward and Morton P. Henry, for respondent. �BcTLEE, T>. J. First. Does the act of 1803, (of Pennsylvania,) require vessels to accept the first duly-qualified pilot who offers his services, and inflict the penalty of half pilotage for refusai ? �Second. What effect has the act of 1851 on the claim involved? �These are the only questions raised by counsel ; and I will con- sider no other. �The twenty-first section of the act of 1803 authorizes the pilot who shall first offer himself, having the proper license, to take charge of the vessel. "The pilot who shall first offer himself to any inward- bound vessel shall be entitled to take charge thereof, provided his license shall authorize him to pilot a ship or vessel of such draught." The right thus conferred on the pilot necessarily imposes on the vessel a corresponding obligation to allow its exercise. The subsequent pro- vision, inflicting a penalty for "refusai to accept a pilot," has refer- ence to tins pilot, — the first duly qualified, offering his services, — whether on the vessel's entrance of the bay, or at any subsequent time before passing "Eeedy Island." The language "if the master or commander shall refuse * * * to receive a pilot duly qualified," clearly means if he shall refuse the pilot whom the statute has author- ized to perform the service. Such refusai brings him not only within the spirit of the statute, but also within the letter. He has, (in such case,) "refused to receive a pilot duly qualified. " That he mayhave taken another is unimportant ; the fact remains that he has refused one, and the particular one on whom the right to perform the service is conferred by the statute. ��� �