Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 10.djvu/691

 THE GLARAJURA. 679 �By the law of Oregou (Sess. Laws 1865, p. 33 ; Or. Laws, p. 707, § 12) it is provided that any river pilot " who shall first speak any sea- going vessel ascending or descending the river above Astoria," shall be entitled to half pilotage therefor. The pilot-ground of the Coluinbia and Wallamet river pilots reaches "from Astoria to the head of naviga- tion," but from Astoria to the open sea beyond the bar is the pilot- ground of the bar pilots. Or. Laws, pp. 706-7, §§ 6, 7, 11. Asto- ria is a port of entry where foreign vessels bound to Portland stop to enter, and usually change the bar tug for a river one. �The argument of the libellant is that a competent and enterpris- ing body of pilots is necessary to the seeurity and convenience of commerce on these rivers, and to this end the law allows half pilot- age to the pilot who first tenders his services to a vessel "ascending or descending" the same, and for the same reason will permit the tender of such services to be made before such vessel has reached Astoria, and as soon as she is inside the bar of the Columbia. In sup- port of this proposition and argument, counsel cites Steam-ihip Co. v. Joliffe, 2 Wall. 456; Wilson v. McNamee, 102 U. S. 572; Horton v. Smith, 6 Ben. 264; The Traveler, Id. 280; The Georgia D. Loud, 8 Ben. 392. �It is not denied that claims for pilotage are within the admiralty jurisdiction, and that a valid oiier and refusai of pilotage service under the law giving half pay therefor establishes a claim for pilotage that may be enforced in this court. The Qlenearne, 7 Fed. Eep. 604, and cases there cited. But the necessity of compulsory pilotage between Astoria and Portland, where sail-vessels are usually towed by steam-boats with licensed pilots on board, may well be questioned. Neither do I think that the usual arguments in favor of half pilotage as a means of encouraging and maintaining an active and competent body of pilots upon and about bars and other dangerous waters in the vicinity of or immediate approach to frequented harbors and ports, apply to the pilot-grounds between Astoria and Portland. The duties of the river pilots, though requiring skill and local knowledge, are comparatively simple and free from danger. A vessel at Astoria does not require a pilot until she is ready to ascend the river, and in the mean time can remain at anchor or the dock in comparative safety, �From the nature of the case, then, I am of the impression that a tender of pilot services by a river pilot to an ascending vessel below Astoria, on the bar pilotage ground, is invalid and of no effect. ��� �