Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/610

 586 SALVADOR SALVAGE The old castle, where Griseldis is said to have been imprisoned, has been converted into a penitentiary. Wine, grain, cattle, and ice are dealt in, and there are silk looms, tanneries, and hat manufactories. In the middle ages Saluzzo formed a margraviate, which in the latter part of the 14th century became depen- dent upon Savoy. In the 16th century its possession was disputed by France and Savoy, but in 1601 Henry IV. gave it up to the latter, receiving a compensation in other territories. SALVADOR, Joseph, a French historian of Spanish-Jewish extraction, born in Montpel- lier in 1796. He studied medicine, but did not practise. His principal works are : Loi de Molse, ou Systeme religieux et politique des Hebreux (1822), a prelude to the Histoire des institutions de Molse et du peuple hebreu (3 vols., 1828); Jesus- Christ et sa doctrine (2 vols., 1838) ; Histoire de la domination ro- maine en Judee et de la mine de Jerusalem (2 vols., 1846) ; and Paris, Rome, Jerusalem, ou la question religieuse au XIX' siecle (2 vols., 1859). SALVAGE, in admiralty, and generally in the law merchant, the compensation earned by persons who voluntarily assist in saving a ship or her cargo from a maritime peril. This com- pensation is not a mere payment on the prin- ciple of a quantum meruit, or a remuneration pro opere et labore, but a reward for bravely encountering the perils of the seas, given in order that the general interests of navigation and the commerce of the country may be ad- vanced. As to the amount of salvage which shall be decreed, or the proportion in which it shall be given to salvors, there is no fixed rule or practice in admiralty. In respect to derelict or abandoned property, the ancient rule gave one half to the salvor; but now the position seems to be well established that the reward in derelict cases should be governed by the same principles as in other salvage cases, namely, that it shall depend upon the danger to prop- erty, value, risk of life, skill, labor, and the duration of the service. The court has no power to decree salvage for saving life merely ; but if the saving of life can be connected with the saving of property, then the court will take notice of it. Nevertheless, efforts to save life do not command a compensation so much higher than is given for the saving of property as might perhaps be expected. The reason is, that it is not a deviation when the vessel goes out of her way to save life, and therefore the insurance is not forfeited ; whereas it is a de- viation to vary from the course for the purpose of saving property, and compensation must be made for forfeiture of the insurance. It is a cardinal rule that salvage services can be per- formed only by persons not bound by their legal duty to render them. A crew cannot claim as salvors of their own ship or cargo, not only because it is their duty to save her if pos- sible, but because it would be most unwise to tempt them to let the ship and cargo get into a position of extreme danger, that then, by extreme exertions, they might claim salvage. But to this general rule there is the exception that, where the contract of the seamen is at an end, or the service rendered is so entirely out of the line of their ordinary duty that it may be considered as not done under their contract, there may be a valid claim for compensation. A crew are bound to suppress a mutiny on board their own ship at all events and at every hazard, and cannot claim salvage therefor. If the crew of one ship suppress mutiny or re- volt in another, or retake a captured ship from mutineers or revolters, this may well found a claim for salvage. If part of the crew leave their ship and go to save another, and thereby acquire a claim for salvage, the rest who re- main share in the claim, yet not equally, for their right rests mainly on the increased labor, exposure, or peril which falls on them. For ordinary services rendered to the ship in time of distress, no salvage is due to a passenger ; but in his case, as in that of a seaman, extra- ordinary services may give a salvage claim. A pilot, like a passenger, may become a salvor when his peculiar relation to the ship is dis- solved ; but most of our state pilotage laws make it part of the duty of a pilot to assist ves- sels in distress, and either give the rate of ex- tra compensation to be awarded, or point out the tribunal which shall determine the amount due. Extra services are, therefore, generally considered in this country as such, and not as salvage services. The officers and crews of our national vessels are so far bound to res- cue a vessel from mutineers that they are not entitled to claim any compensation in such a case, unless perhaps when they incur great personal danger, and use great exertions in the performance of the service. For an ordi- nary salvage service they are entitled to com- pensation. As a general rule, none can claim salvage who do not directly participate and aid in the salvage services, or at least pro- mote those services by doing the work of those who render them. But an exception, and a liberal one, is usually made in favor of the owners of the saving vessel, who are not only entitled to claim compensation for stores and other supplies and outlays, but salvage compensation in addition. A salvage service is possible when the peril encountered is some- thing distinctly beyond ordinary danger, some- thing which exposes the property to destruc- tion unless extraordinary assistance be ren- dered. But if the master can, by proper use of the means in his possession, save the prop- erty, the law presumes that he will, and that the salvor's interference was unnecessary ; yet even if the master could save the ship, the sal- vors may show that he would not have done so. It is not necessary that the distress should be actual or immediate, or that the danger should be imminent and absolute ; it will be sufficient if, at the time the assistance is ren- dered, the ship has encountered any damage or