Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 3.djvu/662

 sold "by a decree of the court, can it be that the crew, by this provision of the treaty, are prohibited from proceeding for the recovery of their wages against the surplus which may remain in the registry, and that the court cannot decree the payment therefrom of their respective claims for wages, but must, if claims of subordinate rank are presented by our own citizens, allow such claimants to absorb the surplus, without power to afford the seaman any redress ? I hold that a court of admiralty would require, in a treaty, the most positive, absolute prohibition against assuming jurisdiction in such a case, and would insist on language which would not admit of any doubtf ul signification, before it would aoknowledge that its authority to protect the seaman was thus abrogated. If in any case the power still remains in the court, and it bas authority to act when there is no consul witMn its jurisdic- tion, the authority must exist in ail such cases ; and it is only a question of judicial discretion whether the circum- stances of any case are such as to require the court to in- terpose and take cognizance of the dispute. �The Amalia sailed from Hernosand the fourteenth of July for Lisbon, and from thence to New York', wherô she arrived November aeth.' Five of the crew deserted, and some of the libellants were there shipped in their places. December 15th she sailed from New York for Alexandria, arriving at Gibral- tar January 29th, remaining there three days, and reached Alexandria Februafy 27th, sailed for thia port April 23d, arriving at Gibraltar June 9th, from whence she sailed on the 12th, reaching this place August 25th, being 47 days from Alexandria to Gibraltar, and 74 from Gibraltar to Portland. �The law of Sweden regulates the supplies for a ship's crew, and at the time of shipment a small book is furnished each man, in which is enteredan abstract of the Swedish law, and also the terms of his contract. AU payments made to him in the course of the voyage are required to be entered thereon ; a practice which toight well be adopted in our merchant service. From this book it appears that each of the ship's crew is entitledto one and a half pounds of sait beef daily for' three days, and three-quarters of a pound o£ sait pork daîly ����